Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Emperor woke up as the rays of the sun hit his face, making him rub his eyes, touching the soft and delicate surface of his eye mask.

He slowly got up, fixed the bedsheets so that the maids wouldn’t have to do much work, and grabbed his phone, checking for any notifications.

At first, he thought he had slept in, but in reality, he remembered he just took a day off. Eging and N-Pacer had forced him, saying that he looked exhausted, and he should have took a break. He wondered if they did that only to skip practice- they had become rather silly after losing against Team Blue. He did too, but he kept his pride high.

He smiled as he checked Team Monarch’s groupchat, seeing how Prince gave his usual good morning. He had become rather silly too- but it was refreshing being greeted by a good morning every single day. The 4 only used to acknowledge the other’s presence at practice, no words spoken.

He headed downstairs, greeted by the maids. He decided to skip breakfast, so that they wouldn’t have to bake anything: he cared about the staff in his house, he’d prefer going hungry or buying something instead of having them to overwork, always cleaning the house the whole day, it’s the least he could do.

He grabbed the case that sat at the door, containing his Enperry Splat Dualies, and exited the house. Entering the car, he set the destination to Inkopolis Square. He could have walked, it wasn’t too far away, but he felt too tired to do so. Even if walking would wake him up, he’ll simply do in the car.

Checking the time, it was 9:12 am. It wasn’t not early, nor late. Which he liked.. But what could he do since he didn’t have any practice for today? Watching the other team’s battling would be too boring, and he had stopped working at Crusty Sean for a while now. He could go annoy Rider at Ammo Knights..

Ammo Knights it is.

He unironically knew the whole schedule of Rider’s part time job. He was one of the commoners he admired most. Having made him, the King, step in ink, was quite the achievement, and he deserved special treatment for that.

He arrived in Inkopolis Square. He considered grabbing something to eat or drink on the go, but quickly discarded the idea. He didn’t fell hungry anyways, plus, he wanted to see his favorite Yellow-Green squid as soon as possible.

As he walked, he was greeted by many familiar squids, such as Team Blue, who were heading to practice. The idiotic blue inkling of the team waved at him quite frantically, his hand moving as fast as lighting. He chuckled at Goggle’s antic and gave him a little wave, and went back to walking.

As he approached his destination, however, he felt some strange feeling in the back of his mind, whispering that something was wrong. But nothing was wrong. He woke up good, gave Prince a good morning, saw Team Blue, and now was going to meet his favorite inkling.

..He abruptly stopped. Turning his head, noticing an empty hallway, to his right. Had it always been there before? Maybe he never noticed it, and it intrigued him. With a turn of his enperrials, he made his way inside, the shadows slowly obscuring his view.

As he walked, that feeling that something was wrong became louder and louder, which he ignored. He was fine, he was only going to check this place out, then get out. It wasn’t that hard.

But it wasn’t long until he heard some footsteps. Out of instinct, he reached out to his case, taking out the Dualies, in case someone tried something stupid. He frowned. The footsteps were audible, yet he couldn’t make out where they were.

They weren’t of someone he knew, either. He had learned to recognize who it was simply based on the cephalopod’s footsteps, each one having their unique sound and pace. Like Eging, who were often constant and quick, or N-Pacer’s, who were slower and collected.

He saw a shadow, slowly walk towards him. He glanced down, seeing a splattershot in their hand. HIs signature smirk crept on his face, as he aimed his dualies at them.

"And who dares to approach the ki-"

He was cut off as the unknown weapon wielder shot, and he had to admit, with admirable accuracy. Sadly, he knew better than just to stand and get hit.

He swiftly dodged, moving his head to the side. He brought his dualies up once again, but contemplated this.

If he splatted them, would there be a respawn point where they could safely go? If there wasn’t, he wouldn’t splat someone, he would kill someone. He might be prideful, but not at this extent.

Instead, he quickly put the dualies in their case and brought out his phone, turning around and running. He called Prince, and soon enough his brother answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Greetings, Prince," Emperor began speaking, dodging another incoming shoots of ink, rapidly fired with immaculate precision. (Though, not as precise as N-Pacer’s shots.)

"I’m kind of in a.. tentacle twisting situation. Someone is keeping on shooting me with a splattershot-"

His phone was knocked out of his grip, as they blew a punch right at it. His dualies case fell, and he was left with no choice but to fight.

The attacker raised his fist, attempting to blow a direct hit under his chin- nice thinking, that could knock someone out with enough force. He grabbed their hand, and hit them in the stomach with his ankle, forcing them to recoil back.

They immediately jumped again, only this time, they grabbed Emperor’s arm, which caught the Monarch off guard. Their grip was pretty strong, too- and it was beginning to hurt already.

He gritted his teeth, and tried to get their hand off immediately, but something tackled him down on the ground. He hit his head, and everything felt fuzzy for a moment. As he came back to his senses, he attempted to get up, but was held down by an unknown cephalopod.

And soon, something stabbed the back of his arm. He felt something being injected. He tried to get said person and sharp object off… but he felt weird… fuzzy…

He felt the weight get off of him. In an attempt to get up, he sloppily put both hands on the floor, attempting to steady himself up, but he fell, and hit the hard concrete.

Soon, everything became dark… black spots forming in his vision…

until everything went black.

┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

"Emperor…? Big brother?" Prince tried to desperately call out on the phone, until the call ended, due to one of the users having no signal. Prince breathed heavily, and Eging put an hand on the other’s back, trying to reassure him, though it wasn’t working.

"Prince- Prinz… It’s okay. Me and Pacer are here. What did Emp tell you?" The dark skinned inkling said worriedly, watching their leader’s younger brother so worried was… displeasing, to say the least.

"He said that- someone was shooting him- then- then! He flinched as N-Pacer put an hand behind his back, but quickly relaxed as she began to move her hand in a circular manner.

"Deep breaths. Emperor was shot by what, exactly?" She asked, now drawing little symbols with her hands. She always did that whenever someone wasn’t feeling great- a good way to keep someone calm, while also keeping your fingers occupied.

"A splattershot. I think his phone fell, because there was a crack, then the call ended." Prince said, his breathing had steadied, now having a contemplating look on his face, having replaced the frown completely.

"…uh…" Eging seemed utterly confused, and so did N-Pacer. The 2 flashed each other a worried look, but before they knew it, Prince shot up.

"Follow me… I have something to show you.” He said as he fixed his milky eminence jacket, and started walking towards Ammo Knights. The 2 nodded, quickly following after the young Monarch. He then jumped down a sewer grate. N-Pacer raised an eyebrow, but Eging quickly jumped into swim form without a second thought, and she signed, going along.

┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

Marie was eating some pickled plums Goggles had brought for her and Callie. She had to admit, she never thought they’d be this good. Probably one of her favorite snacks.

Right as Callie reached for a plum, the sewer grate rumbled, and the grey haired inkling put them away. The black haired squid let out an ‘aww…’ in disappointment, but her smile widened as he saw Prince, none other than Agent 4, emerge from the grate.

"Hiya Four! how’s it going-" After Prince, 2 other cephalopods emerged, both dark skinned, with the same gear and ink color as the young monarch. Before the Squid Sisters had a chance to ask anything, Prince immediately shot up.

"I think my brother’s been squidnapped, and the octarians might be the cause. Callie, you’re good at recognizing certain sounds, can you listen to this and check if there’s something strange?" Prince explained hurriedly as he gave Callie her phone. She looked at it, the Prince, and gave him a confident nod, entering the cabin.

"…Who are they, Four? Your teammates?". Marie asked as she pointed at N-Pacer and Eging, who kind of seemed shocked to see her. Well… She was a really popular idol, so…

"Marie, they are N-pacer and Eging. Eging, N-Pacer, she’s Marie." Prince then took a deep breath. "Marie, If my brother really has been taken… let them help us. Please?" he looked her pleadingly. She gave the 2 a skeptical look, before sighing, and nodding.

Right after, Callie came out with a serious expression, giving the phone back to Prince. "After maybe, 10 seconds the phone fell down, I heard a grunt, and it was definitely an octoling. So yeah… Your suspicion are correct." She explained, her ears dropping a little.

"…Could we get some context, please?” Asked Eging, looking as confused as ever. N-Pacer nodded along, still looking skeptical. Callie nodded, her ears now shooting up from… excitement? They didn’t
know, every cephalopod was different. Mask’s shot up whenever he saw people hate on life.

”My name’s Callie, aka Agent One! We are the SquidBeak splatoon, tasked to keep iInkopolis Square safe. This grandma over here," She said, putting an hand over Marie’s shoulder, "Is Marie! aka Agent Two. Agent 3 and 3.5 are currently not here, and Agent 4 is right next to you~!" She finished, pointing at Prince.

"And since you’ll have to join us, you may join as Agent 4.2 and 4.3. Welcome to the SquidBeak, Agents.“ Marie said with a nod, before turning to her cousin. "Ill go grab 4’s spare jackets, boots and earpieces. Then we’ll patrol the area.” She said, twirling her parasol, before setting it down.

Marie thought about this. If agent’s 4 brother had been kidnapped, it is highly that.. they’ll try to mind control him. She shivered just at the thought. Prince going trough the same grief she had when Callie disappeared.. No. She’ll protect him.

Whatever it Takes.

Chapter Text

Emperor felt dizzy, he didn’t feel opening his eyes- but shortly, he realized he couldn’t. The fatigue had gotten him completely, but by the strange sensation around his arms, and the position he was in, he could tell he was sat and restrained.

" The Inkling has shown actions of consciousness, All Mighty DJ. May we take our leave now?"

He mentally wondered what the actual carp was going on. They were clearly speaking another language, this was nothing compared to Inklish.. Octarian?

"Not yet. Instead, wait outside of my office, Elite Lynix. You as well, Elite Sang."

This strange.. Octarian? Had an unusually deep voice, plus, it sounded intimidating. Keyword: Sounded. He wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. A king is never intimidated.

"Open your eyes, Inkling. I can tell you’re awake." The mysterious octarian commanded. Emperor groaned, and slowly opened his eyes. His vision was still blurry, but he could make out an octopus, sitting in the chair in front of him.

"I’ll keep this short and straightforward," He started, fiddling with some shades in his hands. "You will help me, Emperor. Help out the Octarian Army. You have the capabilities that I have been searching for ages. Your name reaches everywhere.. I have watched a few of your matches, and I can say you have impressed me."

What the brain boggling squit was this Octopus talking about? "And who might you be?" Emperor raised an eyebrow, his signature smirk crepting on his face, like usual.

"GYAHAHAHAH! You? Questioning me? I am DJ Octavio, the Mighty leader of the Octarian army, as well as the spiciest music maker you’ll ever meet." He answered, and Emperor swore his smirk faltered.

DJ Octavio. Also known as the Leader of the Octarian army.. Squidnapped him? Because he needed help? He wouldn’t believe this for shit, if only he wasn’t standing right in front of his captor.

"I won’t help you." The golden inkling said, raising an eyebrow. Helping.. him, would mean he’d have to betray his own kind. And he would never do that. He cared about his friends and family more than anyone else.

Octavio sighed, still fiddling with those.. oddly fresh looking shades. He glanced up, looking coldly in the eyes of the monarch. "I was hoping you’d collaborate."

He then got up, and with a click, the shades.. turned on? Led lights lit them up, a mix of pink and green, making the shades even more fresh. But what came after.. wasn’t as fresh. It was completely raw.

"But guess we’ll have to do it my own way." He brought the shades to Emperor’s face, and he immediately turned his head away. Whatever these glasses were, they certainly would force him to do something. And it might sound crazy, but by Octavio’s statement, he surely was right.

Octavio huffed, and grabbed his head, forcing him to look straight. He shoved the glasses in his face and.. nothing changed.

Then he screamed.

The restrains in his arms were removed, and he painfully clutched his head. He felt strange, it hurt, so so much. He was still.. conscious? Who knows if it was the right word. He was still conscious enough to make out the laughter of the DJ, and then.. his vision darkened.

He opened his eyes, the throbbing, painful feeling in his head was gone. His arms were free, and he looked up at the octopus. 2 Seconds ago, he would have punched him straight in the face.. But he didn’t feel like doing that.. Strangely enough.

┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

"You think the Inkling’s good in there?" Sang, the short haired male octoling soldier asked, Leaning against the wall. They moved a tentacle out of their face, taking a better look at Lynix.

"Hmm.. I wonder. We totally didn’t hear him scream. Bet it was the hypnoshades." Lynix answered with a neutral expression, looking at his chosen partner.

"Uuugghh.. My stomach still hurts. Who knew he was good at delivering kicks with ankles..?" Sang said, clutching his sides. Lynix just huffed, unwrapping a lollipop he had stolen from another recruit.

"You should eat that later.. We don’t know if the DJ will call us again. But most likely, he’ll do. He told us to wait outside. And I don’t think he’d be okay with you eating a pop in front of him." Sang said, And Lynix let out an annoyed noise, wrapping the lollipop and putting it in his pockets.

Before Sang could try (and fail) to strike conversation again, the door opened. "Come in." The DJ said. The elites saluted, and nodded as they made their way back inside.

Emperor was sat in the chair, arms crossed as he stared at them. Or was he? Turns out, Lynix was indeed right. The shades were sitting on the Inkling’s face, just like they had done with Callie.

"At ease, elites, DJ Octavio said, standing in front of them. "First of all, I’d like to congratulate your success in capturing the Inkling. It is truly remarkable."
His tone sounded.. almost sincere. But they both could tell there was more to it. They simply nodded, and their leader continued.

"Since you guys have demonstrated notable courage, i’ll ask you once again a favor. You’ll have to be Emperor’s guides, since he, unlike Callie, will not be allowed to go unguarded."

Well. They knew it was coming. But hearing it themselves was.. odd enough. Having to basically babysit an inkling sounded easy enough, but it was definitely going to be annoying. Inklings were known for their over cheerful personalities or grumpy attitudes underground. And that did not sound appealing in any way.

But it’s not like they could say anything.

"Understood, Lord Octavio." They both spoke at the same time. Sang flashed a grin at Lynix, who just rolled his eyes and looked away. The former just laughed, focusing entirely on Emperor.

"Good. His room will be Callie’s old one, until we prepare the new one. For now, dismissed. Emperor, follow after them. I’ll shortly call you back in my office again." Octavio said. The golden inkling nodded and got up, fixing his milky eminence jacket.

The 2 octolings look at each other, then opened the door, and quickly exited, in the giant corridor. Emperor crossed his arms, staring at the Elites. They simply stared back.

..This is awkward.

Lynix sighed. And Sang muttered something to the lines of " this isn’t getting us anywhere.." Before turning to Lynix. "The hypnoshades should.. make him learn our language, right?"

Lynix nodded, then turned to Emperor. "I’m Lynix, this is Sang. We will be.. showing you around." Lynix tried to explain in the nicest way possible, and let out a groan as Sang put an hand over his shoulder. "Yep Yep! Welcome to the army! Emperor, rightttt?"

Emperor just smirked, amused. He had been teach that octarians were annoying, threatening and intimidating, but those 2 looked exactly like.. Goggles and Rider. He frowned for a moment, and that definitely caught the 2’s attention.

"Errr.. what’s up now? got your tentacles in a twist?" Sang said a bit concerned, and the golden inkling just shook his head. "Thinking about old friends. But they’re enemies now, so I shouldn’t care."

Lynix still had his deadpanned look, while Sang looked even more concerned now. They moved an hand to put it on the hypnotized inkling’s shoulder, much to their own surprise, in an attempt.. to comfort him.

"It’s fineee! You’ll make a lotta of friends down here! Plus you’ll get to hang out with us 2 the whole time! Isn’t that fun?" Emperor looked a bit shocked, but smiled nonetheless. He quickly nodded.

Lynix brought out the lollipop from earlier, twirling the stick in his fingers. "Let’s get going. We can’t defy the General’s orders." He concluded, putting the pop in his mouth. Sang nodded, and gestured for Emperor to follow after themZ

Sang and Lynix were nice company. The 2 bickered constantly, with the former’s constant teasing remarks, and the latter having to simply deal with it.

They arrived at a pink door, differencing itself from the other’s bland colors. Lynix opened it, and gestured for only Emperor to come in. "This is your room," He started, taking the lolli out of his mouth, "Don’t mind the color. You’ll get yours soon enough.. and err. Octavio will call you soon."

Emperor just nodded, looking at the insides of the bedroom. It was partially pink, partially white. And glittery. A LOOOTTT of glitter. He didn’t seem to mind. He was never a picky person, as well as a spoiled one. He might have given off that impression, but deep down, he was one of the most understanding people you’d ever meet.

"Thanks." Emperor said, forgetting to speak in Octarian. The 2 elites just blinked at him, before Sang let out an ‘oohhh!’ and whispered the meaning of the word to his friend, who just nodded in acknowledgment.

"Welp.. Just call us if you need any help! It’s the second button on the right side of your shades. We’ll take our leave now! See you~"

And with that, the 2 elites left the room, leaving the golden inkling alone. He sat on the bed, then fully laid down on it, Shades still on his face. He put an hand on his stomach, thinking about today. His thoughts then shifted to his teammates. They probably missed him- of maybe they didn’t even notice his absence. He had taken a day off, after all. After a bit, his shades started beeping, and he clicked the button he had been told to click.

"Just checking in~ you hear me?" Sang’s voice rang in the shades, and he just smiled. "Clear." He said, sitting on the bed with a leg over the other. "It works!" The elite said happily, before resuming. "The general wants to see you in 30! We’ll be there 5 minutes before. So right now just do whatever you want! Don’t exit the room though."

Emperor just have an affirmative answer, and after a quick goodbye, the call ended. Those shades were really full of surprises. He wondered what else they could do. But.. he’d just check this room out. It was the only thing to do after all.

Chapter Text

Prince spun the dualies in his fingers, watching as the 2 mini shooters smoothly kept spinning, distracting him from whatever thought he was having. He glanced up, watching as his teammates tried out the hero weapons.

N-Pacer was doing pretty well, even without a scope. Her shoots were taking longer to aim, but nonetheless, she hit each one, without a single miss. She really was admirable, with that immaculate aim.

He looked at Eging, who seemed to be getting the hang of his blaster. He was accustomed to clash blasters after all, and Sheldon based the Hero weapons on the standard ones.

The shaved inkling let out a huff, watching N-Pacer as she quickly refilled her ink. She noticed him staring, only her eyes darting at him, like a sniper would do.

"What?" She simply asked, crossing her arms. He looked at her Hero splat charger, and let out a sigh. "I just wish this," He held up his weapon, "was based on a clash blaster. Not a normal blaster. It would be a lot easier to train."

The female knight frowned, and looked at the targets once again. "I agree. Not using a scope messes up my performance a bit, but I can get used to it. You can do it, I know it."
N-Pacer really liked improving the mood of her friends.. She had learned that from Headphones. Always looking out for Team Blue.

There was a sound of footsteps, and the 3 cephalopods watched as the 2 Squid Sisters sat on the bench of the cabin. "Alright agents," Marie began, gesturing for the 3 to come closer. Prince hopped off the box he was sitting on, approaching them with the other 2.

"We patrolled the area, and almost nothing is out of the ordinary. Keyword.. almost." She looked at Callie, who took out her phone from her pocket. The pink glittery case really explained the bubbly and cheerful inkling she was just by glancing at it.

Agent 1 then opened the gallery app, and pressed play on a video, showing them the screen. There were 2 octoling soldiers patrolling, octoshot in their hands as they talked a foreign language.

"If you don’t mind us asking.. What are they saying?" N-Pacer said as she slowly blinked, turning her gaze to the black a pink squid, who flashed her with a big grin.

“Glad you asked~!” She replayed the video from the start, and began talking at the same pace of the 2 soldiers. "There’s a rumor spreading around the army. 2 Elite soldiers managed to squidnap a big shot of those Inkling society."

"Are you sure they’re not lying? It’s odd enough they decided to squidnap an inkling again, And a big shot too?" Callie then had to pause the video, having to think over a translation, before resuming.

"I’m sure, I saw Elites Sang and Lynix walking through the corridors, making remarks about their mission. So it’s 100% confirmed." The video abruptly stopped, as the octoling said something incomprehensible, the squid holding the phone hiding it.

"That moment they had turned around. We had to hide." Marie answered the question that the 3 golden squids were already thinking.

…

"How come you know Octarian, Cal- Agent 1?" Callie just seemed to freeze, staring at Eging before her eyes and ears pointed down. N-Pacer flashed him a glare, and he sighed. "Sorry, but I was curious!"

"No.. it’s fine. Seriously. And, to answer your question," She said fixing her little pink beret. "I was once squidnapped. I went through what’s happening to your leader right now." She finished, looking at the ground. Her cousin put a reassuring hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner, making her smile bittersweetly.

"Have you been treated good?" The golden charger main asked curiously, crossing her arms. Callie gave her a nod. "Yeah.. I got kinda attached to the Octolings i’d see everyday. I was left unguarded.. So maybe your leader is too."

"As in.. he’s free to roam around the settors?" Prince said with a sparkle of hope lighting up in his eyes. The 2 squid sisters nodded. "Say.. how strong is your leader? We’ve heard about Emperor, but never saw him play."

"Won the King Square Cup 5 times, counting the ranked one." Marie and Callie’s mouths hang open, the former coming back to her senses quicker than her cousin. "THAT’S SO COOL!" Callie shouted, and Marie gave her a stern expression .

"No, No it’s not. If we have to face him off, imagine how difficult it’ll be!" N-Pacer and Eging seemed to frown, and Prince tensed up, looking at the ground in a bitter manner.

"What.. What do you mean by facing him off?" Eging said quietly, looking at Prince, searching for any answers in his eyes. They were staring at the ground, his fists clenched, though the lineaments of his face gave him a guilty look.

"I.. had to fight Agent 1 to get her back. And.. we might have to affront Big Brother too.” He unclenched his fists, now looking up at the 2 golden squids. Marie coughed, and everyone’s attention was now back on them.

"Aaandd.. that’s why we have called agent 3 and 3.5 for help. they should arrive shortly.. I don’t know if you’ve met them. I was busy doing agent work, but it’s possible." She said with a flick of her parasol.

┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

"Are we there yeeett..?" Goggles asked as he walked with his hands behind his back, grinning at the grumpy looking yellow-green squid. "Not yet, goggles." Rider said sternly, tying his jacket around his waist, leaving him only in the white short sleeved shirt he wore under.

Rider had gone home after his shift at Ammo Knights. For some reason, he had expected for something to happen.. something, anything. but.. It was just a normal day. Until Agent 2 had called them for Agent work, suddenly, too.

It had been a while since Goggles had seen Agent 4, none other than Prince, the younger brother of Emperor. Now that he thinks about that.. Rider always tells him how the Monarch annoys him during his shifts. Maybe he should ask about today!

"Did Emperor come visit you today?" He asked with his usual grin. Though, Rider just looked at him, and shook his head. "He didn’t. Not that I hoped for him to come! But it felt strange that.. he didn’t."

Goggles looked at Rider’s frown, his smile faltering slightly. He knew how much Rider.. ahem. admired Emperor, and him visiting everyday was such a cute thing. What was the word again..? Oh yeah! Goggles loved shipping the 2.

Rider and Goggles reached Ammo knights (once again) If only Marie had called them earlier.. they wouldn’t have had to walk back here after Rider’s shift ended! The yellow-green squid made sure no one was looking, and the 2 swiftly slipped in the grate.

As they arrived in Octo Canyon, they both were surprised to not only see Agent 4, But N-Pacer and Eging. "UUUUHHHH?!" Goggles screamed, the 3 inklings who were chatting flinched slightly. Rider whacked him in the head with his Hero Dynamo roller.

"Sorry for him. But he’s kind of right.. 4, what are those 2 doing here?" He asked, putting the roller on his shoulder, the other hand on his hip. "They’re 4.2 and 4.3. Agent 1 and 2 will explain to you soon."

Prince answered, and Eging grinned, making his way towards the yellow-green squid.

"I remember you. We fought in the King Square Cup, hmm? Bet I can still beat you?"
Rider gave him an annoyed look, and he would have splatted him right here if it wasn’t for the fact that he shouldn’t. "I’ll crush you." He just said, and the other let out a chuckle.

"Our leader talks a lot about you. Saying how he goes every morning to Ammo Knights just to annoy you." N-Pacer said, looking at Rider as she fixed the grip on her charger.

"UH? What is that supposed to mean?!" He answered, getting defensive. Goggles got up, a big bump formed in his head, but that didn’t stop him from laughing, nodding along with the others. "Yeah! Rider really likes your leader!" He said, earning another wack by the dynamo roller user.

After a while of bickering and teasing, Marie and Callie came out of the cabin, wearing their own agent outfits. "3 and 3.5, you’re here." Agent 2 said, Goggles giving her an overly enthusiast thumbs up. RIder just groaning.

"Oh, I brought some pickled plums! Want any?" Goggles said as he brought a jar out of nowhere, extending it forward for Callie to take. She accepted it with a big smile, downing a plum in a second.

"Why are we here?" The Yellow-Green squid asked, and Marie sighed. "One of the inklings in the square has been squidnapped. We need as much help as possible to locate them."

At that point, Rider froze. He glanced at he group, Prince, Eging and N-Pacer. No. Sign. Of. Emperor. He hadn’t even come to Ammo Knights today, and even then, he felt strange.

Prince seemed to notice the look of realization that appeared in Rider’s Face, because his ears pointed down as he began speaking. "Big brother is the victim. If that’s what you were wondering.. 3.5."

The silence that fell over the group was deafening. Even Goggles, who was the most hyped active squid you could ever see, stopped smiling. "..I see. We’ll help. It’s our duty to do so." Rider said, his expression hardening. Prince nodded, and glanced at Marie and Callie.

But, before he could say anything, a static noise was heard in their Hero headphones. Rider and Goggles noticed the sudden silence, and quickly took out their own to put on.

There was static.. and static. Until a voice was heard. "Squidbeak Splatoon, it’s been a while."

DJ Octavio.

Callie tensed up, being the only one to understand Octarian. The other squids glanced at her, as in searching for answers. She took a deep breath. "What do you want, Octavio?" She replied bitterly, to which the warlord chuckled.

"Just a reminder.. One of your squids is in my.. ‘care’ now. And we will use his abilities to let us take steps forward. So stay tuned, because we won’t go easy on you. GYAHAHAHA!"

And with that, the headphones were met with silence. Callie had an annoyed expression, and glanced up, since she had subconsciously looked at the ground as she talked.

"DJ Octavio is up to no good, and he’ll use Emperor for his plans. Me and Marie will go out again soon for some more patrolling. 3, 3.5 and 4 will teach you 2 about the sectors while we’re out."

She said, gripping her trusted Hero roller, covered in cute stickers, as well as a photo of all the agents together. A bit ripped, since, well, it was used for fighting, but still intact that you could make out what was even in that piece of paper.

"Hey, how come Rider gets a custom hero roller instead of the standard one? Not fair." Eging suddenly said, putting his hands on his hip. Rider was about to answer, but Goggles decided to be his idiotic self.

"He’s Marie’s favorite." Yeah.. Goggles dropped on the ground, the third bonk of the day. He made it seem like it didn’t hurt.. Dynamo rollers do hurt.

Marie turned to the shaved inkling, steadying her charger pressed against the cabin logs. "Sheldon had a dynamo roller prototype Hero weapon, when 3 and 3.5 first became agents. We can surely upgrade yours after some time, if you’re not comfortable enough with your chosen weapons."

N-Pacer nodded, then titled her head. "Sheldon is in charge of the Hero weapons?" Goggles had since long gotten up, eating some plums. He nodded enthusiastically.

She looked down at her charger, then turned to Marie. "If it’s not much, could we add a scope to my charger? Since it just needs to be attached on.." Marie nodded, and the female knight gave her a smile.

Marie and Callie then grabbed their weapons, said their goodbyes and super jumped to another sector. Rider, Goggles and Prince took the initiative and brought the map of the sectors, briefly explaining the environment and kettles.

…

"Inklings can be quite the nuisance.. But the one we squidnapped intrigues me, Lynix."

Sang spoke quietly as he peeked out behind the cabin, eavesdropping on the inklings. Static came from his goggles, positioned on his head.

"Don’t be a killjoy, that’s my job. And don’t you even dare approach them. Right now you’re just stealing info, anything useful?"

"Nuh uh.. Nothing to report. I’ll super jump to base. Emperor must be waiting for us 2."

And with that, Sang super jumped away, the 5 other cephalopods unaware of the Elite Octoling who had been spying on them the whole time. The convo he had registered could be useful for any upcoming attack on the NSS.

Chapter Text

Emperor laid on his back on the bed, hypnoshades still on his face. If anyone entered the overly pink room and took a look, it would seem like he was sleeping. But in reality, he was just bored out of his mind, staring at the ceiling as he waited for something to happen.

His shades ringed, making him sit up quickly, ready to answer the call. Though, he waited some seconds before answering, not to make it seem like he was waiting for this call the whole time.

"Yo, squidkid!" Sang’s voice ran in the speaker. He sounded cheerful, like usual.

" Me and Lynix are coming to getcha. Say hi Lynx!"

..Silence.

Emperor just chuckled, thanking them and soon ending the call. He didn’t know if he could wait outside, no one told him if it was safe, so he opted to stay inside.

The door flew open, almost making Emperor flinch from the sudden movement. Lynix peeked his head inside,then nodded, gesturing for the inkling to go outside.

Sang was leaned against the wall, fiddling with the goggles that rested on his head. As soon as he noticed Emperor, he grinned, putting his hands on his hips and exposed torso.

"Let’s get going~!"

The walk to DJ Octavio’s office was surprisingly silent. The 2 elites either didn’t have anything to talk about, or.. had some stuff they couldn’t talk about in front of him.

And judging by Sang fiddling with his long tentacle, the second choice was the most likely.

Lynix swiftly knocked, and a gruff voice could be heard from inside saying ‘come in.’

"Ah, I was waiting for you 3."

The DJ said as he put down his wasabi sticks, crossing his tentacles as he stared down at the cephalopods in front of him.

"Elites, dismissed. Emperor will stay with me." The 2 saluted, and quickly but silently made their way out of the room.

"Now. Emperor, I’ve heard of your turf war battling skills. You’ll be a great asset to my army, hm?" Octavio began speaking, quickly gaining the attention of the sun yellow inkling.

" But, first, you must know about the New Squidbeak Splatoon. It is a recollection of Inklings on the surface, who are chosen to fight us. They’re our enemies, per stance, you must avoid them if you encounter one."

That was a bit confusing. Might as well voice out his thoughts.

" But then, how do I know who is who?" the DJ just nodded, and leaned in the chair he was sitting on.

"The members are agents, and go by a number. Like Agent 3, Agent 4.. their suits have quite the vibrant color, such as a neon yellow for second menace I just mentioned." He explained, pausing to hear the other’s opinion.

Realizing he was waiting for him to say something, he just asked a random question. " Do I know any of the agents?" The DJ nodded his head. That was quite a surprise, but he didn’t say anything else.

Emperor wasn’t one to pry, so he didn’t ask anything else. Though he did wan to know who said agents were.. maybe he was close to them too.

" Sadly, we’re low on zapfishes, those inkling scums have stolen them long ago. Right now, our electricity is run by salmon eggs, but those won’t last long."

He ran a hand on the paper work on his desk, setting down the pen he had in his hands.

" Emperor, I want to send you on your first mission. You’ll need to retrieve some zapfishes. You won’t be alone, an Elite will keep you company."

Before he could ask another question, the other began speaking again.

" Although, Sang and Lynix won’t be the chosen ones. They have more errands to run, such as other missions."

..Great! After he got used to the 2, they couldn’t go on a mission with him! Wohooo…

" I have already called the fill in elite, she’ll be here shortly."

The DJ was a bit chatty, talking about his projects and the army organization. It was quite strange knowing he outranked everyone except Octavio and the more known Elites.

Soon, a knock was heard. The octopus greeted the Elite who entered, and Emperor analyzed her appearance.

Her tentacles were long, with the same hairstyle of Marina from off the hook. Her face was freckled, and her cheeks were puffed up, giving them a chubby look. Her eyes a deep blue, staring right into his golden ones. Her hand was put on her exposed hip, giving her a confident look. On her waist, she had 2 attached little bands. Perhaps they contained 2 weapons.

..It kinda reminded him of N-Pacer.

Shoving those thoughts away, she extended an hand, in a greeting manner. He gave her a formal smile, shaking her hand.

" I’m elite Aylin. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Inkling."

She was formal too. Her appearance really stuck up to her looks. But.. it did remind him of someone. Both by personality, and looks. Who was this girl?

Octavio dismisses them both, but not before giving the Elite the mission details and location. She lead the sun yellow inkling to a nearby jump pad, setting the location to the destined kettle.

The entire time, it was dead silent. She wasn’t the time of squid to fool around, he could tell by her body language. Despite that, she looked fun to mess with. He just needed the right time.

The octoling revealed the kettle with her octoshot, but, before entering, she quickly inked a puddle of her magenta ink color.

" change. Your ink color, I mean."

Emperor gave her a smirk. He turned to squid form, entering the ink. Relaxing his muscles, he let the icy sensation of touching the enemy ink go to the back of his mind, only focusing on changing his own color.

As the sensation died out, he went back to humanoid form, touching his tentacles. The magenta color was.. okay. It didn’t really fit with his eyes, but it was something.

He was cut off as the elite jumped into the kettle, him following shortly after.

As he came out, he bumped into Aylin, causing him to fall to the ground. She turned around, a displeased look on her face. " Apologies. I should have moved."

She extended her hand forward, and he gladly took it, shaking his head. " Don’t worry. Where are we?"

She put a finger on her mouth, gesturing to keep his tone down. She then unzipped the bands, revealing his enperry splat dualies.

" Take them. If there’s danger, you’ll be able to defend yourself. And here’s an ink tank. She gave him another ink tank. Where did she even get it from? Doesn’t matter.

He adjusted his grip on the 2 shooters, ink tank on his back and he was ready. He nodded, the other faced the platform, inking in a straight line with a curling bomb.

He looked at the ambience. It was mostly dark- but for some reason, the magenta ink glowed, like the splatfest colors. It worked in their favor, showing them the path forward.

" The NSS keep the zapfishes here. One of our genius hacker has hacked the location, that’s how we’re here."

As soon as she finished, they walked into a giant room, and it was fully illuminated by more than 20 zapfishes. He stared in bewilderment.

" Our goal is to capture as much as we can. Shoot them with your ink once to knock them out. then put them in this."

With a click , something unzipped from her waist (just how many things did she have?) and a little net fell off. she expanded it on the floor.

" It’s made with a special material called seastone. I expanded it, and you must put all the fishes here. When we’re done, cover the edges of the net and it’ll revert back to its original position, so they’ll all be trapped."

Sounds fun enough. He smirked, and stealthily made his way towards a zapfish. Though, when he raised his weapon, the creature turned around. Instead of looking afraid.. its eyes sparkled, like it recognized him..?

He shook his head, shooting at the little blob of energy, who shrieked as it fell back. That’s when chaos erupted. All the energy suppliers ran everywhere, but were soon shot down by an octoshot.

Soon enough, all the zapfishes were passed out, on the net. Emperor helped inking the bases of the net, and as it reverted back to original form, he knotted the top, securing it.

Though, Aylin’s round ears twitched, and she grabbed the giant net, tossing it behind a wall. She gestured for him to come closer. As he did, she grabbed his hand and basically threw him behind the wall.

" sorry. there’s someone. Keep quiet." She peeked her head out, octoshot resting in her hands.

"And here’s where we rest the zapfishes! Usually it’s a lot brighter.. maybe they’re asleep? Hehe."

Emperor recognized that voice immediately. The team blue idiot, Goggles. So he must be an agent.. he really wouldn’t have expected it. No offense though.

"..Goggles? The fishes are gone." Another voice called out. Rider. Him too? Huh.. well, they were known as one of the most iconic duos, the airhead and hothead duo.

"I’ll call 1 and 2.. Oh Cod.."

…

…

…

…

…

…

Prince?

The elite must have senses his confusion, because she turned to look at him, bringing her goggles up. Her eyes showed a bit of confusion and worry, as to ask him ‘is everything okay?’

"Now hold on a moment, 4." Rider said. He could hear inking, probably meaning to cover the glowing magenta color to walk.

"The ink in this room evaporates after 10 minutes of sitting. The zapfishes can get knocked out just by touching it. And.."

A little blop sound echoed in the room, rider must have kneeled down to touch the ink.

"It’s still fresh. Wherever you are, show yourself."

There was also a loud thud. Definitely his dynamo roller.

" Stay here. I’ll handle it." She jumped out, but as soon as she took a step, her octoshot was shot (haha pun) out of her weapon with a really precise.. charger shot.

He gripped his dualies, but Aylin shook her head. Even as she got shot again, armor breaking. He couldn’t defy her order, so he stood back. But what could he do-

He pressed the call button on his shades. Soon enough, a cheerful voice blasted in his ears.

" Watchu calling for? Just got back from a mission!"

He didn’t even let Sang speak more.

" super jump to me. NOW."

The 2 super jump points of Sang and Lynix appeared next to him. At that point, he jumped in, breaking the armor of whoever was about to reach out for Aylin.

He heard a shocked gasp, but he ignored it, simply turning around and making sure she wasn’t hurt. She just stared at the agents, probably behind them.

" 2 Elites will be here soon. Go in the ink and fix your armor."

Since it had broken, she was left in her standard octoling armor, the one they wore outside of missions. She nodded and turned to swim form.

He turned around, fully facing his enemies.

..Oh!

His teammates!

He didn’t let the shock get to him, he simply spun the dualies in his hands, smirk on his face.

"Emperor-"

Cut it short, Eging. I’m not coming back." The anger that came on the shaved inkling’s face only fueled to his amusement. He looked over, seeing Lynix and Sang. The former wielded a charger, and the latter gripped a splatling. Both were custom colored, not the usual weapons at ammo knights.

BANG

He didn’t even see it.

A charger shot shot right at his right dualie, scattering on the ground.

He looked up at N-Pacer, whose gaze moved from the scope attached to her weapon.

"Sorry, Emp." She simply said, her gaze hardening as she met his eyes.

He noticed movement, but it was already too late. Rider jumped, aiming his dynamo roller right at him. Did the hypnoshades make him movements and perception slower?

He tried to react, but someone was faster than him, charging their fist like a splashdown. They didn’t jump, just aimed their magenta glowing fist at the weapon.

" BOOYAH!

A loud explosion of golden and magenta ink ensued, forcing everyone to look away. As the fog colorful fog went away, Sang and Rider were both panting, out of breath. The impact must’ve exhausted them.

Goggles tried to aim for the Elite, but his shooter was knocked out of his hand by a charger shot. He turned around, seeing Lynix aiming at Prince next.

He shivered, Prince was his little brother, but..

Forget it. He can’t interfere.

Luckily (or unluckily? who knows..) The younger golden squid skillfully dodged the shot, moving out of the way.

There were some footsteps.. and he felt a charger train on his face.

As soon as it shot, he moved his head, and turned to the entrance.

Marie and Callie from the squid sisters?

…

What the carp!! (Erm what the freak)

He felt a hand grab him. Turning around, he saw Aylin, holding a zapfish net, moving him behind a wall.

" Let’s go."

She did a recall, to which Sang and Lynix turned their heads, and soon reached them. Marie kept on shooting, getting frustrated as the octolings dodged her like she was some kind of joke.

"see ya, Inklings!"

Sang said. It was kinda strange seeing him talk in inklish instead of octarian, but it was to taunt them. They super jumped, leaving the zapfish base once for all.

Chapter Text

Lynix slowly wrapped a bandage around Sang’s fist, who was giggling like a toddler as they talked about what had just occurred.

"He seriously thought a dynamo roller could withstand me? HAH! In his dreams."

"Still, what you did was reckless. Your armor could have simply been broken. It’s a miracle your splashdown activated before the inevitable."

Lynix scolded as he finished wrapping the bandage, making sure it was secured in place.

" Yeah, plus, your fist got an ink burn. Your fist is messed up, and with that, I don’t know how you’ll wield a splatling."

Alyin said, cleaning her goggles with a wet pad. She turned to her brother, Lynix, and looked as his stern look pierced through the octoling.

She looked away, at the door. She was expecting someone.. but who?

" WELL! I’m beat!"

Sang said, suddenly getting up, almost throwing Lynix off balance. the latter whacked the former in the head, who held it in a fake pained way.

He grinned, gave the other a quick bump on the other’s fist and left, but not before grabbing his splatling, with his other hand, of course.

" I just hope he doesn’t get in trouble."

" I do too."
┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

Sang, with a deep sigh, opened the door to his room, positioning the splatling in its case.

He might seem like the chaotic octoling, but he was an elite! He could become the most serious and talented soldier you could ever seen.

But in stealth, someone beat him 0-10.

That said cephalopod was standing behind the door, closing it and locking it, causing him to freeze.

" Nori-?"

" Hold your seahorses!"

She said with a teasing smile, bringing up her modified goggles by her liking. Her green eyes looked at her friend, smug expression on her face.

" I was totally not stalking you guys on your mission! Your goggles are too easy to hack." She said as she stuck her tongue out, getting a chuckle out of Sang.

" You should stop doing that. DJ Octavio has already replaced them numerous times. At this point we’ll run out."

She just threw herself on his bed, magenta tentacles spraying out on the soft surface.

" Sayyy.. how’s it going with the inkling menace?"

She asked, her mouth in a ‘:3’ form, her little teeth sticking out a bit. Sang just leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

" He’s fine. Both in wielding weapons and personality. I was told inkling’s were annoying, so it probably is the hypnoshades work that he ain’t a killjoy."

The latter took a deep sigh, running his hand through his tentacles.

" Still wondering why my parents named me Nori. Like it means seaweed! Anything original?"

She said with a dramatic sigh, putting a hand over her face.

“ Mine is a whole fucking poem. Like why didn’t they just name me moss or something?"

The 2 teens broke in a fit of laughter again, Nori wiping a tear off of her face.

" But still, i’m grateful for having such a beautiful name. Even if it means seaweed, It fits me perfectly."

Sang smiles to himself, looking at her friend, who had her eyes closed, laying down on the bed without a care in the world.

" say, you always complain on how your name is a whole poem, but what does it ACTUALLY mean?"

Sang let out a ‘hmm’ as he thought, then faced their friend who had now sat up, knees to her chest as she waited.

" well, Sang is understood to embody the concept of being helpful, implying a willingness to assist and support others."

Nori was stunned for a second, before another genuine grin formed on her face.

"I’m impressed, actually. That’s your whole description. And I mean it!"

He let an idiot grin creep on his face, before he turned around to hide his cyan stained cheeks.

" Yes yes, thanks, I know I’m awesome, no need to comment me more. smh."

Nori just chuckled, before she brought out a computer from her case, opening it. He got closer to the bed, sitting next to her.

The wallpaper was a photo of them 4.

Lynix was next to Sang, who had thrown a hand over his shoulder and did the sign piece to the camera, a big smile on his face.

Lynix opted for a gentle smile, crossing his arms as he had his shoulder almost squished to Sang’s.

Aylin was next to Nori, her hands forming a heart. Her cheeks was squished next to the latter, whose mouth was formed like ‘:3’, holding up the camera.

Good memories.

She opened a tab, stretched her fingers and began typing a long ahh code.

" Aaannddd.. Enter!"

She clicked the enter button, and a site loaded up.

Inkopolis square? Wasn’t that the place where all the inklings lived on..

The surface?

" really want to go there! Imagine how cool the surface must be~”

Some little sparkles magically appeared next to her, but he shrugged it off and crossed his arms.

" We can’t, we’re octolings. Plus we’re part of the army."

She opened her mouth in a dramatic manner and scoffed.

" Don’t be a killjoy! That’s Lynix’s job!"

" Yeah yeah. And you’re a stalker who hacks other’s devices for her own amusement."

" HEY!"

┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

"Yo, Marina! Watchu doing?"

Pearl asked her partner, peeking over the shoulder of the octoling.

She jolted up, staring at the short inkling. Realizing it was just Pearl, she relaxed, and gestured for her computer.

"Callie called me, apparently Prince’s brother has been squidnapped. Remember the hypnoshades?"

Waiiiiitttt

HUH

HER BROTHER HAD BEEN SQUIDNAPPED?!

"WHAT?!" She yelled, and Marina clutched her ears in pain.

"Pearlie! Don’t scream like that! It hurts my eardrums!" She said, slowly removing her hands from her ears. Her ears were ringing a bit, but it’ll pass.

"Sorry.. huh. Did i ever tell you Prince and Emperor are my.. brothers? Heh.."

It was Marina’s turn to be stunned, before she sighed.

"How didn’t I notice? You’re so similar.. Excspt you’re short. Really short. pfft.”

"Ayo! Don’t mess with my flow. I might be short but I can spit bars while dissing you!" Marina just laughed, shaking her head, before going back to her computer.

"Anyways. Yes, Emperor has been squidnapped. They asked me to try and hack the hypnoshades, so.. here I am."

Pearl just nodded, but decided to avoid staying with Marina. Her hacking sessions could seem interesting, but would be Marina typing immense codes not even the most expert programmers knew the existence of. And they somehow WORKED.

She went to the library, opting to just read a manga in the meanwhile. What she didn’t expect was finding Hachi, reading a book at the speed of light.

"Ayyy Hachi! Something interestin’?"

He glanced up, his eyes meeting hers before he nodded, closing the book and showing her the cover.

"Goggles said he liked this book. So i spent 1 hour searching it here. It’s worth it." He said with a little smile.

Pearl raised an eyebrow.

That was.. a cooking book.

"Uhh.. looks fresh! You might become our private chef at this point." She said with a chuckle, to which Hachi grinned.

"Yeah, there’s so many interesting recipes here. There are also the pickled plums.."

Pearl just grinned, and went to the manga section, grabbing a random one and sitting next to the magenta octoling.

Chapter Text

“What do you meant she won’t answer your calls?!” Headphones anxiously answered Specs, who was currently on the phone with her.

Bobble Hat had left a mysterious message this morning which only expressed ‘I’m hunting for Emperor~ Don’t search for me ^^’

Goggles immediately became alarmed (for some reason) and tried calling her. To no vail, of course.

Thinking about Goggles.. the day before, he had come back home like someone crushed a jar of pickled plums. After noticing his teammates were home, his smile shined again.

But Bobble Hat knew better, apparently. The 2 rays of sunshine had gone into her room, and the day after the always smiling squid had disappeared to search for Emperor, for some reason.

“I’m telling you, she won’t answer! It goes straight to voicemail. She definitely turned off her phone.” Specs answered his teammate, furiously trying to track down Bobble Hat’s phone.

"Cod- this is bad. Really bad.. every time she disappears something goes wrong! I know she has wild instincts, but she can’t just do this..!”

Headphones was sweating by now, and she had the rights to.

Just where was their teammate?!

“We could ask Marina for help.. Goggles told us she’s an hacker of some sort..!” Headphones said in an hopeful tone, but the sparkle in her eyes died down by Specs sigh.

“Already tried.. Hachi answered the phone saying she was busy.” Headphones let out an annoyed groan, sitting down on their apartment’s couch.

“i Just.. hope she’s safe.”

“Me too, Phones.”

┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

Bobble hat happily walked her way through the square. If she was going to be searching for Emperor, then she had to think like Emperor.

What would the Monarch do?

Hmm..

When he was a momentary member of team Blue, renamed Blueper, he had explained to them how every morning, he headed down to Ammo Knights.

And it was to see Rider.

But she didn’t judge.

So she did exactly as he said.

Walking on the sidewalk, she glanced around the square. Little jellyfishes playing, Inklings who still hadn’t reached their humanoid form running around..

She abruptly stopped, looking to her left.

A secluded hallway.

She would have ignored and kept walking, Emperor was never distracted by such things.

But it felt weirdly strange.. so she decided it wouldn’t hurt!

With a giggle, she turned around and headed inside. Since she was alone, she opened her eyes, whom were one blue and one red.

This place was creepy, she had to admit. But creepy things never bothered her, she was often labeled as creepy, with her undying smile.

She kept walking, walking and walking.

Did this hallway just not end?

Suddenly, she stepped on something, which made a CRACK sound.

Startled, she closed her eyes, thinking there was someone. Realizing it was just an object in the ground, she kneeled down and opened them again, taking a better look at the said thing.

A phone..

Grabbing her own one and turning it back on, she turned on the flashlight and pointed it to the phone case of said phone.

A golden phone case which had yellow-green striped around, forming an heart. Then, there was a photo of..

Emperor and Prince.

No doubt, this was Emperor’s phone.

Turning it on, the screen was slightly cracked, probably by the fact that she stepped on it, but the edges were marked.

The phone had fell from Emperor’s hand. He had been probably been caught by surprise, but Emperor was never caught by surprise.

With a hum, she turned it on, and inserted 1402 as the passcode, which immediately unlocked it.

February 14th.. Rider’s birthday.

If the crush on the hot headed inkling wasn’t obvious enough with this, then she didn’t know what would make it more obvious.

Swiping up, she checked which app was the last one to be opened.

Phone.. he had called someone.

That said someone was labeled as ‘Lil bro <3’ and a genius wasn’t needed to guess that said contact was Prince.

She thought about it.

Emperor entered an hallway, then disappeared. His phone was cracked on the edges, meaning it had fell.

Maybe..

He was attacked, and possibly didn’t have a weapon, so he decided to call someone to help him out. Distracted by the call, his phone was shot.

The rest is history. Goggles had told her everything about this ‘Agent business’ and how Emperor had been squidnapped by the octarians.

She believed him, Goggles never lied to her, or their teammates. Thats why she went out to search for Emperor herself, she wanted to help.

And maybe this discovery was better than anyone could imagine.

┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

Prince sat on the bench of the cabin. His hero splat dualies had been tossed on the ground without a care in the world.

But he was feeling hopeless, a feeling he had not felt in a long time.

He had failed to rescue his brother. His brother for cod’s sake!

Just how useless could he be?

He was part of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. If he couldn’t rescue someone, could he even be considered an agent?

He hadn’t even noticed the tears spilling until Marie had put an hand on his shoulder.

“Prince, you’re crying.” Agent 2 never called him by his real name while in octo canyon.

But he couldn’t stop. He sobbed, putting his hands in a position to cover his face.

The other agents had stayed behind to inspect the hidden zapfishes kettle, checking to see if any of the little fishes had managed to escape capture.

Marie knew Prince would have broken down. She went through the grief of not being able to save someone you loved, too.

She sat down next to the sun yellow inkling, grabbing him by the shoulders, making him face her.

"Prince, let me see your face." The other sobbed a bit, possibly trying to calm down. Removing his hands, she could see his cheeks puffed up.

Just now she noticed his right eye was purple.

"..Your eye is purple?" That caused the young monarch to tense up, before sighing, slumping his shoulders.

“Big brother has Heterochromia, too.. we usually hide it. I must have forgotten to put it in. I dunno. I don’t remember and it’s the least of my worries right now.”

She could tell by his tone he was angry. At himself. Without thinking twice, she hugged the other, who let out a squeak of surprise.

“I think they look fresh. And please.. don’t be so hard on yourself. We’ll get your brother back, I promise you.”

In that moment, Prince broke. He buried his face in her agent outfit, stifling some sobs. His hands traveled to her back, hugging her to tightly like she would leave if he didn’t.

She heard footsteps. Glancing up, she noticed N-Pacer and Eging Jr looking at her curiously. She just gestured for them to come closer.

The 2 golden squid’s frowned, and both got closer to hug the other, having understood the reason of such a break down.

“You’re not alone, Prinz.” N-Pacer said, caressing the younger inkling’s tentacles.

“Yeah! And when we get Emperor back, we’ll show them what happens when you mess with team Emperor.” Eging added with a grin, giving the other a little bump on the shoulder.

Prince had side long stopped crying, giggling a bit at his teammate’s comment.

Soon, Callie, Goggles and Rider came back.

After a while of chatting, there was a phone vibration. It was Prince’s, and the contact made him freeze a bit.

“Emperor?” The other agents stared at him dumbfounded. He put the speaker on and answered.

“..Hello?”

“Hi, Prince!”

“BOBBLE HAT?!”

Goggles said, a bit shocked. There were some giggles from the phone.

“The one and only~!” She sounded so cheerful as always, and Marie immediately jumped in.

“Where are you? Are you hurt? Who is with you?” She said sternly. Bobble Hat could have been squidnapped too!

“I’m in a hallway.. it’s close to Ammo Knights. I found Emperor’s phone here~ hmm.. if one of you guys could super jump to me..”

“One of you guys..?”. Rider whispered. He glanced at Goggles, searching for answers. The other un ed the back of his neck.

“I.. hehe.. told her about the agent business..”

Silence.

“Lets talk about that later, Agent 3.” Marie’s tone was so dangerous that even the yellow-green squid flinched.

Callie gave a him a ‘good luck.’ look, because when Marie gets angry, it’s the end.

Anyways.

Goggles opened the map, searching for Bobble Hat’s little squid and preparing to super jump.

The other agents soon followed after him.

She must have found something useful.

┈┈・୨ ✦ ୧・┈┈

Luna was in her room, playing a new video game that had recently came out. She would have invited the other members of Team Cyan, but she wanted to try it alone.

Plus, soon the co-captains of the S5 were gonna arrive to their house. They liked to hang out- and it may seem crazy, but that was true.

Everyone is that group was one of a kind. A party animal, a diligent soldier, a guy who never showed his eyes, a night owl and an energetic octoling.

She heard a buzz, which she ignored, thinking no it was from the TV. But the buzz grew and grew, annoying her.

The cyan inkling got up, trying to understand where the noise was coming from.

She then glanced at a pair of fresh looking shades she had found. An inkling with one of these new fresh cuts had gave them to her, saying that ‘she knew she liked to collection stuff’ which was partially true. She likes to collection video games stuff, such as cards, posters..

But the shades were fresh, so why not?

She soon found out the shades had a button. Clicking it, she heard a voice.

“Hello?”

Marina from Off The Hook?

She felt her throat tighten a bit. It wasn’t from allergies this time, it was from the sudden anxiety.

Her idol was talking to her.

“Uhm.. Hello..”

Silence. Did she say something wrong?

“..Sorry- What’s your name?”

“Full Moon Glasses, or Luna..”

“Team Cyan?”

She knew her team..!

“Mhm..”

“..Whatever you do, don’t put those shades on. Please give me your phone number. I know this may all sound strange, but I promise after I solve this business i’ll gift you whatever you want.”

This sounded.. serious.

“Alright.. My number is *****”

“Added. Please, when you’re available, answer my message. I need to take a look at those shades.”

With that, the fresh looking shades turned off, the led lights too.

Luna blinked once. Twice. Three times.

“What the Shell..?”