Chapter 6 - The Meeting

“Sheldon’s mentioned potential upgrades for our gear.” Marie excitedly calls once the initial round of conversation drew to a halt. They’re about midway into the meeting, enough that attention is starting to drift, and her announcement had the intended effect. Callie already knew, but she still drew in interested while the Cap’n turned to her with a curious look on his face. Quinn and Clover quickly fix their gazes on her, those two are very particular about their weapons.

Marie reaches down to the ground beside her. She pulls a Kensa Charger out after four gentle taps to its side. She learned to shoot a charger with the prototype for the very weapon she’s currently holding. While she’s quite capable with all the different chargers, none of them feel quite right the way a Kensa charger does. Maybe that’s why she’s so excited to tell them the good news.

“While this may look like your normal, turf regulation Kensa charger, our good friend Sheldon has taken the liberty to upgrade it to the hero weapon standards.”

Marie watches as Clover’s eyes widen.

“Yup!” Marie pops the ‘P’. “He’s completely unlocked the things. Put any special on it you want enhanced limiter and all.

Marie watches as Quinn’s eyes widen, a grin rapidly forming on his face. Clover still looks excited, though she’s clearly more skeptical. Now to REALLY grab Clover’s attention.

“It takes a while to upgrade them, the turf models aren’t built to do the things we want them to.” The two agents share a sad look. Marie smirks and offers a sarcastic shrug, “After all, it takes a lot of time to get them so they feel identical to how the normal weapon would.”

Clover breaks out into a wide smile. There it is.

“Hoho!” The Cap’n merrily calls. “Excellent work Agent 2!”

Marie does her best to to beam with pride at the Cap’n statement. “I can put requests in as soon as you know what you want–” Marie sends a wink to Clover– “but don’t expect them anytime soon, it took over 4 months to get this here, and Callie’s already in queue. Sheldon works on these on the side, they’re not exactly uh, legal, so he can’t be particularly open with them.”

Marie gently sets the scope on the table as the meeting continues with reinvigorated energy.

40 minutes of good discussion follow, and ultimately, the meeting went better than Marie thought it would. Several ideas were brought forward; reducing patrols via automating surveillance, more direct coordination for planning big missions, upgrading gear to speed up patrols, someone even suggested ‘hiring’ a new agent. Lots of good suggestions, I think we can get something done.

Marie looked around the table. Conversation had again stalled, everyone had said their piece. She raps her knuckles against the table 4 times before scooting her chair back as she stands. “Welp, that was productive,” She calls. “How about we break?”

Nods show from around the table. Quinn stays seated, though he does seem to relax some. Clover yawns as she pushes her chair back to stand, she lazily watches Callie stand up and stretch, before making another trip to the snack table for some cookies.

“Phew! That’s all these old bones’ve got,” the Cap’n calls. He shifts his posture as he moves to stand, Marie stepping over to help him. “You squiddos have fun now, I’ll be sleeping in the cabin tonight. Let me know if you come up with anything else.” He pauses. “Agent Two!”

“Cap’n?” Marie echoes, passing him the old bamoozler that doubles as his cane.

“You’re in charge, I’m retiring for the night.”

“Sir.” She calls back, before an easy smile takes her face. “Night, gramps.” Marie watches as he hobbles back to the cabin.

As he pulls open the door he turns back to the others, “Agent 1!” He shouts.

Callie jumps, back instantly straightening as she preforms an overexaggerated salute. “Sir!”

“Yell at Agent 4 for being late!” He waves as he walks back inside, door closing behind him.

Callie giggles and wonders over to the drink table.

Clover walks over to Quinn and begins talking to him about something, probably the weapon upgrades, but Marie doesn’t bother listening in. Instead she mulls over some of the ideas from the meeting. Anchoring cameras won’t be hard, making sure they aren’t detected will be the challenge. Direct coordination isn’t exactly a difficult thing to establish either, but I am not trusting the Splatoon’s plans on some random company’s servers. I’m sure we can get Sheldon to get us some new gear. Idly, she taps her finger against the side of her coat, 2 quick taps, 2 beats of pause.

She meets Callie at the refreshment table. “Hey Cal, think you could help me look into some of these things?”

“Hmm, like what?” She answers, her mouth full of cookie.

“Well, for starters I have no idea where one would buy heavy duty surveillance cameras.”

Callie pauses, the half eaten cookie in her hand. She takes a moment to finish chewing, “Yeah, I can help with that, least I can do. I can just say we’re looking to buff up security at home if someone asks.”

“Sounds good” Marie answers. A cozy silence fills the space between them as Callie finishes her cookie, and a few moments after. Marie steps around her cousin to the drinks table, reaching under it to the cooler resting below the table.

“Hey, Marie?” Callie tepidly asks, “I’m a little worried about Nora.”

“Eh, she’s late, not the first time it’s happened.” Marie answers as she grabs a bottle of water with 4 quick taps to the lid.

“But she hasn’t responded to any of my texts either!” Callie retorts.

Marie pauses, “Alright, that is a bit out character for her. Wasn’t she meeting someone for lunch, or something like that?”

“Yeah, but she always answers agent related stuff really fast!” Callie pouts back.

“Unless she’s asleep,” Marie points out

“Why would she be asleep? She’s meeting a friend for lunch! I don’t think you’re supposed to nap in a café.”

Marie just shrugs as she makes her way back towards her chair. She doesn’t sit, opting to instead hover a little ways behind it.

“You don’t, umm, think this ‘friend’ is a, uh, bad actor, do you?” Callie tepidly asks. I wondered if she was thinking about that…

Marie puts on her best casual and confident air, “No, I don’t. You’ve heard Nora talk about her before. I doubt she’s anything but nice. They probably just got sidetracked or something.” I hope.

Callie’s laugh is equal parts relieved and nervous. “Hah, yeah. Her phone’s probably dead or something.” The two fall into a comfortable silence. Octavio wouldn’t stoop that low… right?

In the silence that follows, Marie hears Quinn and Clover’s conversation, something about one of the fighters from their turf matches yesterday. Marie could hear Clover building to some big question, but before she can ask they’re interrupted by the tell-tale rattle of someone approaching in the grate. All four pairs of eyes turn towards it.

“See?” Marie calls, “here she comes now.” Everyone in the group feels a bit of tension leave their bodies as their missing friend approaches. The grate shakes slightly as the inkling arrives, they watch as the figure rises.

They all freeze, tension rocketing back through their forms, as on top of the grate is a girl that is distinctly NOT Nora. Who the hell is this? How did she get here, it shouldn’t be possible to find this place by accident. Someone had to tell her… oh, cod. No, be reasonable. I’m sure there’s a more reasonable explanation…

The figure is about average height, taller than Nora, with black tentacles draping past her shoulders ending in a purple hue. An unzipped beige jacket partially covers a Basic Tee. She looks around, the sun partially blinding her. After a few moments, the girl’s eyes land on them. Instantly, the girl falls into a defensive stance. No, not defensive… that’s a combat stance. She’s… why is she in a combat stance? She shouldn’t know who we are, there’s no reason anyone coming out of that grate should be ready to fight us.

Marie takes advantage of the stand still to look her over again. The girl is strong, Marie can clearly see tense muscles in her forearms and legs. Based on how quickly she fell into the combat stance she’s no stranger to fighting…Not thinking that way. Not going to do it. Nora’s fine. Marie’s fingers twitch, habitually trying to count, she forces them still.

For several more heartbeats no one moves. Slowly, the mystery girl straightens slightly before stepping forward, just off the grate. Marie can see something held in the hand behind her back. What is…? IS THAT…

Marie moves.

=== As Mavi forms on top of the grate, the first thing she notices is the sun. It’s not directly in her eyes, but it’s bright enough for her eyes to struggle to make anything out beyond shapes for the moment. She takes a moment to look around, Ok, we’re outside, that much is obvious. High up, surrounded by a canyon? Nora where the hell are we.

Mavi’s eyes scan the area, until she abruptly stops. In front of her is 4 figures. She can’t tell much about them, her eyes still adjusting to the sun, but she can tell they’re not happy to see her. I don’t think Nora told them I was coming.

Sensing an overtly hostile feeling from the figures, Mavi drops into a combat stance on instinct. Her prior fretting about this group doing nothing to calm her worries. Look around, get your bearings, don’t let any of the figures leave your sight. She holds her right hand behind her back, Tenta brella clutched tightly within.

Near the figures, she can make out tables, 2 smaller covered in something, and one bigger with chairs around it. Makes sense, Nora did mention a meeting. Out of the corner of her eye, she can see some kind of cabin. Mavi uses the standstill to looks over the figures again.

To the right is a girl An Octoling, I think. Her ink is dark pink.

Behind Dark Pink is another figure. The sun catches the tip of one of her tentacles, illuminating a brighter pink color, and the white underside, inkling.

To the left of the Pinks, a third figure stands behind the table, but they’re too far for Mavi to tell anything about them. The figure is stock still, except for their right hand, which seems to be twitching at their side.

The final figure on the right is a bit closer, Mavi can make out the most detail regarding them. The first thing she notices is the blue of his tentacles. She scans over him until some movement from one of the Pinks draws her attention. Blue, male Inkling… wait. Mavi’s eyes snap back to Blue. *Is that Quinn? That makes sense, Nora did mention him while she was spiraling.”

She breaths a little easier now that she knows there’s a semi-familiar face, pulling herself up a little to try and show non-hostile intent. However, she doesn’t drop her guard, she knows she’s not welcome here. Glancing down for just a moment, Mavi remembers she’s still standing on the grate. Slowly, she steps off the grate, towards the figures.

Her feet make contact with the ground. Before she can even think to call out, the third figure lunges forward. Mavi watches as they grab something off the big table, and then SLIDE ACROSS IT, landing on the ground in a crouch very similar to Mavi’s.

Time slows for Mavi as she realizes what she has. The barrel of a charger is pointed right at her, a Kensa Charger to be precise her brain supplies, as unhelpful as ever. Mavi just stares, everything around her suddenly happening too fast for her mind to process. Distantly, she hears someone shout, but all of her focus is on the barrel of the charger, which she can see actively charging now.

Years of her father’s training and adrenaline push her to move while her brain is still lagging behind. She falls into a crouch. Minimize your vulnerabilities. Bring your shield up! As she moves to swing the brella forward, she pumps a shot, creating a trail of adrenaline-colored white ink behind her. As the brella swings up, she drops deeper into the crouch. Never be unarmed if there’s a chance for a fight. To Mavi, the only thing louder than the beating of her hearts is the distinctive beep of the charger’s full charge. Move! As the brella flicks upward, Mavi togging the switch for the brella’s shield the moment it won’t get caught on the ground, and braces herself. Half of a second later, the charger fires.

For a moment everything seems to freeze, those fractions of a second while the ink flies feel like hours.

Mavi can feel the impact of the ink against the shield. For Mavi, time seems to slow even further as the shield instantly breaks. Mavi reels backwards on instinct alone, sliding through the stark white ink she sprayed behind her. How did the shield break instantly?! No charger is supposed to be that strong!

“WHO SENT YOU?” The figure calls, her voice echoing through the canyon, very familiar to Mavi, but she’s in no state to think further about that.

The adrenaline courses through her body, urging her to move all while her brain screams at her to freeze. Mavi’s muscles are taut, ready to spring her out of the way of another shot. The figure keeps the charger trained on her, aim unflinchingly steady.

“ANSWER ME!” The figure demands. All of Mavi’s senses are tunneled on the figure, but she can vaguely make out Pink to the side, shouting something at the figure.

It takes a second, one agonizing second stuck at the end of a horrifyingly powerful charger to find her voice. “Nora.” Mavi’s voice rings clear.

The figure jerks slightly, but doesn’t lower the charger. Mavi stands, ready to move on a hair trigger. Brella brought to bear, the shield was damaged beyond the weapon’s ink repair function. I don’t win this fight. I don’t win against whatever the hell is wrong with that charger. Her mind desperately flies through plans to buy enough time to make it back through the grate. None of them give her a good chance.

Now at a standstill, Mavi can see the figure, much better. An Inkling, Lime, has their tentacles cut short, silver in color, ending in lime tips. She’s wearing a white coat with similarly colored lime sections visible in the center. She feels familiar, but Mavi doesn’t spare any time to think about that.

The agonizing standstill only lasts for a few moments until the grate behind Mavi rattles, signaling Nora’s arrival. Mavi instantly reels back and covers Nora with her body, brella brought to bear.

“Whoa! Mavi what’s happening?”

“Agent Four?” Mavi distantly hears someone shout, the voice also sounding familiar to Mavi.

“Sync with me!” Mavi hisses. Instinctively Nora reaches for Mavi’s hand while her ink begins to shift to a similar color to Mavi’s adrenaline-fueled white. A moment after their hands clasp, Nora’s ink is the same color as Mavi’s.

It takes Nora another moment to gather her bearings. “Mavi, what’s going on,” she quietly demands.

“Charger, Silver tentacles, 2nd from the left. Broke my shield.”

“Charger, Silver ten-Wait, Woah WOAH TWO NO NO NO!” Nora charges forward as fast as she can, barreling past Mavi, frantically waving her hand that’s not gripping her cane while shouting.

Mavi watches as Lime eyes Nora with suspicion, before her grip on the charger finally loosens. Dark Pink runs over to grab the weapon from her.

Now not under threat of being shot, Mavi practically collapses, her breathing suddenly growing heavy. She catches herself with her brella preventing a full collapse, but still leaving her pretty exposed.

An undignified yelp leaves her mouth when Nora gently touches her shoulder, Mavi wheeling to her with the brella poised to fire.

A “yipe!” sound escapes Nora, who’s shocked by her friends’s reaction. “I didn’t know you could move that fast!”

It takes Mavi a second to catch her breath to respond. “I’m still a little–” huff– “on edge from almost dying.”

“Well, no one’s going to shoot you now. I’m sorry I didn’t arrive sooner, I stopped to rest my leg, er, tentacle, in the current.”

Mavi just nods, and breathes for a second more, before drawing herself back to her full height. Most of the tension bleeds out of her body, though she clearly remains on edge. She only notices how white her ink had made her tentacles when it starts to return to its normal color. The black of her mantle makes the slowly darkening white ink appear slightly gray where it overlaps.

Everyone stands still, unsure of what to do at this point. Now no longer under threat, Mavi starts looking over the four in front of her. I can’t place Pink, but I know I know her from somewhere. Lime too, they’re just so familiar. Her eyes trail farther left, where she can see Dark Pink handing the splatterscope off to Maybe-Quinn. Her thoughts are brought to an abrupt halt as Dark Pink turns to look at her. There’s no way.

Another familiar voice meets her ears. One she can name this time at least. Hesitantly, Mavi meets her eyes as she speaks, “Mavi? What are you doing here?” There’s no coddamn way. What the hell is going on here?

“Clover?” Mavi calls.

“Mavi! I did not recognize you with the white ink!” Clover responds.

“Mavi you know Clover?” Nora asks beside her.

“We’ve met,” Mavi snarks back before she’s again interrupted, this time by Maybe-Quinn.

“Mavi?” She hears him call to her left.

Turning to look, Mavi’s suspicions are confirmed, it’s him.

“Quinn?” she echoes, “What’s… going on here?” Mavi starts to stand, sheer confusion quickly eroding the last of the dangerous air present.

“You know Quinn?” Nora repeats beside her.

“Wait, I know you!” Pink calls, seeming to ignore the tension still strung between Mavi and the others. “I ran into you earlier!”

Mavi turns to look at her. She’s missing the beanie but that’s definitely her, same voice and all. It’s her from earlier… but I know her from somewhere else too, I’m sure of it. “Yeah… you… you did. What the hell?”

Nora looks between the two confused. “Mavi how do you know everyone already?”

“I… don’t know.” Mavi admits. Her eyes flicker to the only person not to speak up, Lime. She meet’s the girl’s calculating gaze with one of her own. I know her too! Where do I know these squids from?

Lime breaks the silence. “Mavi Reefseeker. What a surprise,” She calls in a nonchalant tone. How does she know my full name? The only place I’ve given that out to is my landlord and work. Now hold on, wait a second I do recognize her.

“Lurker,” Mavi answers, forcing a similarly relaxed tone. If Lime’s resulting confused expression is anything to go off of she wasn’t expecting Mavi’s reaction.

“Lurker? Who’s Lurker?” Pink calls, confusion even more evident.

Mavi gestures to Lime. “Lime here occasionally shows up where I work. Dresses all ‘casual’ and walks into the store. She never says anything, buys anything, or interacts with anyone. She just watches us. We call her Lurker.”

Pink just stares for a moment, before she breaks down laughing hysterically. The tension in Lime’s shoulders gives as she slumps forward, clearly giving up on whatever intimidation play she was going for.

“I-” Pink tries to start before she continues laughing too hard to speak. Mavi glances over to Quinn, who’s walking back from setting the splatterscope somewhere further away. He just shrugs. Mavi’s glance moves over to Clover, who looks like she’s fighting to not join Pink in laughter.

Hesitantly, Mavi’s drawn out of her edge. Her guard’s still up, but she’s not about to shoot her friend’s into the nearest respawner if they tap her shoulder. Her ink finishes it’s shift back to its natural black.

“I– Haha– I told you they recognized you!” Pink doubles over, clutching her stomach. Clover joins her this time.

Lime sulks her way into a nearby chair, practically falling into it. She turns to Nora with death in her eyes. “Agent 4, would you care to explain what’s going on?” Agent 4… right the whole agents thing. Ok, Nora is 4, who else can I stick a number too?

Nora jumps, not expecting the call out. She steps forward, leaving Mavi’s side, her white ink also being replaced by its natural yellow. “Right! SO, I was having lunch with my friend Mavi here, it was a good time, we talked about a lot of things. Life, Bands, mostly bands actually, I gave her a few of the tips you’ve given me act-”

Nora is cut off by a glare from Lime. “I don’t need a play by play. I get that she’s your friend, but why is she HERE?”

“Well, we’ve been friends for a while, and I’ve helped her with some stuff before. We’re kinda close and as a result she could tell something was bothering me. And I um, I kinda uhhh… broke down crying while she held me, and I was so overwhelmed and upset and I had to explain myself but I just couldn’t! And she was there and I trusted her a whole lot more than anyone but you guys, so I might have kinda… toldhereverythingaboutthesplatoonandwhativebeenthrough (told her everything about the splatoon and what I’ve been through).

Lime just stares. Mavi watches as her hand begins to tap against the table, in a frustrated, yet measured pattern of 2 harsh taps, a pause, and then 6 quick, but softer taps. Over and over while her face slowly clouds over more and more with a scowl.

Mavi glances around at the others. Pink has calmed down, wiping tears from her eyes as she watches Nora’s approach. Clover stands awkwardly to the side, also watching Nora. Mavi watches as Clover’s eyes quickly flick between herself and Nora a few times, her eyes narrowing, having come to some conclusion.

Mavi draws her attention back to Lime, who seems to be trying to explode Nora with her glare alone. Mavi decides to speak up. “Um, I-I’m sorry about showing up unannounced. I thought Nora had like, texted ahead or something.”

Lime takes that moment to rest her head in her hands, an exhausted sigh escaping. Clover quietly work her way along the outside of the tables, towards Quinn.

Pink quickly fill’s Lime’s silence, stepping forward with a smile, “That’s alright! No hard no foul right?”

Mavi tries to scowl, I almost got splatted! But opts instead for a sigh, “It’s alright… I guess.” It’s probably not a good Idea to piss Lime off anymore

Pink turns to Nora. “There’s more to your story, I’m sure,” she prompts. Lime’s head moves to rest against the table, one arm under it. Her fingers begin tapping the same rhythm from earlier, just less aggressively

“Right.” Nora walks over to the drink table and grabs one of the cans from on top of it, it’s orange. “You guys got me squish! Thanks so much.”

Pink’s smile morphs into a smirk as she gently elbows Lime, “See? I was right to take my shopping trip earlier, she loves it!”

Lime just waves her non-tapping hand in a circular motion, ignoring her companion and urging Nora to continue.

“Well, she already knew about-” Nora waves her hands in the general direction of herself and the canyon beyond- “so.. I kinda figured that mayyyybe we could recruit her as a new agent?”

Lime’s head flies up as she looks at Nora. “So you betrayed all our secrets, and then decided that the best idea was to bring her here, just to make sure she knows everything?!” Lime green spots glow within Lime’s silver tentacles. In the background Mavi can see Quinn’s eyebrows raise in response to something Clover said. Mavi can’t see Clover’s face.

“Calm down” Pink calls, setting a hand on Lime’s shoulder. “It’s… not a bad idea.”

“She was going to have a lot of questions!” Nora defends. “I know I can’t answer all of them, AND we’re having a staffing problem!”

“But to just bring– You can’t– this should have been a group decision!” Lime regains her posture as she belittles Nora. “We can’t just have all of you pulling random people into this!” Mavi hears Quinn clear his throat, at the same time Nora sends Lime a pointed look. Lime wilts slightly.

“Still,” Lime continues, “You really shouldn’t have brought her here. I know you trust her, but I don’t, and she knows about all of this now.” Lime sends Mavi a death glare as she finishes.

Mavi, for her part, sends an unbothered, neutral glare back.

Glancing behind Lime, Mavi can see Clover whispering something to Pink as Quinn steps up to Lime at the table. “Mavi,” he calls, while beckoning her with his hand. Hesitantly, she walks up next to him, Clover moves in beside her.

Quinn turns to face Lime, “Marie. She can fight.” Is all he says. Marie…? Oh my cod.

Mavi reinspects the squid in front of her with this new knowledge. She’s a dead ringer for a face she sees almost every single day at work for hours. Marie Kensaki, often goes by Marie Cuttlefish, famous half of the idol duo the Squid Sisters, sits right in front of her with the most tired look Mavi has ever seen. How the hell didn’t I…

Clover jumps to aid him, “Yes! When we fought her yesterday, she adapted to our strategy very well, even completely pushing us out of their side!”

“Wait!” Pink cries, “Are you the one that broke Quinn’s record?!”

Quinn and Mavi nod at the same time, though Mavi’s is much more timid. Nora turns to stare at Mavi mouth open in shock, “You beat Quinn and didn’t tell me?! That’s incredible!”

Mavi feels her face heat up at the compliments. In a bid to distract herself she looks over to Pink, who was looking back at her intently. Yup, that’s Callie. Callie Cuttlefish of Squid Sister fame, the one who ran into me while gathering snacks for the very meeting I’m currently crashing. Heh… what are the odds?.

Nora pulls everyone’s attention back. “Well there you go, you saw how she reacted at the end of your charger, and she’s beat one of the best fighters in Inkadia.” One of the best fighters? Lime, no Marie, slides lower in her seat, rubbing her temples with measured motions. Nora continues “Besides, Mavi’s a very trustworthy person. I’ve helped her a lot over the past, and she’s helped me too.”

Clover gasps. “Nora! Is Mavi the friend who you helped get better when you first moved!”

“Yea, she is!”

Clover lets off a little squeal of excitement and claps her hands. “Mavi! You should hear the nice things she says about you! How you inspire her to do better with herself and-” Clover is cut off by Nora clamping a hand over her mouth. “Haha! Clover, thanks!” Nora says trying to hide her blush.

Slowly, Marie raises her eyes to meet those of the other agents. Callie walks over and stands beside Clover.

They stand resolute, staring back at her. “You said it yourself earlier, it’s a group decision on bringing a new agent into the fold.” Nora calls back to Marie.

Marie leans forwards as stares them down, Mavi wilting slightly under her glare. She slouches, sighs one final time, and relents. “Yeah, ok.”

Mavi’s mind is racing. Things are moving so fast again. Hell. Me? An Agent?

Clover steps back. Callie steps into the newly opened space. She looks Mavi up and down, the meets her eyes, “Well, what do you say? Wanna be our Agent 9?” She holds out a hand for a handshake.

Oh shit. Oh hell. What do I even do? Mavi forces herself to keep still as she panics, some of the adrenalin from earlier rushes back into her. She manages to keep her ink its usual tone. Oh cod get a grip! Slow down and think.

Mavi looks around, Callie has an excited, but controlled smile on her face, hand still outstretched. Nora is beaming a smile and a thumbs up at her. Clover’s practically vibrating with excitement. Marie watches with neutral looks on her face. Quinn’s expression is similarly neutral, save for a small encouraging smile.

No, stop. Hold on. What’s going on here. I don’t know these people, Nora excluded. I don’t know what they do, what they’ll have me do, none of it! I can’t just join a random group of surprisingly famous people because they’re nice to me! No, I need to let them down gently, yet confidently.

“Wh-huh?” Mavi chokes out.

“Will you join us?” Callie asks again.

“Wait no, hold on.” Mavi calls back. “I don’t even know what I’m signing up for!”

Behind her, Mavi can hear Marie snort a small laugh. “Not one for taking risks are you?” She sarcastically questions.

Callie pulls her arm back as she tilts her head in confusion. “I thought Nora explained it to you?”

“Nora had an emotional breakdown and talked nonsense while sobbing uncontrollably. I made out enough to be concerned but not enough to really understand anything.”

Callie sends Marie a pleading look. Marie sighs, deeper this time, before she nods. Callie bounces in place, giddy. “I’ve always wanted to do this,” she calls out to no one in particular. She takes a second to school her features, adopting a very serious look.

“Ahm!” she stands up straight as clears her throat. She thrusts an arm out, pointing at Mavi with her index finger, thumb splayed to the side making an L shape. “I’m sure you’ve realized it by now–” She pulls her arm back in, folding her index finger so she’s pointing at herself with her thumb–” but I’ll confirm it for you! I’m Callie Cuttlefish, of the famous (former) idol duo, The Squid Sisters!” She strikes the iconic ‘Stay Fresh!’ pose, before her arms fall to her sides as she leans in towards Mavi. “I’ve brought you here because I’ve seen how you fight. You’re pretty strong, and we could use that strength!” She pumps her fists. “The Octavians are up to something, I’m sure of it!” She gestures to the others. “Our merry little band here is called the New Squidbeak Splatoon, and we’ve kept Inkopolis and Inkadia at large safe for the last 15 years! We could really use someone like you. So what do you say, will you help us out?” She holds her hand out again.

Mavi stares, stunned. Did- Did she just give me a sales pitch like I’m some 15 year old squid with stars in her eyes? How am I even supposed to respond to that? Several seconds of silence pass as Mavi tries to wrap her head around what the hell exactly is happening. Callie stands there, arm again outstretched, smiling.

“Well… I’m gonna take your silence as a yes! Welcome to the New Squidbeak Splatoon, Agent 9!”

“Wait, what? No! That’s not how this works! You don’t just get to decide something like that! What was that anyway? A… sales pitch? I still don’t know what I’m signing up for! It could be dangerous!” Callie’s arm falls to her side as she pouts at the rejection.

Mavi continues, “My life could be at risk! Who would join something like this with only a napkin pitch ba-”

Mavi cuts herself off, on the side of her vision she saw Nora pointedly avoiding eye contact, a guilty look on her face. “You’re joking, did that actually work on you?” Nora counts the clouds above her. Mavi turns back to the Squid Sisters but spots Quinn acting very similar to Nora. “You too!?” He just shrugs.

“Oh my cod. You’re both hopeless.” She turns back to Callie. “Can I have like, and actual explanation of what’s going on here?”

Marie sighs again, this time being deliberately overdramatic, before gesturing to one of the chairs at the table. Mavi moves to take a seat, and the others follow, finding chairs of their own.

Marie turns to her, “Alright, we’re going to run through a brief history lesson. You asked for this, so don’t complain.” Mavi nods.

With a lazy flourish, Marie takes to her feet and begins. “Ok, You know the story of the Octarian Civil War. Speciests vs Equalists, Inklings helped the Equalists, bla bla bla, the Speciests were forced into the underground domes rather than surrender.”

“Right, basic history class.” Mavi replies.

Marie continues. “Well, nothing happened with them for many years. So everyone kinda stopped paying attention to them.”

“I think I see where this is going”

“Yeah. The leader of the inkling forces’ esteemed Squidbeak Splatoon, Captain Craig Cuttlefish–” Marie gestures to herself and Callie– “our grandfather, didn’t stop watching. For many years nothing happened, they were recovering from a lost war after all. Only recently, well 20 years ago recently did things start to pick up. It wasn’t anything concerning then, but the Captain isn’t dumb.

“He kept them at bay by himself for a while, they were only barely scraping onto the surface again so it wasn’t hard, but he knew he was only biding his time. He was getting old and they were getting stronger. So, he started training Callie and I. Under his guidance, we became Agent 1 and Agent 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. Agent 1 and 2, Is Quinn 3?

“We’re probably two of the most competent fighters in the entire country.” Callie chimes.

Marie ignores the interruption, “The three of us, Callie and I as ground agents, and Gramps running our communications was still enough to keep things from getting out of hand. What we didn’t do, however, was deep missions into the domes. We patrolled the surface, and occasionally the topmost domes, keeping eyes out for any mounting forces, we made sure to stop anything we saw.”

Callie takes hold of the story. “They were doing a lot of work in the lower domes. I don’t think the forces they put in the upper levels were decoys, but they weren’t the primary force either. We had dealt with one of the upper level groups, we thought we had some time before anything else happened.”

To the cousin’s right, Quinn speaks up. “The zapfish.”

Marie nods. “They stole it while we were touring, we couldn’t do anything about it.”

Mavi thinks for a second, “That was the East-Side performance wasn’t it?”

The cousins flinch at the mention. Callie elaborates, “Yeah… we found out minutes before we were due on stage. The show was fine, but I think everyone could tell we were off our game that night.”

Mavi shoots them a look of sympathy as Quinn speaks up again. “Cap’n found me, I followed the Sales Pitch.”

Marie picks up, “What followed was a grueling 3 year battle. Quinn trained, grew, and fought during all of it.” She pauses, as if she’s trying to fight back some emotions.

Callie continues for her. ” A few months into the effort, the Cap’n got squidnapped by Octavio.”

Mavi gasps, “Did he make it?”

Nora laughs behind her. “Yeah he’s fine, he’s built tough. He’s asleep in the cabin,” she points to the cabin behind her with her thumb.

Marie starts again. “That did leave Quinn without a guide for almost a month, we were still on tour. The height of our careers and all that, we didn’t enjoy a single bit of it.” Callie solemnly nods beside her. “We were able to send a few messages here and there to who we knew as ‘Agent 3,’ but it was rarely anything more than advice and ‘hang in there, well be back soon’ messages.” A pause as Marie sends Quinn a side eye. “We never heard anything back.” Quinn throws his hands up but doesn’t say anything.

*Yes, Quinn is Agent 3. Where does that leave clover?

Callie butts in again, “When we finished the tour, the first thing we did after getting back was run straight here. We expected to find an Agent waiting for us. No, instead he had singlehandedly fought almost a third of the way through their territory.”

Marie takes over. “It took over 2 years of all three of us fighting to make it to the end goal, Octavio. The battle was short, sweet and decisive, Quinn defeated him handily.”

Mavi can see Quinn shaking his head and waving his hands as if to say, “no the hell it wasn’t.”

“Things were peaceful for a while. About 2 years after Octavio’s defeat, Cap’n and Quinn left on a research trip, up to the cape. They were ambushed by Octavian soldiers.”

In the corner of her eye, Mavi sees Clover flinch slightly.

“Things went wrong, and they were left out of commission for a long time. Octavio got the report though, and moved to take the Zapfish again. Now significantly lacking in field agents, I had to make a desperate call, so I disguised myself, and began to search Inkopolis Square for the most talented and capi-”

Wait, ’I had to…?

She’s cut off by Nora. “I saw some suspicious lookin squid standing off in the corner of the alley. Anytime anyone got close she’d duck out of the way.”

Nora shrugs off a sideways glare from Marie. “I wanted to know what was goin on, so I followed her when she didn’t think anyone was watchin late one night.”

Mavi throws her hands up. “So you did know this whole thing was shady as hell! Why did you think I wouldn’t?”

“We’re friends!”

“We had to travel through the sewers to get here!”

Nora opens her mouth to retort, but closes it a few moments later.

“As I was saying!” Marie cuts back in. “I needed the man power, and Nora filled that role well. The Octavians had moved their primary operations to a different area, but due to the previous defeat there were less equipped this second time through.”

“Still took over two years though!” Nora happily chimes.

“It was bad enough that I had to pull away from the public for a while to focus on agent work.”

There she goes again, with the ‘I’, where’s Callie during this time?

Mavi subtly glances to the others while Nora and Marie continue explaining. Quinn looks mildly disinterested, though it’s hard to tell with how neutral he looks by default. He’s probably heard this story before.

“We managed to get it done though! Two years of work and before you know it I was fightin Octavio! I even got the final hit in with a rainmaker!”

Did Clover wince at the mention of fighting Octavio? And Callie isn’t even looking in this direction. There’s definitely something they’re not telling.

“Yes yes Nora, it was very impressive.” Marie chides. “What matters is that we got the Zapfish back.” There’s a pause as Marie takes a drink from a bottle of water.

“A few months later, Cap’n, and Quinn return, with Clover in tow. Cap’n was mostly fine, but Quinn and Clover were in rough shape.”

Mavi glances over to Clover, who’s sending Marie a blank look. A glance at Quinn reveals the same poker face.

Callie bounds back into the conversation, the evasiveness from before seemingly forgotten. “And that’s where we’ve been for the last two years! Rest, recovery, training, patrols. For the most part. We’ve broken up a few plans here and there, but the Octavians haven’t shown nearly as much activity as before, so we don’t think they’re making any more big plays any time soon.”

“The issue we’re facing,” Marie continues, “is that we don’t necessarily trust this lack of activity. We’ve been tricked before, so we need to keep constant watch over things to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

Callie takes the lead again. “Only problem is, we’re all getting too busy. Agents 5 and 6 are working on a separate project, Clover works with them usually.

Agents 5 and 6… Is Nora agent 7 then?

“Barring something big happening, normal operations here were run by the four of us–” Callie gestures to herself, Marie, Quinn and Nora. “–with the Cap’n acting as out comms. Now, though, Marie only has a few hours available in a day, barely enough for a moderate patrol, I’ve got an acting gig coming up, and…” She trails off.

Nora sighs as she speaks up. “I’m not exactly in fighting condition anymore.”

Mavi nods as her understanding grows. She watches as Marie pulls up her phone, typing something.

Callie resumes her speech. “We’re down to only one active field agent. Don’t get me wrong, Quinn is strong, but this isn’t a matter of skill. We can all call in favors and show up to fight if something really big starts or whatever, but without regular, consistent field work we don’t have any way of knowing if something is even happening.”

“Before it’s to late, at least.” Nora tacks onto the end. Marie’s eyebrows raise in the background.

Callie stands up from her seat at the table and walks over to Mavi. She folds her hands, dropping the dramatics from earlier. “We could really use the help. We’ve been trying to come up with ways to do this without involving other squids, but all we’ve come up with is temporary fixes and stopgaps.”

Marie passes Callie her phone. After a few moments of reading, Callie lets out a low whistle. “Damn girl, yeah. Your turf stats don’t lie, you’re a capable fighter, and all of the other agents have vouched for your abilities. We trust their judgment. If you’ll help us out here, we’ll help you every step of the way. We don’t do anything alone here.

Damn, that was a lot better than before.

Mavi glances around at the expectant faces around her. They’re much more reserved this time, but she can tell they’re all eager for an answer. *They’re eager for a yes. As far as I can tell, they all said yes as soon as they heard the the pitch. I’m on my third pitch. I can’t join! As interesting as this sounds…

“I- I’m not going to make a decision now.” Mavi begins, slowly. The crestfallen look from Callie speeds her up. “B-but, I’m not saying no! It’s a lot, I have a life and friends and a job, I’ve just agreed to help my sister with something really important to her! I can’t just say yes.”

The Squid Sisters share a look before Marie speaks again, in a measured tone. “I understand. It’s a lot of information, and you probably have a lot of questions.” Mavi nods. “Go home and think, take all the time you need. Reach out to us when you know what you’d like to do. I’ll meet with you and smooth over any concerns regardless of what you choose, if that’s alright.”

“That’s… alright yeah.” Mavi agrees. She stands up from the table and starts making her way to the grate. Clover follows her.

“I will help you get back,” she says, the usual excited tone gone from her voice. It’s not hostile, simply neutral.

“Thanks.” She turns back to the table, where the other 4 members of the New Squidbeak Splatoon sit. “Um, I’ll be in touch, I guess. And uh, Nora? Thanks for lunch, it was nice.” Her friend smiles back at her and waves as Mavi steps onto the grate. They fall through.

The grate trip back is much faster with two of them swimming. The entire time, Mavi’s head is spinning. Her thoughts are messy, unorganized and frankly slightly panicked. She shoves them to the back of her mind, to deal with later.

They reach the grate in the plaza. Clover peeks her head out of the ink to see if anyone’s watching. Seeing no one, the two quickly form and step away from the grate.

“I imagine you are thinking quite a lot of things, yes?” Clover asks her after a few beats of silence.

“Yeah, that was… a lot.” Comes Mavi’s shaky reply. “I’ll, um, text you or Nora with my decision, I guess. I don’t really have anyone else’s number…”

“Alright. I will see you around Mavi, even if you do not decide to join.”

“Sounds good, uhm, goodbye.” and Mavi turns and walks away as Clover drops back into the grate.

Cod, just what have I stumbled into?