Chapter 7 - Some Time to Think

Tiara wakes up happy. At least she tries to. What’s there not to be happy about? Her life’s going well, her friends are safe and happy, she’s not around that bitch anymore. Really by all counts, her life is great!

She’s not ignorant though, Tiara knows every day can’t be a great one, that’s just not how things work. Some days’ll be bad, but you’ve gotta have bad days so the good ones are even better!

Today Tiara didn’t wake up happy. Instead, she woke up thoughtful. Thoughtful wasn’t a bad way to wake up, all things considered, though it could vary. Today, she woke up thinking about her sister. Mavi was… off yesterday, Tiara could tell immediately. Her smiles were forced, like she was pushing herself into the moment. She idled for longer than usual, took a bit longer to respond. You don’t grow up seeing the best and the worst of somebody without picking up on their tells.

Even still, Mavi had some good ideas for the band. She talked to them about easing into new habits. “You’ll burn out in a week if you try to switch to full on band mode!” she had said. Or something like that at least. And that was fair, they were going to start simple. Starting the following week, they’d begin with two days of practices, with one brain storming session the day between them. They had decide to take the current week at a more relaxed pace, giving time to figure the last loose ends out. Mavi wanted to take some time to get used to Squidbeatz studio, among other things.

Right, Mavi. She was acting so weird at the meeting yesterday. Well, it had started the night before, when they were supposed to have the meeting. Instead she had stayed out with Nora. Tiara had come back to the apartment to greet her when she returned, but Mavi ended up staying out later than anticipated. Tiara had gone to bed by the time Mavi got home.

She wasn’t any better after the meeting. She left Queen’s house not long after the it finished. Tiara had just assumed she was tired, she did stay out pretty late after all. When Tiara got back later, Mavi was still in her room. What was even weirder was how quiet she was when she did come out! Not that Mavi is a loud squid, but she barely even said hi to me! It was then Tiara had started to suspect something was wrong.

Whatever happened is distracting her, She concludes. It’s not as bad as… back then but I still don’t like it. I doubt she’ll just tell me, she’s stubborn like that. Still, I wanna know. But first, get outta bed. She swings her legs over the edge, her feet barely hit the ground before she hops to them. She quickly starts preparing for the day.

Tiara hums her new melody while she picks her outfit for the day. She was determined to make today a good day, so she went about picking out a full outfit. Some leggings, a nice skirt, studded belt to hold it up. She skips the corset today, but she picks out a cute lime top and a complementary pink hoodie to match it. She grabbed a handful of bracelets and necklaces to put on as well.

She brushed past a small section right by the door on the way out of her closet. Inside a small series of cubbies sits some basic graphic tees, a light blue wind breaker, and some pairs of jeans. Those were her quick outfits, set aside for days where she doesn’t want the effort of her usual getup or didn’t have the time.

Now outside her closet, she lays her outfit on her bed. She’d be back to change after breakfast. Still humming bits of her melody to herself, Tiara steps into the hallway, heading for the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day. It’s while she’s brushing her teeth does the smell of something burning reach her.

“She probably left the toaster down for too long!” Tiara laughs with herself in the mirror. Alright sister, what’s got you so distracted? It’s gotta be something pretty big to have her spacing out like that again. She locks eyes with her reflection. “I bet you 50g she’s burnt the toast spacing out.” She says to the reflection. And she’s probably muttering too. A few moments to finish up, and then Tiara exits the bathroom, and then rounds the corner into their kitchen/dining room.

Inside, Mavi stands at the stove, a pan of eggs frying in front of her. That’s not what’s unusual, what is, is the toast burning in the toaster (called it!) and the fridge door hanging open. Mavi’s muttering something to herself. Bingo.

Tiara steps into the kitchen, and Mavi doesn’t react. You’re I right want you. Tiara half walks-half sneaks closer, have to maintain plausible deniability after all. As she approaches she can make bits of Mavi’s louder sentences.

“…I don’t think…” “I guess their timelines add up…” “…use the Great Zapfish to power…”

The great zapfish? What the hell is she talking about? What could the zapfish possibly have to do with anything? Tiara’s about a third of the way into the kitchen when Mavi flinches, turning to look at Tiara with a look of panic.

“Oh! T-Tiara! Good morning!” Mavi tries to recover.

Definitely not supposed to hear that last part. Tiara fights to suppress a smirk. “Hey M! whatcha making?”

“J-Just some eggs, I was thinking we could put them on toast or something.” Mavi looks down at the pan and continues to prepare them.

“Ooh sounds good, I’ll grab some jam out of the fridge.” She’s reaching into the fridge when she hears a string of curses. She saw the toast! Tiara puts a token effort into not giggling. She pulls the jam out and sets it on the table at the end of the room. When she turns back around there’s 4 new pieces of bread in the toaster.

Silence passes for a few minutes. Mavi finishes the eggs and makes sure the toast doesn’t burn again. Tiara gets their drinks, water for Mavi and milk for herself. Mavi sets a plate with the scrambled eggs in between the two of them.

Tiara begins coating one of her pieces of toast in jam when she turns to eye her sister. “So,” she starts, “What’cha been thinking about so hard.” Mavi tenses. *Ooohhh, alright. She’s on edge about this, interesting.

“It’s nothing.” Mavi smoothly replies, as she shovels roughly half the eggs onto one of her pieces of toast. “Just a problem at work.” Work, eh? Nah.

“Really? Lemme hear it, I’m good at problems!”

“You’re good at making problems.” Mavi points with the fork, before setting it beside the central egg plate again.

“No, really, I can help! I’ve not seen you think this hard about your job before, even when you’re mad at it.” Tiara eagerly insists.

“No, it-it’s not that big a de–” Mavi’s cut off by Tiara pointing the fork at her.

“Unless you’re not actually thinking about your job.” Tiara asks with mock thoughtfulness.

“grk!” Mavi flinches at the callout.

Tiara begins shoveling eggs onto her toast. “But why would my sister lie to me?”Unless…” Tiara finally lets out the smirk she’s been holding onto.

“Cod, no it’s not whatever you-” Mavi tries to stop her, it does not work.

“Unleeesss she’s hiding something SUUUUPPPPPER embarrassing!!” She doesn’t even try to keep the smug satisfaction out of her voice.

“No! Tiara, it’s n-not…that. Nothing like that,” comes Mavi’s desperate defense.

“Dawwww! You don’t have to be embarrassed!” Tiara folds her hands holds them against her cheek. “Did someone from your little turf group finally ask you out? Or maybe it was that Teddy guy from work!” Tiara gushes.

“T– What the h-hell are you talking about? You’re part of Fish Food! You-You’ve met Teddy before!” Mavi pauses before continuing a bit quieter. “Besides… you know I-I’m not… interested…” Mavi takes a bite of her now-assembled sandwich.

“Ah, lighten up sister! I’m just teasing you! Still though, I want to know what’s on your mind. You hardly spoke yesterday!”

Conflict flies over Mavi’s face. “It’s… not a big deal. Just a small thing with a few new friends.”

“New friends eh?” Now, this is interesting… That’s not a lie. Now we’re getting somewhere.

“Yeah! I m-met them the other day while playing turf. T-then I ran into on-one of them at work yesterday.”

“Oh cool!” Tiara’s excitement is genuine. She takes a bit of her sandwich, then asks through her food, “Are they nice?”

“Yeah! One of them h-helped me get my mask back when I-I dropped it.”

A warm undertone flows into Tiara’s voice. “Well, good. And it’s really nice of you to help them with their problems! My offer still stands, I don’t know these people so I’m a good unbiased opinion.” This is your chance girl, tell me more.

“Ah, n-no, s-sorry. It’s not that imp-portant, just s-some personal st-st-stuff.”

The some of the warmth in Tiara’s voice turns hard. “I don’t know, whatever’s going on must be pretty important if it’s got you this distracted.”

Mavi’s eyes narrow slightly, like she’s silently daring Tiara to continue. She does. “You’ve not been distracted enough to burn toast since you were 17.”

Mavi sucks in a hard breath. “T-Tiara I-I’m not doing t-this right now. It-it’s not my sec-secret to tell.” Alright, let’s cut the theater.

“Can you at least tell me what’s bothering you about it? A personal spat with two people you’ve just met shouldn’t distract you this much.” Tiara demands.

“I…” Mavi’s a lot more hesitant this time. “No, sorry. But I’ll deal with it soon… I just… need to figure out what they’re asking me.”

“Hmmmm… alright.” Tiara concedes for the moment. The two sit in silence as they finish their lazy breakfast sandwiches. “I’ll take care of the cleanup, you’ve got a shift to get to.” Mavi glances down at her phone.

“Shit! You’re right!” She’s on her feet in an instant. “Thanks s-so much Tiara gotta run see you later!” Tiara offers a lazy wave as Mavi runs out of the kitchen. After listening to a minute of frantic running around the apartment, Tiara hears the front door close.

She sets about cleaning the kitchen, all the while mulling over all the info Mavi just gave her, intentionally or not. *Hmmm… alright. Two new friends, met while turfing ‘the other day’. Last day she was out was Thursday… Lusca asked Queen if she wanted in, right. So it’d be someone from her games then. I’ll look into that later.

Having cleaned off the table, Tiara sets the jam back in the fridge before moving to the dishes. But this distraction didn’t happen until AFTER she met with Nora, so either Mavi’s suddenly gotten a lot better at lying or Nora’s involved too. It’s obviously whatever happened that kept her late, but what happened? And what did they ask her that’s so complicated it takes 3 days to figure out?

She moves back to her room to get dressed, the kitchen left about as clean as it was when she walked in. And what does the Great Zapfish have to do with anything? Who’s timelines add up? Her friends? I need to get Queen in on this asap. Quick clothes it is!

She dives into her closet, and comes out a moment later in a simple tee shirt and jeans. She snatches her signature Tiara off her night stand, setting it on her head. A few moments to quickly gathers a few loose things into her arm bag, and she’s off for Queens again. Her mind wheels through possibilities while she travels. Just what are you hiding Mavi? She hums her melody from earlier, albeit a bit faster than she was this morning.

–

Clover had long since gotten used to feeling like an outsider. Off the Hook, and Clover. The New Squid Beak Splatoon, and Agent 8. Even among the other octolings in the city, she was only one of few octavians who’ve escaped.

She’d come to terms with that feeling. It hurt sometimes, but what didn’t? Besides, she didn’t break free from a military dictatorship despite years of propaganda, only to suffer through a mockery of science and natural order disguised as an underground train system to feel bad about not fitting in. She was where she wanted to be, where she fought to be, some fleeting feelings weren’t going to change that.

Clover walked up to the security booth at the entrance to the neighborhood. The security guard gave her a cursory glance before waving her through. She offered a bright smile. “Thank you Mark!” She happily chirped. “Have a nice day!”

He had already turned back to the book sitting on his desk. “Heh! You too Miss Clover.” he merrily called back.

She may feel like an outsider sometimes, but that doesn’t stop her from doing her best to connect with those around her. She adjusts the strap of the bag on her shoulder. She had just grabbed a few things she was asked to from the store. Inside the bag sat a few light groceries of her own, a few cans of Electric Kraken– an energy drink that couldn’t possibly be healthy for you– a few bags of sour candy, and the magazine Mavi had helped her get a few days ago.

She walks up to the third house in the row on the left. It’s a big place, but not grand like the Houzuki family home had been. Clover steps up to the front door and unlocks it with a key she’d been given years ago.

Stepping inside, she’s immediately greeted by the sight of the famous idols slouching on the couch. Clearly today was one of their rare days off, if Clover had to take a guess. They’re both draped along the big L shaped couch, neither having bothered to change out of their sleep clothes for the day. An empty pizza box lays upside down near the trashcan, seemingly thrown by Pearl once it was empty.

“Yo, Clover! Welcome back!” Pearl calls from the couch. She waves, but doesn’t otherwise move from her slouch.

“Hello! How are you two doing today?” Clover happily chirps back.

“Huh.. whazat Clover?” Marina sleepily asks from her crook of the couch.

“Yes, that was me,” Clover playfully calls as she takes her shoes off, leaving them by the door.

“Oh, good. I was wondering where you were,” Marina murmurs as she tries to pull herself up from her couch nap.

Pearl pipes up, “We were gonna save you some pizza… but we didn’t know when you’d get here… and it was so warm…”

“Aw! That is so cruel! Not only to eat my pizza, but to taunt me with it’s absence!” Clover fake cries as she makes her way to the table behind the couch.

“Nah, I’m just kidding. There’s a second pizza in the fridge.” A pause. “it doesn’t have pineapple on it though.”

“Nooooo…” Marina weakly protests, still only half awake, “My pineapple….”

Clover begins to unpack her bag. “Alright let us see, two bags of disgusting citric acid worms.” Pearl peeks her head over the top of the couch, glancing towards the table. Clover continues “One can of delicious, lemon-lime flavored Bright, two cans of a liquid so corrosive they are not allowed within 70 meters of a bank…”Marina feebly attempts to shift out of the couch, but she’s clearly not really trying to get up. “One grab-and-go salad, with one packet of dressing, and finally… one new edition of In The Deep,” Marina lays still. “…this week’s edition.”

Marina’s sitting up in an instant. “What? How!” She demands as she quickly clambers to her feet.

“Well, I had guessed that you would want to read this one, it does have an interview with the Squid Sisters after all…” Clover teases.

“Yes, but Clover, that doesn’t release for another five days!” Marina questions.

“I have made a friend who works on the inside!” Clover proudly announces. Marina gasps.

“You know,” Pearl calls from the couch, “I still don’t get why you’re so interested in these interviews. We could literally call Marie, right now, and have her answer these questions. Hell, she’d probably give us more interesting answers!” Clover giggles at the table while she opens her salad.

“It’s about the principle Pearlie! What kind of fan would I be if I didn’t support their work?”

“You support Callie’s sugar addiction every time we meet up for lunch, I think you support them plenty.”

Marina harrumphs, before turning back to Clover. “Tell your friend I said thank you.”

Clover beams her a smile before she starts dousing her salad in dressing. Marina grabs one of the cans of Electric Kraken, cracking it open and taking a lazy sip. She sighs, content before reaching for one of the bags of sour gummy worms. “Heads up Pearlie!” She calls, cocking her arm back to toss it to her friend’s lazing form. Her arm is grabbed by Clover.

“No, no heads up. Anyone who wants their snacks has to come and get them from the table!” Clover demands with fake indignation.

“Waaaa- even after I was so nice to save you the second pizza?” Pearl complains.

“Even after the pizza.” Clover affirms.

“Man, this is wack.” Pearl grumbles as she peels herself off the couch.

A temporary silence falls over the trio. Clover works on her salad while Pearl heads into the kitchen area a short ways away. Marina eagerly flips through the magazine, careful not to spill her drink while she does so. A few moments later Pearl arrives at the table, a cup of water held in her hand.

“Alright, I’m here. Now gimme the worms.” Clover reaches over and grabs the bags from in front of Marina, handing them off to their rightful owner.

Marina giggles as Pearl tears into the bag of candy with ruthless efficiency. Clover continues with her salad, enjoying the moment

Pearl waits for Clover to finish her salad before breaking the silence. “Alright so, we’ve all been thinking it, I’m just gonna ask.” She turns to Clover. “What the hell happened the other night? The only thing Marie said was that we might be getting a new agent, and that their introduction wasn’t, ah, how did she say it?

“It wasn’t ideal for any of the parties involved.” Marina answers, in a fairly decent replica of Marie’s tone.

Pearl smirks. “We all know Marie only breaks out the lawyer talk when she really fucked up and doesn’t want to admit it.”

Marina nods eagerly, “I’ve been wondering too. How bad did things go for her to explain it like that.”

Pearl continues right after her. “I mean it can’t be THAT bad right? Did yall almost kill her or something?”

Clover gives her a blank stare.

After a moment, Pearl relents. “Huh. Well, this’ll be one hell of a story.”

Clover wipes her mouth with a napkin before she starts. “Ok, I am completely sure you have both heard Nora mention a close friend who helped her through a rough time in her life.”

“Oh yeah. If I didn’t know better I’d think she was into that squid!” Pearl exclaims.

Clover continues. “Nora and this friend, who is named Mavi, were having lunch that afternoon. I do not know the specifics of what happened, but apparently Nora told Mavi a lot of things about the Splatoon.” Clover pauses for a second, a smile crossing onto her face. “We all know Nora is not the, uh, most thoughtful when it comes to in the moment decisions.”

“Oh cod, tell me about it,” Pearl bemoans between candy bites.

“She decided that the smartest course of action, after telling all of out secrets to this squid, that the best idea is to bring her to the meeting. A meeting that she herself was almost an hour late too at that point.”

“I think I see where this is going,” Marina sighs.

“Without texting or calling ahead.” Clover continues.

Pearl stops, a gummy worm halfway to her mouth. “You’re serious.”

“Mavi arrived first as well.”

Marina smacks herself in the forehead. “Nora… were you TRYING to get your friend killed?”

“Lemme guess, it was Marie with a charger?” Pearl wagers.

“It is even worse than you think.” Clover admits. She quickly outlines the deal with Sheldon’s weapon upgrades.

“Wait, you’re telling me Marie almost ACTUALLY killed some random squid!?” Pearl shouts, exasperated.

“yes. Thankfully, however, Mavi has had training of some kind in the past. She was able to deflect most of the blow with the shield on her tenta brela, though it did seem like it broke the shield.”

“Oh, that poor brella! There’s no way it was designed to take that much of a beating! Have her get that poor thing to me, I’ll fix it right up, regardless of her choice.”

“I will tell her. The strangest thing happened too. Do you remember when Quinn lost his record the other day?

They both nod. “Well, it was Mavi who splatted him!”

“No shit?” Pearl asks.

“Yes! It does not stop there either. The day after when I went shopping to get a magazine–” Clover sends an obvious glance to the magazine in front of Marina– “Guess who was behind the counter?”

“Was it this Mavi person?” Marina asks.

“It was! She is my friend on the inside!”

“In more ways than one it seems.” Marina calls back

“So, Mavi’s the new agent huh?” Pearl asks.

“Potential new agent.” Marina emphasizes.

“Nah,” Pearl counters. “Marie’s got a hundred percent recruitment rate for people she’s threatened with a charger.” Pearl sends a knowing look at Marina, who just rolls her eyes.

“What else happened at the meeting?” Marina.

“Do ya mean the meeting proper or Mavi’s introduction?” Pearl playfully chides.

“Ah, the introduction if you please, Clover.”

Clover laughs a bit more before continuing. “We had a really strange moment where we all recognized her from somewhere, but she also recognized all of us!”

“Ah, a fellow fan of the Squid Sisters!” Marina joyfully exclaims. “That makes sense, seeing as she works at their official merchandise store.”

“No!” Clover interjects just as joyfully. “That is the funny part! She did not recognize them as the Squid Sisters! She spent half of the meeting calling them ‘Pink’ and ‘Lime’!”

Pearl bursts out laughing at Marina’s crestfallen face.

After the two give Pearl a moment, Marina dejectedly asks, “Then where did she…”

“Callie ran into her while grocery shopping for the meeting, and Marie stalked Mavi at her job!”

Pearl, who was just barely recovering from her most recent bout of laughter, nearly falls out of her chair she started laughing so hard. The others can’t help but join in the merriment.As the group calms down, Clover breaks into another fit of giggles. “They call her Lurker in the store.” Pearl hits the floor.

Many minutes of laughter later, Pearl rests with her forehead against the table, occasional giggles still rack her body. Clover resumes her story.

“Not much else happened then. I had asked about possibly bringing a new agent to help Quinn, it was not a popular idea. But then Mavi was there. I know she can fight well, Nora trusts her, and she already knows. I told Quinn my plan, I had to explain why, but he helped me invite her. I did not have to explain it to Callie.”

“Yeah that tracks.” Pearl snarks.

“We convinced Marie, but we still had to convince Mavi. She offered more resistance than Callie was expecting.”

“Did Callie try to bribe her with the agent gear?” Marina asks.

“No. Quinn explained to me after that she tried a ‘sales pitch’ like he and Nora had gotten.”

“Oh cod, yeah no wonder that didn’t work. If it’s as bad as Nora said it was, You’d have to be young or stupid to buy into that.”

“After that, we explained everything the splatoon has done, Mavi said she would have to think about it.” Clover smiles as she finishes the story. “I helped her get back to the Plaza, and that’s the last we’ve heard from her.”

“Poor girl,” Marina sympathizes, “She’s probably overwhelmed.” She turns to Clover with a stern look. “Don’t rush her, Ok? It’s a big decision and she needs to think it over thoroughly.”

“I would not!” Clover defends.

“But you’d rush the rest of us?” Pearl coyly asks.

“Getting ready for a tour day is not comparable!” Clover derides, an indignant look on her face.

Marina giggles as Pearl holds up her hands in surrender.

“Alright, enough about the new girl who hasn’t even joined yet, what else happened at the meeting?”

Clover outlined the other points they had brought up. Cameras, upgraded armor, upgraded weapons, as well as the other, more routine items.

“I can get you some security cameras!” Pearl eagerly shouts as soon as Clover’s finished. “They won’t be the super-strong top-of-the-line kind we’ll need for deeper observation, but they should last a good couple years on the surface!”

“Oh good! We can put those up soon then!”

“Hmmm… I can probably work on the armor… I have a few ideas written down somewhere I think,” Marina muses. “Though, I think I’ll need Sheldon’s help to actually make them.”

“Even better! I will tell Callie and Marie the good news!”

“Pearlie? If you don’t mind me asking, where exactly are you getting these cameras from?”

“Oh! Don’t worry about that! I got a whole room full of ’em at home.”

The blank looks from her companions prompt Pearl to elaborate. “I got good at unhooking the things when I wanted to sneak out. I’d always hide them in one of the side rooms, they always just replaced the cameras with new ones rather than find the old.”

The two just stare at her. Clover’s expression is confused, her head tilted slightly. Marina’s look has a bit more worry mixed in.

Pearl shrugs. “There’s like, 30 cameras in that room, most of ’em should still work. I’ll have someone send them over, we should have them by tomorrow.” Pearl pulls out her phone and sends a quick text.

“There we go, tomorrow Morning. I’ll have them deliver it to the Sister’s Merch store, so they can take it in easier right by the grate.”

“There we go.” Marina echoes.

The trio discuss a few more topics, before silence eventually takes hold. It doesn’t last long.

“Anyone want pizza?” Pearl asks.

Marina huffs. “I don’t know if I do. Not without pineapples.”

“Well, I’m gonna go heat up some pizza, I’ll bring it out in a few minutes.” Pearl insists.

Pearl emerges a few minutes later, and joins her friends on the couch. She sets the reheated pizza box on the coffee table, and with a flick opens the lid.

“Oh Pearlie!” Marina cries. Inside the box, 4 of the slices were covered in pineapple.

“I may have swapped out a few slices earlier…” Pearl sheepishly answers.

Marina wraps her in a tight hug. “Thank you!”

“It-it’s nothing.” Pearl sputters.

To the side, Clover giggles, reaching for one of the non-pineapple slices. She didn’t mind feeling like an outsider sometimes, especially when the people around her were happy.

–

Outside Cuttlefish Cabin, the familiar rattle of the grate sounds, Quinn emerges a few moments later. Idly, he glances at the new security camera hidden alongside the edge of the cabin’s roof. If he hadn’t helped Nora hide it yesterday, he’d never be able to spot it. It had been a pain to sneak them all over here, you couldn’t really fit multiple cardboard boxes through the grate. Instead, each morning they’d grab a few from the back of the merch store, put them in a swim-form bag, and travel over.

They had only installed 3 yesterday, the one pointed at the grate, one that oversaw the training course and the hill beyond it, and one pointed at the pathway deeper into the canyon. It wasn’t much, there was still a good 20 something cameras to place up along the surface, but even this little bit of coverage already made him feel worlds more relaxed.

Quinn steps off the grate, but has to pause to catch his balance. He’d been feeling off all day. Luckily, it only threw him off during one turf match earlier, and he still managed to avoid getting splatted. He shakes his head, trying to regain his balance, before heading up to the cabin.

Stepping inside, the first thing Quinn notices is Callie. She’s hunched over the coffee table, with a hero vest held in her hands. She’s humming along to music he can’t hear, but it doesn’t take him long to recognize the melody as one of Off the Hook’s. Quinn pushes the door closed with a bit more force than necessary, just enough that it makes a bit of a thud. Callie glances up at the sound.

“Hey Quinn!” She calls, smile instantly lighting up her face. She reaches up and pulls one of her Cephalo Pods from her ear. “How’re you today?”

Quinn tries to return the greeting, he can’t find the words. He offers a wave instead. Callie returns to her work as Quinn walks into the kitchen. A cursory glance through the nearby cabinets reminds him they’re nearly out of snacks. He sighs as he opens the fridge. It’s his turn to get groceries next, since Callie made the emergency run for the meeting a few days ago.

As he searches through the fridge, he can hear as Callie’s humming transforms into full singing. The words to Fly Octo Fly echo through the cabin. Quinn feels off balance. The colors are off, his arm looks off, he feels faint. Quinn grabs the edge of the fridge and shakes his head. His head throbs for a moment, the feeling reminding him of… something.

Very quickly though, everything’s back to normal. Mostly. He still feels a little off, like he has all day. After a few steadying breaths, he settles for a bottle of water.

Back in the living room, Quinn settles into the chair across from Callie. From his new vantage, he can see that she’s stitching rips on the hero suit. She’s leaned in close, left eye squinting in concentration, the right eye closed. Her tongue pokes out whenever it takes her a few attempts to line up the stitch. She’s still humming along to music.

He tries to speak again. “What…” is all he can manage. Quinn can feel his frustration mounting.

Callie looks up at him as he sighs, he gestures to the hero suit.

“Oh!” She takes a moment to tie off the end of her stitch. “Well, I’m fixing up one of Nora’s old hero suits for the new girl! They looked pretty similar in size, and this one was a bit big on Nora.” Quinn raises an eyebrow.

“Don’t give me that!” Callie playfully rebukes. “Using hand me down suits is a time honored New Squidbeak Splatoon tradition!” He just rolls his eyes. “Besides, once we get her measurements it shouldn’t take that long to get a new one for her.”

Quinn sighs, maybe he’ll get the words out this time. Its infuriating, he knows what he wants to say. She hasn’t told us if she’s joining yet! But he just, can’t. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to say it, the signals just don’t leave his brain. No sound gets made, his jaw doesn’t move, his tongue doesn’t move, as if he’s not trying to speak.

He’d learned how to work around it, to an extent. With time and practice, he’s learned how to speak again, though it takes deliberate thought to form all of the words. Sometimes really common words, greetings, names and the like, can slip out automatically, but that’s not reliable as a method of communication.

Today it was almost as bad as it had been since… he shakes his head to try and clear the thought. It’s almost kind of successful. “sh… hasn’t…” he eventually manages.

“Oh, right, well…” Callie sheepishly averts her eyes. “Joining the splatoon is a pretty big ask… and I… didn’t do a good job of inviting her… twice. My filming starts in two days, I don’t know if I’ll be here if she decides to join, but I wanted to leave something for her if she does.”

Callie pauses, a small, genuine smile on her face. “It’s kind of an apology for my poor invitation, but I also want her to know she’s welcome here, even If I’m not here to do it myself.”

Quinn’s usually blank face softens. He tries to speak again. Nothing. Not even a sound this time. I can talk damnit! He screams in his mind, willing his jaw to move, his vocal cords to make something. No sound is made. Callie goes back to sewing, a few moments later her eyes light up, the next song’s started playing, it’s one of her favorites, Ebb and Flow.

He sighed, preparing to grab her attention to say something in sign language. All the members of the NSS knew it, it had numerous practical applications in the field. Quinn hated when he had to rely on it exclusively. I can still talk damn it! He screams in his mind. The amount of “blockage” as he called it tended to vary day by day, but it hadn’t ever gotten this bad. He couldn’t get a single word out.

What am I even supposed to do!? He cries internally. How do I fix this!? I don’t even remember what caused this! I don’t remember a damn thing from the metro! Quinn’s mind starts spiraling again. His head throbs, colors rapidly darken around him, his legs goes slack.

As she lines the next set of stitches, Callie absent mindedly begins to sing along to her music.

The metro. I… I don’t… remember the metro….

Callie excitedly sings the chorus to Ebb and Flow, eagerly pulling the stitches as close to on rhythm as she can manage. As she holds out the chorus’s final note, she hears Quinn’s breath hitch.

She glances up at him. His eyes are distant, a thin sheen of sweat covers his paling face. Slowly, very slowly, his right hand moves to the scar around his eye.

“Quinn?” She asks. He doesn’t respond. He stares ahead at Callie, but she can tell he doesn’t see her.

Corridors, dark, dusty, abandoned flash across his vision. Logos he can’t read, numbers he can’t see all flash through Quinn’s vision. A burning starts around his right eye. Train horns blare in the background, Quinn reflexively covers his ears.

He throws his head to the side, trying to escape the sounds. He sees countless unidentifiable things. All of them bleeding, the teal blood hiding deep blue skin. The same deep blue as Quinn’s ink. *

They all turn to stare at him. They all scream.

He’s overwhelmed by sensations he doesn’t remember but instinctively knows he survived; his legs burn, his chest aches in hunger. His muscles scream in protest, his head hurts worse than it ever has before. Underneath all the pain, something else claws at his mind. The memory of power, feeling indestructible, untouchable. Emotions fly though him; panic, desperation, hunger, rage, fear, and hatred all threaten to tear him apart.*

The train horns grow so loud he can’t hear himself screaming,. not that he could tell it apart from the other agonized screams that fill the air.

*He thrashes, hands over his ears, trying anything to make the sounds stop. His eye burns, his muscles scream, he just wants it all to stop.

The sudden silence is deafening. Quinn fearfully turns and opens his eyes, hand still clutched over his ears. Everything had gone pitch black, he hung in an empty void, save for one thing. In front of him stands a lone silhouette. Unidentifiable, save for the sunglasses over top of where their eyes would be. A piercing red light emanates from the sunglasses over their left eye.

Distantly, Marching drums begin echo, their rhythm hauntingly familiar. Da Du-du-du-dum-dum Da du-du-du dum-dum-dum. Dread strikes Quinn to his core.

The figure, tall, thin, and completely still, stares at Quinn. He stares back. Slowly the figure reaches for the sunglasses. Panic instinctively floods Quinn’s system, fear roots him in place. They pull off the sunglasses. The left eye is a solid piercing red, the right a bright, glowing teal.

For a moment, nothing happens. The fear Quinn had felt before was nothing compared to the raw, primal terror* paralyzing his body. A searing pain engulfs Quinn’s right eye. Instinctively, he clutches it with his hand, falling to his knees. Around him, all the horrors of before return with force.

The train horns blare, the figures encircle him, screaming. The drums, unwavering continue their steady march. Quinn desperately stares up at the silhouette. Their mouth moves. He can’t hear what they say, he can’t see their lips. He knows what they said.

help me

The silhouette vanishes, as if drug through the floor. The sounds crescendo until all he can hear is the screaming and the deafening blare of the train horns.

And in in instant, it all stops.

It takes Quinn several seconds to get his bearing. His hearts are racing and he’s breathing is panicked.

What the hell just happened?

It takes a moment for his eyes to focus, and above him he sees… the ceiling? The next things he registers is a weight on his torso, and something pinning his arms to the ground. He lifts his head to get a look at what’s going on.

The first thing he finds is a splitting headache. It reminds him of the migraines he had during his early time as an agent, only so, so much worse. The second thing he sees is Callie, who is currently pinning him to the ground. She’s staring at him with a mixture of worry, concern, and shock.

Callie? What is going on?

“Quinn?” She asks.

Oh god. I really DON’T want to deal with speaking with this headache right now. Quinn nods.

The confusion dominates Callie’s face. “Are… you feeling ok?” There’s hesitation in her tone.

I’ll live. Quinn nods.

I’d like to get up now. He attempts to move his hand, Callie lets go. Quinn pulls himself into a sitting position.

Cod, how do I explain what just happened? I guess I’ll write it.

“Quinn?” Callie asks again. He he meets her eyes. She flinches slightly. “You… you’re talking.”

“What? No. I can’t be…” He hears the sound of his voice. He’s been speaking his thoughts out loud since it all stopped. “I’m… talking.” Callie just nods, a conflicted look on her face.

“I’m talking! Callie I’m talking! Oh my cod! You can hear me!”

Callie grabs his shoulders. “Quinn, calm down.”

“Calm down!?” Quinn half-manically cries. “Callie this is the best thing that’s happened to me since I fell into that damn place! You should be more excited!”

“QUINN!” She shouts. “You’re missing a REALLY important detail!”

“Callie, what ever it is, I’m sure it’s fine.” Quinn defends, lack of worry apparent in his every word.

“Well, alright. Promise not to freak out?” She tepidly asks.

“Yes! Just tell me already!”

Callie holds up her phone opened to the selfie camera. The moment Quinn’s eyes land on the phone, dread strikes him to his core. The only thing he registers is his right eye. His reflection stares back at him with a bright, glowing teal eye.

For a moment, he’s frozen, unable to comprehend what he’s seeing. A primal terror lights within his body. RUN ESCAPE HIDE FIGHT his instincts scream every message has he thrashes on the floor, desperate to get away.

Callie re-pins him immediately. “Quinn! Breathe! You’re not in any danger!” No luck. The next several attempts go about as well. Callie grits her teeth.

“AGENT 3! GET A GRIP!” She barks. Callie hates pulling the authority card, but desperate times she figures. Quinn freezes. “BREATHE AGENT! PANIC WILL NOT HELP. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

Quinn nods, the thrashing having come to an end. The wild terror has left his eyes, but his body needs a few moments to catch up. It takes a few minutes for him to get his breathing under control again, but before long he’s sitting up.

“Quinn, are you alright? I’ve never seen you freak out like that before.”

“I… it was… That was probably the second most terrifying thing I remember ever experiencing. It wasn’t a conscious thing. What… happened?”

Callie doesn’t hesitate to answer. “I looked up from my stitching, to see you completely spaced out. I’ve never seen you do that before, so I was a little concerned. Your hand moved to your eye, and then you tried to grab it. Your nails dug into your skin.”

Gingerly, Quinn feels around his right eye, and sure enough he can feel the spots where his fingernails did as described. his hand came away wet with blood. Now that he thinks about it he can feel the burning pain from the wounds.

Callie reaches under the couch for a first aid kit. She motions Quinn to come over, he does.

“I couldn’t let you gouge your eye out.” She continues. “So I hopped up and tried to pull your hand away. Whatever happened you weren’t holding back. It was all I could do to keep you from yanking it out. Then you started thrashing around, and you weren’t pulling any punches then either.”

Callie gestures to her arm where Quinn can see a large bruise already forming.

“Sorry…” he responds.

“It’s alright, but it told me I had to get serious. I apologize if anything hurts, but I caught your momentum as you were thrashing and threw you into the floor, so that I could hold you down. Then you started screaming, and shaking and–”

“Callie,” Quinn interrupts. “I’m alright now.” She nods. “I, I had some kind of… vision? It wasn’t pleasant I’ll say that much.” Callie pulls disinfectant wipes out of the kit, Quinn braces for the sting.

“That doesn’t exactly sound real, but I don’t doubt it based on what just happened..” Callie agrees.

Callie quickly sets to wiping the nail marks. He hisses in pain. “Whatever it is, it’s clearly related to the Metro, and to, this,” Quinn gestures to his eye.

“Well, if you want some good news, the glowing’s going down.” Callie offers.

“I’ll take what I can get.”

A few moments of silence pass, Callie working to wipe the blood from his face. After a Pause, she decides to push further, “Quinn, what did you see?”

He’s silent for several seconds. “It wasn’t… I didn’t really see anything. Nothing with any substance. Just train horns, hallways, and sanitized octarians.”

Callie nods. “That makes sense, very similar to your nightmares. That doesn’t explain the whole freak-out though.”

Quinn is silent for several more seconds. Callie can feel him tense. “There was a moment… everything was so loud, I begged it to stop. And then it just, did. I was in a black void, and in front of me was a silhouette. They were tall and lanky, and they wore sunglasses. Their left eye shone red through the glasses. That’s all I could make out.”

Callie nods, but doesn’t interrupt him. “They… pulled off the glasses. The left eye was red, but the right was Sanitized teal… like mine. I don’t know why but that terrified me to my core.”

“I wonder who it was. You don’t remember them do you?” He shakes his head. “Well, based on what I know about the metro, they were probably an octoling.”

Quinn doesn’t have a response to that. Callie wipes away the last of the blood, “Hey, the skin under your scar tissue is dead-sanitized right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, it’s… tealer than normal” Callie holds up her phone again. They both stare at the skin around his eye for a few moments. They watch as the glow in Quinn’s eye slowly dims, and the teal vanishes from his skin proportionally.

“Well…” Quin starts, hesitant. “It doesn’t look like its spreading.”

“Looks like the glow is ending soon too.” Callie adds. A few moments of silence pass. “Did you feel the vision coming?”

Quinn pauses, thinking back over the day. “Not exactly, but I was feeling off all day. Had a couple of moments where I was knocked completely off balance.”

“Hmmmm…” Callie taps her chin with her hand, thinking. “Do you still feel off?”

Quinn’s reply is quick. “No, I feel great actually.” A pause. “Well, aside from the sore muscles and headache.”

Callie doesn’t pause for his humor. “I’m going to tell the others. Until we know if this was a one off event or not, don’t go on any deep patrols please.”

Quinn sighs before he opens his mouth. The words were stuck again. Not by much, they slipped out a moment later, “Yeah, fine”. He frowns. He tries again, yup, resistance.

Quinn forces his words through, its growing harder by the second. “Callie, I’m getting blocked again!” Panic restores his energy, “I just got it back I don’t want to lose it, what do I do!?”

“I don’t know, try to like, clench your brain or something!” comes Callie’s equally panicked reply.

Quinn tries, despite the absurdity of the suggestion. Every manor of clench or pull or stretch, nothing works. In the end, he’s left back where he was.

Quinn speaks, in his familiar, slow, thoughtful drawl. “It’s gone.” At least its not as bad as before.

“Your eye looks normal too.” He nods. “The scar too.”

“They’re related.” He adds. Quinn remains seated for a few minutes, conflicted thoughts fighting over his face. Eventually he stands, and walks into the cabin’s store room. He steps out a few moments later in his agent gear.

Callie calls to him as he walks towards the front door. “Don’t go too far, it’s just me here for now and we don’t know if that was a one off event or not.” Quinn nods again.

As he pulls the door open, two arms wrap around him, pulling him into a back hug.

“Hey, Quinn.” Callie says. “It was nice to hear your voice again, your full voice I mean. But don’t forget how much you can do now, too.” He nods.

“Be careful” She adds. All he can do is nod again.