A New Family

Chapter 7: Metrouble

Three slowly made her way toward the trio without making much noise. They seemed to be discussing something, though the topic wasn't very clear from her position. She simply talked, interrupting whatever they were talking about to make them aware of her presence.

"Didn't know I would have needed to carry someone in today's mission." She said, with a slightly mocking tone. Typical of her.
The Three of them turned to look in her direction.

"Well, finally you've shown up Agent 3. We've been waiting for you for quite a while now." Marie said, clearly pissed by the Agent's comment. Also typical of Marie to get nervous over having to wait for long times, and over the dumbest things or jokes. ESPECIALLY if they came from Three.

"Sorry Granny, didn't know you also had dementia, because I'm just in time. The captain told me to be here at 5 pm, and would you look at that." She pointed to a clock on her side, pinned on a wall, which somehow still seemed to be working, (hard to tell how in such a place). The clock struck exactly 5 pm.
"Just in time. Heh."

Marie's right eye started twitching from the anger. Agent 3 really knew how to get on her nerves. The two of them would always tease each other. They had been doing that since the very beginning, the very first day Agent 3 had joined the Squidbeak Splatoon. It had almost become some weird routine, by that point. What's even funnier is that Three's relationship with Callie was the exact opposite. They were quite close to each other, and they would get on well, too.

Speaking of Callie, she tried to intervene to cool down the waters between the two.

"Aw come on, Marie! Agent 3 was just joking, no need to take it so personally..." Marie simply crossed her arms, turning her glance away and pouting, so that she didn't have to look at the smirk that had just formed on Three's face. That damn, smug of confidence and pride that was splatted on her face, whenever she got the chance to roast her.

"Anyway, we've been told to come here earlier than you, because Gramps had...something to discuss about with Mrs. Long Face over here!" Callie continued, giggling at the brilliant name she had just come up with.
"I still have no idea how Gramps found out about...that." Marie just groaned.
The Captain immediately smirked at the statement.

"Young ladies, you should know that you can't hide stuff from your ol' grandpa. I might be old, but my intuition is still perfectly fine! And don't you underestimate my intelligence, too! There was a reason why I was picked as the lead of the Squidbeak Splatoon during the Great turf War!" Captain Cuttlefish really had a lot of pride, and if there was one thing Three had figured out during the years, was that he was very defensive about it. And for an old squid, he still had very decent fighting skills, too.

"What was it about?" Three asked, intrigued. If the captain wanted to talk with them alone, it had to be something important. Something top secret. And she didn't like the idea of her Captain hiding stuff from her. Marie, however, tried to immediately divert the attention.

"You were not invited to join our conversation, so stay out of-"
"Marie wants to ado-" Callie tried to reveal the secret, but ended up being slapped on the mouth by her cousin. Marie groaned, frowning, as Callie massaged her hurting lips.

"Right, whatever i...guess. So, anyway. What's the plan today cap." Three questioned, crossing her arms, ready to receive orders.
"Well, Agent Three. I am aware that you do not like this place. Therefore, I thought that having extra assistance would have helped us clear the remaining stations quicker. If everything goes the way I planned it to go, we should have all the stations free from the last Sanitized Octarian Forces this very day." He stated, while looking at a paper he had prepared hours prior, with all his notes about the plan.

"Neat!" Exclaimed Callie, in excitement. "It's been a while since I got to use my roller!"
"I guess it will be a fine charger training," Marie added.
"Damn, granny's gonna put her hands on a weapon after ages again!" Three joked, smugging.
"Oh you'll be the next target if you don't shut up, Agent 3." The idol warned, rolling her eyes, slightly smirking too, however. She had to admit that was a good one. And it was true, it had been ages since she had used her charger properly.

The captain put the paper away and looked at the three agents.
"Very well, Agent 1 and 2, you will clear up Line H and G. Agent 3, you will clear Line A and D. I'll be communicating with you through your headphones, so heads up for any warning I give!" He commanded. And if there was a thing the captain was good at, it was definitely leading his team.
"On it." Without adding anything else, Three sprinted off to the closest stations, in line A. Callie and Marie nodded to each other and headed to their assigned stations.




"That should be the last of 'em, cap." Three announced proudly, finishing off an Octo Sniper.
"Well done, Agent 3. Your colleagues are also almost done with their part of the stations, so you can come back now. Once we're all here, we can leave and hopefully never come back." Cuttlefish congratulated himself with her.

"Hah, I've completed two lines myself and they didn't even manage one yet? Guess I am that good." Jessica pointed out, flexing herself. 
"I'll remember you that those are their first stations. You took the exact same time to complete yours the first time we've done this, if not more. So there is not much to bully yourself about." Cuttlefish answered, laughing a bit. When it came to his nieces, Craig was very protective. And he also knew how to put Jessica in her place. Three rolled her eyes at the statement, despite knowing that he was right.

"...Bah, whatever caps." She cut off, quickly. She was about to put her loyal Hero Shot on her back, when the Captain's voice screamed into her headphones, almost making her def.
"AGENT 3! BEHIND YOU!"

Caught off guard, Three was sent flying on a wall, hit by what seemed to be a roller. The impact hurt her, but she still managed to get up to look at whoever had been bold enough to challenge her. To her surprise, it was...another Octoling. Another sanitized Octoling.
"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS!? WHY IS THERE MORE OF THEM!?" Three couldn't hold back her anger upon the sight, as she screamed, her voice echoing in the empty station.
"...I...I have...no idea." It looked as if her boss was as clueless as she was.