Against the Tide

Chapter 2: A New Agent

"So you're saying she just disappeared in the middle of the night? The room was in good condition? No signs of a struggle?" A police officer asked.

"Yes that's correct." I answered. I was sitting in a small room with a police officer. I had went to the police station to file a missing person report. They took me to one of their interrogation rooms for questioning. The officer was writing something on a sheet of paper.

The officer could see I was starting to get impatient. I felt like my time could be better spent as Agent 2. I would probably make more progress that way. "I don't want to be here anymore than you do but this is standard procedure. The sooner we're done here. The sooner we can start looking for your cousin. Do you know if she had any enemies? Anyone who hated her?"

"Well there was one splatfest where we were pitted against each other. That got really heated. Maybe some of my fans got overzealous and wanted her to disappear. Aside from that, I'm not sure." It was mostly true. The final splatfest did get heated and what was supposed to be a friendly competition turned into an all out war. People are still talking about it. It's hard to believe the people on my side would kidnap Callie but the alternative was to tell them about the Octarians. I would never hear the end of it from Grandpa if I did reveal the New Squidbeak Splatoon.

"Alright. I think we've have everything we need. We'll take care of the rest. Try to relax and don't blame yourself." The officer reassured me.

"Thanks." I left the police station and went in the direction of Inkopolis Square. I knew what I needed to do. I needed to find a new agent and train that one to fight the Octarians.

I had been standing in Inkopolis Square for hours waiting for someone to randomly notice and approach. At least that's supposedly how Agent 3 was recruited. I thought this would be just like training Agent 3. I guess I never understood how good I had it when Grandpa recruited Agent 3. Unfortunately, I didn't know of any other ways that wouldn't compromise the New Squidbeak Splatoon. At the very least, the people walking around Inkopolis Square would most likely have the necessary skill set to be an agent.

I was wearing a black kimono while carrying a parasol. It was an old outfit that I wore when I first came to Inkopolis. I looked around at the inklings in the square. Everyone had their attention directed to the large screen on deca tower. Off the Hook had just finished doing their news report.

I observed the other inklings in the square. They all likely had some experience in battle due to turf wars. There was one that stood out to me. He wore some kind of neon hoodie and orange shoes with a bamboo hat. For some reason I had a good feeling about this one. I raised my umbrella to reveal myself. We locked eyes and I could see he was curious. I silently prayed he would come over. Fortunately he began walking in my direction.

I waited just long enough to make sure he was coming before I changed into my squid form and ducked into the sewers. I rushed to Tentakeel Outpost hoping he was still following. Luckily the path was easy to follow so I didn't have to worry about him making a wrong turn or getting losr. I emerged in front of Cuttlefish Cabin and prepared myself.

I heard the sound of a squid emerging from the grate behind me. He had arrived. "Hmm... the Octarians..." I slowly turned around. "Hey... you showed up! As soon as I saw you aimlessly wandering the square. I knew you would be the one. I'm Marie. I know you're probably a bit starstruck, but I need you to get over it." I did my signature Squid Sister pose and held it. "Yes, I'm THAT Marie. You know... from the Squid Sisters."

The inkling looked confused. "Squid Sisters?" He replied.

"You've never heard of me? For eel?" I was surprised. I thought everyone in Inkopolis had heard of the Squid Sisters. "Well, you obviously aren't very cultured, but you'll have to do. See, I've got a little... thing I need some help with. By now you've heard that the Great Zapfish that powers Inkopolis Square is missing. Well, it's not just missing-it's been squidnapped by the Octarian menace!"

"Octarian's? Didn't we defeat them like a hundred years ago? How do you know all this anyway?" The Inkling boy asked.

"How do I know this? On the surface, I may just look like an absurdly talented pop star... But in truth... I'm Agent 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, a secret society of heroes who save the world from Octarians! Now I've been trying to keep an eye on the Octarians in my downtime, but I'm a busy girl." If only Callie was around to lend a hand... why did she have to disappear now of all times? The Octarians were probably mixed up with her disappearance somehow. "Ahem... I need YOU to go get the Great Zapfish back from those slimy Octarians! What do you say? Are you in?"

The boy was hesitant. "Well... I don't even-"

I cut him off. "Excellent! You are now Agent 4 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. I even bought you a brand-new Hero Suit as a signing bonus. And look at that-it fits like a glove! Better get moving."

He just stared at me confused. Can't this squid take a hint?

"Just look around the area. The entrances to the Octarian bases are invisible so you'll have to ink them." I informed him.

He started inspecting his new weapon. Unsure of how it even works. Then I saw him point it at himself.

"Do you even know how to use that?" I asked with growing annoyance.

Agent 4 shook his head.

Didn't think anyone could be this inexperienced. I walked up to him. "It's very simple. Just point that end at your target and pull that trigger to shoot."

Agent 4 pulled the trigger and started shooting yellow ink seemingly at random. I quickly raised my parasol to block the shots. He kept shooting until he ran out of ink.

"Sorry. I'm still trying to learn how to shoot." Agent 4 apologized.

"Have you ever played turf war? Just think of that when you shoot." I replied.

"Well... I never actually played. I was hoping to have my first match today." Agent 4 said.

"Are you serious!?" I exclaimed. The look on his face told me he wasn't kidding. I sighed.

I rolled my eyes. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. "Alright here's what we're going to do. I have some targets set up over there." I pointed to a bunch of balloons representing Octarians. "Go over there and shoot at them until they pop. That should help you learn to aim."

Agent 4 marched off to shoot at the balloons. I watched as he missed most of his shots. I mentally slapped myself. Maybe I should start looking for an Agent 5.

I grabbed one end of his heroshot. "Keep your arm steady when you shoot. It's tempting to flinch. Try to control yourself. No matter what happens. You need to stay calm." I instructed.

Agent 4 took a deep breath and landed his first hit. It was a remarkable improvement. I went inside Cuttlefish Cabin to prepare some snacks while Agent 4 trained. Today was going to be a long day.