Splatoon 2 The Lonely Hero. (Book 1)

Chapter 2 Meeting Marie

Toby popped out of the grates and turned back to his humanoid form, he looked around and found that he was in some sort of canyon far away from Inkopolis.

Toby: "..." He stood there quietly observing the rocky environment, but when he turned his head facing forward, he found the grey and green haired woman in her black kimono with the green umbrella in front of him, she was facing at the archway by a building, he's never seen her around before.

He studied her appearance carefully until he heard what sounded like a soft yet somber coo in her voice.

Marie: "Hmm...The Octarians" Her low voice was heard from a fair distance, she slowly looked over her shoulder and turned to meet the blue haired inkling. "Hey, you showed up."

Toby: "Who-?"

Marie: "As soon as I saw you aimlessly wandering around the square I knew you were the one." He was interrupted by Marie.

Toby: "Eh, wha-?" He was interrupted again.

Marie: "I'm Marie. I know you're probably a bit starstruck, but I need you to get over it."

Toby: "Hold up-!"

Marie: "Yes, I'm that Marie. You know...from the squid sisters." She did her iconic squid sister pose in front of him.

Toby: "..." The whole atmosphere was silent. He stood there staring blankly at her. "You are certainly a strange woman." He retorted breaking the silence between them.

Marie: "Wait you never heard of me?! For Eel?" She was surprised and embarrassed enough to flinch and dropped her umbrella knowing that he doesn't have a clue who the squid sisters were. "Hmph! You obviously aren't very uncultured. But you'll have to do." She muttered while picking up her umbrella.

Toby: "Lady, what are you trying to get to? You were looking at me strange when I saw you; so what do you want from me??" He impatiently crossing his arms.

Marie: (I'm going to punch this grouchy inkling.) "Okay, Okay, Fine." She was irritated, but she collected her emotions along with her words together to better explain herself her. "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!"

Toby: (The Octarian Menace? Who are they exactly?) He tilted his head out of curiosity. "How do you know this?"

Marie: "How do I know this? On the surface, I may 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 the Octarians!"

Toby: "..." He intently listened, despite being lost for a minute.

Marie: "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...)

He was not overly impressed by that statement.

Marie: "I need you to get the Great Zapfish back from those slimy Octarians! What do you say? Are you in?" She has high hopes for him.

Toby: (Why in the world would I...Wait...) He was silent for the moment because he's figuring something out carefully here, Marie waited for him to answer.

Marie: *Ahem* "Sooooooooooo..."

Toby: "..." (She's a squid sister, so that means...Her other sister was...taken from her too?) The Blue Inkling finally put the pieces together, he looked at her directly in the eyes.

Marie: "I'll take your silence as a-" She was interrupted by the blue inkling this time.

Toby: "Wait a minute...You said you're one of those squid sisters, right?"

Marie: (Seriously?) "Why? Did you finally figure out who I was?" She gave him an annoyed look with a sarcastic retort, then he asked her the million dollar question.

Toby: "No, what I am asking is...Was your other sister taken from you by the octarians too?" His eyes were filled with worry and compassion.

Marie's eyes were widened again, utterly dumbstruck and speechless at how he had that right in the money, but her heart was wrung with pain, and her eyes were barely beginning to well up.

Marie: "Yes...and no" She closed her eyes as a wave of guilt brushed her heart and her face, lowering and closing her green umbrella.

Toby: "No? What do you mean by that?" He asked curiously.

Marie: "It's just...We're also cousins actually..." Marie barely replied through her broken hearted voice.

Toby: "What? As in family?!" Marie tried to gather her emotions together so she can make sense out of what she's saying.

Marie: "Can...Can you please just come inside with me in the outpost? I'll tell you the rest of the story after I give you a tour...Honest." Her mouth quivered, her tone of voice was shaky, she walked to the outpost while fighting back her tears, the blue inkling noticed how she reacted and sensed that he went too far.

Toby: "Marie, I-I'm-." He was going to apologize, but Marie stopped right before the door, she didn't turned her head to meet in the eyes,

Marie: "...Please, just...follow me..." She clicked the door opened and waited for him.

Toby followed her into the outpost, he can still hear the hurting in her voice and felt really bad for asking her, he decided to apologize to her until she's feeling a little better.