Squidbeak Splatoon: The Inner Agent

The Locker

"Terry, I'm getting worried..."

A sigh was heard. "I keep telling you, it's all right. He'll be back soon."

The owner of the first voice wasn't convinced. Still, she opted to not say anything else.

It had been quite some time since Terrance and Juniper had last seen their Octarian friend. Before he left, Kazuki had told them that he would be in the Metro for about an hour or so. It had been three and a half hours since then.

"How soon is soon?" Juniper asked.

Terrance shrugged in response. "I don't know." He turned to face the purple haired Inkling. "You don't need to worry so much. Maybe it's taking longer to get the rest of those cakes than he initially thought. Those tests aren't exactly easy."

She nodded in acknowledgement. From what she understood, some of those tests could be a real pain in the butt.

She glanced at the blue haired boy. "I guess you're right. Still..."

Terrance went silent for a moment.

"Something wrong?"

"...If you're really that worried, we can go to see him ourselves."

Juniper perked up upon hearing that. "Really?"

"Yeah." Terrance got up off the couch. "Let's get our gear and go down there."

Juniper got up to follow the other squid. "Ooh, I've never been to the Metro. This'll be exciting!"

"I don't know if 'exciting' is the right word to describe a testing facility..."

***

It didn't take too long for the duo of secret agents to suit up and set out to the vast underground known as the Deepsea Metro. Each of them thought about where their friend could be as they boarded and searched the train. They couldn't find him in any of the cars, and they doubted that he was in the middle of a test...his walkie talkie would be in its usual spot if he was.

Juniper sighed. "He's not even here. Think we might've missed him coming back or something?"

Terrance shook his head. "No. He'd tell us beforehand if he was returning to the surface." He glanced at the squid girl. "I asked C.Q. about his whereabouts."

"Any luck?" The girl queried. He shook his head again. "Carp. If even he doesn't know, then-"

Terrance raises a hand to cut her off. "Let's go back to the main area. If anything, he'll end up meeting us there eventually."

"Yeah, you're right."

With the decision made, the pair of agents exited the train upon returning to Central Station. Juniper went to go look at the remains of the blender that still stood in the middle of the lobby while Terrance went the other way. Her fellow agents had explained everything regarding it. Still, it was crazy to see it with her own eyes.

"Wonder why they haven't moved it or gotten rid of it," she mused.

"I don't think anyone's gonna bother," said Terrance. "Why, I don't know. Probably cause it was an important piece of the Kamabo Corporation despite the whole 'murder for science' thing. And don't touch it. It's extremely sharp."

"I wasn't gonna touch it," Juniper muttered.

"If you say so. Anyway," he adds as he turns in the opposite direction of the blender, "I found him. Come on."

The veteran agent lead the way to the opposite side of the station. Laying on the floor by the lockers was the Octoling they had been searching for.

"Kiki?" Juniper addressed him by the nickname as she tried to shake him awake.

"Already tried that," said Terrance. "He won't budge. Yet it seems like he's more or less asleep as opposed to being unconscious. It's weird."

The agent in yellow glanced toward the lockers. The only one open was the one labeled with the number eight. Coincidence? She didn't think so.

"Terry, look." She pointed at the locker. "Maybe that has something to do with it."

"...Seriously?" The third agent was incredulous as to how his friend came to that conclusion. Said friend shrugged in response.

The two of them stared at the open locker for a long time. Neither of them noticed how close they had gotten to it. They reached their hands out to touch the metal surface.

Everything went black...