"I can't believe this is happening..."

"Well, believe it. It's happening,"

"But I don't want it to!"

"Uuuuuggggggh,"

"It feels like just last week you were still a fuchsia little stage four, struggling to maintain your form," There was a loud groan along with a few chuckles.

"That's because it was last week,"

"Well it feels like it was such a long time ago..." More groans.

"Now now Cereza. Don't tease your brother too much," Cereza turned towards her mother with a smile. She wrapped an arm around her brother's neck, who rolled his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Luca knows I love him. Isn't that right little brother?" Luca merely let out yet another groan at his sister's antics. Seriously, at this rate he was going to end up lose his voice by the sheer amount of groaning he was doing.

"Can you please stop Cereza? It's embarrassing. People are looking at us funny," Cereza let out another chuckle, still clinging to her little brother.

"You're going to get used to it,"

"I hate to say it but she's right you know," A male voice responded. Luca didn't groan or sigh this time. He had already accepted that his very existence would be a choice of topic. After all he was the second hybrid between an Octoling and an Inkling.

Granted his sister was the first and second place doesn't get that much recognition, but this was sorta kinda a big deal. Ever since the Octarian and Inkling truce twenty plus years ago, the two races have of course grown closer, with a few bumps here and there. Even in the plaza they were in, the two races mingled and coexisted. Most of whom were a bit on the younger side, but the kinship was still there. Octarians even found out how to change colors like the Inklings could. There were even other couples like his parents that consisted of an Octarian and an Inkling.

Unlike his parents how ever, most of these couples had to adopt. They couldn't produce their own children, which made his sister and his existences even more special. He honestly didn't care to think about it too much. But that was probably because it made him the center of attention. He wasn't too fond of the spotlight.

But it seemed that his life would be spent in it. Curious eyes would forever glance over them and he would have to accept that. But what set them apart from the "average" Inklings and Octolings? What made it obvious that they were hybrids? Well, his sister took after their mother. She resembled an Octoling more so an Inkling, with four, thick fuchsia tentacles on her head with a few suckers on each. What set her apart were the length of those tentacles and the color of the markings around her eyes.

Her tentacles for one were longer, reaching about the same length as a female Inkling, though they didn't seem quite that long considering they naturally curled around like an Octoling's. The second difference related to the eye markings Octarians had. Though most Octarians had purple markings, Cereza had a bright green, similar to her mom's eye color.

Currently his sister was wearing a Squid Girl outfit minus the hat. She instead chose to wear some fake contacts instead, considering her personal hatred of headwear. Which no one would guess considering how often she visits Cooler Heads. Luca himself was wearing a Layered Anchor Ls with Red Seahorses. Along with a small blush and a scowl for his sister.

"So are you excited Luca?" Luca looked up at the older male. Unlike the large majority of males in the plaza, this one let his turquoise tentacles hang freely over his shoulders. Bright purple eyes looked down at his son with an expecting smile. Over his shoulder sat a E-Liter Scope while his free hand rested in the pocket of his Inky Rider.

"A little. Along with a little bit nervous," His father laughed and ruffled his tentacles with his free hand.

"That's to be expected. Everyone is a little nervous during their first Turf War," Luca smiled at his father and turned forward again. He wasn't nervous towards the Turf War, but more so towards his opponents. As in their safety. He was a complete noob yes, and had never held a gun of any kind until about three days ago, but he was pretty much among legends.

His dad, Leviathan "Inkay" Squiliam, who defeated all of the Octarian machinery, then the tyrant Octavio, on his own,and then led the charge that defeated Octavio for good and reunited the races. Sure he had a bit of help from other Inklings, and a lot of help from his wife, but that's besides the point.

Speaking of Inkay's wife, Luca glanced over towards his mother. Cerata Entero Squiliam. She wore the standard Octoling gear with an Octarian clip on her tentacles instead of the goggles. She looked down at her son and gave him a loving smile. His mother had a smile that could melt glaciers. When she smiled, he couldn't resist smiling a bit himself. But wheres there's a yin, there's a yang.

Luca's eyes traveled to the Custom Blaster she let casually hang in her hand. He saw his mother angry and he did not want to be staring down the barrel of anything she pointed at him when she narrowed her eyes.

"So if anything, what are you expecting to get out of your first Turf War little brother?" Cereza said finally letting go of him to stand straight on her own, much to his comfort. Luca looked at the ground and shrugged.

"I don't know. New friends maybe?" Luca glanced over the Splattershot Jr. in his hands and continued walking.

"Well you'll have to save that for later. First match goes to your family, and seldom do people befriend people on the opposing team," His mother gently informed him.

"Yeah. They get too salty," his sister added on with a smile while she spun her Carbon Roller between he hands. Honestly he would be salty too depending on how bad he lost. But at least he got this first win. He was sure his family could hold their own with or without him. He took a deep breath as they approached the Turf War lobby, running a hand over his tentacles, a habit he got from his dad.

He was secretly proud of his tentacles. Like his sister, they were one of the two features that separated him from the crowd. He took more after his father, with the standard male Inkling length tentacles. He wore them up like the usual male Inkling, but he required a bigger band. His two main tentacles were of average size, but the four on the back of his head, usually gone unnoticed on Inklings were just a bit smaller than the main two, sporting their own suckers and everything.

The second difference was not as out there as his sister's. The black mask that sat on the faces of all Inklings was green on his face. Though a very very dark green. You'd have to be really close to see it. But he really didn't care for people getting that close so he wouldn't be pointing that out.

But finally they reached the tower, Luca leading the ascent up the stairs. They reached the top and a familiar face greeted them. Cereza smiled and ran forward, practically bouncing.

"Mr. Apalo sir!" Cereza ran to the old Octoling as he stood up and bowed, her curtsying upon reaching him.

"My fair Cereza. As energetic as always I see," He commented. Cereza giggled as the rest of her family approached. Apalo was wearing a dark blue suit and tie and had his tentacles slicked back and a tired look in his bright red eyes. "And this must be young Luca. I see a calculating look in your eyes young man. And such abundant tentacles," Apalo chuckled and Luca blushed a bit. Did everyone get teased this much when they learned to hold their form? Or was it just him?

He'd met this man plenty of times before, and each time he felt more and more uneasy around him. Like right now for example. He had this tired look in his eye but at the same time it was like a predator eyeing cornered prey. It was unsettling.

"Have another big meeting today Apalo?" Cerata asked her superior. Apalo let out a large sigh and ran his hand over his head.

"Too many. But what's needed for peace. I've grown to like what we've managed so I'll try my best to keep it alive," Inkay nodded approvingly at the male Octoling. "But for now I'll treat Luca like I did Cereza, and not miss out on his first Turf War.

"Thank you sir..."

"Well I don't wanna keep you. You run along and have some fun," The group nodded and waved their goodbyes as they entered the building. Luca's eyes widened a bit as he looked around. It looked like everything was flashing one color or another in this large circular room. There were doors towards the left and the right that seemed to just disappear into the darkness.

In the center of the room was a desk, which Luca's mom and dad walked towards. His sister stayed behind to nudge him in the side. He turned towards her as she gave him a raised eye brow and a smirk.

"Come on bro. If you're in awe at the lobby, how are you going to handle the actual Turf War?" Luca simply did his best to neutralize his expression and put on a bored face. He shrugged his shoulders and followed his parents towards the desk.

"One squad registration please. Turf War," The Octarian sitting at the desk took the headphones from over his head and placed them to the side.

"Who all will be participating?" Inkay gestured to his family and the Octarian nodded. He turned to his computer and typed in a few things. "You are aware that since your group is consisted mostly of people closer to level 50 than level 20, that you will be placed in the intermediate category, even with the new player," Inkay nodded with a smile and glanced over to Luca.

"I think he can take it," Luca looked down to his weapon and gripped it a little tighter.

"Alright then. Your room will be down that hall. Room 129. Your respawn bracelets should be in there as well as a screen that will tell you when your match is ready," Inkay thanked the man and they headed down towards the door he pointed to.

By the time they had reached their room their match had already filled up. A Turf War at Ancho-V Games. Luca was a bit excited. He loved Ancho-V Games, and now here he was preparing to get to run through their main building! Sure he couldn't really focus on anything, but maybe he'll get a passing glance of some new game.

"Alright squirt. Let's head to the warp zone," Inkay called handing Luca his bracelet. Luca took the accessory and looked it over. So this was the thing that reverted death? How could that be? Surely there was some serious mechanics in this little thing and even more to the warp pad it was connected to. Was there a right and wrong way to put it on? If it malfunctioned did he die permanently?

Suddenly the nervousness greatly outweighed the excitement. And this time it wasn't for the other team. He placed the bracelet around his wrist and stared at it. A small light on it blinked a few times and turned a dark shade of fuchsia. It then tightened around his wrist. Like, very tightly. He shook his hand just to make sure his circulation still flowed.

"Come on Luca! We're already late!" Cereza's voice called from the doorway. Luca looked up at her and nodded, swallowing his fear the best he could. He followed his family towards the device that would take them to Ancho-V games. The device started out a dim color but lit up into a bright green. Luca looked at the device as the rest of his family stepped on top of it. He took a cautious step after them, filling the last position on the machine.

"This is it. Get ready," Inkay smiled back at his son, who nodded and did his best to swallow his fears. The group transformed and were warped to their destination. Upon reaching it, Luca's eyes widened as he looked around. He could see Jellyfish and Inklings all working far below them and in little cubicles. Wanting to get a closer look, he prepared to step off the spawn point.

"Whoa there Luke," Cerata said grabbing her son by his arm sleeve. "If you step out of the spawn point before the match begins we'll be disqualified," Luca returned to his previous position and nodded. He looked forward and in the distance, he saw the enemy team, specks of bright pink most likely eyeing him like he did them. He looked over his family and noticed their tentacles were a bright green. He glanced down at his bracelet and noticed it was the same shade of green. He swallowed again as he looked up. This was it. The moment was finally here.

There was a loud bang and colors started flying. Inkay shot a large line of ink forward and immediately jumped into it, swimming forward. Cerata followed but instead spread as much ink as she could with her blaster as she advanced. Cereza began inking the area to the side of the spawn point. Luca froze for a second before joining the charge forward. He inked the nooks and crannies his parents missed and jumped down from the elevated platform. He inked a bit before Cereza jumped down with him.

"Hey little bro! Ink that area! I'm gonna go this way!" She called out. Luca nodded and began inking the area his parents didn't. Once he completed covering the area in green, he moved towards the center of the map. Looking down over it, he saw his father in the distance, sniping poor squid kids from the elevated platform. His sister was in the far distance, covering pink with green a bit away from the action, while his mother charged in head first, being supported by Inkay from a distance.

Luca was once again, a bit pitiful of the opposing team and a bit prideful of his family. In the time it took him to ink one small area, they had pretty much taken over the middle of the map. He had a lot of catching up to do. Gripping his weapon, he jumped from the platform to the ground below. As he descended, he noticed, just slightly, the pink ink move. Right as he was about to land, an Inkling emerged from the ink, a Dynamo Roller raised over her head.

Luca's eyes widen as he looked upon the opponent. The ground beneath him suddenly rose, blocking the ink that should have splatted him. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed his father, E-liter pointed towards the fan on the platform that Luca stood on. Inkay returned his sights to the battlefield while Luca silently cursed himself for being so careless. Should've looked before he leaped.

He backpedaled away from the edge and pointed his weapon towards it just as the Inkling climbed over. Luca fired his weapon at the Inkling, who used his roller to block some of the shots. Jumping to the side, the Inkling rose his roller and brought it down. Luca quickly jumped behind the fan, using it as a makeshift cover. It blocked some of the ink but some still got on him.

The Inkling shook his roller towards Luca again, the ink hitting the fan and keeping the platform raised. Waiting until a spray of ink flew over his head, Luca pulled out a Splat Bomb and gently rolled it around the fan. The Inkling stepped back for a moment and took the opportunity to round around the fan and shooting towards the Inkling. Retreat cut off, the Inkling threw his roller towards Luca again as the Splat Bomb went off. Luca's eyes widened as a wave of pink flew towards him and consumed his sight. He felt this large sting before a feeling of weightlessness.

He blinked a few times and opened his to see that he was floating away from the ground, a pink squid floating up across from him. Was he dead? Was this what death felt like? He tried to move anything but he felt nothing. Like he didn't really exist. His eyesight slowly grew dark. Did his bracelet malfunction? Luca began to panic as it felt like he was being sucked somewhere.

Luca emerged from the spawn point with a loud gasp of air, immediately falling to his knees. He breathed heavily as he looked around. Was that going to happen every time he got splatted? Ugh that was not a pleasant feeling. Regardless, Luca grabbed his weapon and stood back up, heading back to the front line.

Luca's lungs burned as he ran around. How could people do this all day? He was tired and his limbs screamed at him. This was the first match and he felt like he could collapse at any time. Glancing at his family they seemed relatively fine. His dad of course not really counting since he only took small sprints to better sniping spots.

His family had actually pushed the other team back into their base, but a well placed Dynamo swing splatted his mom and sister. The opposing team began a push while he and his father back up a bit as to keep them from truly advancing. They were once again in the middle of the field, ink seeming to be pretty even.

He had just been splatted for the fifth time and was rushing back to the action with only half a minute left. He jumped beside his mother, her giving him a smile as he spread ink and she kept enemies way with her blast radius. Just a few more seconds and the game would be over. Glancing over, Luca saw another Inkling with a roller approaching his sister from the platform above.

"Sis look out!" Luca cried rushing towards his sibling. Cereza stopped rolling and looked towards Luca before over her. The roller jumped down with her weapon over her head. Luca jumped towards his sister and pressed the button on his ink tank. A green bubble encased his body and he slammed his shoulder into his sister's. A bubble encased her as well as the roller bounced off harmlessly, the owner letting out a curse. Cereza smirked as Luca began inking the area beneath the Inkling's feet while Cereza threw a seeker towards her retreating form.

The bomb followed the Inkling as she attempted to flee but she was splatted right as a loud whistle rang throughout the area. Everyone stopped and looked towards a certain area. Confused, Luca followed their line of sight and saw Judd standing on a wall in the far distance. He looked over the Turf zone silently before slowly reaching behind his back with both hands. He suddenly held out a green flag, holding it towards Luca's family's side.

They of course celebrated while the other team groaned in defeat. Judd disappeared behind the wall and the two groups headed towards their respective spawn points and exited the area.

"Thanks for the save little brother! You're a team player just like dad!" Luca groaned again as his sister had been glued to him since they spawned back at the lobby. Maybe he should've just let her get splatted. It's not like it was permanent, and she wouldn't be clinging to him like she was currently doing.

"So how did you like your first Turf War Luke?" Cerata asked her second child as they stepped out into the sun. He turned towards her a gave a tired smile.

"It was really fun. But, I don't think my legs are going to like me tomorrow morning," Cerata and Inkay chuckled.

"Yeah. You're going to have to build up some stamina to play this game a lot. Also you need to practice your vertical swimming. I saw you struggling to swim up walls. Be sure to work on that a bit, okay Squirt?" Inkay said once again rustling his son's tentacles, a proud smile on his face. "I'm really proud of you Luke. You did well for your first Turf War. You K/D ratio was much better than Cereza's," Cereza pouted and unclasped her arms around Luke to confront her father.

"Hey! I spread more ink than him though, didn't I?" Inkay smirked and looked to his side and away from his daughter.

"To each squid kid their own," Cereza gave her father a small glare as Cerata giggled to herself and Luca smiled. He may put on a front that he'd rather be alone, but he really enjoyed his family's interactions. Cereza was now doing a back and forth with her father where his answers were either sarcastic or off subject, Cereza egged on by the smirk on his face.

Inkay's phone suddenly let out a loud ring. He took it out and looked at his ISquid and stared at it for a moment. His face slowly darkened, causing Cerata to approach him.

"What's wrong darling?" She asked placing a hand on his arm. Inkay let out a big sigh before typing a response on his phone before turning to his wife.

"Call from work. Something's come up," He said turning towards his wife and giving her a quick peck on the lips. "I gotta go," He approached his daughter and enveloped her in a hug and approached his son, gripping him by the shoulder and pulling him into a side hug. "You keep splatting and having fun alright?" He said giving his son a proud smile, who gave a smile of his own.

"No problem dad," Inkay turned and stepped away from the Turf War lobby, rushing off into the distance.

"Well, you ready to go again Luke?" Cereza said turning towards her little brother. Their mother answered before he had a chance.

"Oh no Cereza, we're just here to share his first Turf War with him. And we did that. We have to let him do some on his own," Luca had no problem with going off on his own, but he honestly thought his family would stick around more.

Cereza let out a sad groan before huffing out a "fine". She turned to her little brother with a smile. "Well, be sure to have fun little brother. Try not to get into too much trouble," She wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled him in for a quick hug, Luca groaning in protest. She stepped back and looked her brother over with a smile. "They grow up so fast," She said turning towards her mom and doing a fake sniffle.

Cerata rolled her eyes at her daughter and approached her son. She lightly gripped the back of his head and leaned down to kiss his forehead. She smiled at him and caressed his cheek. "I'm really proud of how you played today Luke," She said with a warm grin on her face. Luca blushed at his mothers praise and whispered an embarrassed "Thank you, mom," Cerata smiled and she and her daughter walked away from the Turf War lobby. Luca watched their retreating figures merge into the crowd and eventually separate. He figured his mom was headed back home while Cereza was headed towards one of hers and her friend's. He sat there for a moment in silence before taking a deep breath.

"Welp. Back to it I guess..." He muttered to himself as he got up and headed back inside. He was not aware of the pair of eyes that followed him the entire time.

Cereza was walking towards a nearby apartment building as her finger hurriedly tapped away on her pinkish purple ISquid. She smiled down at the screen as she finished up her message.

Hey! Did you see my little brother out on the field today?

Cereza held her phone at her side and returned her eyes to where she was going. Just like she anticipated, she almost immediately got a response.

OHMYGOSH I MISSED IT!

Cereza smiled at the screen as her fingers typed the reply.

He did awesome! Callie and Marie commentated it too, just like they did mine.

Ughhhhh. I completley forgot that was where you were going. You're going to have to tell me all about it. What're you doing right now?

I'm practically right outside the apartment. You still there?

Yep! Plans ended up getting canceled. :'( life is cruel.

Lol! Well have the door opened for me. I want to be able to walk right in.

No problem. Unlocking it now.

Cereza twirled her phone between her fingers as she continued her journey to her destination. It was a three story apartment complex in a slightly busy neighborhood. She walked through the front door and greeted the people coming to and from the building. She made her way to the the stairs and jogged up them two steps at a time before coming to the second floor.

She walked down the walkway and counted doors as she passed them. She wrapped her hand around the handle of room 208 and pushed it open. She was immediately yanked in by the hand, and the door slammed behind her.

"Alright, tell me everything! Did he do good? Was it too much? Did he play more like your mom, or more like your dad?" Cereza chuckled at the girl holding her by the wrist.

"Calm down Em. I told you I was going to tell you," The Octoling smiled and released Cereza, taking a step back with a smile.

"I'm so disappointed I missed it! Why didn't you remind me?" The girl playfully groaned, her amber eyes glistening beneath her yellow tentacles. Her outfit consisted of a green tank top that stopped just above her navel and a pair of grey pajama pants. .

"I did. Yesterday I told I was busy making plans with my parents, last night we talked about how we thought he would do, and this morning I told you I was going to do a Turf War with the family," Em placed her hands on her hips with a smirk and a narrowed brow.

"You know I can't function before 10 A.M.. That's why we started the note system," She said gesturing towards a stack of sticky notes on a small table next to the door's entrance. Cereza chuckled and ran a hand down her front right tentacle.

"Heheh. Sorry. I was so excited I forgot," Em groaned again as Cereza let out another apology. The two girls laughed before they began heading towards another room and out of the small walkway.

"Well you're going to pay for forgetting by giving me the play-by-play," Em said plopping down on a light brown couch in the living room. She changed position so that she was sitting on her knees and looked up at Cereza expectantly.

"Ok ok fine. Just let me call Wakame first," She responded sitting next to her friend and crossing her legs in front of her. Em let out an annoyed groan and plopped backwards, leaning over the arm rest.

"But wwhhhhhhhhhyyyyy? That guy's such an ass," Em said lightly flailing her body in a mock temper tantrum. Cereza chuckled as she pulled out her phone.

"Yeah, but I've known him since before I even knew my own name! He's kinda like my best friend," Em's head shot up and she sent a glare towards Cereza, who smirked in return. "Second best friend," She said correcting herself and sending Em a wink.

"Damn right second best," She said plopping over the arm rest again. Cereza punched in a few numbers before leaning back and resting her head on the back of the couch. She put her phone to her ear and waited as it begun to ring.

"Hey Wakame!" She happily called as the boy answered, much to Em's distress. "What'cha doing?" She paused as he gave an answer. "Alrighty, come over. We're about to have a discussion...No it is not an intervention!...Just get your butt over here!...ok. Bye," She hung up and looked over to her roommate who simply groaned. Cereza rested her chin on the other female's stomach, a small oof coming from the latter. Em looked down at the Hybrid looking up at her, brownish purple orbs shining.

"What?" Em playfully growled.

"I loves you," Cereza said in a dopey voice. In two quick movements, Em hooked her leg around Cereza's torso and flipped the girl off of her and onto the floor. Cereza let out a startled yelp as gravity took affect and she ungraciously hit the ground. When she collected her bearings, she looked up at Em with a pout and a glare. Em rested her arm on the couch and her chin in her hand, a victorious smirk on her face.

"I loves you too,"

"Inkay! Where have you been man?" An orange tentacled Inkling called towards his friend from down a hall. Inkay was speed walking in the direction the Inkling was and when he caught up to him the Inkling began to walk alongside him.

"Sorry Kelp. You know it was Luca's first Turf War today. I had to participate in that," Inkay said. Kelp nodded and placed his hands in his pockets.

"That is a big event, but we've been trying to contact you for awhile now,"

"Do you know what's up?" Kelp shook his head in a sad way.

"No, but I hear that it's pretty bad," Inkay simply nodded. The two reached their destination and pushed open the door to a small dark room. In the room sat Agent 1 and Agent 2 around a small circular table. They looked at the two males as they entered and gave a small bow of acknowledgment.

"Agent 3. Agent 4," Agent 1 greeted as Inkay and Kelp did a short bow and stepped further into the room, closing the door behind them. "So we have a...disturbing case developing..." Agent 1 added.

"Well what's going on?" Kelp asked taking a seat on the opposite side of the table, Inkay sitting beside him.

"Well Agent 4," Agent 1 said bringing up a large manila folder and sliding it across the table. Kelp picked up the folder and opening it so both he and Inkay could see the contents. Inside were pictures and information of at least several dozen females of both the Inkling and Octoling species. Inkay pulled out a random one and began looking over it.

"Missing person report?" Inkay asked reading over the contents of this particular Inkling woman.

"That's right. Over the past year, there have been over thirty cases of females just disappearing. No clues on who or what is doing it, and no one has any idea where they could've went," Agent 1 continued.

"I'm sure you've seen the news reports spread out on the topic,"

"Yeah, but..." Kelp started. "Isn't this more of a job for the police? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for finding these people and getting them back to their families, but I thought the reason we're secret agents is to help with the undercover stuff the media doesn't want the public to know,"

"Well, you're right Agent 4. But..."

"Then we found this," Agent 2 held up another Manila folder. She slid it across to Inkay who opened to find another missing report. It was an Inkling girl with a bright smile and green tentacles, hazel eyes sparkling in the picture. She couldn't have been a day over thirty. Kelp studied the girl as Inkay began pulling apart the sub folder behind the picture.

"We found her washed up on the shore on a more secluded section of Saltspray Rig," Both Kelp and Inkay looked up at Agent 2.

"Washed up?"

"Uh, Mar-...Agent 2, we don't just find Inklings, or Octolings for that matter, 'washed up' on anything. Our bodies dissolve in water,"

"Exactly," Agent 2 slid a picture towards the two males and they both leaned over to look at it. Both of their brows furrowed while Kelp slowly covered his mouth with his hand. Inkay slowly reached towards the picture as if it would bite him if he moved too fast. "She was found during the later stages of decomposition. Which is surprising considering that would mean she had to have been there for a long time, and seagulls for some reason left her alone. As you can see, her lower legs and abdomen area have pretty much been eroded away from the waves that washed under her. The rest of her body seems to be in this strange state where it's both deteriorating and holding together,"

"But...how?" Kelp asked as Inkay stared quite appalled at the image he held in his hand.

"We don't know, but we are sure it has something to do with this strange chemical found in her blood. It was a substance unknown to any of our scientists and we have yet to be able to mimic it. Further autopsy showed that..." Agent 1 slowly grew quiet and balled her fists up.

"Further autopsy showed that she had been raped. It was a bit before they called it due to the fact of how corroded her lower body was due to the ocean water, but scientist did manage to find DNA that didn't belong to her," Inkay slowly laid the picture down and looked up to Agent 2.

"So do we have the identity of the guy who did this?"

"That's the thing. The DNA...isn't exactly Inkling, or Octarian," Agent 2 answered. "It's the same as both, but isn't neither. It's hard to explain,"

"We don't want to offend you Agent 3, but, we compared the DNA to that of your children," Inkay's eyes narrowed a bit.

"And? What did you find?"

"The DNA make-up matches that of your mixed children. So we think that we are dealing with some type of hybrid Inkling/Octarian,"

"But Agent 2...There hasn't been another hybrid born since Inkay's kids. I mean Agent 3's. Trust me, the media would be all over another mixed child being born," Kelp said leaning forward in his chair.

"Exactly. There is no other hybrid on record, so it's all a shot in the dark, and even if it's a complete miss we still have that mysterious chemical that kept her from immediately dissolving in the water that we need to investigate. Considering that this was one of the girls that just up and disappeared, we're suspecting that all these kidnappings are related, and considering the state we found this poor girl in, we need to find the cause and stop it pronto," Both Inkay and Kelp were quiet as their eyes ran down to the picture of the decaying squid girl again. Agent 1 finally recollected herself and leaned forward.

"Now do you see why the police aren't working on this alone?"

Luca let out a sigh as he sat on the steps of the Turf Tower. He brought the drink he brought to his mouth and let the drink run down his throat. If he said he was exhausted, that would have been the understatement of his life. He had been playing Turf Wars for quite awhile and his body was feeling it. His dad wasn't lying when he said he needed to build some cardio.

But it was now break time. He honestly wanted to do some more Turf Wars, but if he had to run anywhere he was going to fall flat on his face. So he sat a bit to the side of the stairs that led to Turf Tower, out of the way of any other person coming to or leaving the building.

Today had went pretty well. Sadly he had lost more Turf Wars than he won, but he always came in the top two of his team. That's saying something right? Regardless he hadn't really connected with anyone like he had hoped. There was this one girl that he played against that took an interest in his tentacles, but before the conversation could kick off some of her friends dragged her away. Luca let out a sigh of slight disappointment and brought his drink up to his mouth again.

"Rough day buddy?" Luca looked up to see an Inkling boy standing over him. He had dark blue tentacles and dark purple eyes. He wore this wide, friendly smile that caused Luca to give a small one of his own.

"Nah. Just exhausting," The boy chuckled a bit and placed his hands in the pocket of his over-sized light blue hoodie.

"The good "Yeah I'll do that again" exhausting or the "I'm soooo sick of class" exhausting?" Luca chuckled a bit.

"I'll do that again exhausting,"

"I understand completely. May I?" The boy asked gesturing to the spot beside Luca. Luca gestured to it with his hand and the boy took a seat next to him, smiling the entire time. "So was this your first day doing Turf Wars?" The boy asked Luca. Luca gave him a nervous smile.

"Is it that obvious?" The boy chuckled lightheartedly.

"You seem kinda out of breath there buddy. All noobs have that distinct feature," Luca chuckled this time.

"So what are you? Can you Turf War all day, or are you a noob like me?"

"Can't be a noob in a game you never started," The boy said leaning back against the steps.

"You don't play Turf Wars?" The boy shook his head.

"Nah. They're not really my thing. Too much running around for me. Just watching other people play gets me all tired and sleepy. So I'd much rather just watch others wear themselves out," Luca raised an amused eyebrow at the boy. "What's your name by the way?"

"My name's Luca. But my friends call me Luke. What about yours?" Smile somehow growing bigger, the teen responded

"The name's Sebastian. But you can call me Seb for short," Luca chuckled.

"Seb's a weird nickname,"

"Yeah but Sebastian's a mouthful so," Luca shrugged with a smile. "So you gonna get back in there and do a few more Turf Wars Luca?" Luca shrugged his shoulders and looked out over the plaze.

"I don't know. I'm really tired but at the same time I'm not really ready to go home,"

"Who said anything about going home?" Luca turned toward Sebastian, his toothy smile still shining bright. "I know this awesome place with amazing burgers. We can chill there for a bit if you wanna take a break," Luca ran his hand down his tentacles and looked away, an unsure hiss exiting his mouth.

"I don't know man...I should probably tell my mom if I'm going to be going somewhere..."

"Come on man, you can call her once you're there. Better to ask for forgiveness instead of permission and all that," Luca continued to rub his tentacles and look away.

"I don't know dude..."

"Just a quick trip man. We'll go in, order some burgers, listen to some beats, and we'll be back before you know it," Luca was silent for a moment. "Trust me man. Stick with me, and I promise you," Luca looked over to Sebastian as the latter stood up, looking down on him with a large smile and a hand extended.

"You won't have a bad time,"

I LLIIIIIIIVVVVVEEEEEEEE!

So here's the sequel you may or may not have been waiting for! I hope that you all enjoy this one as much as you enjoyed Octo Colors. Being the first chapter I'm going to keep this quick.

If everything goes as planned, this story may end up being longer than Octo Colors, and it may bounce around a lot. In Octo Colors there was a problem introduced in chapter one and the following chapters always had the solution in sight. This story won't have that luxury, as a problem is given through the kidnapping, but we know nothing else.

So what did you guys think? Did you enjoy this chapter? Are you looking forward to the next chapter? I'd love to hear how you all think this story is going to go and your views on the characters. I sure hope you guys enjoyed the ride. Be sure to catch the next chapter. Until next time.

Astalabyebye,

Bang