Hi, it's Octoreader! Before I start this fic there are a few things you should know.

First, I'm running two fics at once (Fresh Out of Octo Canyon) so updates will be a bit lengthy at times. Please be understanding.

Second, there's an artist who had a REALLY good design of an inkling/octoling hybrid that gave me a rough design to base my character off of and inspiration. I wanted to use the artist's picture for my cover but I can't find them anywhere on the internet so I would not be able to properly credit them. There art is just...there, which is a bit weird. Either way, it would feel wrong not giving a thank you to this artist. If I ever find their name, I'll put them down here. That said, this story is my own. The only reason I am mentioning this is that the way I describe my character's tentacles is similar to said artist's tentacle design and they gave me inspiration to write this.

Finally, I really appreciate those reviews you guys. They really motivate me. Now please sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Mollie's P.O.V:

My phone alarm went off in my pocket with it's annoying ringtone that I still don't know how to change. It was set to be just like one of those old fashioned alarm clocks and the fact that I had my volume on all the way by no means helped.

BBBBRRRRRIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGG!

I tapped my alarm to snooze and checked the time. Five o'clock in the morning. I hate getting up early. I hated this trip too which was even worse. Five hours in a cramped bus only to get off and immediately board a slightly less cramped bus for another five hours.

I was trying to get to Inkopolis which made me ecstatic thinking about despite the rough trip. Right now, the sun was barely even up and I had my roller bag in the seat next to me. I had a seat free to do that because nobody seemed to really want to sit with me which was a bit disappointing but not entirely unexpected…

My name is Mollie. I'm fourteen and am also two different races at the same time. I'm half inkling which come from my dad's side but I'm also half octoling which comes from my mothers. I have octarian eyes but still have the pointed ears of my inkling father. I've got two small blue inkling tentacles in the front of my head but I have two blue octarian tentacles in the back, suckers and all.

So I guess I look a bit weird to a lot of people. I lived in a small town and besides the occasional bullying at school, it was pretty all right. Didn't have many friends though. My mom did just fine despite the fact that she kind of stood out and all being an octoling. Besides, I hear Inkopolis has a couple of octolings there now.

However, nobody on this bus seemed to want to get near me. I saw a lot of whispering and stares but I had other things on my mind. I was too busy thinking about Inkopolis. The colors! The people! The sights! It was my dream to make it big there!

The plan for me was simple. I would get a cheap hotel room with the small amount of money I had. I would then join a turf team, make some cash, and afford to be able to pay the rent. Maybe once I got really settled, I could start decking it out. Maybe get a couple of decorations, a few posters here and there, nothing horribly fancy.

Well this would all happen, if I ever got there. This bus ride was taking forever. My knees were starting to really kill me.

"Who the heck is that?" whispered girl wearing a biker helmet a couple of feet away.

"Some sort of mutation. Is she a hybrid or something?" said a girl in a school uniform and hair pin.

"That's so gross!" said the girl with the biker helmet.

Okay, so I've dealt with my share of bullies so I ignored it. I should mention that I'm way smaller than a lot of kids my age. Getting confrontational wasn't a good idea. I just decided to tune it all out..

"What kind of inkling and octoling come together and decided to have a child?" said the girl with the helmet.

"Probably ones that aren't right in the head." said the girl in the school uniform making a cuckoo gesture to her friend.

I every urge to not leap across the isle and strangle the little brat. I don't care about a couple of jabs at me but if someone decides to insult my parents, that's a different story. There pretty nice people, mind you.

Strangling a girl, however, was not going to do me any favors in Inkopolis and certainly wasn't how a reasonable cephalopod like myself does things. Instead, I decided to play it a bit more cooly.

"Yo," I said turning to face them, "I can hear everything your saying. Mind not insulting my parents?"

The girls seemed really shocked that I could actually speak for some reason. Gee, maybe I actually have a voice ladies? Ever thought of that?

The girl with the helmet regained her composure and responded hostile by saying, "I'll say whatever I want you…"

I'm not going to repeat what she said but I'll just say it was a really offensive term that translates something close to, "Drown in water while covered in shark poo."

"Excuse me?" I responded still trying to keep my cool, "May I ask what your damage is?"

"My damage is you hybrid." responded the inkling wearing the helmet, "Why don't you just go on the roof or something? Your grossing us all out."

By now, all the inklings on the bus had woken up and were staring at us. They were probably bored out of their minds so I can't really blame them.

"Okay," I said, "Just please don't diss my parents. I just don't take well to self-entitled little brats thinking they can just insult the people that raised me."

I realized later that last part may have been a little but too much.

I turned around to ignore them. I planned to just get my headphones out of my bag and listen to some Off the Hook so I could relax. However, as I turned around I saw something that caught my attention through the window….

Inkopolis. It was maybe just thirty minutes away! This trip would finally be over!

Suddenly, I felt a large yank off my shoulder that knocked me off my seat followed by a loud yell.

I barely had time to register what was happening as I hit the floor... hard. I heard yelling from the other inklings and I could see very clearly the inkling with the helmet on top of me. I barely had time to say a word before she struck me right in the face.

"Call me a brat again!" she yelled as she punched me once more.

I managed to wriggle out from under her and stand back up as the girl's friend pulled her off. The entire bus was in an uproar.

"Disgusting half breed!" she screamed as she tried to lunge at me while restrained by her friend's arms.

"What is wrong with you?!" I said.

I must have really touched a nerve or something because her friend in the school uniform was just barely keeping her restrained. The girl with helmet's face was red with anger.

All the inklings on the bus were stirred up but someone soon put an end to that...

"What is going on here?!" yelled a voice.

Everyone went silent. It took me a while to discern who was speaking. All the inklings were staring at the floor which was really confusing until I could see why. On the floor was a sea cucumber in a little top hat. It was our driver.

"Well?!" the sea cucumber commanded.

"This hybrid attacked me!" yelled the girl in the helmet.

I looked at her like she was an idiot. Not only was that low but nobody would buy such a thing. Not even sea cucumbers.

"That's absolutely not what happened." I told the sea cucumber but another inkling spoke up.

"She's lying." spoke up an inkling, "The hybrid did it."

"Yeah," said another, "I saw it to."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"All right then," said the cucumber, "Get off my bus."

"Wait, what?" I gasped in disbelief.

"You heard me," said the sea cucumber, "Get off my bus before I call the police. I got no time to time for disturbances."

This...this wasn't like anything I had experienced before. I looked around the bus, there wasn't a single inkling willing to tell the truth. They all wanted me out.

I've dealt with bullying my entire life. It's inevitable really. I'm different so therefore some people are going to eventually bully me. In my little town, I was able to get by. I didn't have any close friends but nobody really interacted with me, which in a way was good because that meant I didn't attract a lot of unwanted attention either. I was hoping a bit that I could go to Inkopolis and make some friends, you know? It seemed like they were so much more tolerant there by letting octolings live there and all.

Well, it looks like I was wrong. I'm still someone people don't want to interact with. I'm still an ugly hybrid.

I noticed that I started to unconsciously cry. A few tears were streaming down my cheeks.

Damnit, now I'm looking like a baby.

"Fine…" I sniffed, "Hope you all are all happy."

More tears were coming. I needed to get off the bus, quickly.

I grabbed my roller bag and shot out the door without even looking back.

By the time the bus rolled away I was full on sobbing.

Why did it have to be this way? All the time? I thought I would be able to enjoy Inkopolis without the cool reception I got back at my place. This was worse. People were just flat out mean here.

To top it all off, I had to walk for who knows how long.

Okay Mollie, get a grip. You need to stop crying. You're wasting time.

I sniffed and dusted myself off. Good.

Okay so Inkopolis was closer but still a bit far. The bus was going like thirty miles an hour or something. So say it was give or take a half hour away. That would mean...30 miles per hour...divided by half an hour...like 15 miles.

15 miles to walk. I could probably get there in a couple of hours. The sun was just starting to come up. It was still really early in the morning. I could probably get there by noon.

Still, it was probably going to suck. Those inklings on the bus are probably relaxing in their air conditioning and are almost there already. I was starting to tear up again.

Okay, you know what? I just won't think about the bus. Screw busses.

I began to walk before I had an idea...

Does Inkopolis know I'm a hybrid yet?

Nope.

So you know, I'm not going to put up with this crap when I get there. I got out a hoodie and sunglasses. I pulled the hoodie up over the back of my head, which covered my octarian tentacles in the back but left my short inkling ones in the front exposed. I then put the sunglasses over my octarian eyes.

There! Inkopolis will never suspect a thing!

Then again, I'm not sure if I want to go around in a sweaty hoodie and sunglasses all the time. It would be pretty uncomfortable. I guess, I'll just take each problem one at a time...

I sighed and began the long walk to Inkopolis.

What did you all think? Let me know in a review! Keep reading and stay fresh!

Fight for all Fiction

-Octoreader