It really is a beautiful sunrise.

Those were the thoughts that went through Agent 3's Head as the totally-necessary helicopter flew them towards Inkopolis.

And now that the sunrise was over, a certain someone needed to give him a much needed explanation.

Such as WHY THERE IS AN OCTOLING LAYING IN HIS LAP.

And WHY IS THERE AN OCTOLING!?

AND WHY IS SHE ASLEE-actually being sleepy at this point was understandable since apparently according to Pearl, this Octoling just inked an entire statue that was as big as Inkopolis tower.

But still, he needed context.

"Umm Captain?" Said the inkling boy, slowly turning to face him while making sure he didn't wake the girl sleeping in his lap, "explanation? Please?" He asked.

"Oh right! You're still a bit outta the loop!" Said the old squid cheerfully, "this is Agent 8! I found her unconscious when we first arrived down there!" He said in his usual happy-go-lucky tone, "apparently she doesn't remember who she is, but she heard the music of the Squid Sisters and wants to come and live in Inkopolis!" He said.

"okay... but why is she here?" he asked, essentially repeating himself, "ahh Three..." said Cuttlefish, "a fan of the Inkantation is no enemy of mine, besides, Marina over there is an Octoling, and she's just fine!" he said to the agent, "wait she actually is an Octoling? Wow..." he said, suprised.

Marina smiled, "yeah... I heard the sound of the Calamari Inkantation back when you first fought D.J. Octavio..." she said to the inkling, "It just... changed everything, I couldn't stand to live in the oppressive Octarian society anymore after I heard it, so I... ran." she said, looking down at the younger, sleeping octoling.

"The second I saw Eight, I knew immediately, she had heard it too, and she was just like me..." she said, rubbing the sleeping girl's head, "she may not remember it, but i'm sure that she had the same thoughts I had those two years ago... that this changed everything..." she said, smiling.

"There's something magical about that song I tell you!" Said Cuttlefish, coming back into the conversation, "It really opens your eyes." He said, eyes twinkling.

"I see..." said Three, looking down at the girl in his lap, beating him when he was brainwashed and saving the world immediately afterwards was bound to tire her out, but he just couldn't help but be cautious around this girl, after fighting Octarians for as long as he had, trusting one suddenly out of the blue was a little hard for him.

But as he stared at the girl in his lap, he couldn't help but think that he would try, for her sake.

"Oh and, by the way Three." Said Pearl, suddenly appearing beside him, startling the agent, "Can you take care of Eight and let her stay at your place?" She said, smiling.

"...Wait WHAT!?" He yelled out, causing the girl in his lap to stir a bit, though she quickly settled back into a deep sleep a second later. "Stay at MY place!?" He quietly yelled(?) at the girl, "Why!?"

"Well... its mostly because I don't think I can explain to my dad that I've now brought back TWO strange girls to the house to live with me, the first one being Marina." She said with a straight face, "And there's also the fact I don't think she should be with Cuttlefish considering he lives OUTSIDE Inkopolis, the place that Eight wants to be in." She said, pointing that fact out, "Me and Reena will grab some clothes and whatnot to fill up her closet with, but really you're the best option for this scenario." She said, grinning.

"Right... a guy and a girl under the same roof by themselves... totally the best idea..." he said sarcastically, "Please?" Asked Marina, putting her hands together, "Eight told us herself she wanted to experience the 'regular' Inkopolis experience, I doubt she should do that by living with two of the most popular pop stars in the world, the other two being Callie and Marie." She said, pleadingly.

The male agent still wanted to refuse this offer, his apartment was small and generally the idea of one guy and one girl alone in the same house screams "bad".

But when it came down to it, he just couldn't say no, and they had made some very good points, and it's not as if there was a fourth agent for her to live with.

meanwhile

"ACHOO!!" Sneezed a male inkling with yellow tentacles in the spikey hairstyle, "geez... that was a hard sneeze..." he said to himself as he sat in bed, "somebody must be talking about how awesome I am!" He said to himself, leaning back and grinning widely.

Meanwhile... back with Three...

"Dang it... alright fine..." he said grudgingly, "but only temporarily okay!" He said sternly, "yeah that's fine!" Said Pearl, grinning, "so then we have a plan!" She said happily, "me and Reena will head home and grab some clothes we think she'll look good in, you take Eight home and let her sleep, she's had a long day." She said, smiling at the sleeping Octarian.

"Ooh! Do you mind dropping me off here?" Said Cuttlefish, holding up a paper with coordinates written on it, "I got a text from my granddaughter, apparently we're having Crabby Cakes, it'll be nice to see them again!" He said, smiling.

"Oh yeah sure! We're on our way!" Said Marina as the helicopter flew towards the city.

~later~

"Alrighty then..." Said Three as he entered his apartment, carrying the unconscious girl bridal style, "man it's been a while since I've been here..." he said, looking at the cluttered mess around him, "I'll put her in the guest room..." he said to himself as he opened the door to the room, he had already taken off the girl's ink tank and set it down in the living room, but since he didn't have any clothes for her yet, he just took off her shoes before tucking her in.

Speaking of which, these were HEELS.

From what his sister had told him, apparently these were a nightmare to walk in, not that he'd really know considering he's a guy and all, but if he took his sister's word for it, this girl was a freaking beast, running around AND beating him on top of that, in HEELS.

But enough about that, he was tired as well, so he quietly closed the door and walked to his room, a mess as usual but still a little neat, it was in the middle ground between neat and cluttered.

He flopped on the bed, exhausted from the day's endeavors, it wasn't even noon yet, the sun had just rose and he was already exhausted and sweaty.

"Hmm... what's this thing?" He said to himself as he realized there was something attached to his head, reaching the back of his head he peeled it off.

"...a bandaid?" He said out loud, then he realized there was writing on it.

Sorry about hurting your head, you were brainwashed

Sincerely,

-8

"She... put a bandaid on me..." he said to himself, bewildered, "well... if the Cap'n trusts her so much I guess she's okay..." he thought, "I'll have to thank her..." he thought, before drifting into a deep sleep.

End of Chapter 1

Hoooo baby it's done, and on Friday as well! Perfect! (Current goal is to update this story every Friday unless something comes up)

New characters, New story, new plot, I'm excited for this! I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing this chapter, which is a lot.

See you next time, Stay Fresh!

P.S. Original name was gonna be Inkopolis: The Land of Opportunity, but I changed me mind, so now it's "An Octoling's New Life"