A New Family

Chapter 6: Hangout

After a bit of walking, and attempts of small chats trying to improve the mood, Four and Eight arrived at Off the Hook's residence, which had also become Chloe's house. The group of idols lived in Inkopolis, so of course, their house was closer to reach than the Squid Sisters' one.

And it was definitely the polar opposite of it, as well. It was HUGE. Not to say that Pearl or Marina were show-offs or anything like that. They were actually very nice and caring people, and Marina was extremely down to earth. Pearl was too, but being rich, she couldn't help herself not to buy shiny and pretty things, mostly for Marina than for a selfish reason. So they had a pretty big house, with luxurious things all over the place.

The duo had taken custody of Eight since the very first day she arrived in Inkopolis, and they made all they could to make her feel at home. Even though Octo canyon's huts really were nothing compared to what that mansion was, but you get the idea.

Everything there was much different from what Four was used to. Eight surely had everything she needed, whenever she needed it. The octoling slowly reached for the doorbell, turning her glance to Four.

"I don't think you've ever got the chance to meet Pearl and Marina, have you?" She asked.
"Uh, no- not in person, at least." Four answered, not being able of thinking of any time she had properly met the two idols. She knew Marie and Callie hung out with them occasionally, but she had never been brought along.

"Ah, okay then. You'll love them though, don't worry." The octoling gave her a grin from ear to ear, trying to make her feel comfortable and pressing on the doorbell. The door opened a few seconds later, and a short inkling with pinkish hair and a crown on top of her head, as well as a hoodie with a pretty big zip, stood at the entrance. Four thought that in those clothes she'd surely be really cozy.

"Sup, Eight? Sup..." Pearl stopped for a moment, staring at Four and trying to figure out if she knew her or not. It was a little rude, but it was Pearl after all.
"Ay. Is this a friend of yours or?" She asked, curiously. Four looked at her back, somewhat in awe.
"Yeah, she is!" Eight answered, trying to hold back a laugh.
"Hi-...my...my name's Leah. But ergh- you probably know me as Agent 4...-"
"OOOH!" Pearl exclaimed, scratching her chin a bit.

"That Agent 4! Yeh, Eight talked to us about ya and stuff. Pleased to meetcha, the name's Pearl from Off the Hook!" She said, posing in the stance she'd usually use during shows with fans.
"Yeah, hehe, that's me." Four quickly replied. Pearl seemed to have quite a goofy attitude when she wasn't performing, and it grew pretty quickly on Four. But she seemed nice, just like Chloe had described her in the past. It definitely felt different to be talking to her in real life though, rather than watching her from behind a screen.
"Is it a problem if she stays for a while? We both had quite a rough day." Eight asked, with a somewhat begging tone.
"Ah nah it's fine.  Whatcha waitin' for, come in!" She motioned them to follow her inside.

Four was left amazed by how everything inside that house looked so fancy and modern. It was even better than the outside, which she kind of expected already, but not to this extent. There were enormous halls with red carpets and photos of the two Idols pinned on the walls, some newer ones with Eight too. By that point, she was just fully part of the duo too.

It wasn't long until they reached the living room, which looked more like a cinema room rather than an actual living room.
"That TV is huge!" Four looked in awe at the giant screen, hanging on the wall.  It was big enough to cover the entirety of it, along with big speakers on the sides, as if the TV itself wasn't enough. There was any sort of comfort a squid could ask for, too. Even a small hydro-massage pool in the left corner, for some reason.

And yet, Leah didn't feel jealous.  The house was stunning, for sure...but she almost felt overwhelmed by how many things there were all around. She was just fine with the little things she had, back at her own home. Not too much, but also more than enough to be happy.

"Eight loves to hug her frog plushie and sit on that bean bag over there while watching her favorite TV Show every day, ya know?" Pearl pointed out, smirking teasingly. Eight's skin immediately turned red like a tomato upon hearing that, as she looked away coughing embarrassed.
"Haha, yeah uh, she didn't have to- know that."
"Hey, don't worry. It's fine. I have a plushie too back home in my bed. It's a little parrot. It's fine to have a comfort object of some sort." Four said, faintly smiling at Eight, which somewhat relieved her.

The two of them sat down on two bean bags, Eight with her frog, Four beside her, while Pearl went to the kitchen to grab some snacks to eat.
"Call if you need anything!" The rapped yelled from the other room. The two friends looked at each other for a moment. Leah was still a bit lost in her thoughts, still trying to realize why had Eight never ever mentioned how big her house was.

"She should be proud of this," She told herself. But to think about it, it wasn't really surprising. If Marina nor Pearl had ever bragged about it with Callie or Marie (as far as she knew at least), then Eight had probably learned from them not to do it as well. But even without their presence, it was just how she was as a person. An octoling from the octarian forces. Just a few months ago, she would have never even believed that she would have become friends with who she had been told was the enemy. But there she was, without Octavio constantly on her neck, always lying to her.

"Hey Leah, do you have any idea on how this remote works or..." Eight asked, while looking puzzled at the TV's controller, trying to get it to work.
"It's your  house... if you don't know..." Four said, scratching the back of her head taken a little back.
"Hey, it's not my fault there are so many buttons! Marina always explains to me how it works, but eventually, I forget..." Eight said in her own defense, trying not seem dumb.
Leah got a bit closer to Eight and grabbed the remote. She clicked some buttons without actually knowing what she was doing but making it look like so. And somehow, on the screen appeared Eight's favorite TV Show: Squid Falls.

"Woah! You actually got it! You're brilliant, Four!" The octoling exclaimed, amazed. Four smiled, a bit awkwardly. She hadn't done anything more than press random buttons and pray for the whole thing to work, so...
As the opening music started, a very tall Octoling came out of the kitchen, holding a bowl of chips in her right hand, and 2 bottles of Crab-Soda in the other. Four recognized her immediately. How couldn't she?

"Hey Marina!" Eight waved joyfully at her. Marina was Pearl's partner, but outside of work they were way more than that. Marina was a really good DJ, and whatever she did with Pearl, it just...came out as great. It was amazing.

"Hi Chloe, welcome back. And hello Agent 4, I've been looking forward to meeting you." Marina brought her hand close to Four's after putting all the snacks and drinks down on the floor, and Leah shook it with hers.
"It's nice to meet you too! You can call me Leah, by the way."
"Oh, that's a nice name! I really like it. Very well then, Leah, since we're here, may I ask you something?" Marina sounded so polite in everything she said. Outside of her job, she almost seemed like a completely different person. Maybe she was a little shy, just like Agent 4.

"Yes? What is it?" Replied Four, curious.
"You wouldn't mind staying over for Dinner, would you? So that we get to know each other better...if you want to, of course."
Four was more than eager to accept that, as she didn't want to waste a chance like that. Of course, she had to tell Marie and Callie first...she didn't want to leave them hanging like last night.

"Oh, no, i wouldn't mind to at all, but... I'd have to warn Mo-" Four let out an embarrassed cough, trying to make it look like she was just clearing her throat. Marina didn't seem notice her little mistake, but Eight, who was aware of the situation Four had with Marie, giggled amused.
"-Warn Marie and Callie, you know?"
"Oh, if that's the problem, let me handle it. You probably know we and the Squid Sisters are good friends, I can just tell them to come over too".
Four gave her a thumbs up, almost certain that Marie was not going to reject the offer.

"Thanks." Four said, gratefully.
"...You know, you remind me a lot of Marie. No wonder you live with her." Marina pointed out, laughing a little to herself while also going back into the kitchen where Pearl seemed to have some trouble with a jar of peanut butter. The yellow-haired inkling blushed, taken off guard by the comment.
"I told you they were nice. They are like the parents I've never had, to be honest. Paaarents like youuu and Marieeee..."
"AWW COME ON!" Four grabbed a pillow close by where she was sitting and playfully hit Eight full face with it. The both of them burst into a laugh, as Eight fell from her bean bag with her legs in the air.

They then started eating the chips that Marina had brought for them while looking at the show that was being showcased on the Giant screen.

Inkopolis Metro...

Three walked inside one of the many tunnels in the subway, surrounded by nothing else but darkness. The only source of light she had was the one coming out from the end of it, supposedly the main station. She had done that same track several times, she knew where she was going.

But the Metro always had such a hard impact on her, despite how many times she visited it. And she couldn't tell if it was because of how old and creepy it looked, or because of the weird smell in the air, something uncomfortably close to the sanitized ink's one, or maybe for the story that the place had. Perhaps it was a mix of the three. And Jessica hated that place with all herself.

She hated it so much.

Kamabo was an insane company, so much insane. Sickening.

The idea of so many innocent octolings being sanitized by TarTar was already infuriating enough on its own, but the fact that she had been brainwashed too was quite literally the nail in the coffin for her.

That stupid phone had forced her to hurt her own captain, her own friend. She was so glad it was gone for good. But the memory of that day would always be with her, never leaving, because of that stupid scar the sanitization shell had formed on her face. Always there, constantly, never ever allowing her to just forget and move on. At least it didn't burn her face as it used to.

Had it been up to her, Jessica would have never stepped into that place ever again, but the Captain's orders were clear and sound, and she, being the resilient person she was, could just not refuse to follow them, despite a part of her wanting to do exactly that. She would go back there occasionally, to check and clear every single station, to make sure no sanitized being was left alive. They could not risk having them exit the metro and terrorize Inkopolis. She, could not risk it. The damage done was already enough for her to live with.

And while deep in her thoughts, Agent 3 had not realized she had reached the end of the tunnel. The Main station was now clearly visible. The same place where she had saved Eight and Craig's lives. She was rather proud of that, at least that was a good memory. The hole on the roof she had made after jumping that day had remained, close to one of the many lamps that emitted a flickering light. The rests of the blender, made out of the thangs, were also there. 

And speaking of the Captain... Captain Cuttlefish, as expected, was waiting for her near a binary. What Three, however, didn't expect, was that she would have had company.

That time, Agent 1 and 2 were there too. Callie and Marie.