Infestation in Inkopolis! IC

[Cephalobro]

Coral and Kelp manage to exceed the quota thanks to their intense desire to make sure the Octarian neighborhood flourishes and becomes able to thrive on its own.

(Might try to give it a proper name sometime.)

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

(Oof lol)
Evelynn meanwhile is deeply intrigued by the Hogs’ behavior.

 

[frankus]

.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Evelynn scales a wall to get a closer look at what exactly the Hogs are up to.

 

[Cephalobro]

Coral and Kelp keep collecting Golden Eggs.

Coral: Our neighborhood will be so close to meeting its fund goal after this!

Kelp: They should also finish building some buildings a lot quicker with what we will donate to them.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Evelynn hears this and gives up on watching the Hogs, deciding to pitch in and help Coral and Kelp with their cause instead for now. She may not have a place to call home, but they deserve to. Despite desperately wanting to know what the Hogs are doing, she feels like Kelp and Coral need her help more at the moment.

 

[Cephalobro]

Coral notices Evelynn helping him and Kelp.

Coral: Thank you for helping us with this, I will tell you more later when we are not attacked by Salmonids.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Evelynn nods in understanding- now is not the time. Then something catches her eye and she whirls around, prepared to splat a Salmonid. Instead she comes face to face with the strangest Salmonid she’s ever seen.
He looks a bit like her or like the squid and octopus people, but definitely a Salmonid. He is tall, skinny, and terrified-looking. He has floppy, reddish pink hair, big, round scarlet eyes, and shining silver scale-like freckles scattered across his shimmering grayish face. She studies him, her curiosity piqued. Mr. Grizz never described Salmonids like this before. Then she locks eyes with him and she sees fear, confusion and hurt in those eyes, and a very lost look. She recognizes that look so well, because it mirrors her own internal feelings. Suddenly Evelynn realizes that this Salmonid boy- Salmonling?- was just as much a lonely, lost outcast as she was.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Evelynn lowers her weapon slowly, glancing around to make sure no one is watching- no one is- and then drops her weapon altogether and impulsively reaches out, grabbing the Salmonid boy’s hand and dragging him to a hiding spot she’d noticed earlier during recon she’d done between waves.

 

[Cephalobro]

Kelp notices a Salmonid that looks different from all the others, the one that Evelynn is staring at while she grew accustomed to the ones she got used to seeing, she slowly went over to Coral.

Kelp: I wasn't told about that type of Salmonid, I don't know what to do.

Coral: What Salmonid you didn't know about, exactly?

Kelp: Well, that Salmonid looks too humanoid.

Coral: Let's observe to see the behavior, better to be safe.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Evelynn goes to the secret hiding spot with the Salmonid boy, carefully making sure they are not being followed.

 

[Cephalobro]

Kelp sees Evelynn go to an unknown place with the Salmonid.

Kelp: What is she doing?

Coral: Probably making this less dangerous for us to keep collecting Golden Eggs.

Kelp: That makes sense.

Coral: Now let's keep collecting Golden Eggs so our neighborhood can prosper once we donate enough to it.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Huchen- the Salmonid boy- is frozen in fear. This must be the new species from the reports; she looks like nothing he has ever seen before. Evelynn takes a deep breath. She wasn’t sure if he spoke her language, but she had to at least try.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

“Im sorry for all of this, but you need to stay here. It’s not safe for you out there, but you’ll be safe here. Just stay, please,” she said. He stares back blankly, and for a moment Evelynn’s hopes sink but she is determined to try again. “You stay. Me come back later. Safe here. Danger there-“ she says, pointing to the outside where the others are fighting the Salmonids.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Huchen blinks, snapping out of his trance. “Okay, I will. Thank you,” he replies fluently in the same language, catching Evelynn by surprise. Huchen saw something in her eyes back there, something familiar, something pure, something heartfelt, something trustworthy. He was deciding to trust this strange girl who had seemingly saved him from certain death.

 

[Cephalobro]

Coral: So, how about after this, we give some suggestions to General Anemone to speed up some of the development? Our medical bay area kind of needs not to be in the open because of potential diseases that might spread.

Kelp: I agree, I think a hospital will be best to have its development sped up.

Coral: Plus a store is already built, just needs to be upgraded for more essentials.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Evelynn regains her composure and nods. “Thank you. I’ll be back soon, I promise. Just stay there, and stay quiet. I just want to keep you safe,” she adds, in case her intentions weren’t quite clear.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Huchen nods and does as he is told. Evelynn casts one last glance at him over her shoulder before darting back out to the battlefield to help the others. She suddenly doesn’t feel like splatting Salmonids anymore, but she can still use her agility and swiftness to her advantage to help deliver Golden Eggs and protect her crew.

 

[Cephalobro]

The final wave of Salmonids finally start retreating into the water as Coral and Kelp see the Mothership being hijacked, they wouldn't worry about it coming to take the Golden Eggs they have collected. The wave ended, Coral sees his smiling Octotrooper brother not needing to rely on things found at a junkyard. Kelp remembers her Octobomber sister waiting for a fridge that doesn't have faulty wiring.

 

[TurnItUpAnOctave]

Evelynn lets out a breath of relief as the wave of Salmonids recedes.