Archive of Our Own ^beta

     As he waited patiently, two Cohocks beside him grumbled to each other.

     The tip of Sal's tongue had healed during the wait, but his bruised ego did not. The fact that an octarian actually hurt him and got away with it caused an itch he couldn't easily scratch.

     Sal's stomach growled loudly as he wrapped the collar Akikta had yanked off back around his neck.

     Soon after, two Chums came up to Sal, respectfully bowing before handing him a large bowl full of squirming shrimp. It took both of them to hold it, but Sal was able to hold it with one hand. The chums bowed once more before leaving him.

     Normally, Sal would cook whatever he planned to eat, but the unscratchable itch paired with the short wait starved him. He could wait no longer.

     "Where are they..." He mumbled while greedily devouring handfuls of shrimp at the time. His lip smacks and loud chewing disturbed the peace, with squeals from the shrimp contributing.

     Sal stopped eating once he saw a group of Chinooks slowly rise from the darkness. He shoved the bowl of shrimp into one of the cohock's grasp.

     While he wasn't looking, the cohock attempted to eat some shrimp, only for the other to slap them out its fin.

     Sal's black lips curled into a smile when the chinooks reached his level. "Tell me you found them!" He said eagerly, only for most of the chinooks to nervously divert their gaze from him. The rest looked down, shame in their eyes. "You didn't..." His smile took an awkward shape as it grew a bit wider.

     Sal let out a nervous chuckle before waving his hand. "Go." He ordered, and the chinooks flew away.

      He'd walk along the catwalk into a different area of the tower, with the two cohocks following close behind. A hand covered his mouth while the other rested on his hip. He almost freaked out, but if the chinooks couldn't find Akikta, that had to mean he moved. Which also meant he was still alive, fortunately for him.

     Though, the problem now was catching Akikta while he was still alive. After all, the clock was running out of time for him.

     As he walked, a small circular platform descended to his level. It was completely detached from the other catwalks and platforms, hovering like an Octarian UFO. "L-lord..." A scratchy voice called out nervously.

     Sal looked up to see Clod, another king salmonid. Clod was unlike the two he had sent out earlier; As far as king salmonids go, he was on the smaller side, being a mere fifteen feet tall. "What?" He answered, annoyed.

     "I apologize for the interruption... but we have a situation..." Clod informed, moving up his binocular-like goggles to reveal his green pupilless eyes.

     "Oh, what gave you that idea, Clod?" Sal barked, continuing down the catwalk.

     Clod's platform followed from the side. "I understand things didn't go well with the human, my lord, but it isn't about that... It's worse."

     "What could possibly be worse than this?!"

     "Our forces at the Manta Maria have been... vanquished."

     Sal stopped in his tracks. "What?"

     "Their assault has stopped, and they are not responding to our transmissions."

     "None of them? Not even the kings?"

     Clod shook his head solemnly while readjusting the brown straps on his waist. "Scouts have already spotted the ship heading this way."

     The sudden information caused Sal to jolt out of shock. He was aware at least some members of the New Squidbeak Splatoon knew of his existence, but he thought them to be a cautious bunch. Coming straight here immediately after a salmonid attack? Were they crazy... or did they have something he didn't know about?

     Either way, Atlantis had no exterior defense systems. There was only one thing they could do. "Well, submerge us then!" Sal demanded.

     "The mechanisms haven't recuperated yet! Another immediate submersion might cause irreparable damage." Clod exclaimed worriedly.

     "How long do the gears need then?"

     "At least another hour..."

     "The ship will have reached us by then!" Sal shouted before angrily kicking the catwalk's railing, causing a piece of it to break and fall. He'd then roughly take another handful of shrimp and stuff them in his mouth, nearly making the cohock drop the bowl.

     Sal couldn't believe this was happening to him right now. Not only was he that close to ridding himself of those awful inklings and octarians, but now the New Squidbeak Splatoon would be right on his doorstep any minute! Things just kept getting worse and worse.

     After giving their circumstance some thought, Sal started to calm down. "You know what? This is fine. We'll have the advantage if they come to us," He reasoned with himself, nodding in satisfaction.

     "T-there's more, my lord..." There was slight hesitance in Clod's voice. The king salmonid flinched when Sal's head snapped towards him. "Before we lost contact with our forces, they reported being attacked by... something."

     Sal stood up straight. "What do you mean something?"

     "The way they described it was...questionable." Clod readjusted his goggles. "Whatever it was, it wasn't part of the Splatoon... I doubt it was even a mollusk."

     Sal's problems continued piling onto each other. First Akikta, then the platoon, and now this unknown assailant. What was next?

     Actually, before any of that, he needed to find a way to track Akikta. This all was meaningless without the human. But how would he be able to find him? Most of the clan could barely operate Atlantis's systems, let alone read its words; So cameras were out of the equation.

     Right as Sal pondered how to handle his main concern, he spotted Clod's radio hanging from his waist. He thought for a few moments before extending an open hand out to Clod. "Give me your radio," he ordered.

     Clod hurriedly unhooked his radio and handed it to Sal.

     "Put all sectors on high alert. I want Akikta brought to me immediately!"

     "Akikta?"

     "THE HUMAN!" Sal yelled, making Clod jump.

     "Yes, lord, of course." Clod nodded repeatedly, making up for his dumb question. "And what about them?" He pointed a fin towards a jar.

     While one cohock held Sal's bowl full of shrimp, the other dragged along the jar containing Marie, now joined by Inka. "Take them to Sector Eden. But don't cook either of them until I say so."

     Clod nodded before placing the jar onto his platform with some help from the cohock. The king salmonid then hurried off, leaving Sal with the cohocks.

     Sal left the Superiority Complex, returning to the Chain of Command tower. He'd send the two cohocks off before heading up a flight of steps to a room adjacent to the gladiator chamber.

     The round door slid apart, opening up to a dark room. "Masu, Huchen. Wake up!" Sal hollered. Two heads popped up from the darkness, followed by two pairs of footsteps approaching Sal.

     The first pair was heavy and clanky; The second pair wasn't as metallic sounding, but still equally as heavy.

     Two figures gradually emerged from the darkness. The first to appear was Masu. She was a slender girl, though it was hard to tell due to her being clad in metal armor. A stinger mask obscured most of her face, with only her right red eye being visible. Regardless, Sal could tell she was groggy.

     Appearing beside Masu was Huchen, her older brother. He wasn't clad in heavy metal armor like her, but he was covered from head to toe. Even his face was concealed by a hockey mask.

     "Things have gone south," Sal revealed, snapping Masu from her groggy state.

     "How bad is it?" She questioned, her tone waspish and crude.

     "The human has rejected our clan and escaped into The Bowels. And that group of agents is right on our doorstep."

     "Group of agents? You mean the Squidbeaks?"

     "Yes, the Squidbeaks. The ones I warned you about..." He replied, not being as aggressive as he was with Clod.

     "The time has finally come for you to prove yourselves to the clan." Sal patted their heads, their reddish-orange hair squishing beneath his claws. When he lifted his hands, their hairs formed back into the style of a Steel Eel's mohawk.

     "Take this." He handed Huchen a handheld radio. "Use it to track down the human. Bring him back to me, alive." Huchen nodded. "Remember all your training, for your destinies will be decided once this is all over."

     Masu looked at her brother. "Smoke of Seven Rings," she started.

     Huchen looked back. "Eat... or Be Devoured." he finished, his voice low and muffled due to the mask.

     Sal smiled, knowing the Steel Twins' recited oath meant they'd accomplish the mission given to them through any means necessary, even if it meant death. "Now go, my enforcers. The clan's hopes and dreams rest on your shoulders." He pointed outward, and the twins walked passed him, their matching capes flowing with determination.

     "We'll get it done," Masu called out. "Anything for you, Father."