Although Roenaldo had an easy time falling asleep, his rest was not so peaceful. A disturbing dream plagued him that night; in it, he was in a version of Inkopolis Plaza that was completely grey and lifeless. He was the only person in the entire area; there were no jellyfish wobbling around, no flashy advertisements on the giant TV, and most importantly no Inklings to socialize with. Gone was the possibility for Roenaldo to enjoy himself with ink battles, browsing stores, and the like. Not even the Squid Jump machine was functional. Soon, after doing nothing but waiting around in that grey prison, the world started turning more and more black until Roenaldo was completely swallowed by the darkness.
Roenaldo woke up in a cold sweat. He breathed in and out heavily as he said to himself, "What was that just now? What sort of world was I in? It was like there was nothing powering the city!" After saying that, he realized something. "Is," he said softly, "Is that what'll happen if the Great Zapfish doesn't return?" He started to think about his responsibilities as an agent. Maybe Cap'n Cuttlefish was absent at the moment, and it was not clear when he would return, but something seemed wrong about just doing nothing in his absence. With this thought in mind, Roenaldo decided that he was not going to head straight into another competitive match as he usually did; he was going to see what he could do in Octo Valley.
Preferring to not waste any time getting himself ready, Roenaldo headed straight for the manhole in Inkopolis Plaza, this time not having much of a chance to get caught due to it being so early in the morning. Once he was transported to Cuttlefish Cabin, he located his Hero Suit behind a tree and changed into it. Once he did that, he used the launch pads on the 3 islands he had discovered to end up on the 4th one, which was reminiscent of a metallic factory. Sensing an eerie feeling from the area, Roenaldo made sure to enhance his Hero Shot's fire rate and power using some of the power eggs that he acquired. After taking that precaution, Roenaldo scoured the island until he located and shot a hidden kettle behind a busted power generator. Roenaldo took a deep breath before saying, "Okay, Cuttlefish, I don't know where exactly you are right now, but wish me luck; I'm going in solo." Despite feeling doubtful, Roenaldo slapped himself to steel his spirits before diving into the kettle.
The agent landed in a city that, unlike most of the other lairs, did not have a bright and uplifting façade; the screens that covered the sky simulated a cloudy, dark environment, and moody music played all throughout the area. Roenaldo tapped the ground with his foot, and the hollow sound that he heard told him that he was standing on an unsupported platform. He looked below him to see that he was, in fact, floating in the air, with a bunch of Octarians matching uniformly in straight lines many feet below him. "Hmm," said Roenaldo, "I wonder what they're all doing down there…" He then looked towards the front of the platform, noticing blue propeller. "Oh," said the squid, "Another one of these things. Might as well see where it takes me." With that, Roenaldo started shooting the fan, causing him to move along an invisible track.
Using the lift, Roenaldo soon ended up at the door of a floating office. He swam over to the side of one of the windows and peeked through it to see that there were a bunch of Octotroopers, Octoballs, and one Twintacle Octotrooper. Instead of typing documents on computers, these workers were standing at attention; they were ready to deal with any intruders. Still in his squid form, Roenaldo said quietly, "Okay, this seems to be the only way through. I'm going to need to get through that room, no matter what it takes." He inhaled sharply before converting to his humanoid form, opening the door, and charging into battle. All of the Octarians immediately jumped into action; the Octoballs tumbled over paper stacks, the Octotroopers provided support fire, and the Twintacle gave orders in its language. Roenaldo was limited in his movement due to the various objects filling up the room, but with enough finesse and know-how he was able to put up a fight against the large crowd. He even managed to use the terrain to his advantage, using items like filing cabinets to shield himself from the many purple bullets that flew through the air. After a short yet harrowing struggle, Roenaldo had splatted all the Octarians in the room. As a reward, he found a Hero Helmet in a trash bin. Ignoring the health issues, Roenaldo put the gear on; he was always happy to have protection. Exiting through the door on the other side, the squid found another propeller lift, which he used to travel to his next destination.
On the next suspended island, Roenaldo appeared in front of a large greenhouse. He entered to see that there were a bunch of Octocopters watering the plants, using their nozzles to spray nourishing water rather than harmful ink. Seeing that these octopi were more peaceful, Roenaldo decided to try and make his way through the greenhouse without drawing any attention to himself. With this plan in mind, he turned into his smaller squid form and slinked through a slot in the door. He then stuck as close as he could to the plants, using their leaves as cover as squished towards the other side of the garden. While he was doing so, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortably hot; while he was cold-blooded, the humidity of the room was too much for him. Seeking a way to cool off, Roenaldo noticed that one Octocopter was being slightly inaccurate in its watering; it periodically covered some of the ground on its left in liquid. Seeing this opportunity, Roenaldo carefully sneaked his way over to that spot, concealing himself in a bush as he extended his right tentacle to be coated in water. While he was enjoying the cooling sensation, Roenaldo failed to realize that he had exposed himself too much. One of his hearts dropped as the Octocopter gasped and gave an alarm call. Just like that, every Octocopter in the area was on Roenaldo's behind, switching their nozzles to ink mode to take care of their intruder. Seeing this, Roenaldo went back to his kid form and made a mad dash for the exit; he was not in the mood to shoot down all of the Octarians, especially not in such a hot place. Scrambling past all kinds of flora, Roenaldo eventually got to the door, finding yet another lift.
Roenaldo looked behind him to see that the Octocopters were still in hot pursuit, and he knew that he had to get away. He shot the propeller as quickly as he could, using the movement to retreat to safety. However, the unexpected happened; the path led to 3 other lifts! Roenaldo looked at all of them nervously as he said, "Ohh, no, this might be bad. Which one should I take? Is there even a correct answer?" Knowing that he was still being chased, Roenaldo went with his gut and chose the middle lift. He jumped onto it and shot like his life depended on it, allowing him to be transported along a long winding road. As he progressed, he noticed that instead of going straight, he was descending to the ground. In fact, now he was heading straight towards the giant crowd of Octarians! Seeing this, he immediate stopped shooting, but by now it was too late; his Hero Shot's power had given too much kinetic energy to the fan. As a result, he landed straight in the middle of the octopus flow. Roenaldo looked around with a nervous smile, saying, "Sooo…what's going on with all of you?" As the Octarians and Octolings looked at their newcomer with a mix of confusion and resentment, Roenaldo was shot in the shoulder by a sniper out of his view. Roenaldo winced, but was surprised to find that he had not been splatted. He put a hand to his shoulder and pulled it back to see that a green, sticky, smelly substance was there. At that moment, his vision started to swirl, stretch, and warp around him. He stumbled around with a stupid grin on his face, saying, "Ha ha, such beautiful colors…makes me want to spin…and spin…and spin…" After some dizzy teetering, Roenaldo fell flat on the ground.
The agent later awoke in the middle of a grey jail cell. Now back to his normal state of mind, he looked around in confusion and said, "What just happened? Why am I in this place?" Thinking back to the previous events, he slapped his thigh in anger. "Darn it," he said, "I got tricked! That lift didn't lead to an escape route, it was a trap!" A Twintacle Octotrooper banged on the bars forcefully, bringing Roenaldo to attention. It said something harsh in Octarian before using one of its tentacles to point to Roenaldo's right. The squid looked in that direction to see that there was a TV showcasing some kind of simple, colorful cartoon showcasing a young-looking Octostamp jumping along Octarian letters as accompanying music played. Roenaldo's mood turned sour; this seemed to be a show for babies, which is likely what his captors saw him as. He sat down in defeat, holding his hands against his face. Was this how his story ended? Roenaldo wanted to be hopeful, but he couldn't help but think that his game was over. With that in mind, all that was left for him was to sit there and rot in his cell.