Chapter 6: Phantom's Nightfall

[TRANSLATOR PRESET LOADED]

Inside Inkopolis Ancestral Museum, there was an exhibit featuring a mysterious metal automaton. It was immense compared to an Inkling, and was very slim. In the darkness of the exhibit, it began to glow a soft red. "Next time, big man." An Octoling said before leaving.

On the automaton's shoulder was a faded emblem of a schooner in a thunderstorm, with the word "Charon" below it. Its eyes flickered, and glowed a bright red before fading out.

(Inkopolis Tower)

"Man, that was an intense fight. Good thing that weird guy came out of nowhere and saved us!" Ralph said. Kalmar was still uneasy, that one Octoling that almost got the drop on him was still bothering him. But at least they were safe in the huge safety of the plaza. Or so they thought…

"WHAT!? How could something like this happen?!" Adrian yelled. Kalmar looked with fear that the whole plaza was flooded with Octarian ink. Everyone got to work on clearing paths so that movement could commence again. But, what was weird was that Octarian gear was floating around everywhere, and everyone's attention seemed to be gravitated to this one guy on a bench.

It was Adstrum Necros, that one guy who tried to stomp Kalmar as a Kraken. And Adstrum seemed to be doing the impossible. He was laying down on the bench, asleep, while also executing a choke hold on an, "OCTOLING?!" Kalmar said in shock. This woke Adstrum up, and he tightened his grip on the wretched Octoling.

"Hey! You woke me! Don't do that ever again!" Adstrum complained grumpily. The Octoling tried to punch him, but to no avail. "Also, check out my new pet! Ain't she gorgeous?" He said, the Octoling then blushing angrily. "Honestly, you need to get rid of that thing! It's a hazard to our lives!" Adrian shouted. But Adstrum didn't listen.

"Don't worry, she's obedient. I'm sure we'll have a lot of~" "GET RID OF IT!" Adrian bellowed. "Awh man, you're such a killjoy." Adstrum complained as he stuck a Suction Bomb on the Octoling's head. She screamed in horror before Adstrum said, "I'll never forget you…" She grabbed a stray OctoSplattershot and aimed it at his head, but then… SPLAT! Her ghost was on a one-way trip back to Octo-Valley.

"Now that that is over with, Adstrum, how did you survive the blatant assault on the plaza? There is Octo Ink everywhere!" Kalmar asked. Adstrum smirked and said, "I was defending the plaza! I used everything I could get my hands on, like a hammer, lead pipe, and that one Suction Bomb. Fun Fact: If you use something other than a Turf War weapon to splat an Inkling or Octarian, they burst into their own color of ink."

Phantom stood on top of Inkopolis Tower, overhearing this conversation. "He is correct."

"I've had a ton of fun tonight, well if you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed." Adstrum said as he laid down again, instantly snoozing away. "At least now we know that there aren't any Octarians here." Adrian said, relieved. But Kalmar wasn't. Kamaki wasn't waking up.

He went over to the Bluefin Condominiums, hoping for a place to stay. When he received his key, the clerk said, "Since the whole place is filled up, you'll have to share a room with another guest. This is a crisis operation." "I'll be fine. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"

Standing in the doorway was an orange Inkling girl wearing a School Uniform and a Squid Hairclip. It was Hinode, and Kalmar was already having second thoughts about this decision. "Uhh, I'll take room 38, thank you." Kalmar said, turning left. "Ugh, just get in here!" Hinode shouted, pulling him (and by extension, Kamaki) into the room.

When he finally got up again, he saw Hinode crouching over Kamaki's body. "Her arm is shot! We have to do something!" She shouted, in direct contrast to her behavior earlier today. From the folds of her jacket, she produced a length of medical tape. She wound it around Kamaki's forearm and tied it up tight with rope.

If this were an anime or manga, Kalmar would have sweat-dropped. This girl had some issues. "She'll be fine, she just needs time." Hinode said before getting up, and bumping into Kalmar. "Oh, sorry. Didn't see you." She apologized. Kalmar sighed, knowing that this would be a long night.

(?)

"My lord, Blackbelly Skatepark is now under Octarian Control." An Octoling with yellow tentacles and a crown of kelp on her head said. "Excellent! But I heard from a few troopers that the siege wasn't… perfect." A massive creature said. "The attack was successful, but we lost two Zapfish, one Octostriker, and Octolossus was obliterated." The Top Octoling explained.

"I will NOT stand for a destroyed Great Octoweapon!" It bellowed. "We must construct a replacement!" "That won't be necessary." Top Octoling replied, slightly nervous. "Intelligence indicates that the Inklings discovered a mysterious suit of armor from the depths of the sea. Analysis indicates that it resembles the mysterious vigilante who tried to crush the assault on Blackbelly."

"WHAT VIGILANTE?! WHO DARES TO OPPOSE THE MIGHTY OCTARIANS?!" It shouted. "He's no Inkling, that's for sure, but the strange armor-suit is probably our one shot to take him out. None of our current weapons do jack against him" Top Octoling said, shaken. "Then obtain it! And don't let it elude you." The giant creature ordered.

"My agents have told me its precise whereabouts. I know exactly where to find it!"

(Inkopolis Tower)

Phantom looked down once again upon Blackbelly Skatepark, seeing that the patrols in the area were more than vigilant. Alone, he debated his plan. "If I go in there and wreck the patrols, I'll become too reliable. If something happens to me after, the Inklings will be toast." He continued formulating his plans while a certain someone was standing behind him.

"I know you're there…" Phantom said. He looked back, and Callie was standing there. "It seems I wasn't wrong. We meet again, Callie." "Aren't you going to stomp those Octarians? You know you can, after all." Callie complained. "I must not be a single guardian of the Inklings, your people as a whole need to become stronger." Phantom explained.

"But how will you do that?" Callie asked. "Don't you worry. I have a plan already in motion." Phantom said, holding a Splattershot Jr..

(Ammo Knights)

"And this should be it…" Sheldon said, putting the finishing touches on a new weapon. "Come to think of it, where did this blueprint come from?" He said, eyeing the strange sheet depicting a stranger, hand shaped weapon. "Well, ought to give it a whirl." He placed the glove onto his hand and connected the tube to a reserve tank.

In the backyard where weapons were tested, Sheldon was ready to test the new Inkpalm. He fired by clenching his hand, and the shots traveled in a straight line. "I'm liking this already!" Sheldon shouted, a bit too loud. "Who's there" Someone said. Sheldon looked at the rooftops, seeing an Octoling standing there, weapon pointed directly at him. In desperation, he fired at the enemy.

After the Octoling was sent back to Octo-Valley, Sheldon pondered what had happened. He figured out that the shots defied gravity and moved directly towards the target. He returned to the target dummies, no target was too small or too far to hit. "Best. Weapon. Ever."

(Plaza)

Phantom strode about in the darkened plaza, the ink below his feet had long since vanished, and no Inklings were there to call him out. He walked into the Inkopolis Ancestral Museum, looking carefully at what the Inklings had found. He walked until he came to a certain exhibit.

The glass was broken…

(Bluefin Condominiums)

"Argh, where is it?!" Kalmar said, rummaging through his bag. "What are you looking for?" Hinode asked. "My shooter! It's not here!" Kalmar complained. "I must have dropped it somewhere." Kalmar walked towards the door, but it wouldn't open. "Great! What do I do now?" Kalmar sighed. "Maybe we can wait until daybreak, we have a lot to talk about until then." Hinode said.

Kalmar sighed, this girl had him pinned to the ground. And since he was no creep (like many on the internet are), he definitely wouldn't talk to her. "I think I'll turn in for the night. I'm not feeling too well." Kalmar yawned and said. "Okay, but if you need anything, I'll be right here." Hinode said as she flopped on the second bed, instantly asleep.

"She's not that bad, at least she didn't flat out reject my presence…" Kalmar thought briefly, but his thoughts settled into something else. Kamaki still wasn't waking up, he would be scared, but she wasn't dissolving into gray ink yet. He turned off the light and flopped on the first bed next to Kamaki.

There was a sound of ink weapons firing outside…

(Bluefin Alleyway)

Phantom was in pursuit of a random Octoling, if he let her get away, someone would get hurt. He clutched the Splattershot Jr. and fired away, it drained at the reserve tank as the bursts of ink flew out. The Octoling, however, was agile enough to dodge skillfully. When Phantom heard a clicking sound, he holstered the weapon and focused on running.

The Octoling looked with horror as Phantom was catching up to her. She tried firing ink at his feet to slow him down, but to no avail. Before long, the Octoling was pinned to the wall, and Phantom had a furious expression on his face.

"AAHH! PLEASE DON'T EAT ME! I DON'T TASTE GOOD!" The Octoling screamed, unstrung by hideous fear. "I eat octopi, but not Octarians." Phantom began. "Now, what was that armor-suit? And what do you people want with it?" The Octoling regained her composure and said, "I won't tell you a thing! You'll get nothing out of me!"

"Looks like it's to the serious room with you…" Phantom said before… CLOCK! He knocked the Octoling out.

Will Kalmar make it through the night without his shooter? Why did Sheldon build that strange weapon? And just what is Phantom up to now? Find out on another exciting chapter of Splatoon: The Phantom Agent!

At some point, I might make a story of how Phantom tries to get the information out of that pesky Octoling. I am also still accepting scenario ideas, so submit your ideas in the comments if you so choose to. Stay tuned, and Stay Fresh!