Meanwhile, Agent 3 and Agent 4 were trying their best to get a shot on the frantic Marie Animatronic. She kept moving, not letting up with her own black slug shots as the two agents tried to get an advantage.
4 did a quick roll where the hall to the office came into his view in the briefest of moments. It only took a second for his brain to compile a rough plan, to which he called out, "3, try force her into the office! She won't be able to dodge us in that small a space!"
"Copy that!" 3 chirped, re-doubling her efforts to cut off the robot. 3 kept pressure on the machine's right side while 4 flanked the left. She was slowly pushed back into the hall before sprinting down the corridor towards the office. The agent couple was ready to track down the fleeing Robo Marie as they managed to get to the end of the hall, peering out across the office...but, nothing.
"Wait, where did she go…?" Agent 4 asked, stepping forward into the office. It was too late when a beep went off and an explosion of toxic ink knocked him onto his back and made 3 fall on her rear. The boy agent groaned and winced as he felt the acidic smell and stinging behind the enemy's ink, hurriedly wiping the substance off. It was so much worse than the typical toxic ink Octolings used on his agent missions. How was that possible?
3 however just stood up with a giggle, dusting herself off. Her happiness soon turned on its head into a frown as she did a quick search, "Uhh, Rina? I think we lost the Marie bot!"
"We almost lost YOU!" Marina shouted, "Please be more careful!"
"...Nope," 3 said, with a cat-face expression, "So...uh...where is she?"
That was answered with a shout and a massive slam as Robo Marie threw a powerful haymaker at 4's head, narrowly missing him and making a massive dent in the wall. 4 screamed in shock and scrambled out of the way, towards 3, who instantly shielded him and glared at the robotic Marie. She was standing before them, cracking her metal knuckles with a sickening crunch sound.
"Giving you idiots the slip is distressingly easy," she sneered, "Time to die."
"Close the door!" Agent 4 said quickly. 3 grunted and threw her Hero Shot at the button, the metal barrier once again slamming shut to protect the Inklings from the killer robot. The robot growled and stomped down the corridor.
"Well that's bought us a few seconds…" Agent 3 sighed, staring at the opposite door frame, "'Rina, what do we do?"
"Her armour's a bit lopsided," Marina said, "Armour on the back's weaker, but all her important mechanisms are on her front. Shooting her in the back will stun her for sure, but we'll need something more to eat through the armour."
"Oh, that's easy!" Agent 3 chimed in, "I'll just charge up some IA3B! But that's gonna take some time. 4, any ideas?"
"We'll need a distraction," Agent 4 hummed, "One that doesn't use your ink, so I can get behind and fire on her back."
"Sounds good!" Marina called out, "Here she comes! Close the door!"
Agent 3 did so, slamming on the door button as Robo Marie honed into view. She giggled, dabbing in the window as Robo Marie growled at her. But suddenly, with a creaking sound beyond all creaking sounds, Robo Marie punched the door hard, grabbing the sides. With a grunt, the door was torn clean from its hinges, throwing it down the hallway. She glowered at Agent 3.
"I AM DONE…" she growled, "PLA-A-AYING GAMES...DIE."
"WAIT!" Agent 3 called out. The robot stopped in confusion. And then… she started dancing. She crossed her arms while moving foot to foot and clapping. And she did it again. And again and again in a steady, almost catchy rhythm. "Come everybody, sing with me!" Another clap as she kept a rhythm. "This is the dance, it's the distraction dance~!" CLAP! "Hey, look at me, distraction ants in my pants~!" CLAP! "This is the dance, it's the distraction dance~!" CLAP! "By me moving, us agents will advance~!" CLAP!
The Marie bot almost seemed to spasm out of sheer confusion, as if it's coding couldn't even cope with the sheer anomaly in front of her.
"This is the dance, it's the distraction dance~!" CLAP! "Just trust me, this is the greatest of plans~!" CLAP!
Meanwhile, 4 was sneaking right behind the pair from the other hallway. He could hear his girlfriend doing her magic, thankful that by some holy miracle that it was working. Then again, he has always known 3 for doing the most reckless of plans. Like when she played hide and seek with Octolings while recovering a Zapfish. Sure, she got a verbal thrashing back at base, but… she really was incredible. He turned the corner, still seeing 3 dancing and the Marie robot looking like she was somehow having a midlife crisis. Well, with her body he could, kinda understand that.
"This is the dance, it's the distraction dance~!" CLAP! "Keep up with me, we're in our trance~!" CLAP! "This is the dance, it's the distraction dance~!" CLAP! "Thank you for waiting, now perish with chance~!" On the final CLAP!, 4 ran up and shot Marie rapidly on her exposed back. Her body sparked and she shook violently, smacking 4 away by random spasms in her muscle robotics.
"Alright, 4!" 3 cheered, a soft glow starting to emit from her tentacles "Just in time! IA3B is charged!"
"What…" Robo Marie whirred, "Is IA3B?"
"INNER AGENT 3 BULLSHIT, WOO HOO!" Agent 3 screamed. And all of a sudden, an absolute barrage of Autobombs came raining down on the robotic Marie. She tried to shield herself, but it was too late. A cacophony of red ink explosions shook the halls, batting Agent 4 away from the splash zone, as red ink and bits of robot rained down. At least thirty bombs were chucked before Agent 3 stopped, the glow in her tentacles remaining. Almost nothing remained of the robotic Squid Sister; her casing was completely blown apart, she was missing an arm and she was shivering greatly. With a final yell, Agent 3 jumped into the air and performed the mother of all Splashdowns, coating the walls and floor in ink.
Agent 4 looked down at the miniscule fragments of the robot. They were unmoving and dark. She was destroyed. He breathed a sigh of relief, clutching his stomach where the robot backhanded him. "I...was not expecting that to work. You...you're amazing, you know that right?"
3 smiled before skipping up to him and pecking him on his cheek, giving him one of her trademark "Adoraboo" smiles, "You're amazing too 4! Thank you for trusting me!" He gave her a nod with blushed cheeks, though his eyes sparkled right back at hers. She looked down and frowned slightly as he held his belly, "You gonna be okay? You've taken a few hits."
He nodded, straightening a little more, "I'll walk it off, don't worry. Let's regroup with the team for now." 3 nodded and gently took his hand to lead him. His many hearts thumped a tiny bit harder as she sang some copy text post about a sniper with 300 confirmed splats.
/
There was a clatter of wood and a ripping of curtains as the robotic Pearl began to tear apart her Side Stage. She screamed in rage as she smashed the area to splinters and fragments of fabric. Mags and Agent 8 weren't far behind, clutching their weapons tightly to their chests. Agent 8 stared at the robotic beast, her twin hearts thumping in her chest. She still remembered the horrific, vivid imagery of her grabbing onto the Octoling's leg, promising a slow death. She steeled herself, it was time for payback.
"Nowhere to run this time!" Mags called out, "Heh...the irony."
"YOU THI-I-INK I'M DONE FOR?!" Robo Pearl roared, "I OWN THIS STA-A-A-AGE! You wanna throw down?!"
"I wanna throw UP after all the carp you've put us through," Mags growled.
"Enough talk!" Robo Pearl growled, "I'mma e-e-e-end this, here and now!" And with a roar, she fired another Killer Wail at the duo, causing them both to dive out of the way. 8 rolled back into a crouch to shoot back, but the robot had already sprinted around the room, her movements much more frantic, almost like a rabid creature of the wild. All the tables and chairs were practically scrap wood at this point as her heavy weight smashed through them with ease. Mags readied her bucket, but yelped as Pearl charged at her with reckless abandon. The Inkling sunk into her ink, swimming away as another Killer Wail went off.
8 ducked under a fast, outstretched robot arm before missing her shots again, "Damn, she's too fast! We can't hit her like this!"
"Hmmm, looks like this robot doesn't have that great of armour, instead focusing on movement." Marina commented through the headpiece, while Mags threw another bucketload of ink just barely missing the feral robot, "I'm not quite sure how, but you'll need to slow her down to get somewhere. Oh, try inking the whole room! She should sink and be a sitting jellyfish then!"
"Got it Marina!" Mags yelled, flashing a quick grin to her partner, "Come on, we know how to turf Ve!" The Octoling BOOYAH!-ed in response and the two began covering as much ground as possible. Splotches of cyan and light purple ink coated the floors and walls, though the animatronic was clearly not interested in losing her advantage. Her palms began to shoot the toxic sludge once more, but got hit with an Octoshot barrage from her side. The LED eyelights flashed with murderous intent before she screeched louder than either girl had heard her do before. Both covered their ears shakily while the floor was removed of ink.
8 recovered first and cried in pain as the robot threw her against the opposite wall before running about again. The octoling agent groaned as her earpiece panicked, "Ve?! You okay?!"
"J-Just peachy Mo-Marina." She hissed, rolling her left arm and heading back into the fight. Mags was surrounded by her ink, being shot at with another Killer Wail. How many of those did the robot have?! "Did I at least do damage to her?"
"Seems like it. Do more good hits like that and she should go down! You can do it, both of you!"
"Copy that, HYA!" With a battle cry, 8 ran back into the action. Robot Pearl twisted her head at her, firing her palm guns but the agent simply evaded the shots, flipping and sliding with athletic practise. The machine didn't even notice the other half of the duo until a Splat Bomb exploded right underneath her, lifting the idol clean into the air and crashing back down. Her left side was severely dented, sparks occasionally flickered out of the cracks within the metal. Her left eye was down, yet the right soon quickly filled with malicious intent and wanted nothing more than to tear these two annoying flesh beings to shreds. She jumped back onto her feet and screeched again, the ink removed from the floor.
Mags felt like a jackhammer was drilling away on the insides of her ears, shaking her very thoughts and senses. She was barely aware of the room shaking and the metallic clanging before a heavy impact smashed into her stomach, pushing all the air out her lungs. Pain surged through, along with the sense of weightlessness before she crashed into something thankfully soft. Her head thumped as a cry of distress rang out.
8 watched in complete horror as her Inkling friend was punched right into the Side Stage's curtains by the robot. She saw Mags' eyes wide in shock for the briefest moments in the air before the impact. And with it, her chest stirred. An emotion rare, yet familiar called out, roaring and thrashing, drowning out Marina's frantic, fearful shouts of distress.
The call of revenge. She barely remembered what it felt like to fight with revenge, but now? It powered her, ignited her spirit and soul. That robot- no, that monster just hurt who she cared for the most in the world. Her friend, her partner. She was NOT gonna let that freak get away with this!
8 picked herself up as the robot cackled, seemingly amused by its small victory. Her grip on her weapon tightened, her fist turning a sickly pale as her eyes burned with anger. "HEY!" Her voice boomed, echoing around the destroyed room like a Hyper Bomb shockwave. The Pearl animatronic turned to face her, still giggling and smiling. A smile that will be scrapped when she's done with it, "What you did to Marja, to the girl I love… you'll pay for that, I SWEAR!"
She charged fearlessly at the machine, only for it to dart around the room once more. 8 got to work inking the floor again, dodging punching fly-bys and Killer Wail lasers. Her expression never changed, her fire never dimmed. Soon a good chunk of the floor was inked a purple colour before Pearl seemed to get bored and roared. With a mechanical grunt, she leapt over the ink at 8, seeming wanting to crush her entirely.
8 merely grinned, "Checkmate."
Her tentacled flashed that ever familiar glow every Inkling and Octoling had grown to know. She left a Splat Bomb before leaping straight up into the air, fist raised and growing with more and more power.
Robo Pearl cursed in binary as the Splat Bomb detonated under her feet as she landed, tearing both her shins off and sending her upwards towards the flying agent. Time seemed to slow as her head clicked upwards, seeing 8's fist shine and a smile, one full of confidence and null of mercy, shone from above. Then with a yell, the octoling surged downwards, slamming her fist into the metal forehead and striking her down with the Splashdown. They landed with a colossal crash as purple ink exploded around the room, along with metal shards and debris.
When the ink cleared, 8 was standing on top of the now headless remains of the Pearl robot, the black sludge slowly leaking from the neck wiring and motors. She sighed before gasping in remembrance, "MARJA!" Yet she hadn't been too concerned as the Inkling climbed out of the Side Stage, clutching her stomach with her weapon seemingly abandoned.
Mags winced before giving a smile, "You got her, yeah? Nice one Ve."
The Octoling quickly came to her side, concern literally plastered all over her face, "Oh my cod, are you okay?!"
"Well, belly hurts like hell but I hit the curtains so that's basically it." 8 sighed in massive relief, though she offered the wounded girl her shoulder which she quickly accepted. But yet, Mags couldn't help but coughed, "So… 'the girl I love', huh?" She asked, with slightly rosy cheeks.
8 however looked like she just admitted to five illegal practises of egg stealing, her face a brighter red than that one rare Inkling boy, "UMMM?! Eh heh, I uhh… Hrnn..."
Her partner merely shocked her head, though her smile never left, "Eh, don't, uhh, don't worry. We'll just… talk later, yeah? I-If you want to, you know?"
8 thought about it for a second before nodding, "Y-Yeah, let's do that! F-For now though, we should m-meet back with the others." They both left the scraps behind and failed to notice the right hand giving them the finger.
/
The last remaining clock ticked 5 AM as all the NSS members regrouped into the main room. Aside from 4 and Mags, they all seemed to be in one shape. They took a turn each to describe what their encounter played out as.
Mags stared blindly at Agent 1, blushing madly, "...What ARE you wearing?!"
"It's her thing," Agent 4 sighed, "Long story. Anyway, all the animatronics are dealt with, yeah?"
Marina chirped in, furious typing heard from the earpiece, "Well, that's the thing. I don't see the one that chased Ve and Marja on night five. It was like Fresh Fish, right? Has anyone seen that one?"
"Fresh Fish?" Agent 2 asked, "That thing's creepy without being a giant robotic death machine. I haven't seen it."
"Me neither," Agent 3 said, still snuggled up to her blushing love.
"We didn't…" Agent 8 shuddered, "So...where is it?"
"I'M HERE…" All 5 agents and Marja turned to the source of the voice. On top of the main stage, it stood. A giant, hulking bipedal nightmare, its black torso casing cracked and rounded. Its arms bearing the burden of fire damage and dents from time gone by. In its right hand, a sharpened axe. Its giant yellow head with frozen smile, staring leerily at the group before it. It looked up and down at them, "So...you are the Squidbeak Splatoon. YOU are the absolute freaks who turned my world upside down. I'm not impressed. In fact...I'm INSULTED. No matter, I just have to deal with you..."
It took its steps towards the ground, axe now in both hands and reared up to strike. It got closer and closer, Agent 3 preparing her silly dance and Agent 2 and 4 gearing up to take it on. But suddenly…
"SAPPHIRE!" Marina screamed from Agent 4's earpiece, causing him to howl in pain. The Fresh Fish bot stopped, frozen in place. Marina spoke again, quieter this time, her tone almost pleading, "Sapphire, babe...you don't have to do this. I didn't mean to abandon you. I'm...I'm sorry…"
"Wait, wait wait wait, time!" Mags cried out, "You two know each other?!" Everyone seemed to have a similar reaction, 1 and 3 gasping openly, 4 had his eyes wide open, 2 actually showed some emotion for once and the last two girls simply looked confused.
"...Know her?" Fresh Fish said, its voice cracked and breaking, "She was my everything…"
And with that, something bizarre happened. There was a hiss and a release of steam, before the front of Fresh Fish's torso cover started...moving? Panels in its body rose forward and veered off to the side before sliding into the sides, revealing the internals of the machine. Except, it wasn't an animatronic. It was an Octoling inside of it. She was wearing the suit like an exoskeleton, lodged and strapped inside. Her skin was white as now, her costume revealing her midriff and thighs. She had a few scars across her body, doubtless from the rough and sharp looking machinery. She had yellow and pink tentacles flowing outwards and upwards in a wild fashion. On her face she wore a snarl, her eyes pitch black with glowing purple irises.
"What the shell?!" Agent 2 blurted out, "Marina, who is this?"
The pale Octoling growled, "My name is Sapphire Jaaku. Though I suppose those two-" She glared at 8 and Mags, "-know me better as "Sallie Afton", my fake name for this wretched place."
"...Marina?" Agent 8 asked again, fearfully.
Marina remained silent. And then, "...She's my ex-girlfriend. From when I was still in the Domes."
"That's right," Sapphire sighed, "We were cold, afraid and lost down there. We needed to stick together! We all did…" Sapphire looked down in shame, "We were both engineers for Octavio's weapons of war. I thought we had somethin' special, just the two of us. But THEN!" she looked up, pointing at the Squid Sisters, "You and your ink stain of a recruit show up, pound Octavio into the dirt and sing that stupid song!"
"Well excuse me, it's not like WE know our song had magical powers and would free all enslaved under Octavio's rule!" Agent 1 huffed.
"...It DOES slap, though," Agent 8 shrugged.
"I kinda think it's overrated," Mags grumbled.
"Oh my Cod, finally someone who agrees with me," Agent 2 sighed, "I-"
"ENOUGH!" Sapphire roared, "Not everyone got out from that stupid song! You left me behind, Marina Ida! YOU LEFT ME IN THOSE DOMES TO FALL RIGHT BACK INTO OCTAVIO'S RULE!"
"I'm sorry!" Marina pleaded, "I didn't mean to! I swear! I just wanted to get out of that hell! Everyone did!"
"When Octavio escaped…" Sapphire continued, "He got NASTY. We got abused like we were nothing! I saw what he did to Callie...the things he did to her. The things he did to us! He...USED us!"
"Callie?" Agent 2 asked, "Is that true…?" Agent 1 didn't respond, she was looking at the floor, a gibbering mess.
"And when I crawled out of that mess…" Sapphire seethed, "When I finally got to that city on the coast...I see you! And some small gremlin child, acting like lovers and taking in that midget like she was your own daughter!"
"MIDGET?!" Mags roared, enraged beyond belief. Her stance slightly shifted to get in front of 8 protectively.
"You left me behind…" Sapphire sobbed, "You abandoned me to my fate to get in with some shrimp! I thought you loved me...I know I loved you! All this time I WAITED for you! And you leave me to die down there…" Sapphire looked down again, "I...something happened to me. My mind broke, like a carton of eggs! When I wake up, my eyes are like this. I can disguise as anyone I wanted to. I hear all these freaking voices in my head, this guy claiming I'm a part of his family! And I knew...I knew I had to take my revenge on these disgusting creatures you called associates."
"So why make this pizzeria?" Agent 8 asked, "Why do any of this?"
"Call it inspiration…" Sapphire chuckled, "The family man showed me another member. A man in a rotting suit, killer of the young. He taught me the ways, and they felt...so good. So while I waited for you to emerge, so I could strike you down for what you did to me...I could fill the void watching these inkos gurgle their last before me!"
"Cod you're SICK!" Agent 2 bellowed.
"Unforgivable!" Roared Agent 4, his girlfriend visibly shaken a little if her grip on his arm was any indication, "We should splat you where you stand!"
"C-Cods, Sapphire..." Marina practically sobbed into the ear piece, guilt and sorrow flowing into her hearts. "I… I am-"
"What, you're sorry? You are SORRY?!" Sapphire interrupted. Her purple eyes seemed to ignite with emotion; angry, sadness, all the suffering in her life shown with a brilliant purple, "SORRY won't make up for all the HELL, Marina! SORRY won't fix the many years I spent alone! SORRY won't change me, not who I am NOW!"
"...Then we'll put you down like the rabid animal you are," Agent 4 growled, "For the safety of Inkopolis."
"OH don't worry about that. I'm going, but I'm takin' you with me!" Sapphire cackled. She pressed some buttons on the robot suit's arms, and dropped the axe. Two nozzles, tubes leading deep into the machine, rose from the suit's shoulders. With maniacal laughter, she fired the nozzles, blanketing the room in blazing fire. Everyone quickly got back as the flames wrapped around the room, slowly burning everything in sight. Ceiling beams fell to the floor, shattering into splinters, tables and chairs now nothing more than kindling fueling the fire. Sapphire continued to rant and rave as she careened around the room, blowing flames on everything she could.
The group huddled together quickly, the heat and smoke quickly filling the building. Agent 1 spoke up first, "C-CARP, I don't wanna be cooked yet!"
"What do you mean 'YET'?!"
"CAN IT GUYS, we need to get out! Like, right NOW!" 8 cut off the flabbergasted 2 as they rushed for the building's entrance. They ran, 4 and 2 holding up some of the non-flaming debris to keep the structure as solid as they could, while the others ran down the narrow hallway towards the door. Soon, 4 got out as he dodged some falling timber, leaving only 2 and Sapphire. By now the robot spewed the last of its flames and lay there.
"Sapphire!" Marina called out over the earpiece, "Please don't die here! I'll bring you to Pearl's place, we can repair our friendship. I'll even make you the third member of Off the Hook PLEASE!" a brief pause as Agent 2 voiced her objections and avoided, you know, fire, "I feel so guilty...I can't leave you behind again."
"TOUGH!" Sapphire screamed as the flames began to lick her skin, "You made me a monster, Ida! And in another world, I made YOU one! I should know...I stole her robots!"
And with a final, definite cackle, Sapphire rocked backwards and forwards, tears leaking from her eyes as she guffawed madly. There was the briefest of screams as some flaming timber crashed into the robot, but Agent 2 wasn't sticking around long enough to find out what happened. She dived through the fallen wood and barrelled out of the building, as what remained finally succumbed and collapsed to dispel embers into the cold, inky-black air.