Azule leans over the railing with drops of sweat forming on his forehead as the fear crept in his mind of what his father warned; the others observed Azule as his facial expression had nothing, but concern written all over it. Agent 4 crossed his arms with the wine dancing in his glass as he smirked at his son, admiring the naivety of Azule.
"I've been around for a while, kid." he said taking a sip afterwards. "Ready to learn from the best? I'm not an Agent for nothing, y'know?"
"I'll teach you!" Special Operative Luna said, interfering with Agent 4's plan, stepping forward with her hand out as if she had an offering for the young one.
Everyone was stunned by her sudden suggestion, especially Agent 4 and Pastelle who were both having the same thought: "What are you doing!?"-But Azule felt comfortable with the sudden decision, walking over to her and staring her in the eyes with a beaming smile; Special Operative Luna shrunk a bit as he got into her personal space.
"Will you really teach me your ways?" Azule asked with hope filling his eyes, in his mind-at least from what Cap'n Cuttlefish saw, this was his ticket to see if Special Operative Luna was truly her own person or if she really was his mother in disguise.
"He's a sharp one and will be worth the trouble...take him under your wing, Special Operative." Cap'n Cuttlefish said with a glare that resembled the Cap'n Cuttlefish of legend.
"I'll do it, but only for the sake of Agent 3." she said with a sigh.
"For...my mother?" Azule said as his ears drop in disappointment.
She nodded, "Your mother loved turf wars when she was young. She was the best Sniper on the continent, but she rarely got to enjoy them since her mind was always focused on bigger issues. She never got to truly in enjoy her youth when she first came to the plaza." She knelt before Azule and placed her hand on his shoulder, "For that, I'll give you the youth that she couldn't have. I'll nurture you to become the best inkling on the continent and carry on the dream she was trying to achieve."
A light shined in Azule's eyes as he got chills down his neck and back, nodding furiously with a growing smile as he saw a new parental figure enter his life; although she didn't appear to be his mother, in his mind he pictured a similarity she shared with his mother-genuine care. Agent 4 didn't seem pleased with the Special Operative's decision, crossing his arms and giving Special Operative Luna a intimidating stare. The air in the room seemed rather unusual, unlike when everyone seems to be in good spirits-this time felt like everyone was on edge about something that seemed taboo to even be mentioned...but what was it?
"I look forward to learning everything I can from you, Special Operative Luna." Azule said gratefully as he bowed his head.
"Just call me Luna." she smiled warmly; Lime, Verde, and the other agents as stunned at her beaming smile.
A moment of awkward silence fills the room before Agent 4 decides to take Azule back to his seat, realizing that time was getting away from them, and that the other news needed to be discussed excluded Azule's presence. Pastelle stayed behind on Cap'n Cuttlefish's orders, watching Azule and Agent 4 leave without her; Azule looked back at her and saw her concerned face. He gave a nod of approval and confirmation that he'd be fine alone with his father. Pastelle felt relieved to see Azule back to his normal state, but she still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with the aura in the room. Once Agent 4 and Azule were no longer in their sights, Cap'n Cuttlefish's senile smile dissipated and was replaced with a terrifyingly serious expression as he stared down Special Operative Luna. On his bamboo cane, he hobbled over and looked up at the young woman with orange hair.
"You have some nerve impersonating a fallen comrade, Agent 3." Cap'n Cuttlefish said in a spiteful tone, disgusted. Agent 3 bowed her head silently; Lime, Verde, and the Squid Sisters all were uncomfortable as they fidgeted trying to make any distraction to ease the tension in the room.
"You know how much I care about my Splatoon, about my agents...that act of yours was despicable Luna, the original Agent 4. I bet she's rolling in her grave as we speak." Cap'n Cuttlefish yelled; Agent 3 stayed silent once again, listening to what her captain had to say. "You're a confusing one. You've always been a confusing girl from the time I first met you. From your early days in the Splatoon where you never spoke a word to when you became friends with Agent 4, and then to your motherhood. Never could you ever allow anyone to read your thoughts or even help you..."
"..." Agent 3 gazed, her frown beginning to show as her captain continued his rant
"But whenever your two younger ones get involved in anything, it's like a flip switches in your brain. You get more emotional, rash, and vain in everything you do."
Agent 3 exhaled forcefully as steam came out her nose-her face like stone as she showed no emotion, but her eyes filled with fire and fury. She didn't say anything again, but by her eyes growing embers it was clear that she wasn't appreciating the words her captain had to say. "..."
"You're lucky I remember how Luna looked. Her Long pink hair combed over to the right was her signature hairstyle when she got older. I remembered when she said if you were going to look older, then so would she. She looked up to you. She retired her position as Agent 4 so that she could reach a position that was equal to yours. She loved you more than anything else in the wo-"
"Enough…" Agent 3 said with pain in her tone, her mouth trembling as she tried to keep her poker. "Please, stop bringing her up."
Cap'n Cuttlefish shook his head, "Fine, switching gears…"-he hobbles back over to his granddaughters- "As you can guess, it is very rare for all of the Squidbeak Splatoon to be gathered together in one room. In this case, it is still true since Agent 4 is currently not present. Hahaha."-he laughed standing erect and attempting to lighten up the heavy pressure that filled the room from Agent 3's anger- "As you know, the future PM will be coming in to visit for just one day before he leaves for the capital. He is due to arrive in a few minutes and will be staying here for the night, bright and early in the morning he'll be out and on his way for an important meeting-likely in relation to when he'll accept duties next year."
Pastelle froze like a statue upon hearing the news but shook off the shock quickly, "So, you want us to be bodyguards?" she asked with an idea of what Cap'n Cuttlefish might be hinting at.
"Yes, for some reason. Apparently, he was going to go straight to the capital but chose to make an overnight pit stop, and for whatever the reason has requested us as his personal bodyguards along with his secret service."
Pastelle knew right away once she connected the dots. Sky, he's after her she thought as she placed her hands at her hips and looked at the floor tapping her foot as she got lost in her thoughts trying to figure out the best course of action for the assassination; Cap'n Cuttlefish was curious by the uncharacteristic behavior Pastelle was giving.
"What's wrong Agent 6, got cold feet about meeting our future leader?"
Pastelle shot up, "U-uh no... no. I'm just worried that this might be too big of a task for me. Also, isn't it strange that he wants to stop here before going to the capital for what I assume is an important meeting?"
Cap'n Cuttlefish smirked, "You…? The youngest member of this unit who has already earned the respect of her peers as the strongest melee fighter is unsure of herself? Surely you jest!"-He hobbles over to Pastelle and smiles widely-"I have no clue as to why he wants to stop here. But he's requested us to protect him, and that should be all that matters. WHo knows, maybe he's a big fan of the sport and wants to see what the future soldiers here are capable of?"
Pastelle forced a smile once she realized this wasn't going to work; Cap'n Cuttlefish was as experienced as they come. Regardless of her assassination plan, she'd be protecting the same man who she was planning to kill, and just as expected he was coming in very soon. She knew his reason was all connected to Sky, and the fact that she too had to be on duty to protect him for the night is what really worried her. None of them knew of the future PM's past actions other than Lime and Verde, but from the expressions they gave Pastelle after she had a thoughtful expression showing, she knew immediately that Lime and Verde weren't pleased with the decision, but that as it stood there was nothing they could do. They were agents and they had a job to do.
"I'll inform Agent 5 after her matches. I'll message the rendezvous point where you shall meet to escort him. Remember, this is a covert mission-tell anyone and I'll have you dead by morning." Cap'n Cuttlefish said in an intimidating tone, snapping his fingers and dismissing them from the room.
As everyone left, Cap'n Cuttlefish watched as the next match was displayed. On the board it had the big semifinal matchup of the Elites of Squid Academy facing off against the best team in the country, Special Forces. Cap'n Cuttlefish stares at Sky's stats as he shook his head whispering, "What am I doing…?"
Moments later, the doors behind him open and a large group of men in black suits enter. In the middle of the pack lies a man in an all-white suit with a white and gold cane that had a bent cross as the handle. The owner of the cane was none of than the future prime minister himself, Saint Christopher Henry. Cap'n Cuttlefish's face tightened as the presence of the future leader grew strong the closer her got, his face as sly as a raccoon with an ugly smile that only scum like him could have. The doors shut behind them as the guards cover the exit and talks begin…
Despite being very valuable members of the Splatoon and military, what mattered the most to the Inkling values was order. While for the younger society it was about being fresh, for the older generations their maturity found that order and leadership were the most pivotal in establishing a stable nation. As such, it was treated that whoever became the Prime Minister of the nation would in turn hold the fate of the nation-Parliament approval or not, he had that power. That was the one flaw within the Inkopolis government…
Azule and his father return to the section where Azule had been with his friends; His father had a watchful eye on the back of Cobalt, who was staring intently on the jumbo screens that showed the match highlights and stats. Agent 4 notices his son beginning to leave his side as he got closer to where his friends were sitting, and on impulse he grabs his son by the shoulder and pulls him back as he's about to call out to one of them; Fuchsia's ears twitch once she recognizes Azule's voice, looking back and seeing him with Agent 4.
"Look son, I'm sorry about earlier." Agent 4 said with a heavy tone, although difficult to hear in the loud atmosphere of a stadium that was in the middle of intermission.
"What about it?" Azule raised an eyebrow, tired of the interaction.
Agent 4 scratched the back of his head, "I know my comments earlier were insensitive...it's just...look, I know you must hate my guts for my decision to leave you and Sky in an orphanage. But, hate me and me only...your mother loves you no matter what and she would've done everything in her power to take her with you if she could…"-he places his hand on top of Azule's hat and smiles-"Hey, did you know that you're wearing was my hat when I was your age?"
Azule narrowed his eyes, "Well, it's mine now. Save the story for another time."
Agent 4 chuckled, "I'm happy you were able to hold onto something like that from so long ago. It feels like you still had a piece of me with you…"-he looks down at his son with emotional eyes, resting his right hand on his shoulder with pride in how big Azule had gotten-"you've truly begun to become a young man…"
Azule brushes his father hand off his shoulder, "We don't have that kind of bond, pops." Azule said coldly with a sharp glint in his left eye as he stared down his father.
"Gotcha!" Fuchsia said playfully as she hugged Azule from behind; Azule didn't react since he was still in an angered mood from his father. He tries his best to put away that darker side for he wanted Fuchsia to never see that side. Agent 4 felt a myriad of emotions rush through his head as the haunting image of his son's expression left him frozen like a statue.
"Fu-chsia...Fuchsia, you don't have to hug me so hard. I get that you're happy to see me but could you please give me space…" Azule said as he turned to face her, realizing that their noses were about to touch; Fuchsia blushed from the realization of how close she was to Azule, and that she was touching him-body to body.
Fuchsia felt her heart beat heavily as a flurry of new feelings she'd never discovered before beginning to enter her garden of thoughts, in her world time stood still. But in the real world, she was only staying at Azule very awkwardly as both Azule and his father watched her. Azule waved his hand in front of her-she didn't move.
Agent 4 smirked, "Seems like she's in another world right now...I think I'll take my leave and leave you to your friends." he said as he turned around, putting his hands in his pockets and looking straight ahead at the exit; Azule didn't respond, although as he watch his father leave, his face began to soften as though there was so much he wanted to say-but couldn't because of how he acted.
A cold drop of sweat trickles down his face as his eyes returned to the frozen beauty who was wrapped around him. Azule notices feature that he wouldn't usually catch when they were with the others, but being somewhat alone-though in the middle of the path of stairs-he began to admire her beauty, from her soft looking lips to her lively hair, everything about Fuchsia attracted Azule.
"What am I doing…" he said as he shook his head, grabbing her hand and leading her back to where the others were sitting; Azule knew that the only thing that should matter at the exact moment was to root for his older sister in her big semifinal match after hearing from some people sitting down nearby that her team made it to the next round. Unfortunately, he never caught who she'd be facing. As Azule and Fuchsia return to their seats, awaiting them are their friends who are all stunned by what match is about to take place. Taking a seat, Azule asks them what was wrong.
"Take a look at the next match, captain." Cobalt said as he pointed to the giant screen; Azule turns to look only to be hit with a combination of shock and terror. Azule's pupils widen, his mouth dropped, and his skin turning pale as he glanced at the preview of the next match about to take place: The Elites of Squid Academy-the number one seed in the tournament, would be facing off against the best team in the country, the Special Forces. On the screen, were the two superstar talents that'd be highlighting the showdown-a gold spiky haired inkling boy with orange eyes who had a smug look on his face with his arms crossed, and on the other side...a girl wearing a sporty bobble hat with overflowing sky blue hair and vicious eyes unlike the sister he'd known, this was the real deal who he'd heard rumors about and for long thought to just be a magical story, but as he saw his sister's display he felt his body overcome with anxiousness as he felt his fists clench instinctively.
"This is her moment now…" he said as he sat down keeping his eyes on the two players who served as the top of the mountain he'd have to reach.
