Earlier inside an underground cave, Agent 1 and Agent 2 are strolling through while following tracks of green ink that is similar to theirs.
Tapping the speaker on her headphones, Agent 1 mutters as she's telling it to work.
Finally, a sound becomes clear while static.
"Agent 2! It worked!" Agent 1 rejoices as it surprises Agent 2.
"Really? Try calling for Agent 3."
"Okay. Agent 3? Hello, Agent 3? Agent 3!? Rei! Can you hear us!?"
[C- Callie?] Agent 3's voice is heard through both their head gears.
Both Agent 1 and 2 gasp with excitement and then move forward a little faster.
"Yep! What's going on over there?" Agent 1 sounds as peppy as she usually is.
[Sayaka… She's gone… I'm with Saki at the… Movie place?]
Both cousins slowed down as they became quiet, leading Agent 2 to turn on the speaker and continue with her cousin.
"Stay where you are. We'll let gramps know and make sure to catch up and help you guys out."
[Thank you, Marie.]
As the duo change their speakers, the quality of Cap'n Cuttlefish's audio is barely hearable.
"Gramps, it's us." Agent 1 calls.
But there's no sound.
"Gramps?"
[Agent 1!? I'm being under attacked!]
Both agents gasped after hearing crashing noises behind the speakers.
"Gramps!?"
[Cuttlefish.] A sinister voice calls.
[I- It can't be!] Cap'n Cuttlefish gasps.
The duo recognised that voice as fear and anger are fueled in both Agent 1 and 2 after hearing what's going on in the background.
"Octavio!?" Agent 1 gasped.
"Why are you doing this!?" Agent 2 growled.
[Y'all took what's ours. Heheh… Now, old friend, prepare for the beats.] Octavio laughs.
[No! Stay away from me! Someone help!]
As what happened to Cap'n Cuttlefish, the speakers cut off as they made static noises, causing Agent 1 to turn on the speaker out of desperation.
"A-"
[SPLAT!]
Both agents gasp in shock after hearing what's happening behind the speaker.
"Rei!? Rei!? What's going on!?"
[NOOOOOOOOOOO!]
Then they were hung up on after hearing Agent 3's scream.
"We have to move." Agent 2 orders.
"Right!" Agent 1 follows as both inkling cousins are charging straight towards the light.
As they reach there, they witness a familiar room covered in green ink that is similar to theirs.
But what catches their attention is a puddle of purple ink surrounded by green ink.
The duo has found one of the Hero Dualies that is stained with purple ink, meaning Saki is dead for real, even Sayaka with her inkstained Hero Blaster.
"No… They really are this close…" Agent 1 gasps as she drops to her knees.
"Saki… Even Sayaka… The sisters deserve better than this." Agent 2 grunts.
Before they grieve for their fallen comrades, banging noises are coming from above as Agent 1 and 2 witnessed Agent 3.4 slide towards them and then dash forward by firing repeatedly.
"Agent 2, are you going to-"
"Fire her? Yeah." Agent 2 pulls a smug and drops an eyedropper onto her eyes, making her vision sharper and more capable of sniping at her target.
Then she targets the octoling with an Octo Splatling who was after Agent 3.4 and then…
BANG! SPLAT!
Score! It created more green ink as an octoling lost both her legs and was now an amputee, leading her to slam to the floor on a puddle of green ink.
"Nice shot, Agent 2!" Agent 1 cheers.
"Hmph! I aim to cook 'em." Agent 2 sighs as she pulls a grin.
"One, Two. Thanks for the assistance." Agent 3.4 approaches the Calamari agents and turns towards a struggling octoling.
Now Agent 1, 2 and 3.4 are pointing their weapons at a crippled octoling, causing said octoling to lower her head after she was unable to become an octopus in a pile of green ink.
"Do it."
"Huh? Hold your fire." Agent 1 lowers both Agent 2 and 3.4's Hero Chargers after seeing the eyes of a pitiful woman who cared for a child. "Why?"
"Even if I failed the mission, Serika, my niece, will be the one to bring us victory and ya pieces of squits stained our pride every damn time!"
"You mean… That's the octoling we saw when Agent 3 first got there!" Agent 1 exclaims.
"That's my niece… I swear she will splat y'all…"
"And yet you're trying to kill our daughter? That's how hypocritical you octarians are." Agent 2 charges her Hero Charger as her glare becomes fiercer.
"Daughter… Ya mean that inkling brat who ran away. Heh. Looks like we have a lot in common, wanting to protect our families. You two always protect each other and keep those around you alive, especially your determination to save your own daughter." The octoling chuckles before her death.
"Let's make a deal. If the inkling lives, then your niece will live as well. We'll spare her for you." Said Agent 3.4.
"Agent 3.4…" Agent 1 can see why Agent 3.4 is playing more neutral in his moral right, but some things are beneficial.
"For eel?" The octoling asked.
Agent 3.4 nods and lets Agent 1 and 2 go while he'll do the killing.
"Go. She's waiting for you. Make sure Zero doesn't take control of three." Said Agent 3.4.
Both Agent 1 and 2 morphs into green squids and swims through as they're exiting the theatre set.
"Heh. Looks like the inklings actually care about us. Who brought you here to kill us?" The octoling asks her final question.
"Captain Craig Cuttlefish, Atarime Yoshio." Agent 3.4 brings out his final answer while charging his Hero Charger.
SPLAT!
Outside, the world around her is foggy.
She slumps through a town as some octarians and octolings are watching this inkling girl moving forward with her Hero Shot hanging on her fingers.
"Why isn't she attacking?"
"Her eyes, tho. They look like dead fish."
"Is she depressed?"
"Are we gonna fire?"
"No, leave her."
It's obvious that they see an inkling girl who witnessed horrific events that caused her to run away like a coward.
Bzzt!
"Run"
Bzzt!
"You suck"
Bzzt!
"Splat"
Bzzt!
"Die"
Bzzt!
"Die"
Bzzt!
"Die Die Die Die Die Die-"
Bzzt!
When she first got there, she was expecting an adventure version of a turf war, but it turns out they can permanently die by getting splatted.
She then enters a building tower.
Standing in front of her is a familiar inkling who was dead on the inside, leading Rei to gasp and slowly move forward.
"D- Dai? I- Is that you?"
"Huh? Rei? Haha! Boy, am I glad to see you! Hm? Why the long face?" 'Daigo' laughed while waving.
"I- I thought you died."
"I know. We all are." 'Daigo' said with a smile.
"Eh?" Rei halts and then turns towards 'Saki' and 'Sayaka' who're also normal life 'Daigo.'
"That's right. We're glad that we can visit again so we can take you to heaven." 'Sayaka' sighs while clapping her hands.
"I don't think heaven is fitting for a survivor like her." Said 'Saki.'
"What?" Rei squeaks as she turns around to see more inklings that appeared disfigured including the 3 she knows. "Huh!?"
"You killed us…" A headless inkling girl moaned.
"You should be guilty for surviving without us, murderer!" A petite inkling boy who has a hole on his chest shouted.
"Just because you get to keep Callie and Marie all to yourself." An eyeless inkling man said.
"N- No… I didn't…" Rei is hyperventilating out of fear and confusion leading her to crouch down.
"Go to hell!" A mouthless octoling called.
Even there's octolings that are throwing horrible things at her.
"Rei… You should've let Saki live…" Sayaka cries as her body melts into purple liquid.
"I am so disappointed in you." The torso of Saki sighs.
Finally Daigo has tentacles slithering on his body.
"It's all your fault, Rei… You don't deserve to be Agent 3…"
Then Daigo is torn to shreds as the tentacle spreads out of the elevator, causing Rei to panic and crawl backwards.
Where is Zero?
Then standing in front of her is a woman who looked very familiar as if she's real.
"Mama? Ah! Mama!" Rei dashes forward and then embraces her mother as tears are bursting out of her. "Mama!"
Then she pushes Rei away from her and then swings her foot by pushing Rei down to her knees.
"Mama?"
"Why are you back home? I told you to never come back! You're not my daughter."
That pierces through Rei's chest after hearing what her mother said to her.
"Not… Your daughter?"
"No. I expect you to return with the cash and you blew it! Not only you're fired from all your jobs, but you lost the turf war! Get out of my sight!" Her mother snaps and then turns her back on her own daughter, leading Rei to pick herself up and chase her mother by running.
"Wait! Don't leave me! Mama! Mama!"
Then, she ended up in a similar building, only to see another inkling that looks like her, but with an ink that is jet black.
"Zero?"
"Zero? Zero is not here. I am you." A doppelganger of Rei approaches her as a inkstained Hero Shot is pulled out.
Rei then stops as her dark self appears behind her with a Hero Shot pointed to her head.
"You brought this on yourself. You survived after your friends, even those you haven't met died. What you see is the truth."
"The… Truth?"
"Mama abandoned us… She doesn't care about us, never has and never will. You're still her moneymaker."
Rei's chest has stopped beating as she falls to her knees in shock.
Her mother never loved her…
"As for Zero, she exists as you exist. If you die, then she dies as well. You know why they only look at you, but not the other? Because you're both living in the same body."
What Rei's dark self is saying is that Rei had something that's shattering her spirit.
She had realised that she actually is Zero.
Rei clenches her own head while panting in frustration and fear.
"As for your friends…"
As Rei's dark self moves aside, in front of her is Agent 1 and 2, Callie and Marie.
"C- Ca-"
"Don't. You failed." Callie said solemnly.
"Failed!?" Rei gasped.
"Yes. Not only did you lose our teammates, but you're holding us back. Do me a favour and get hooked." Marie points her Hero Charger, charges it and fires through her chest.
Rei now has a hole, a hole that is a sign of emptiness, meaning she went home empty-handed.
"You don't deserve to live. You're weak, useless, cowardly, stupid and you should've been dead."
"Die. Die. Die! Die! DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE-"
Over and over again, many voices of the dead and living are telling her to die, giving Rei some flashing memories of killing the octolings and leaving the inkling to die.
In the end, she lets out a bloodless scream.
Behind the city outside, Agent 1 and 2 are running towards the building as they've been tracking her down, even hearing a girl's scream from afar.
"We're almost there!" Agent 2 shouted.
"Awwright! After that, let's beat that DJ once and for all and take back the Great Zapfish!" Agent 1 cheers and then laughs in a haughty manner.
"Hm… But something doesn't sound good." Agent 2 grumbles.
Finally, the door opens, Agent 1 and 2 made it as they finally reached Agent 3.
"Rei!" Agent 1 and 2 cheers while raising their arms.
"C- Callie… Marie…"
Gasping in fright, Agent 3 can see nothing but magenta as she witnesses what Agent 1 and 2 will say to her.
They will call her a useless failure.
"STAY BACK!" Agent 3 shrieks while pulling out her Hero Shot in panic.
"Wah!? What are you doing!?" Agent 1 exclaims.
"Stay back! STAY BACK! I- I did it! I KILLED THEM ALL! Daigo, Saki, Sayaka!? I put them near an octarian and I killed them! Hehehe… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Laughing mad, Agent 3 had lost her own sense of reality.
Agent 1 and 2 gasp as they're horrified about what happened to Rei after being left alone on a mission to watch her friends die.
"What have they done to her!?" Agent 1 is flabbergasted as her voice trembles.
"Even worse… What have we done?" Agent 2 realises that she and those with her are guilty for assigning an uneducated 13 year old to be a member of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.
"Mama abandoned me and everybody hated me! IT SHOULD'VE BE BETTER IF I DIE!" Agent 3 puts a gun to her own head as her emotions are filled with guilt, fear, anger and sadness.
As Agent 3 becomes a default silver squid, a Hero Shot containing green ink is a one way ticket to hell for Agent 3 to go to.
This alerted Agent 1 and 2 to the point they instantly raised their weapons. "She's mixing her own ink! Disarm her!" Agent 1 yelled.
"Already on it!" Agent 2 points to her Hero Charger and targets the Hero Shot out of desperation.
Then BANG!
Instantly dodging, Agent 3's quick reflexes has caught Agent 2 off guard which leads Agent 2 to fire her gun non stop and Agent 3 throwing tables and chairs and hiding behind a tumbled table while hyperventilating.
"Rei! Please! Stop this! You're not what you think!" Agent 1 calls out of worry.
"I AM! Don't you see! I'm weak! Useless and a coward! I'm a failure!" Agent 3 is now a sobbing mess, calling herself out on the things she 'did.'
"No you're not!" Agent 2 retorted while chasing Agent 3 down by moving Agent 3's cover and still firing non stop.
"Then tell me! What should I be doing!?"
"Stop what you're doing and think about what you're doing! Zero is trying to torment you and you're letting her get the best of you!" Agent 1 attempts to convince Agent 3 in order to stop all this madness that is happening.
"Zero? I am Zero. I was my friend all the time." Agent 3 is beyond help despite sounding calm.
The irrational fear is spreading as it's lurking onto the Calamari cousins, leading them to panic a little.
Agent 1 and 2 nods and then lowers their weapons.
"Alright. We give up. There's no use in saving you." Agent 2 sighs.
Afterwards, Agent 3 finally put a gun to her own head, ready to pull a trigger with a pitiful smile.
Her eyes flashes as Agent 1 swings her Hero Roller by spreading her ink and chucks it towards Agent 3, causing Agent 3 to flinch.
"Huh? Silver? Like mine?"
"Now, Agent 2!" Agent 1 shouted.
Then BANG!
Agent 3 shrieks as the gun was no longer in her hand, leading Agent 1 to charge forward and tackle Agent 3 by pinning her down.
"I gotcha!"
"Good. Now, Rei, what happened is actually our fault." Agent 2 admitted.
"I DON'T CARE! LET ME GO!" Agent 3 is screaming and flailing like a toddler as Agent 1 is still holding her down.
Her screams are catching more attention as Agent 2 is glaring at the entrance of the building.
"LET ME GO! LET ME GO LET ME GO LET ME GO LET ME GO-" Over and over again, Agent 3 screams for freedom.
"Rei! Get a hold of yourself! Snap out of it!" Agent 1 yelled.
What caught Agent 1 off guard while still holding Agent 3 down, she found a certain umbrella that was hanging on her back.
"We got company." Agent 2 grunts as Agent 1 gasps.
The reunited inkling trio are now with a single octoling girl and a group of octoling boys with their Octo Chargers.
"Aww, are we late for the party? I heard this kid is broken and now ya wanted to fix her? At least heed her words and let her kill herself." The octoling girl giggles.
"Fish off! You guys are the reason why this kid is beyond help!" Agent 2 growls.
"Would therapy help? No? Too bad. But let's change the subject, would ya like to play with my boys?"
"Thanks, but I'd rather hook myself than be around a bunch of weirdos that idolised you."
With all the octoling boys charging their Octo Chargers, Agent 2 raises both her arms to defend Agent 1 and 3 until something slides near her.
"Huh?"
Turning around, Agent 1 nods with a grin, leading Agent 2 to lower herself.
"Well, if that's the case… Boys! Fire!"
"Ma'am!" The octoling boys replied and then they pulled the trigger at nearly the same time.
This alerted Agent 2 to pick up a Hero Brella and open it like a shield at a hasty pace.
"Agent 1! Just snap her out of it, cod damn it!" Agent 2 yelled while blocking a lot of pink ink.
"I'm trying! This girl is just a lost cause! There's no way to save her…" Agent 1 grunts as she's about to give up.
"Tch! I guess we have no choice…" Agent 2 is defeated as there's no turning back.
Before Agent 2 releases a splat bomb, something is happening behind Agent 2 which causes her, Agent 1 and the octolings to gasp.
"It… It burns…" Agent 3 wines as purple ink is spreading on both her and Agent 1.
"That's…"
One golden needle is piercing from the ground and then more becomes a circle of cage, leading Agent 1 to hold her Hero Roller horizontally.
Then…
Nothing happened.
Agent 2 gasps as the zapfish looking octoweapon reveals itself by struggling to close its jaw, thanks to Agent 1's Hero Roller.
"Eh!? Why is it out of its position!?" An octoling boy exclaims.
"I don't know! Something must've happened!" The other octoling boy gasps.
Even Agent 2 has witnessed the very thing that killed Saki as a dualie is hanging on its golden jaw.
"Aori!"
"I'm okay! Just take her and get out of here!" Agent 1 orders while pushing Agent 3 towards the edge of the jaws to get out.
"Move the roller… I'll make you happy…" Agent 3 calls out in a depressed tone.
"What the shell are you trying to say!?" Agent 1 shouted.
"I have no right to live anymore…"
"No right to live!? That's bullsquit! We won't be happy if you're gone! Don't you remember what we should've been doing earlier!? We're here to raise you! We wanted what's best for you! You're a part of the Calamari family!" Agent 1 yelled as she struggled to hold on.
While the inkling trio are struggling to open its jaws, pink ink is firing all over the octoweapon and their leader holds an Octobrush, causing Agent 2 to gasp with surprise.
"Huh? Are you…"
"Helpin' ya? Yeah. We were supposed to fight, but whatever happened to our octoweapon, it couldn't be our boss or our engineerin' team." The octoling girl and her boys are glaring straight towards Octomaw as it's close to shutting its jaw.
"H- Hotaru…" Agent 1 grunts.
"Rei! Aori!" Agent 2 screamed.
"Here." Handing out a can, the octoling clenches her fist as her red tentacle hair is bubbling along with the octoling boys.
Agent 2 stops and questions why she is given a can in a situation like that.
"Ya want to save 'em? Follow my lead!" The octoling girl and the octoling boys are now in line as the girl is at the front and behind the octoling boy at the back is Agent 2.
"Okay, so now what?" Agent 2 asked as her green tentacle hair was bubbling like the octolings.
"We break its teeth!" The octoling boy laughed.
"Let's splash this thing down!" The octoling girl yelled while punching her own palm.
Agent 2 now gets the meaning, leading her to clench her fist and nod.
Then, they start as all the octolings and Agent 2 are zooming and leap by swinging their fists down, smashing the golden teeth as Agent 2 finally splashes on a tentacle by crushing it and spreads green ink everywhere in the main hall while setting free both Agent 1 and 3.
As both Agent 1 and 3 slide by crashing onto a wall, the Octomaw reveals its insides as it shows what surprises Agent 1.
"Two zapfishes!?"
"For eel!?" Agent 2 is also shocked as she can tell why it's sneaky and too much to evade, making it far worse than the ambush Agent 3 managed to survive through.
"What the shell!? Did that thing go past its limits!?" The octoling girl gasps as she too has witnessed what's inside the Octomaw.
What makes things worse? A crack on the ground after the octolings and Agent 2 used Splashdown which created a tiny earthquake.
Finally…
The floor collapses as it creates a large hole, causing the furniture, Agent 1 and 3 and the Octomaw to fall down as Agent 2 reaches her arm and misses.
"AORI!"
"Don't worry about us! We'll see each other when we find our way out..."
Agent 1 and 3 are now falling into a dark pit, causing Agent 2 to panic.
Afterwards, they're both gone.
The octolings are shocked to see what kind of octoweapon behaving like an animal that's trying to commit omnicide.
Finally, Agent 2 pulls a fiery glare as it shocks the octolings.
"Where are they!? Tell me now!" Agent 2 points to her Hero Charger as the octoling boys are blocking the octoling girl from getting splatted on.
"Well, despite bein' enemies, I kinda pity ya." The octoling girl sighs and then points to the exit and moves her finger. "The sewers. It's where we left the Octomaw at in order to trap any intruders."
Then Agent 2 lowers her Hero Charger and walks past her without any word.
"Be careful. We're not very friendly towards inklings like ya." Said the octoling girl.
"I'm aware of that. I'll admit, you octo slobs aren't that bad yourselves." Agent 2 sighs.
Finally, the octolings and Agent 2 split up as Agent 2 started to run and exit the building.
She can hope and pray that Agent 1 and 3 are okay.