Dual Fates

A Splatoon Fanfic

By The Impartial Hand

Chapter 3: Revelations

Cobalt and Green's Apartment, Three Days Since the Octoling's capture.

07-35 felt… weird. The initial fuzzy feeling she had felt before her interrogation had returned in full, and 07-34 wasn't responding to any of her inquiries about said feeling. She sighed. Every second the fuzziness was getting replaced with a dull, aching pain, and yet, strangely, she also was feeling more and more at ease. It was unnerving, to say the least. She was also starting to feel the strain from trying to escape so often, and the bruises from her match with the Agents, although beginning to fade, still hurt like shell. She was about to fade off to sleep before the door slowly creaked open...

Cobalt grunted, a hard kick from an Octoling knocking him over. He bolted back up, punching his assailant square in the jaw, then followed with a haymaker from the left. The enemy soldier dodged, ducking low and jabbing at his hip. Cobalt responded with a swift kick, the Octoling just barely dodging as the Inkling's boot grazed their face. The Octoling ran around a corner, and Cobalt followed only to get a double-footed kick to the face as the Octoling vaulted off the wall. Cobalt responded by using his opponent's attack's momentum to flip backwards, landing a kick to the Octoling's back. Cobalt got back up, turning around. His opponent, however, wasn't done, hitting him in the shoulder then adding a palm strike to the back, causing Cobalt to lose his balance before sweeping his legs from under him. As Cobalt fell, he quickly spun to shoot the Octoling before it burst into orange, a tell-tale line leading back to Persimmon. Standing back up, the two proceeded to super-jump up to their goal, shattering the force field surrounding the Zapfish and returning to the Octo Valley. Once they made it back, the Boss Kettle flared to life; shooting out steam as the lid spun off, it signaled that all the smaller kettles in the area had been cleared.

"Agent Three to base. That's a wrap on this area, all we need is the boss. Over and out." The message was clear: everyone needed to get to that kettle. They had discovered long ago that the Great Octo-Weapons were much easier to deal with as a team.

Before 07-35 was a… police officer? He was a Moray, standing a head taller than her and easily looking thrice as imposing. He went over to 07-34's makeshift cell, before slamming his fist against them plastic repeatedly. "UNIT 07-34. UNIT 07-34! GET UP, YOU INSUFFERABLE FOOL! HOW DARE YOU, ACTIVATING YOUR HOMING BEACON THEN NOT BEING READY FOR EXTRACTION!"

So this one was a spy? 07-35 knew Lord Octavio had an extensive spy network, but she didn't know that he had spies in Inkopolis. Why even send them, if he already had spies there?

"Stealth operative Evergreen! Who are you calling a fool!?"

"I'm calling you a fool! 07-35 was an acceptable casualty. YOU WEREN'T."

"And YOU were supposed to ensure I got away! Your intel was wrong, our infiltration route took us to a major Turf War junction, and even then, there was an Inkling in my projected escape path! And not just any stupid Inkling, but an agent! And by the time I had almost killed them, one of YOUR officers attempted to arrest me!"

"I am aware of my brother's actions. What I do not understand is why he was there. I had assigned him on patrol on the other side of the city, and there wasn't supposed to be anyone in that alleyway. Regardless, I have been tasked with retrieving you. Octavio wishes for you to return with me to the forward command center."

"Very well. I assume Octavio has further use of me, if he has changed the mission parameters for me to be extracted. I presume you disabled the security devices before arriving? Then let us take our leave of this place."

The Spy pulled out a baton, using it to smash the lock on 07-34's cell before entering it. 07-35 heard the sound of rope hitting the floor before both of them exited. It was at that moment that 07-35 spoke up. "W-what about me?"

It was at that moment that the future would be changed. "What about you?"

A single zapfish lay at the center of the arena. The agents, however, didn't take the bait. They knew full well that as soon as they walked up to it, the trap would be sprung. Agents 1, 3, 6, and 8 started covering as much ground as they could without activating the Octo-Weapon, while Agents 2 and 7 charged up their shots and waited for the weapon to activate; a cheap shot before it was fully activated was worth 3 when it was powered up. Seeing that everyone was ready, Green took the lead.

-Step-

-Step-

-Step- And with a mighty roar a tentacle sprang up, grabbing the Zapfish. Agents 2 and 7 let their shots fly, striking the tentacle dead-on… but not dealing enough damage to burst it. Rising up out of the ink, before their very eyes…

-The Octomaw-

Green and Cobalt swiftly inked separate paths away from each other while Morado drew the Octo-Weapon's attention; Callie super-jumping back to the snipers, as her Dynamo Roller was no use against an enemy so nimble. The Octo-Weapon barreled straight for Morado, diving under the ink before it's teeth sprang up around the Inkling. At that moment, Green and Cobalt popped out of their ink paths, smashing the teeth from both sides with their Hero Rollers and giving Morado an easy escape. The Octomaw emerged, clearly confused by it's sudden lack of teeth, and Morado responded by tossing a splat bomb into it's open mouth. The bomb went off, and down the weapon went, when both charged rifles let loose, destroying the tentacle almost as soon as it emerged. Cobalt cautiously poked the shell of the Octo-Weapon, before a new tentacle burst out, new teeth replacing the old. It seems this fight wasn't going to be that easy.

07-35 felt betrayed. Not only had she just been left at the mercy of the agents, but 07-34 had taken her gun, armor, and mask. Even if she escaped the cell, it would now be impossible for her to possibly make it back to the octo valley. Not to mention… She winced as her fingers traced along the symbol the spy had burned onto her arm. The symbol of a traitor. Even if she somehow made it as far as the Octo Valley, the first Octarian she encounter would kill her. She had swore her life to the Octarian Military… but she never expected them to use her like this. To call her a traitor. To call her useless. To trade her life for a small amount of information. She felt worthless. She couldn't even off herself, not here.

"Unit 07-34. Please state all information you gained during your operation."

"The Agents have a far lesser understanding of our military than we thought. They were as of yet unaware of the Seventh Battalion's existence, let alone the potential of a spy amidst their society. Additionally, they lack an official base of operations, instead resorting to using their own residences. One of them has developed a new melee weapon, albeit quite ineffective. My hypothesis is that they work as a civilian weapon smith. Two of them sounded affectionate towards each other, we may be able to utilize that. Have you gleaned anything on the inhabitants of the apartment I was held in?"

"Yes. The Inhabitants are Green Jaune, 23, Cobalt Azure, 22, and Vermillion Seafoam, 25. Based on your data, I'd also suspect that Persimmon Magenta, 22, is also an agent. Looking at medical records, Cobalt has similar DNA to the agent we captured 2 years ago, so it is safe to conclude that that agent was Indigo Azure. Vermillion also has a sibling; his half-brother, Morado. There is a high probability that he is also an agent. Continue."

"They currently have one agent away on leave, and-"

"How convenient. Vermillion Seafoam is also currently outside of the country. Continue."

"...and their advance camp is located near Sector 1 of the Octo Valley operations center. I have reason to believe that a certain Captain is located there."

"You don't mean…?"

"Yes. Cuttlefish. If we have our forces move quickly, we could possibly capture him before their return."

"Very well. I'll send notice to deploy all available units. Cuttlefish may be old, but he is NOT to be underestimated. You are hereby appointed as leader of Auxilary Operation: Scuttlefish.

"Affirmative. I will deploy immediately. Er, as soon as those grates are-"

"The grates are already back in working order. You deploy now."

"Confirmed. I will NOT fail this time."

"You'd better not. Octavio was clear that he would tolerate no more failures. Dismissed"

The sun's dying rays filtered through the twilight of the Octo Valley as Octolings swarmed out of the kettles, following closely behind 07-34. Slowly, they approached area 1, on the lookout for any stray agents or curious inklings as they entered the area where Octostomp fell and the ramshackle hut belonging to Captain Cuttlefish came into view. 07-34 signalled, and units 07-40 through 07-75 fell back, leaving only 07-34 and units 07-36 through 07-39. Silently, they crept towards the shack, with 07-38 setting themselves up with a sniper, loading in ink cartridges designed to stun, not splat. 07-34 reached the door and, after a brief pause, kicked it down, spraying the inside of the shack with stun ink. He stopped, looking around, only to come up empty. Cuttlefish then surprised him, dropping down from the ceiling and drop-kicking him in the face. As 07-34 stumbled backwards, Cuttlefish landed before launching himself head-first into 07-34's stomach; he followed up by arching his back and locking his legs around 07-34's neck, planting his hands and driving 07-34 into a forced flip head-first into the ground. As 07-34 blacked out, Cuttlefish pulled his cane out, spinning and firing up the barrel of 07-38's rifle, jamming it. He then flipped backwards over 07-37's attempt to grab him, smacking 07-37 with his cane in mid-air, before landing, wrapping his arms around 07-37's trunk and suplexing him for devastating effect. 07-36 and 07-39 both rushed Cuttlefish at the same time, and, in a comical fashion, Cuttlefish simply jumped and allowed both Octolings to run into each other, before smacking their heads together and knocking them out. He took a breath, ducked, then flipped, dodging both of the freshly re-equipped 07-38's octobrush swings before throwing a handful of sand from his pocket into 07-38's eyes. While his lone remaining foe was blinded, he simply grabbed 07-38's head and slammed him into the ground. He then sat down, sighing as the other 35 Octolings surrounded him. Sure, he knew they were there, and not even he could beat that many. But damn, it felt good to know that he still had it.

Meanwhile, back in her cramped cell, 07-35 was undergoing what could only be described as a total breakdown. She had been taught from birth to be calm and logical, but now her anger was rising, her ink boiling at the knowledge that this was the plan all along. Octavio was no savior. He was a sadistic, manipulating… how dare she… no, this is how she felt. Why stay within the tenets of a military that had abandoned her? Octavio was a sadistic, manipulating, sociopathic demon. Her own thoughts, unbeknownst to her, were breaking down the hypnotic effects of Octavio's music, a hypnotic effect she wasn't even aware of. She had two choices, really; escape and be killed on sight by both sides of this war, or turn her back on a side that had not just abandoned her but... she glanced again at the burn... marked her for death, quite literally. She had just finished making up her mind when she heard a door open, followed by rapid footsteps before the door flew open. It was the green Inkling from before, the one that had questioned her. He looked first at the empty cell, then at her; and she saw in his eyes not the kindness of before, but a cold, unyielding fury.
"What. Happened."

Author's note
3 updates in one day? Damn, new record, and they're decent too.