Dual Fates

A Splatoon Fanfic

By The Impartial Hand

Chapter 5: Evil Rising

Inkopolis, the mid-evening

A plane touched down, the last flight from Takyo for the day. Most of the people on board got off normally; it was, to them, a normal day. To a specific passenger, though, it was both a cause for celebration... and discretion. He had been expecting someone to meet him as he exited the plane, and their absence was... concerning, to him. Slinking his way through the airport, he ignored the parkade and his car within, instead getting a taxi and heading not to his own home as he had planned, but the home of a friend. It was a short drive, but as the taxi pulled up, he began to have a serious sinking feeling. It was a house similar to many of it's neighbors; save, of course, that it's door was entirely absent, the empty frame cracked, as if the absent door had been not just knocked down but blown clean off it's hinges. Thanking the taxi driver, the green Inkling got out, carefully approaching up the lawn as the last cracks of daylight slipped over the horizon. The house was dark inside, giving the gaping entryway an almost ominous appearance against the white paint of the outside walls. He crept into the empty home, his eyes scanning over everything- some shoes knocked over here, a broken vase there. As he snuck further and further into the empty house, he began to piece together what must have happened. Some hostile force had broken in, attacking someone- faint traces of ink confirmed a skirmish, green, the signature color of Octarians. Bits and pieces of at least one of their attack craft still littered the floor as he stepped into a kitchen, and the Inkling's eyes counted at least seven knives strewn about, their cold steel still tinged with Octarian ink. He- a noise behind him pulled him out of that train of thought. Not changing his outward behaviour, not even stiffening, he continued to act as though he hadn't heard the noise- the crunch of a porcelain shard, certainly a footstep, that meant an Octoling. Crouching down to inspect one of the knives, the Inkling suddenly spun, slashing at the foe behind him, only for the knife to connect with a hard boot, a kick from the Octoling- right again- sending the knife out of the Inkling's hand and embedding it lightly in the wall. The Inkling hadn't noticed it before, but something was blocking the window, stopping the pale moonlight from getting in, and as the Octoling closed the door, the room was plunged into darkness. The Inkling responded almost reflexively, taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes hard; his eyes wouldn't help him here, only pose a hinderance if the light came back suddenly; something the Octoling's visor could correct for. But when- footsteps- the Inkling dodged to the side, feeling the slight breeze as a punch barely missed his face, and throwing a punch of his own. It missed, naturally, but he heard the footsteps of the Octoling move back, away from the punch, and so he pressed forward, punching again- but this time, the punch was met by a counter, the Octoling grabbing the Inkling's forearm firmly and yanking it down, a sickening pop accompanying the Inkling's elbow hitting a hard surface- the Octoling's knee, perhaps. The Inkling let out a short, pained cry before pushing forward with his legs, catching the Octoling's midsection with his shoulder and sending both of them into the door. As the Inkling expected, it gave way, and both Octoling and Inkling tumbled into a hallway as the door broke off it's hinges. The Inkling opened his eyes, able to see now that he had escaped the dark of the kitchen, and got his first good look at his opponent. Strands of kelp in his hair marked him as a commander, and the Inkling could see he possessed a weapon but didn't seem to intend on using it. No, it seemed this particular Octoling was content with beating the life out of him by hand. The Inkling began weighing the odds of success here, to see if a tactical retreat would be worth it. The Octoling's advantages? Superior gear, particularly armor and night vision, plus full motor function. The Inkling's own advantages, superior skills, and apparently luck, too, as it was his non-dominant arm that was down. The two circled each other for a moment, eyeing each other, daring the other to make the first move, before the Inkling finally broke the standoff, throwing a punch at the Octoling's gut; the Octoling easily caught the punch, but the Inkling was counting on that, using the stability from the Octoling to kick low and wide, aiming to sweep out the Octoling's legs- he would have, but the Octoling just as quickly let go if the Inkling's fist, hopping back away from the kick. The Inkling threw himself forward, throwing a wild haymaker which the Octoling easily caught, a slight smirk breaking their cold glare, and just as the Octoling was about to counter-punch, the Inkling swung his whole torso, whipping his crippled arm around and slamming an open palm onto the side of the Octoling's head. The effect was instant, the Octoling recoiling, one of their hands racing up to defend their injured ear, their balance disrupted. The two resumed their circling movements, eyeing each other with the intensity of lions fighting for dominance. The Octoling broke the standoff this time, ducking side to side with their fists up, guarding their face as if it were some retro boxing game. The Inkling threw a punch for the Octoling's gut, only for the Octoling to easily block it- of course, they were baiting him, he else would they have taken a stance like that- the Inkling's train of thought was interrupted once more by a punch to their face, a solid hit to the cheek; he backed up, trying to shake it off, but the Octoling closed the distance, swinging their arms around and copied the Inkling's prior attack, hitting him with open hands directly on his ears. Ears ringing, the Inkling barely had time to process the incoming gut shot. He tired to counter with a right hook, but the Octoling blocked, throwing what the Inkling thought would be another gut punch, but instead the Octoling hit him in the liver, the Inkling crumpling to the ground in response. The Inkling at least took solace in the fact that it was over, but then the Octoling drew their weapon. It seemed they were merely waiting to use the octoshot to finish him off, and as they took aim, the Inkling couldn't believe it was about to end like this. He closed his eyes as the Octoling's finger curled around the trigger... Only to be greeted not by a click and then silence, but by the sound of cracking glass followed by a low gurgle. Opening his eyes once more, the Inkling was greeted by a sword sticking through the Octoling's chest; a human relic, wielded by a tall, orange-tentacled Inkling with cold orange eyes. The Octoling let out another weak gurgle before bursting into green ink, a tiny octo-shaped ghost signaling that they had a respawn pad somewhere. The two Inklings looked at each other for a brief moment, and the green Inkling passed out

?, 2 hours later

The green Inkling Inkling woke up in a different place, somewhere he recognized- an old safe house. He looked around for a second, going to get up before wincing. His elbow had been set back in place, but it would still be a while before he could put any weight on it. Just then, the Orange Inkling from before entered the room.
"...Vermillion."
"Naranja."
"You got your ass handed to you pretty well for someone in your line of work"
"Yeah, well, to be fair, I didn't go to your house expecting a fight. What's up with that? What did you do now?"
"I didn't do anything. The Octarians weren't there for me."
"Oh? Then why were they there-"
"I have a feeling you know, Vermillion. And on that topic, mind explaining to me why my sister has been declared a fugitive of the law?"
"How have you been? You don't call, you hardly text, and now, the first time I've seen you in months, you've started questioning me? How should I-"
Naranja snapped "You know damn well. She got declared an outlaw right alongside your idiot roommates and your brother, so again, why has my sister been declared a fugitive?"
"Not allowed to say-"
"Then I invoke clause 12 of our agreement. It involves someone related to me by blood, you're obligated to tell me."
"Invoking clauses, huh? Counter-clause 5, I'm duty-bound to secrecy on the matter. I've sworn an oath."
"Counter-clause 7, our deal overrides-"
"Counter-clause 9, your usage of counter-clause 7 is irrelevant to your original clause and therefore this string of clauses is nullified."
"Stumbled upon two secrets then, have I? Clause 13, then. If I can guess at least half of the secret, you're obligated to tell me."
"Very well. Guess away."
"Right. First off, my sister and co. were declared traitors for aiding and abetting Octoling fugitives. However, seeing as my sources witnessed your roommate getting the stuffing beaten out of him by one of said Octolings, I'd say that's rubbish. As well, the Squid Sisters were quoted refusing to air the segment accusing my sister and co. of their crimes, increasing my doubt of said crimes. Shortly after refusing to air said segment, there was quite a ruckus at their studio; something I witnessed first-hand, as while the police were excellent at clearing the plaza and it's surroundings- something about a "gas leak"- they were quite terrible at ensuring I wasn't at my usual watch station. Octarians, a lot of them, in broad daylight. The squid Sisters barely escape- and yet shortly after, instead of broadcasting on this shocking attack, the Squid Sisters are declared "missing". Finally, if my sister was aiding Octolings, an Octarian goon squad wouldn't have raided the house at all, let alone 5 minutes after she left in a hurry like that. All the cards on the table, time to get assembling. With the Octarians apparently holding sway with the police, that likely means the charges are either utter nonsense, or, the complete opposite. Either way, my sister and co. were targeted by the Octarians, but why target four random civilians in addition to two superstars, unless... Eight Agents, Six people missing or wanted by the law, big coincidence, no? I'm guessing that's at least 50%, am I correct?"
"Damn. Well, at least your powers of deduction are still sharp."
"Gotta stay sharp. Especially now, the energies building up in Inkopolis... Vermillion, something big is going to happen, and soon. Now, 50%, you fill me in on-"
"Right, right- but not here. The usual spot, 1 hour. Bring your gear."

The Sleepy Manta Café, 1 hour later...

Vermillion and Naranja entered the quiet café. A small establishment, open only at nighttime, which catered towards a small group of clients. The two Inklings nodded at the owner as they headed to the back, going down some stairs into the basement. It was here that the Cafe's more discerning clientele could find a handful of sound-proof private rooms. Vermillion picked the first open one, firmly locking the door after Naranja had entered.
"So... One more time, why has my sister-"
"The Octolings. She and Cobalt caught one, and Morado caught the one that kicked the shit out of green. Guess all that training we gave him in hand to hand paid off."
"So it was the opposite. Then..."
"Your sister is an agent, yes."
"How long have you known?"
"Since she became one. I was an agent for a while before her."
"You're an agent? Surprised me there, I figured with your job you wouldn't have the time."
"I figured with your job you wouldn't have time to do as much turf war as you do, yet here we are."
"Fair."
"So... Where to start... It was Cobalt, he was the first one to find it. Shortcut straight to the Octo Valley. That's where he met Cuttlefish, and became an agent. Mind you, none of the rest of us knew at the time. He'd just disappear for hours at a time, show up with random injuries... Indigo thought he was doing drugs, that he'd fallen in with a bad crowd, so he followed him one day. Agent 4, right then and there. Now, it was around that time that I just happened to stumble onto the place, I had a job in the area and just chanced on it. I knew I couldn't be there full time, and I told them that, so I offered to bring Morado into the fold."
"Let me guess, that was around the time Persi told me she thought you two didn't like her, that she thought you were trying to keep her away from Cobalt?"
"Bingo. We were just running interference if Cobalt was out or roughed up too bad. She was the seventh of us, and finally, Indigo and Cobalt agreed it would be way easier to just bring Green on instead of all three of us trying to hide it from him. And that makes 8."
"So... wait, if Indigo is one of you, does that mean he's not missing?"
"...Indigo was our greatest failure. See, with eight of us, we got so confident that we started to forget we weren't invincible. We started diving deeper and deeper into Octarian territory, and... one day, we pushed our luck too far."
"...You don't mean-"
"We were pinned down by enemy fire. An ambush, and worst of all, they took out our respawn pad. Indigo had found a power-up can, a kraken. He said he was going to draw fire so we could get away. We practically had to drag Cobalt out of there, but Indigo would've kicked our asses if we left him behind. And the worst part? We almost made it. He was right behind us, we had almost made it to a jump pad... none of us knew there was still a sniper left. Indigo took a shot in the shoulder, said it was nothing, told us to keep going. Persi took the Sniper down, but... it was too late. Indigo was hurt too bad, and there were Octarian reinforcements on the way. I said we practically had to drag Cobalt before, but... We had to knock him out for Green and Persi to get him out of there. I told Morado to go with, to cover them... once they were out of earshot, Indigo begged me to finish him off. He begged me, Naranja, he just kept saying I couldn't let them catch him. I... I..."
"I understand. I'm sorry... I didn't know. If I had known, I never would have asked for you to dig those memories up."
"No, you deserve to know. You were close with him too. And... You deserve to know what you're getting into"
"You don't mean..."
"Naranja, if I had any other choices I'd take them. But as it stands right now, you're the only one I can trust enough to bring into the fold."
"You have to understand what you're asking me to do, Vermillion. If I die in this secret war of yours, the whole planet could be brought into jeopardy."
"The same could be said if I die. But the thing is, Naranja, if they win, it'll throw the balance so far that even a hundred you's couldn't bring it back to a stable state."
"Very well... I suppose you have some sort of forward base?"
"In the Octo Valley, yeah. I'll lead you there. We should check on Cuttlefish, anyways."
"Right, lead the way."

The Octo Valley, 30 minutes later

Vermillion and Naranja had searched Captain Cuttlefish's now ransacked shack top to bottom, but they still had yet to find even a trace of where the old man had been taken. Vermillion punched the nearby tree so hard a few leaves shook off, and again, and again, punching it over and over until his knuckle had been rubbed raw and his punches began to leave ink spatters on the bark. Naranja, meanwhile, was having difficulty acclimating to the valley. The overwhelming evil energies pervading the place were overwhelming him, leaving him disoriented and confused. None of this made either of them easy targets, of course, and when an Octarian search party came upon them, said search party was torn apart with a methodical brutality, both Inklings using the Octarians as outlets for their stress. From there, they set out, pressing into the valley, and in mere hours they had already recovered 7 stolen zapfish, re-clearing the third sector of the valley in the process. Naranja headed back to Inkopolis, and Vermillion set out from the city, not excited in the slightest for what should have been a happy reunion.