ATTENTION: This chapter covers content from Splatoon 2's Hero Mode.
Much of Marie's and Sheldon's dialogue, as well as the mysterious voice's and Octostomp's dialogue, is taken directly from the game.
Alexis's PoV
I have to win this time! was Alexis's first thought when she entered the Octorian replica of Humpback Pump Track once more. Throughout the place were the echoes of octoling laughter and the dim hum of the containers containing the mini zapfish. Again and again, she got her butt kicked by them, especially by the dastardly elite octolings. Whenever she least expected it, one swung around the corner, bringing her down with her roller. She was getting sick of this happening over and over again. She clutched the Hero Dualies tightly. Today was the today; she could feel it.
Immediately upon her arrival, she dashed towards the first container she could find, taking out the Toxic Mist Sheldon oh-so-carefully warned about. Next, she saw one of the octolings leap into the air, preparing a vertical swing. She dodge-rolled out of the ginormous splash of magenta ink aimed towards her and shot at the soldier once she landed. Quickly, she splatted, allowing Agent 4 to proceed. She broke the container and snatched the mini zapfish inside.
"First one in the bag," commented Marie. The bronze-skinned inkling jumped down to the ramp below and started running towards the one at the end of the track, using the rolonium provided to paint a pale teal track for her to swim through. She kept a steady eye out for any enemy octolings, but she was surprised to see that no one jumped out at her. She shrugged and obtained the second mini zapfish. "Number two. Count it!"
Her moment of peace was short-lived as another wave of magenta ink came crashing down on her, breaking the Hero Suit. Oh, no! She rolled over to the gusher behind the container she just opened and activated it, allowing a stream of ink to shoot into the air. She submerged in it, though she started to cough as the mist behind her activated. Emerging on top of the geyser, she turned around shot at the vial until it broke. With it out of the way, perhaps she would finally recover. The gusher ran dry, and she fell to the floor where the trigger was. At that moment, her suit repaired.
The octoling that had shattered it previously now climbed up onto the platform where the broken container stood, a diabolical smirk on her face. She swung her roller once more, the splash aimed directly towards Alexis. She rolled backwards and started shooting the Hero Dualies, inching closer and closer until the soldier splatted, leaving behind a puddle of her own ink. From there, she swam across the gap between her platform and the next, freeing the third mini zapfish.
"That's three. Let's gooo!" Marie cheered, clearly enthusiastic. Agent 4's collection of the third mini zapfish had triggered yet another vial of toxic mist, so she jumped down to the track below and kicked it, knocking it over and shattering it. She inked it just for good measure. She noticed ripples in the magenta ink sprawled out in front of her, racing towards her. Quickly, another octoling with a roller sprung from the ink and prepared a vertical swing. Alexis started shooting at her, the enemy ink grazing her shoulder as she rolled out of the way. She bit her tongue from the pain, but she knew she had to defeat this octoling, or else things would turn for the worse. The octoling took another swing at her, breaking the Hero Suit once more. The short-haired inkling let out a cry of disbelief and rolled towards her, finishing the soldier off with the bullets from the Hero Dualies. Letting out a sigh of relief, she immediately hid in the ink puddle.
"You should really find some armor," the idol suggested.
"Yeah," she muttered as she healed. "I should." It would protect me against another hit.
Once she was able-bodied, she inked a path and swam up to the container. Busting it open, she freed the fourth mini zapfish.
"Number four. Halfway there…" Marie muttered. At that moment, she noticed an orange box behind the cell. Breaking it, a suitcase came out, so she picked it up and instantly found herself wearing a helmet and covered in padding.
"Sweet, armor!" Alexis cheered. With newfound confidence, she rushed towards the bundle of rolonium on the track. She heard someone leap into the air, and from above, she saw another octoling super-jumping. To where, she was uncertain. She soon saw her disappeared behind the rolonium, sending a spike of anxiety throughout her body. She jumped to the side to see the octoling raise her weapon and crash it down on the bundle. It went flying, crashing into the container the bronze-skinned girl had just broken.
When the rolonium regenerated, Alexis decided to use it to her advantage. While the octoling dived behind it, she started shooting, the bundle soon rolling right over the octoling, leaving a trail of pale-colored ink to follow. She swam down the track to the next mini zapfish, where she promptly busted it open and freed it.
"Number five. Look alive!" Sheldon soon exclaimed. Alexis looked around, planning her next course of action. "You can take that gusher and grab another one," the horseshoe crab advised.
"But that's where the elite octoling is!" Agent 4 complained. "And there's probably other octolings protecting her, too. The Octarians are having calamari tonight if I go up there."
"Hmm..." Marie started, deep in thought. "Wearing down her forces wouldn't be a bad idea."
"Yeah! That's why we can't go up there now!" she agreed.
"Then you'll just to save the others first," Sheldon concluded.
"Right. Get to it, Agent 4!" the idol added.
"Right." The bronze-skinned inkling walked up to the edge of the ramp near the last container and looked down at the puddle of enemy ink below it. From there, another octoling leaped into the air and prepared yet another vertical swing. Alexis jumped down to the puddle and swung around the soldier, quickly splatting her. She pumped a fist and ran over to the box with yet another cell, where toxic mist was activated once again. Once again, she shot at it until it broke before climbing up on it and saving the sixth mini zapfish.
"Six. Getting close," Marie communicated. From where she was standing, she saw a zapfish container on the hill in the middle of Humpback Pump Track, shooting a beacon of light into the air. Alexis squinted her orange eyes, making out two additional vials of mist surrounding it. "There'll probably be a lot of octolings around there. Be ready."
"I saved the one in the center before, I can do it again," the short-haired inkling boasted, twirling the Hero Dualies around in her hand.
"Yeah, once," she pointed out.
"My point still stands." Walking up to the edge of the platform, she threw out an autobomb as a far as she could, hoping it would detect something. It landed on the base of the bare hill, where, to her dismay, proceeded to explode immediately. However, a few orange crates did pop up instead. Swimming closer, she broke them to reveal a canister of power eggs inside. She aptly collected them and threw out another autobomb, which landed near the container. It started waddling somewhere, followed by an octoling emerging from the pool of ink surrounding the container. Alarmed, she started swinging her weapon wildly in an attempt to destroy it, but it ended up blowing up in her face, splatting her.
"Booyah…!" Alexis whispered. But I can't let my guard down yet. Creeping her way up the hill, she listened for the sound of octolings. When she believed the coast was clear, she emerged from the ink trail she had created to break one of the two vials stationed on the top. Afterwards, she hid again, listening to her surroundings. Looking up in the air, she saw one of the octolings super-jumping, landing on the fence with a vertical swing of the roller. Unable to spot Agent 4, the soldier paused, lifting her weapon off the ground. The bronze-skinned inkling took this as her chance to catch her off guard and splat her quickly, so she emerged from the ink while the octoling's back was turned, splatting her with a few shots of the dualies.
The remaining vial had activated, causing toxic mist to swirl around it. Alexis pointed her guns at it, anticipating yet another octoling to jump out at her. Indeed, another one jumped next to it, complete with another swing. Alexis simply dodged the splash and focused her attention of shooting down the vial. Without it, it would make taking down this octoling a whole lot easier. She swung her roller once more, breaking the inkling's armor. A few moments later, however, the toxic mist vial broke, causing the magenta cloud to dissipate. Alexis dived into the pale teal ink nearby to refill her ink, and once she had done so, she popped back up from the ink and shot down the octoling.
She let out a sigh of relief, having survived the ordeal. She broke the electric cell, freeing the mini zapfish inside.
"OK, there's seven," Marie affirmed. "Just one more."
Clenching the Hero Dualies, Agent 4 looked up at the single beacon of light remaining, marking the final zapfish's location. She could faintly see the kelp on the elite octoling's head in the darkness, gently waving around as she stood on the enemy spawn point. With a nod, she swam down the trail she had come from and ran back up the track, towards an inkfurler near the enemy spawn. Not hearing any additional octolings, she shot the inkfurler to unroll it, giving her a strip of her own ink to climb up. She ran past one of the busted containers and activated the gusher next to it, climbing up to the next level.
From there, another octoling emerged from the magenta puddle of ink and prepared to attack. The bronze-skinned inkling threw an autobomb at her and started inking a trail away from her. She heard the bomb explode, followed by the cry of an octoling and smiled. Soon, yet another vial activated, and she broke it shortly afterwards. Spotting a small orange box, she ran down the ramp to break it, revealing another case of armor. She picked it up, granting her the protection she had previously lost again.
She felt some ink rain down on her helmet, so she looked up to find the unsettling smile of an octoling, lifting her roller up for another strike. She rolled out of the way and started shooting at her, cursing the short range of dualies under her breath. The octoling slammed down the weapon once more, jumping down to the same level as Alexis. The short-haired inkling rolled forward and shot her, splatting her. Nodding, she started to run up the ramp to the top level, where the elite octoling was waiting. Enemy ink brushed her back as another soldier swung her roller.
When Alexis looked over her shoulder, she only saw a trail of ink shooting up into the air. Looking back at the ramp, she was met with a wall of ink racing straight towards her, breaking her armor. She wiped the magenta ink off her face, seeing the elite octoling preparing a swing again. Agent 4 rolled backwards as the roller crashed down once more, bringing up another wave. She threw out a curling bomb, though the elite octoling simply jumped over it. It bounced off the wall and raced down the hill, causing both of them to trip upon contact. It exploded behind Alexis, and she growled in frustration. She ran up to the elite and punched her, knocking her shades off.
Now, an angry blue eye focused on her, the other obscured by her hair. She lifted her roller, preparing to strike. In the meanwhile, the agent was firing her Hero Dualies, the pale teal ink blotching the octoling's skin as more of it got on her. As she was bringing it down, Alexis managed to deal the final blow, splatting her. Without a master, the roller crashed on the ground, splashing some of the magenta ink onto the bronze-skinned girl, though it soon disappeared with the rest of the elite octoling's clothes. Only the shades remained, the red glow it once had now gone. Agent 4 put it away before advancing to the final container.
Finally. On the highest point of the Humpback Pump Track was the final mini zapfish. She stared straight into its desperate eyes, lighting up with joy when it saw the agent. "You're safe now," Alexis muttered. Ignoring the toxic mist, she broke the container and hugged it, her eyes starting to water up from the joy and relief. She wiped away a tear and looked up at artificial sky. Transforming into a squid, she super-jumped back to the surface, with all the mini zapfish following her out.
When she emerged from the kettle, she heard a hissing sound in the distance. As happy as she was, she knew she had to fight the boss now. Alexis looked down at the eight mini zapfish circling her. She patted one on the head and told them that they were free. Nonetheless, they followed her onto the ride rail back down to the main area, where Marie was waiting, a smile on her face. The first thing the short-haired squid did upon seeing her was run up to her and give her a big hug, causing the idol to let out a small gasp of surprise.
"I finally did it, Marie! I did it…!" she exclaimed. "We won't be stuck here anymore!"
When she let go, the grey-haired inkling smiled awkwardly and gave the tearful agent a pat on the head. "Good job, Agent 4. I knew you could do it." She turned around to face the platform ahead. "But you still have to go into the boss kettle." She looked over her shoulder. "Now, go show 'em what us squids are made of!"
"Right!" Looking up at the grapplink up ahead, she pulled out the Hero Charger and fired a shot at it, launching her towards the next platform. She smashed the crates near the bulb of another ride rail before activating it, hopping on the rail afterwards. It circled around a grassy platform with two additional grapplinks surrounding it. She fired another shot at one of them, launching her straight onto the boss kettle. She switched out the charger for her preferred dualies and dove right into it.
"I could really use some more data on the dualies," Sheldon requested as soon as she spawned into the misty dome. "I want you to use it for a bit here. Though, you usually use it, so that shouldn't be a problem!" Alexis simply nodded and started to stare into the distance. She was quick to note the urban flair it had, decorated with street signs and advertisements. Lining the arena was something akin to a road, and the main area itself had some paneling missing from the floor. Having turquoise ink this time, she stepped up to the launchpad in front of her and turned into her squid form, promptly launching into the arena.
As usual, a zapfish, trapped in its barrier, hung over the magenta pile of goop. A large tentacle with green scarring emerged from the ink, quickly breaking the barrier and curling its slimy arm around the startled zapfish. It disappeared into the puddle, and soon sparks began to fly from it. With a golden glow, a cubic object with large, glowing eyes began to reveal itself to the world, magenta ink pouring off it like sand.
Once it was revealed in its entirely, it bellowed, "I'm baaaaaaaaack!" The roar echoed throughout the chamber, off-putting Alexis as her ears began to bleed. Ringing followed once it faded, and now the boss's sights were set on squishing the inkling.
"Wait! I know this guy!" Marie realized. "It's Octostomp!" The first thing Octostomp did was slide towards her, butting into Alexis and launching her to the bottom ring. With her Hero Suit broken, she watched as it leaped into the air and landed on the edge of the arena face-down.
"Octostomp? But didn't Agent 3 take him down years ago?" Sheldon asked, confused.
Agent 3 beat this guy? Alexis thought, amazed. I have to beat him! I can't let her down! From where she was standing, she saw Octostomp rise to his feet again, some ink dropping off of him. She covered her face to protect herself from the droplets. A little later, her Hero Suit repaired, making her ready for more. She inked the ramp leading up to the battlefield and climbed up it. In the corner of her eye, she saw the imprint of a face in the spot Octostomp fell on. She shrugged and threw a curling bomb out to the side to travel in.
"I guess he's back for more," Marie said. "You've got this, Agent 4!"
"How did Agent 3 beat him the first time?" the short-haired inkling asked, watching as the boss charged up to her. She rolled out of the way of his face-stomp, leaving him helpless on the floor.
"After he face-stomped, she inked his sides in order to get to the tentacle on his back," she replied. "So, you'll have to do that if you want to beat him."
"That's what I figured, but thanks for the advice!" While Octostomp was downed, she inked his side and climbed up it to be met with the large tentacle. She shot it until it burst, causing a stream of magenta ink to shoot straight into the air. She super-jumped to the edge of the arena to avoid any additional damage. The boss got up on his feet again, another tentacle soon popping out of the hole left behind. However, a silver, insulated coat soon appeared on him, leaving only his face exposed. A yellow buckle fastened it to his body.
"And I brought this sweet new coat!" Octostomp roared, causing the ink on the arena to dissipate. Alexis was left dumbfounded as a rotary cannon emerged from the top of the cube, sending a barrage of magenta ink raining down on her. She was trapped in the enemy ink, and soon the fire caused her Hero Suit to break once more, much to her dismay. She inked a path off the battlefield and slowly swam towards the outer ring. She leaned against the ramp, heavily breathing from the amount of effort she had to put in just to escape.
"Unthinkable…" Sheldon gasped. "His armor is completely uninkable!"
"What?!" Agent 4 cried. How was she gonna beat him now?
"Gotta hand it to these Octarians," Marie remarked. "They sure do know how to go big."
"Oh, c'mon! We have to find a way to get the coat off of him," she snapped, annoyed. Her suit repaired, so she climbed back up to the arena, where Octostomp noticed her and began sliding towards her again. She dodge-rolled of out of the way, determined not to be launched again. The boss jumped up into the air and crashed down on the floor once more, his legs swinging wildly upon landing.
"I don't know if you can," Sheldon remarked.
"Maybe the coat will just fall off him eventually," Marie sneered.
"That's not helping!" Alexis complained. Octostomp's legs began to spin as he prepared to get on his feet again.
"Well, until we figure out a way to get that coat off of him, you're best dodging to the side when he tries to face-stomp you," the idol decided. "Stay alive, and you'll be fine." The boss lifted himself up and jumped to the edge opposite of the inkling. He took a few steps before before pulling out the cannon again, firing yet another barrage of ink. "Splatling attack! Dodge-roll!" she quickly called.
"Ah!" Alexis threw out another curling bomb and rolled past some of the bullets, diving into the trail her bomb left and swimming away. Octostomp put away the splatling and started running after her again, falling over in attempt to squish her once she got close enough. She rolled out of the way, though some of the ink splashed onto her hoodie. He got up again and tried to face-stomp her once more. She continued dodging. This repeated for quite some time.
Some time later, Octostomp finally managed to smush her, sending her flying off the arena. She landed at the edge of the ring, only being saved by the railing. She groaned, being both injured and exhausted. She watched as the boss launched himself once more, landing on the edge of the field. Though she knew he couldn't hurt her from here, she still felt defeated.
You can't beat him, a voice in her head taunted. Agent 3 beat him, but you can't. You'll never be better than her. She felt something wet roll down her cheek. You're pathetic; you're not fresh at all.
"…Agent 4?" Marie muttered, concerned. Even when the Hero Suit repaired itself, she curled up into a ball, letting her sleeves be stained with tears from her failure. Her elation from earlier was no more. It had disappeared into nothingness, as easily as bosses clear ink from arenas with their roars. "Hmm…" The idol paused before speaking in a more cheerful tone. "Y'know, I don't get why he has a buckle on his nose. Does he think it looks cool or something? What do you think?"
"The buckle on his nose…?" Alexis murmured. A realization shot through her body, and she stood up, wiping the tears away. "I got it! I know how to get rid of the coat!" Contrary to its original purpose, the remark led her to getting an idea.
"What? How?" the grey-haired inkling asked.
"We shoot the buckle!" The bronze-skinned inkling climbed back up to the arena and charged towards Octostomp. She used the curling bombs to cover the floor in turquoise ink once more, as it had been covered in magenta as a result from the boss's face-stomps. His face was plastered all over the place, and now Alexis thought about covering them up.
Octostomp's bulging eyes shot out in alarm upon noticing Agent 4's return and began to run up to her. However, now she had a plan, she began to shoot the buckle as he got closer, covering it in turquoise. She dodge-rolled out of the way as he prepared to land. She used this time to ink the surrounding area. Once he got up again, the short-haired inkling resumed shooting the buckle. Eventually, it burst, destroying the coat and leaving Octostomp bare.
"Nice work!" Marie applauded. "You can ink his body now!"
"Booyah!" Alexis cheered, relieved she found a solution. She taunted the boss, spurring him into attacking her. He started sliding across the arena, though she simply rolled out of the way and started running to where he would land. Once he was stuck on the ground, she quickly inked his side and climbed up him to reach his exposed tentacle. She shot it until it exploded into a geyser of magenta ink, prompting her to super-jump away from him.
When the tentacle regenerated, he became armed with a more padded coat. He turned around, and two additional faces popped out from his sides. All three faces let out an even louder roar before, giving Alexis a headache and prolonged ringing in her ears. Immediately afterwards, the renewed boss began stomping towards her in the newly-cleaned arena. The additional faces made it harder to roll to the side, so she jumped off the edge and onto the outer edge.
"GAAAAAAUGH! THIS DUDE JUST GREW TWO MORE FACES!" Marie screamed in her ear. The agent grunted from the pain her ears were receiving.
"Don't make me go deaf!" she protested.
"I'm sorry! It's just that he's terrifying now!" she explained. "But we have to focus if we want to defeat him."
"Right." She climbed back onto the arena after Octostomp landed, emerging next to one of his new faces. However, he was quick to get up, as a few moments later, he was back on his feet. He began running towards Alexis again, who was shooting at the buckle on his face. She was backing up towards the middle of the arena in order to have more space to evade his attacks. It seemed more resistant this time around, as it wasn't long until he tried to face-stomp her again. She simply dodge-rolled out of the way and waited for him to get back up.
The ink sprayed across the arena increased greatly once Octostomp jumped to his feet. He then jumped away from Alexis and pulled out the splatling once more. She tried her best to dodge them, though she soon found herself stuck in the magenta ink once more. Not again! She threw out another curling bomb to get closer to him. Unfortunately, he put away the splatling and immediately fell over on his face, catching the short-haired inkling off-guard. She was flung across the arena as her suit broke once more. She landed near the edge, groaning as she looked up at Octostomp. Once again, he was sliding towards her. Alarmed, the short-haired inkling rolled off the stage and into the outer ring.
Once her Hero Suit repaired, she climbed back up, where the boss was waiting. He leaped into the air to crush her once more, but she dodge-rolled backwards to successfully evade his attack. He got up again and started walking towards her with heavy footsteps. Alexis took a few steps closer to shoot at Octostomp's buckle before he tried face-stomping once more. She jumped back down to the outer ring to avoid it, and now she was running along the track, trying to get farther away from him. She returned to the arena on the opposite side, just in time for Octostomp to resume a standing position.
Once again, Octostomp tried his sliding attack. Again, she threw a curling bomb to the side for a speedy escape. The boss was down again, though given a few moments, he was back up on his feet.
"He just won't quit, huh?" Marie commented.
"Yeah, that's for sure," Alexis agreed. She ran towards Octostomp as he started waddling towards her again, shooting the buckle. Soon, the final blow was dealt to it, and the coat burst, destroying his additional faces and revealing his body once more. He roared, upset. The inkling pumped a fist and swam away.
"That's it! Ink him up!" the idol cheered. Octostomp tried charging towards her once more, jumping as soon as he drew near Alexis. She dodge-rolled out of the way and inked the side of his body, climbing up him to reach the tentacle on top. She fired the Hero Dualies at it until it burst, sending out the final geyser of ink gushing out of Octostomp. She super-jumped away from him as watch as he tried to get up, though his efforts were in vain as he malfunctioned and blew up in an eruption of turquoise ink.
When his remains faded away, Alexis saw that the arena was covered in a blanket of her own ink. Power eggs flew towards her for his defeat, and the zapfish floated in the very center of it, unharmed. A single Sardinium was positioned in front of the container. She picked it up and broke the barrier, freeing the zapfish. She tackled it and grabbed it, squeezing it into a hug. With a huge grin on her face, she super-jumped out of the dome.
As soon as she popped out of the kettle, she heard Marie's voice speak over the headset. "Agent 4, I want to thank you again for all you've done so far."
"It's no problem. Anything to save the Great Zapfish," Alexis responded.
"About that… For me, it's not just about saving the Great Zapfish," the idol started, a ring of sadness to her voice. "Even more than that, I want to find my cousin Callie. She vanished on the same day as the Great Zapfish!"
"Yeah, I know," the short-haired inkling pointed out. "I know how much you miss her…" She sat down on the ledge of the grassy platform. "If my sister went missing, I'd try to find her, too."
"…So, anyway. I'm Agent 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, and Callie is Agent 1. Then there's Agent 3, who's currently out with our grandpa, Cap'n Cuttlefish. They won't be back for a while," she continued.
"Wait, the captain's your grandpa?!" Agent 4 exclaimed, surprised.
"Yeah. It was him who recruited Callie, who in turn recruited me," Marie explained. "While the Cap'n was away, I was supposed to be protecting Inkopolis, but then… Callie… the Great Zapfish…" After she finished that sentence, she sighed. "Sorry I didn't tell you more about this sooner… We'd be totally sunk without you, Agent 4." More hopeful, she added, "I know we'll find Callie if we keep looking! Think you can see this thing through?"
"Yeah…" Alexis smiled. "I think I can."
"Great."
Suddenly, another voice interfered in the radio feed, the same voice from earlier transmissions. "Lea… No… Leave now!"
"Huh? Who's there?" Marie demanded. "If you get in our way, Agent 4 will mess you up!"
"Yeah, so don't come back!" the younger inkling finished. After that, the mysterious voice did not speak again. The transmission ended, and Alexis heard something short out. She saw the barrier surrounding the launchpad to the next area break, granting her access to it. From there, she activated the ride rail next to her and road it down to another platform. She jumped off onto solid ground and looked over at the launchpad at the end of the platform.
"Callie and the Great Zapfish are somewhere up ahead, Agent 4," the idol informed.
"Before I go, I have a question," she said.
"Which is…?"
"Did Agent 3 fight Octostomp here, too?"
"No… she battled him in Octo Valley. Most of the Octarians were there until she beat DJ Octavio, in which they've moved here since."
"How do you get to Octo Valley?"
She sighed. "…You're thinking about going there, aren't you."
"Maybe."
"Look, if you do, I won't stop you, but you won't really find anything over there. It's practically abandoned, just like Inkopolis Plaza. …That's where the manhole leading there is, by the way."
"Alright, thanks." With her question answered, she walked over to the launchpad and turned into a squid, allowing her to shoot into the sky to her next destination.
A/N: Woo, the longest chapter yet is finally posted! I'm quite proud of this chapter, so I really hope you guys like it. The next few chapters are going to tie in with this one, some more than overs. So, stay tuned, and Branchwing, out!