ATTENTION: This chapter covers content from Splatoon 2's Hero Mode.
A good bit of Marie's and Sheldon's dialogue is taken directly from the game.
Alexis's PoV
Alexis still scowled at the second-place ribbon sitting on her dresser. We should have won! she complained in her head. We were so close, but Giovanni and friends had to smush into little pieces! She dug her fingers into her hair and gave off a loud groan, falling onto her bed. She then sprawled her limbs out on the blanket, her mind still fuming with anger.
The door creaked open, and Octavia poked her head through it. "Is this about the tournament?"
The short-haired inkling immediately sat up and looked at her sister. "You know how unfair it was!" She then turned her head to face the foot of her bed. "They cheated; I'm sure of it."
"Geez, you're being as sore of a loser as Roy," she teased. "I mean, yeah, Iris tripped Yuri, and Gio rammed the Inkjet gun into Roy. They just played dirty overall. But still."
"That's not helping."
The wavy-haired girl sighed and joined Alexis at her bed. "Look, I'm mad about it too, but… it just happens sometimes." She put a hand on her shoulder. "Trust me, I've had matches where my team lost like in the tournament before. By one point. But in the end, it's just another ranked match. Even in matches as important as that one."
Just another ranked match... The words echoed in her head, but badly did she disagree. It was not just another ranked match. It was her tournament debut! And her older friends were fantastic at ranked battles, even in the modes they hated! Meanwhile, Octa Prisma had just formed, with Giovanni's recent arrival in Inkopolis and all. Despite the octolings being trained soldiers, they barely dipped their feet in ink battles, and inkling culture, for that matter. It's not fair.
"You OK?" Via asked.
"I'm fine," she grumbled and then rose from her bed. "I'm going out."
"OK, then… have fun! Don't get in trouble!"
Alexis left her house and walked to Inkopolis Square where she found the grate leading to Tentakeel Outpost. I need to talk to Marie about this. She delved into the manhole, and seconds later, she was all geared up in her hero suit, faced with the greenery in the canyon. Marie was sitting on a bench when her starry eyes noticed her fellow agent.
"Hi, Agent 4," she greeted, straightening. "Something on your mind?"
She didn't bother to greet her back, walking up her with her dualies in hand. "You know the tournament I entered?"
"Yeah, I watched it," Marie acknowledged. "Your team lost in the finals, didn't they?"
The orange-haired girl nodded, avoiding her gaze. "You know who won?"
"Octolings," she replied. "Those slobs." She put her umbrella down and crossed her arms. "I was sure you would win."
"Not just any octolings." Agent 4's eyes narrowed. "The one that followed us out of Octo Valley formed his own team." Hate seethed in her voice as she clenched a fist. "I don't understand why they want to beat us so badly! They got their wish, but they still chase after it!"
"Well… you've seen the Octarians. They're pretty devoted."
"It's like they don't know how to have fun!"
"I know, right? And that's why they're not fresh."
The bronze-skinned inkling couldn't help but giggle at the comment. "Well… I guess I should be going to the next kettle."
"Yeah, you should. Sheldon's got his next weapon ready."
"Ooh, what's it gonna be this time?"
"I dunno. I guess we'll see."
Alexis simply nodded. Quickly, she turned into a squid and super-jumped across the canyon. She soon arrived at a previously-revealed kettle hidden by metal walls, though the absence of stickers on it marked that she had not saved the zapfish inside just yet. She looked upon the stone that formed a curled tentacle, thinking. Then, she nodded and slipped inside to access the Octarians' lair.
The dome she appeared in was filled with various contraptions, the panels surrounding her shining a green light on them. She shook some yellow ink off of her as a drone carrying a box flew by, dropping the box off at her feet. She opened it to reveal a decorated Blaster and picked the weapon up. Guess I'm gonna fight Roy-style today.
"OK, take this with you," Sheldon started. "It'll help me gather some practical battle data."
"Alright…"
"Boom! Bam!" the horseshoe crab suddenly exclaimed, startling Alexis. "It's that crowd-pleasing face popper… the Hero Blaster! Even enemies behind walls aren't safe from the Blaster's exploding shots! It doesn't really do rapid fire, so make sure not to get splatted between shots."
"Ah, don't you worry," she assured Sheldon. "I'll be fine." She fired the blaster once, collecting the power eggs surrounding the launchpad.
"Use the blast radius of the Blaster's shots to your advantage," Marie advised over her headset. Using the launchpad, the hero leaped to a lower platform to be immediately met with crates blocking the walkway. With one shot, the boxes all exploded, allowing her to collect even more power eggs. At the end of the path, she was met with a shielded Octotrooper situated on top of a small vault, who began to fire magenta bullets when it noticed her.
"Get around those shields with the burst from the Blaster's shots!" the horseshoe crab then informed. Agent 4 proceeded to aim her Hero Blaster off to the side, damaging the Octotrooper as it exploded. After a shot or two, it was splatted, allowing her proceed without any issue. She noticed that behind where it was were three launchpads, all on the same wall.
The idol had also noticed this as she mused, "OK. Three lockboxes, three launchpads."
"Hmm…" She inked the right side of the wall and took the corresponding launchpad, super-jumping somewhere else in the dome. She landed on an elevated platform, where two shielded Octotroopers patrolled the area up ahead, their trail marked with magenta ink.
"Gotta play it smart to take out those shielded baddies," Marie noted. Alexis nodded and inked a small amount of turf for her to hide in as they passed. When she could see the back of one of them, she emerged to fire one shot, splatting it instantly. The remaining Octotrooper saw this and shot out a magenta blob towards her, but quickly became confused once she hid in the ink once more. Like nothing had ever happened, it continued on its path once more. Alexis splatted it before it could progress much, though. Then, the middle part of the arena began to rise, revealing squid rings and a hidden path underneath. "I…guess we're going down."
The short-haired inkling jumped down the hole left behind and quickly inked a spot for her to hide in while she observed the Octotroopers up ahead. On top of a bumper was a shielded one, while the rest were just normal Octotroopers. Quickly, she shot the Hero Blaster at the unprotected Octarians, splatting them quickly, while the remaining Octotrooper shot some bullets at her. She chucked a splat bomb over it, distracting it and allowing her to splat it. With that, she continued navigating the narrow walkways.
As she turned the bend to climb up a wall, she suddenly met the face of an Octostamp. She gasped and almost tripped. The stamp-like Octarian started waddling towards her, and she started running back up the way she came in response. It leaped for her, leaving its weak spot exposed. Alexis quickly disposed of it and then continued up the wall. At the top, she was met with two switches turned inward. She activated them, causing the stage to turn around, laying out a new path. It was like she had just super-jumped to a new area in the dome. Guess I'll have to go the way I came.
As she walked back up, more troops spawned and blocked her way. "Hey, Marie," she started, aiming her blaster.
"Yeah?" responded the idol.
"Do ya think I can splat that Octotrooper without throwing a bomb?"
"Yes, if you angle your shots right!" Sheldon suddenly butted in.
"I wasn't asking you," she snapped.
"He's right, though," Marie pointed out.
Agent 4 let out a tired sigh and smiled. "Just a normal day, huh?"
The three laughed, but they were quickly pulled out of their brief moment of happiness when the short-haired girl's hero suit broke. Alarmed, she started backing up against the wall, holding her breath as the shielded Octotrooper continued to shoot at her. When was the last checkpoint? She couldn't remember. Regardless, dismay crossed her face, wondering how far back in the map she would be sent back if she splatted right here. She jumped over the blobs, and the suit quickly repaired itself to her relief.
"...Let's just use bombs," the grey-haired inkling advised.
"Fine, fine." Alexis hurled a splat bomb over the Octotrooper, causing it to turn around to look at it in curiosity. While its back was turned, she fired the Hero Blaster, splatting it. "Good." She swam up the path of yellow ink until she reached more enemies. This time, there were two shielded Octotroopers and an Octostamp. She stepped up to them and blew a raspberry, leading them towards the edge of the walkway. The Octostamp leaped for her, but she quickly stepped aside before it could hit her. It proceeded to fall into the abyss. Power eggs from below floated towards her a few seconds later.
Next, she threw another bomb over the Octotroopers, distracting them once more. She swam behind him and splatted one of them. The other one was now stuck in her own yellow ink, where it struggled to climb free. She was easily able to splat it and move on. Agent 4 broke some crates and climbed up a wall before stepping onto the checkpoint. Lying in front of her was a golden key, followed by a launchpad.
"Got the key," Marie said as she picked it up. "Next stop: launchpad!" Turning into a squid on the swirling circle, she super-jumped back to the central area, where the rightmost launchpad had lowered down to the ground. Next, the short-haired inkling climbed to the middle launchpad, launching her to another location. The first thing she saw when she landed was a Grappalink.
"You can use the burst from the Blaster's shots to reach the Grappalink!" Sheldon informed.
"Got it." She aimed her blaster at the floating object and shot it, and she flew to a platform with yet another launchpad. It led to another area filled with Grappalinks. She climbed up the wall leading to the first one and looked down. There was a long line of them, with only a small stretch land saving her before the end of the line. She bit her lip. Above the first Grappalink was a Sunken Scroll, though there was no way in sight to get to it. I wonder what it says.
"It's all about the timing," noted the idol.
Here it goes. Gulping, she fired her first shot and flew to the Grappalink, putting her in freefall. Realizing what was happening, she fired again, but it was too late as she fell into the abyss. She disappeared in a puff of yellow smoke, and she respawned at the checkpoint a few seconds later. Keeping Marie's advice in mind, Alexis walked up to the edge of the platform and fired again. She travelled to the Grappalink once more, and she fired the blaster again immediately after she transformed back into a kid. Her shot landed just above the next grapple, though it appeared to be too high, making her shot unable to register. Agent 4 fell once more, cursing herself for poor accuracy as she did.
Alright, she started silently. This is the last respawn I got. I have to get it this time! She ran up to the Grappalink and fired the Hero Blaster, propelling her to it. She started falling again, and moments later, she forgot to fire again. She fired upwards, hoping to hit it, to no avail. She disappeared, and soon the kettle spat her out like a sneeze. She flew out in the shape of a vaguely squid-shaped blob and quickly transformed back to land face-first on the grate. The short-haired inkling sat up and rubbed her face after the impact.
"Agh," Marie simply said over her headset. "You'll get it next time." She paused, and then she asked, "You wanna take a break?"
"Nope," the bronze-skinned girl replied. "I'm doing that level again, and again and again, until I finish it."
"That might take a while," she remarked.
"Well, I got all day." She dove into the kettle again, where she was immediately presented with the Hero Blaster. She snatched it and barreled ahead, not paying mind to any crates unless they were blocking her way. She quickly took down the shielded Octotrooper in the central area before taking the middle launchpad.
"You really want to get past this section, huh?" the idol commented.
"Yeah." Alexis fired her blaster twice to reach the next launchpad. "I can't let any more progress go down the drain."
She approached the Grappalink, eyeing it and the several more past it. She took a deep breath and began. She fired once, then twice, then thrice. When she went to shoot at the fourth one, she fired just a little too late, and she fell onto a thin platform. At the end of it was a launchpad. She walked over to it and used it, bringing her back to the beginning of the chain. Alexis simply grumbled and tried again. This time, all of the Grappalinks connected, and she landed on a higher platform.
"Booyah!" She walked down to the launchpad, where she found the key. She snatched it and launched back to the area where she came from. She unlocked the middlemost vault with the key she had obtained and activated the switch inside.
"Middle switch is on!" Marie exclaimed.
Agent 4 smiled, and then she took the right launchpad once more. She travelled through the area, obtained the key, and quickly returned to open the right vault. Once again, she fired at the tiny switch, activating it.
"Right switch is on!" the grey-haired lady then announced.
"Which means there's only one more!" Sheldon deduced.
"Good. I'm just about done with this place." The short-haired girl climbed up the left path in order to reach its launchpad. Her next stop was a catwalk, with a narrow, steep ramp directly in front of her. She climbed up it and activated the large switch. The paths in between the ramp rotated, allowing Alexis to continue. When she climbed up the next ramp, she encountered a Tentakook, waddling around in a circle. When it noticed her, it panicked and dropped a bomb behind it as it skated around.
Alexis jumped to the brick box in the center of the circle, and she observed the Tentakook. It still ran around, its panic only renewing with every look at the inkling. She aimed her blaster, and once she believed she could get the perfect shot, she fired. It was not the perfect shot, much to her dismay. Though it was covered in yellow ink, the Tentakook still stood. She had to fire it again in order to splat it.
"Going uuuup!" Marie cheered. The agent looked below her to see the block she stood on go higher and higher. It halted to a stop in front of a switch, which the girl promptly activated. It rotated down, bringing another circle to run around on with it. There were two boxes inside of it this time—one had a checkpoint on it. Alexis jumped over to it, where three Octocopters spawned. They immediately noticed her, spat out globs of magenta ink, and started flying over to her. She hid in the checkpoint to dodge the shots, and once they had past, she popped out and fired her blaster. All of them became covered in yellow ink, and one more shot took all of them out.
Suddenly, the block in front of her moved up. "The blocks are doing their creepy shifting thing again," the idol noted.
Alexis looked around to find nothing of importance. "...Where am I supposed to go?"
"I'm detecting a switch on the back of that block," Sheldon informed.
She walked around the circle, and soon she spotted a switch, right where Sheldon had said. "Hey, you're right!" She shot at it to activate it, causing a block back at the previous area to spin around.
"And now that block in the distance in the distance is spinning!" Marie marveled. The agent swam back to the tall brick platform to get in firing range with the spinning block. On one side was a switch, which she promptly activated. Some platforms in the distance started shifting over to where she was. She watched with curiosity as they moved.
It's not that creepy... Alexis remarked in her head. OK, maybe it is a little creepy. Once the catwalks settled, she carefully made her way to the ramp leading her to her next destination and climbed up it. Some Octocopters were patrolling the area. When they noticed her, they began shooting at her. When the girl tried shooting at them, the exhausts on their hats activated, allowing them to effectively dodge her shots. Ugh, that's annoying. Alexis continued shooting at them until they finally splatted. With that, she could continue on once more.
At the end of the catwalk was a checkpoint, followed by a key, then a launchpad. After she grabbed it, she heard Marie say, "Key: check. Launchpad ahoy!" Agent 4 turned into a squid on the launchpad, causing her to super-jump away from the maze, back to the central area. The left path containing the launchpad had lowered, and the bronze-skinned inkling went to unlock the leftmost vault. When she activated the switch inside, a box rose from where the middle switch stood. It spun around for a little bit before stopping, allowing her to climb up it and use the launchpad on its back.
Alexis landed on a drop-off to a large, open area. She broke the small orange crate on the industrial Squee-G, revealing armor, before jumping on it. She picked up the armor, and instantly her clothes became more padded and protective. She adjusted her helmet and smiled before submerging in the yellow ink.
"Ooh, I see a key!" the idol exclaimed. Indeed, there was a key, on a platform in the back of the area. She threw out a bomb in front of it, causing the Squee-G to perk up and travel towards it. However, it got distracted and started beeping as it headed towards one of the many Octotrooper. All of the Octotroopers panicked and tried getting away from all three industrial Squee-Gs. In the end, none of them were able to escape. To her surprise, Alexis actually felt kind of bad for them. But in the end, she still had to save the zapfish. She continued throwing bombs towards the platform that would lead her to the key, and after a while, the one she was riding finally squabbled over there, allowing her to jump off and grab the golden object.
Alexis turned around and noticed one last Octotrooper, this one with a shield, on top of a vantage point. It noticed the inkling and shot at her. Neither side could reach the other. After a little while, she threw a bomb at the ground to attract one of the Squee-Gs. Once one arrived, she hopped on it and directed it towards the central block. She inked the side of it and climbed up it. Soon, she was face-to-face with that shielded Octotrooper. It shot twice at her, breaking her armor. At the same time, Alexis shot slightly to its right, the blast damaging it until it splatted. In its place was a launchpad. She stepped onto the swirling circle and flew to a place infested with flooders.
"Woah," Marie gasped. "What is this place?"
"Uh..." Alexis started.
"It's like your own private island," she noted. "Except full of deadly flooders." She sighed. "Callie always hated flooders..." The idol went silent. The inkling now just stood there, watching the giant machines whir by.
"Marie...?" she broke the silence. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she told her. "I just... I just hope we find Callie soon."
"...Me too," Alexis admitted. She went up to the edge of the platform she landed on and sat down. Power eggs floated around in the distance, spinning in formations. "And the Great Zapfish, too."
"Right, right."
The girl got up and started jumping from block-to-block, aiming for the back of the island. She climbed up it and found it was decorated with fake palm trees. The sight was amusing, to say at the least. She collected the power eggs before turning her attention to the flooders. She waited for the ones with crates on them to pass by, where she promptly broke them, revealing even more power eggs. Finally, she hopped on one so she could travel to the highest platforms, where she found even more power eggs and even a ticket for the Crust Bucket. Alexis took one last moment to enjoy the view before stepping onto the launchpad to return her to the previous area.
Agent 4 landed on a Squee-G. She took the key out of her pocket and twirled it around her hand. She then put it away and threw out a bomb instead. She eventually guided it to a vault, where she jumped off and unlocked it. The vault opened to reveal yet another launchpad, and she stepped on it and proceeded to fly towards a small concrete platform framed by a neon octopus sign. Directly in front of her was a zapfish, positioned on the plug and surrounded by a golden barrier. One shot of the blaster broke the barrier, and the electric fish let out a gurgle. The bronze-skinned inkling leaped towards it and grabbed it in triumph.
"Finally!" she cheered. She proceeded to super-jump out of the kettle, zapfish in hand. She then started walking around, looking for Marie.
"You da squid, kid," the grey-haired inkling cheered. "Nice job."
Alexis simply smiled. She spotted Marie down in the ditch below and jumped down to her. She gave the zapfish to her and started walking back to the launchpad that would lead her back to Tentakeel Outpost.
"You done for the day, Agent 4?" the idol asked.
She looked over her shoulder and nodded. "Yeah."
"The tournament's not getting you down, is it?"
At the mention of the tournament, memories of the Rainbow Squid's loss flooded back into her head. She could never forget Giovanni's look of triumph, having a smug smirk she wished she could wash off his face. Her clasp on the Hero Blaster tightened at the thought. "...No, no it's not." She crossed her arms. "I just wanted to use this ticket I found." Alexis pulled the Crust Bucket ticket out of her pocket.
"...Alright, if you say so." Marie folded up her umbrella and set it down so she could wave. "See ya later."
"You too, Marie." The short-haired girl turned into a squid on the launchpad, sending her flying back to the Cuttlefish Shack. Once she arrived, she immediately dove into the grate leading back into Inkopolis. She popped out in her casual wear and ran to the familiar food truck near where the Rainbow Squids normally resided.
"Woah!" Crusty Sean gasped as Alexis, out of breath, approached the Crust Bucket and slammed the ticket on the counter. "You OK there?"
"Yeah..." she replied, gripping her knees. She raised her head and requested, "Just... give me a Deep-Fried Shwaffle, please."
"A Deep-Fried Shwaffle? Sure thing." The shrimp went to the back of his food truck and got out the necessary ingredients. Alexis watched as he made the Shwaffle, carefully frying everything to perfection. Once he topped the foodstuff resembling a piece of tempura with whipped cream, Crusty Sean brought the Shwaffle out on a yellow-striped napkin and gave it to the inkling. "Peace!" He saluted goodbye as Alexis took the item and searched for a table to sit at.
At one table was a lone inkling girl with wheat-colored skin, short pink hair, and matching pink eyes. It was Audrey, Alexis's friend. The girl was texting on her cellphone, a bored expression on her face. The bronze-skinned inkling walked over to her table and set her food down.
"Mind if I sit here?" she asked in a teasing tone.
Audrey looked up from her phone, and her eyes widened when she saw the other inkling. "Alexis?" she mused. "Yeah, of course!" The orange-haired girl sat down across from her and began eating her Deep-Fried Shwaffle. "It's been a hot minute," she remarked.
Alexis nodded in agreement. "I've been busy."
"Whatcha been up to?" the other inkling asked.
"Uh... stuff."
"Like what?"
"I just said, stuff."
"Battling?"
"I guess." Alexis scratched the back of her head. "So, what about you?"
"Y'know how I want to get S+ rank, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I got to S- in Splat Zones yesterday!"
"Ooh, congrats!"
"I know! Not much farther, now!" Audrey did some dramatic gestures. "Two more ranks, and I'll be S+ in one mode! This is great!" She pulled out a .52 Gal, faded marker on its barrel, and softly gazed at it. "Off the Hook signing my weapon really did bring me some luck," she whispered.
Alexis finished up her Deep-Fried Shwaffle and patted her belly. "Mmm... Makes me want to do some ranked battles."
"Well, I would love to battle with you, but..." The pink-haired girl sighed. "Your rank isn't very high."
"I know," she admitted. "I just like turf wars a lot better."
"Is that why you weren't happy at the Deca Tournament?"
"Huh?" A frown spread across Alexis's face.
"You didn't seem very happy when they were announcing the results."
"Well, I lost. Duh."
"Right, right... You sure there isn't another reason?"
"No!" she yelped. Audrey jumped at her exclamation. Guilt crept into the bronze-skinned girl's mind, and she started, "I..." She stood up and started backing up. "I'm... gonna go battle now."
"O...K...?" Alexis ran off, and her friend yelled, "Call me if you need me!"
The short-haired inkling ran into the Deca Tower and clenched her eyes shut. Why do people keep bringing it up? She shook her head. 'It's just another battle,' Via said. Well, then it is! She steadied her hand on the railing. It is, it is... it's not! She slumped to the ground, feeling something wet in the corner of her eyes. Why does it keep bothering me...? I don't get it. Finally, she let out a heavy sigh. We should have won. But no, Octa Prisma had to cheat.
Alexis opened her eyes and wiped them, looking behind her back at the elevators inklings crowded into. "Stupid Octarians..." she muttered as she headed towards them.