Guerilla camp, Octo Valley
Three days had passed since Kal told them about the Vanguard movement.
Those three days had been uneventful, the only thing Inker and Neon during those days were random bits of training with the Octarians of Captain Vale's splatoon.
And like always, they were not made welcome.
Oh well, today they had to leave, hopefully the captain doesn't suddenly come up with something for them.
Inker made sure to wake up early today.
In the last few days, those Octolings had been coming up with increasingly painful ways of waking him up, ranging from pouring water on him, to body slamming him awake.
But not today.
"...Hey let go of..….."
Neon was sleep talking like before.
Inker wasn't sure what time it was, but he should get up now.
As he equipped the Hero Shot and other equipment he checked his squidphone.
Since there was no service down here, he hadn't been using his phone at all, so it still had battery after these six days.
5:57 am
Good, he woke up on time.
Inker thought about rousing Neon from her sleep, but thought it would be better to let her be for now.
"... I'm not….. Neon now… Don't like that….."
Neon kept talking in her sleep.
Inker was fully awake now, although he wasn't used to getting up this early, he stretched and prepared himself for the day.
Because today Kal and Lila, along with the Vanguard movement would attack Octo Valley.
Inker was surprised that the Vanguard movement kept going even after losing their entire first wave.
Guess you couldn't underestimate the fighting spirit of Inklings…
At exactly 6:01 am, two Octolings entered Inker and Neon's room, intending to wake them up like before.
They smiled with glee as they entered, but those smiles disappeared when they saw Inker up and ready for the day.
"Oh, you're awake…. Ummm, good job." One Octoling said, mildly disappointed.
Both she and her partner were hiding something behind their backs.
A shiny metallic object…
Inker tried to peek over but the Octolings simply turned.
"What are you hiding? How were you planning to wake me up today?"
"Ohh nothing, well since you're up, go wake your friend and come for breakfast."
The two Octolings left quickly.
Inker caught a glimpse of a knife as they walked away.
'Were they going to stab me to wake me up?!'
Good thing he avoided that.
Inker gently shook Neon to wake her up.
"...not now Dios….."
"Uhh what?"
Inker wasn't sure if Neon was sleep talking or not.
He nudged Neon a bit harder this time
"Hey Neon, Neon it's time to wake up."
"Mmmmm? Oh good morning Inker, isn't it a bit early?"
"The Octolings came by already, but they couldn't do anything to us since I was already awake. Come on get up, let's go for breakfast then we need to plan for the day."
Today was the day that Kal and Lila would be entering Octo Valley with the Vanguard movement.
Inker still wasn't sure was Kal was planning, but he went along.
Meanwhile Sky and Cap'n Cuttlefish were going to be keeping an eye out for the Vanguard movement.
Inklings usually wake up around 10:00 AM so there was significant time to prepare.
Inker and Neon ate their disgusting breakfast quickly, then left to speak with Captain Vale.
Inker ignored the usual harassment from the other Octarians and went directly to the captain, he needed to know if she had anything planned.
"Ahh Agent 3, you are here early, if this is about the incident at the Undercity there is no need to worry, I have spoken with the one responsable."
Vale was talking about the recon mission that occurred a few days ago.
She suspected that the Octoling named Eliza would be the one behind it, since she seemed to have the deepest hatred for Agent 3 among the troops and she was right. Eliza had pretended to inform Inker and Neon that they were pulling out, Vale made sure to properly drill her on how to treat allies.
"That's not why i'm here, tell me, is there anything planned for today?" Inker asked.
"No, why do you ask?"
"Something else came up, so I need to be able to leave on a moments notice."
"Then go ahead, you aren't one of my subordinates so I can't really stop you in the first place."
"Alright thanks, oh and one more thing, Victoria might come with us."
"Victoria? What would you need her for?"
"It's not that, rather I think she'll want to come along once she hears the reason for our leave."
"Okay then, go do whatever you need to do."
"Aren't you at all interested on what's going on?"
"It's none of my business, I already have enough to worry about so you can go do whatever you want as long as you don't get in my way."
"Alright then, thanks for having us, goodbye Captain Vale."
Inker and Neon left to find Victoria.
"Why did you say goodbye like that? Are we not coming back?" Neon asked
"You want to come back?"
Neon shrugged "Maybe, sorta I guess."
Neon really was strange at times.
Didn't she find everything here boring?
Oh well, Inker wasn't going to think about that now.
For now he should find and tell Victoria about Kal's plan.
That's right Kal actually had some sort of a plan, though it wasn't a good one.
Just yesterday Kal explained to Sky who then explained to Neon and Inker that Kal wanted Lila to see the Vanguard movement losing against the Octarian army again.
Apparently he thought it could help her recover.
Kal wanted Lila to relive the events that took her family away from her, only this time the Vanguard movement will not be wiped out.
To help with this, Kal wanted Inker and Neon to wait nearby and help rescue the Vanguard movement after Lila has seen enough.
Inker wasn't sure how Kal expected just him and Neon to take on the Octarian army.
They had no idea how many Octarians would be fighting the Vanguard movement, so Inker wanted extra help.
Cuttlefish was going to see if Callie and Marie had time to spare, while Inker was going to find Victoria.
'Maybe Kal is getting desperate' Inker thought
It wasn't like Kal to do something so rashly.
Inker and Neon found Victoria in the firing range and brought her out to speak with her.
"What's going on?" Victoria asked
Inker went straight to the point "Kal joined the Vanguard movement."
"I'm sure I didn't hear that right."
"Nope you heard me, Kal joined the Vanguard movement."
"WHAT?!"
Victoria grabbed Inker's collar
"What is Kal thinking? What's going on in Inkopolis? Also Neon stop smirking like that, I'm just worried for Kal okay, not in love with him!"
Neon giggled "Whatever you say."
"Anyways, it seems like Kal thinks joining the Vanguard movement will help Lila recover from her current state." Inker continued. "So he wants us to go clear a path for the Vanguard movement to get back to Inkopolis when he gives us the signal."
'Seriously what is he thinking? Wait maybe what I said about revenge got to his head? Is he trying to help Lila get revenge for her family? Is this my fault?' Victoria wondered
"Alright i'm in, that's why you came and told me this right? You knew I would help out."
"Exactly."
Inker didn't believe Neon's claims that Kal and Victoria were in love, but he knew that they always looked out for each other.
"Three of us versus whatever Octavia is throwing at the Vanguard movement, do you think this is going to work?" Victoria asked, doubtful of their chances.
Inker shared that doubt.
'Last time, every single member of the Vanguard movement was killed aside from Lila. What would we be running into? Maybe I can get some extra help.'
"Even i'm not so sure, so to be safe I'd like to ask a certain someone for a favor." Inker concluded. "You two should go wait for me near the exit, take everything you need as well, I'll be right back."
Inker left Neon and Victoria to search for one last Octarian.
Inker found Lynn and Eliza discussing something, not that it mattered to him.
"Lynn, do you have a moment? I need to speak with you."
Lynn, who was acting perfectly normal with Eliza, took a different tone with Inker "Hmm? Agent 3! Ahh yes of course, what do you need?"
Meanwhile Eliza shot Inker a mean look before leaving.
Inker ignored her and spoke to Lynn.
"Lynn, you owe me a favor from before, honestly I didn't think much of it at first, but I'm calling it in now, I need your help."
"Ahh."
Lynn snapped to attention
"I was expecting this sooner or later, as long as it wipes my slate clean, I shall do whatever you want. What is it that you need from me?"
Inker was somewhat surprised by Lynn eagerness, then again he didn't know her very well.
"Oh umm, you see there is this organization of Inklings in Inkopolis that are planning to attack Octo Valley. They are probably going to all get splatted, so we are going to help clear an escape route for them."
"Is that all Agent 3?"
"Yes, if you don't want to do this its fine, I understand since yo-"
"No i'm okay with this, I had prepared myself for whatever unreasonable demands you may have for me, but this is better than what I had expected. I'll let the captain know that I will be away today."
And so Inker now had a team of four, now to wait for Kal.
Fields' family household, Inkopolis
Kal woke up hours after Inker and Neon.
He had been sleeping on a few blankets laid out on the floor of Lila's room.
Lila was still asleep, her hand was dangling from her bed and almost touching Kal's face.
She had gotten to a point where she would not let Kal out of her sight, that must mean that she didn't have very long.
Kal gently woke Lila up, they had to prepare and meet with the Vanguard movement today.
"Laven?" Lila squeaked as she woke up.
"Yes it's me."
"What's going on?"
"I'm heading out to meet with Deep and Aurip in a moment, so I thought I should wake you up."
Lila, still drowsy, weakly grabbed Kal's hand "Okay... hold on I want to come with you…"
Kal patted Lila's head "Don't push yourself, if you are still sleepy then rest a bit more."
"Then can you stay here? please?" Lila said, like a child afraid of the dark.
"Well alright, I can't be late though."
"Don't worry, just give me five more minutes. *yawn*"
Lila forced herself to wake up so that she wouldn't lose sight of her "brother".
.After a quick breakfast they were on their way.
On their way to the Vanguard movement.
"Hi Deep, hi Aurip!" Lila called out to the two as she and Kal arrived in front of the manhole to Octo Valley.
"Hi….." The two waved weakly.
They were focused on the appearance of Kal, who like before was dressed like Laven and welding a Blaster, the only difference was the strange headset he wore.
Deep approached Kal and whispered. "What are you doing here? Did you change your mind?"
"Well somebody needs to pull your butts out of the fire."
Deep laughed "We won't be the ones burning, it's good to see that you've changed your mind."
He probably thought that Kal shared their views on the Octarian army.
Kal on the other hand was not planning to losing his life on some stupid attack.
All he needed to do was make Lila see a battle similar to the one she saw when she lost Laven and her parents.
"Well then, when are we going?"
"We are waiting on a few late guys, luckily the old Cap'n Cuttlefish isn't getting in our way this time." Aurip said.
"Well it's no problem this time right?"
Kal felt someone tugging on his sleeve.
"Laven? Who are all these other Inklings?"
"Ohh don't worry, Deep, Aurip and I are just uhh….. going on a tour, yeah and that's our tour group."
"Oh that sounds fun, I can come along right?"
"Of course, anything for my little sister, I already told them you'd be coming along.."
"Thanks Laven! Love you!" Lila hugged Kal.
Kal however only looked worried
He couldn't tell her the truth just yet, not until the time was right.
But Lila's condition was far worse than before, would he have enough time to get to Octo Valley?
Since they were waiting now would be a good time to check in with Sky.
Kal turned on the hero headset he was wearing.
Octo Valley
Inker glanced nervously at the room around him.
The room was dark, there was no power, he could also make out a few cracks in the walls.
"Are you sure this is safe?"
He, Neon, Victoria and Lynn were currently sitting in an old abandoned building in some sort of underpass.
"Yes of course, this place was abandoned long ago and since you've removed the Zapfish here, there should be no Octarian army anywhere nearby." Victoria said
"No that's not what I meant, this place looks like it could fall on us at any moment."
"Oh don't worry about that, this is a pretty low building so even if it does collapse we won't be buried under too much rubble."
"That doesn't give me confidence."
"Oh it's all normal down here in Octo Valley, don't worry about it. Has Kal said anything yet?"
"Kal has a hero headset but he can't talk to us through it he can only hear us through the hero suit, so were waiting for his texts." Inker explained.
Meanwhile Lynn sat around, twiddling her thumbs.
Inker thought she looked a bit nervous, so he went over to her side.
"Hey, if you aren't up for this you can leave. I don't want to force you into doing anything you don't want."
Lynn furiously shook her head
"No no, no need to worry about me. I owe you for rescuing the captain and everyone else so order me around as you please. I am your subordinate for today, so it is my job to sacrifice for your sake." Lynn said this with determination, she probably wanted to return the favor quickly so that she wouldn't have to worry about it in the future.
Though Lynn's obedient attitude made Inker feel more guilty about bringing her along.
Meanwhile Victoria was observing the change in Lynn's behavior, why did Lynn act so meek and obedient around Inker?
Neon suddenly stood up.
"Somebody is outside, I can hear them."
"How?"
"Shhh."
Inker was really curious as to how Neon managed to hear someone outside, but Neon was dependable when it came to fighting so he went along.
Maybe the Octarian army spotted them? Maybe they were followed?
Neon plastered a ear against the door.
She nodded and whispered "yep, someone is here and it sounds like they brought company. I hear a lot of Octarians outside."
Neon picked up her E-Liter and prepared to blast out of the door.
Inker held her back "Hold on, maybe they won't find us."
"It could just be a patrol." Lynn added
"I thought you said this place was abandoned." Inker asked Victoria
"I thought so too."
The door opened and an Octoling peeked in.
Neon immediately took aim, but Lynn hopped in front of her.
"Stop! She's from our splatoon!"
Neon and everyone else lowered their weapons.
"There you are Lynn!" the Octoling said, she then turned the other way and shouted "guys, they are in here!"
Soon, several Octolings and Octotroopers filled the room.
'Oh great, it's her again…' Inker thought as he recognised one of the Octolings as Eliza
Eliza made her way toward Inker.
It wasn't just her, all the Octarians accompanying her glared at Inker.
"You! I knew you were a scumbag! But to think you'd even take advantage of Lynn's obedient personality! You've reached a new low!" Eliza shouted, grabbing Inker's collar in the process.
"We won't let you strong arm our comrades into dangerous missions!" the other Octarians declared.
"Guys, there must be a misunderstanding, I'm just repaying my debt to Agent 3." Lynn desperately tried to calm down her fellow Octarians.
"There are better ways of doing that then going up against the rest of the army!" an Octoling said
"Yes, not even the captain would take on Octavia's army with such a small group. It's a good thing Eliza overheard your conversation and told all of us." an Octotrooper added.
"What's he saying?" Inker asked, since Octotroopers spoke a different language.
"None of your business! You have no right to be forcing Lynn around to do your missions!"
"He hasn't been forcing her to do anything." Victoria cut in.
Eliza looked at Victoria
"You... Victoria Holter right? I understand why you would have sympathy for this asshole. But you don't know Lynn, she's always been the kind to comply with anyone who is ranked higher than her. I don't know how high "Agent" would be, but I bet it's enough for Lynn to show her meek side"
Lynn waved her hands "no you guys have the wrong idea about me too!"
"Do we? Lynn, everyone in the splatoon looks out for each other, we know that you've always followed orders because you don't have any self confidence. Whether it's Octavia, the captain or even Claire, you've always did what they said without questioning it."
The other Octarians nodded in approval
"Ahhh… So all of you are looking out for me…." Lynn blushed slightly, he looked to the ground and smiled.
After a brief moment she recovered "No, you still have the wrong idea. Claire kept telling me to make my own choices in the past and I do, I'm choosing to repay Agent 3 now. As for my willingness to follow orders, I always thought it was logical to follow someone with a lot of experience in the field."
"They do say experience is the best teacher.." Victoria muttered
Lynn continued "The captain has told us many times in the past that trust is extremely important, so is it really that odd for me to show my trust by obeying orders? I've always followed the captain's orders and Claire's advice because I trusted them and their experience, I'm following Agent 3 now because I feel like I can trust him too."
'Finally!' Inker thought 'Finally someone else who isn't blinded by the past.'
Maybe he really could get along with this splatoon.
Just as he was thinking that, Eliza said "I still don't trust him."
"My apologies, but this really doesn't concern you."
Eliza turned her attention to Lynn
She probably expected Lynn to thank her and the rest for coming to her rescue, but Lynn was not ready to leave.
Instead she saluted to all the Octarians accompanying Eliza
"Thank you all for looking out for me, really thank you from the bottom of my heart. But this really doesn't concern you all, it's my decision and I decide to stay. You should probably head back to base now."
"Yeah yeah we get it, your choice right? But still…" Eliza and the other Octarians all glared at Inker.
'Oh come on! What did I do now?'
"... I don't trust Agent 3 at all."
Inker just couldn't understand why this Octoling was so persistent.
Oh wait, he killed her sister while he was bringing back the Zapfish right?
Last time Inker spoke with Eliza, she had mentioned the name "Eileen" although he hadn't heard anyone say that name before, it seemed familiar to him.
It took a while, but Inker remembered why.
'Maybe this can help ease things out between us.' Inker thought
"Hey, last time you mentioned the name "Eileen" right?"
"Oh? So now you choose to remember her?"
"I don't know who she was, but I know she left behind a note in the Kelp Dome."
To show proof, Inker showed Eliza the picture he took on his squid phone.
It clearly showed the note Eileen had left behind. (For those who do not understand where this note came from, search for "SWC One-Shot collection" and read the chapter "Sisters In Arms")
"That note is probably what made me start to rethink-"
Inker didn't have time to finish his sentence, because unlike what he had expected, showing Eliza that note had the opposite effect.
"YOU BASTARD! What? Killing her wasn't enough for you!? You had to take a nice commemorative photo too!?"
Eliza went into a frenzy.
"What's next? You want a trophy to go with that?! Here! it's Eileen note! Why don't you go frame it!"
She pulled out the note from the photo and shoved it in Inker's face, before storming out of the building.
"Wait! Eliza!" the other Octarians ran after her.
Inker stood there speechless, holding the note Eliza had forced onto him.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Neon shrugged
"I think she's just overreacting." Victoria said
"But I did kill her sister."
Lynn put an hand on Inker's shoulder
"No matter what happens soldiers are always lost in battle, that much is guaranteed. You did nothing wrong."
"Hey I don't understand all this drama, but can we go now?" Neon asked
'Way to ruin the mood?' everyone else thought
"We aren't going anywhere until Kal says so remember?"
"Ohhh right, I forgot. Okay then, carry on with the shouting." Neon went back to laying around.
Seeing all this through the Hero Suit's camera, Sky muttered to himself "troublesome girl…"
He then noticed the commotion outside Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack.
There was a large group of Inklings passing by, all armed with various weapons.
From shooters to rollers and blasters to chargers.
That was followed by a text from Kal.
"Okay we are here, keep an eye on us, when the fighting starts come and find me and Lila."
Sky looked at the horde of Inklings
'This must be the Vanguard movement.'
Sky went back to mission control
Cap'n Cuttlefish had just informed the others
"Ahoy Agent 3, the Vanguard movement just entered Octo Valley."
Back in the abandoned building, Inker replied:
"Got it, keep an eye on them and let us know where they go."
"Oh oh! Is it time!" Neon was bouncing in excitement.
"Hold on, we still need to wait for Kal."
"Aww, but sitting here is sooooo boring! Oh I know! I'll explore this place! Maybe I'll find another Inkzooka in a can."
"Inkzooka in a can? Oh right! Canned specials! Yeah sure you can go ahead and look around, just don't get spotted."
"Okay!"
With a skip in her step, Neon left happily.
"I'm glad she'll be gone for a while." Victoria muttered
Inker agreed "That's a bit rude, but I agree, Neon can really be a pain to deal with."
"Speaking of which, a few days ago she came and asked me to be her friend, what's with that? Oh! N-not that i'm complaining of course!" Lynn added
"Huh, that's the first I've heard of that." Inker said
"Same here, though I haven't been talking with you guys that much since we arrived." Victoria added.
Silence reigned in the room.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"It seems like Agent 1 and 2 aren't coming."
"Really? That's too bad…"
"..."
"..."
".."
"Maybe we should have gone with Neon?"
"Yeah maybe…"
The Rig, Octo Valley
"Hey, can one of you explain why we are here?" Kal asked
"We are retracing the steps of the first wave." Aurip replied
The second wave of Vanguards were currently making their way through the rig.
Hearing that they were retracing the previous wave's steps was not comforting, though at least it would mean that Lila would see a similar scene.
"Laven? Does this place look familiar to you?" Lila asked, still holding Kal's arm.
"Not at all."
'Maybe she's already recalling the first wave.'
Kal looked at the horde of Inkling in front of him.
Where they even trying to win against Octo Valley?
Kal was no military tactician, but everyone knew that if you tried to attack from the same place twice, it could never go well. It should have been common sense, yet these "Vanguards" are purposely taking the same route as the first group.
"A large industrial area that looks abandoned… Just like Wister had described, this is where the last message from the first wave came from." the lead Inkling said. "Everyone be careful, there must be Octarians nearby…"
There were
Unlike the New Squidbeak Splatoon, the Vanguard movement had no knowledge of Octo Valley and did not know that they had cameras everywhere.
Like the previous wave, they were being watched as soon as they entered the Valley.
Not too far ahead, several splatoons of Octarians waited.
Scattered on the ground was some of the clothes they had looted from the first wave.
"Seeing the stuff from their fallen brethren oughta shake them up a bit." one of the Elite Octolings had said.
Patiently, they waited.
Meanwhile, Kal checked his phone.
As expected there was no signal here, good thing he had texted everyone earlier.
"L-Laven, I don't like this anymore, I want to go home." Lila's voice was getting shakier.
Although they hadn't been attacked yet, Lila's eyes were full of fear.
'No not yet, just a little while longer.'
Kal waited, he wouldn't reveal the truth until after they were attacked.
"Hey guys, isn't that…"
An Inkling in front picked up a discarded jacket.
A Cycle King Jersey.
Made by Tentatek, sold only in Inkopolis…
There was more.
"Hey, That was Cy's Camo Zip Hoodie!"
"That's Mirillia's Pearl Tee!"
More Inklings recognised the clothing worn by those in the first wave.
As they sifted through the discarded gear, Lila reacted to it.
"L-Laven! I don't want to be here anymore! I want to go home!" Lila shouted
She started crying.
Kal crouched down to comfort her.
"Now now, there is nothing to worry about, I'm here Lila."
As they were distracted with the clothing, the Octarians took positions above them.
Since everyone was focused on the ground nobody bothered to look up and see the Octotroopers above them.
A few Octosnipers arrived as well, hopping onto their stationary sniping platforms.
The first one to notice was Kal, he noticed the targeting lasers of the Octosnipers, they were just like the ones he saw when they fought that saucer…
"EVERYONE! LOOK OUT!"
Abandoned underpass, Octo Valley
Neon came back with several cans.
"Guys! Look at all this! I've got an Inkzooka! A Bubbler! And a Bomb rush!"
"What are those?" Victoria asked
"Hmm? They are specials! You've never used a special before?"
"The army doesn't have those."
"Oh! Well you'll like them, they last a short time but they are really strong! See this."
Neon held up the canned Inkzooka "This shoots big tornado things that can cover large amounts of turf and instantly splat anyone! Then there's this."
Neon held the Bomb rush "This lets you toss lots and lots of bombs for a few seconds without worrying about ink supply."
Neon showed the Bubbler "Finally this makes you invulnerable for a short period."
That last one seemed familiar to Victoria.
"Give the bubbler to Lynn." Inker said
"Huh? Why? I'm the one who found it!"
"You are the only one here who has a special already, you have Kraken remember?"
'Kraken? Is that her giant squid form that Octotrooper mentioned back then?' Lynn wondered.
"Why are you giving me the bubbler?" Lynn asked
"Just in case you get into trouble."
"No, I am a normal Octoling, I would not make good use of this."
"Just take it, I don't want to lose you to the other Octarians."
"...ohh I see, so you don't trust my abilities…." Lynn said with a dejected expression.
"No no! Not at all, rather you are like Captain Vale's right hand Octoling, if you got splatted here she'd be pissed." Inker explained
"Oh… Well then I guess I can take it…."
"You can only use it once so don't waste it."
Victoria look a look at the canned specials
"Well I think i'm better at shooting than tossing bombs, I'll take the Inkzooka thing."
"Huh? You too? But I found these!" Neon protectively clutched the remaining two specials.
"Neon just give it up, this is a team effort so let Victoria take one." Inker said
"Awww, I wanted to use all three along with Kraken, I wanted to charge in with Kraken then attack with the Inkzooka and Bomb rush while protected by a bubbler…"
Neon reluctantly gave Victoria the Inkzooka.
When Inker eyed the remaining Bomb rush, Neon held it protectively against her chest.
Inker didn't say anything and waited for Neon to hand over the can.
"... Okay fine you can have it! But next time you go look for specials yourself!"
Around this time, Sky's voice came through again.
"Kal and the Vanguard movement are being attacked at the rig."
"Hear that? Let's go." Inker said
"Wooohooo!" Neon squealed with delight
They had only made it two steps out of the building when Eliza and the other Octarians showed up again.
'Her again?' Inker thought
"You can hate me all you want later, we don't have time right now." Inker said.
Eliza ignored Inker and spoke to Lynn.
"We are going with you."
"Ehh?! Why? You really don't need to."
"Look, you might trust Agent 3, but we don't. If you think we are going to leave you in his hands then guess again."
"No no, you shouldn't worry so much about me, head back to the lair before the captain gets cross with you again."
"We've already spoke with the captain, so we can stay and help you without worrying about anything."
"Let them tag along, we could use the extra help." Inker told Lynn.
Eliza glared at Inker once again.
"Let me make this clear, we are here to make sure nothing happens to Lynn and Victoria. I couldn't care less if anything happened to you or your green friend."
Inker sighed "Yeah alright, you've made that quite clear. Now come on we need to hurry."
The Rig, Octo Valley
"Everyone scatter! The Octarians have the high ground!"
"Hey stop covering my ink!"
"I can't help it! There is no space left!"
As the Octarians rained fire upon them, the Vanguard movement members went into a panic.
They were incredibly disorganized, first off they all had different ink colours so they couldn't work as a team and could splat each other on accident.
They also had no clue what they were doing, some fired back at the Octolings and Octotroopers, others ran to safer spots.
They also had no idea how to deal with Octoballs and shielded Octotroopers aside from a few smarter ones who shot them from behind, only to be picked off by other Octarians.
Kal and Lila were in the back of the group when it happened, after making sure he and Lila were in a safe spot, Kal pointed at the Vanguard movement fighting the Octarian army.
"Look at that Lila, does it seem familiar?"
"No! Nonononono I didn't see that before!"
"Take another look! This has happened before!"
"No I don't want to!"
Lila shut her eyes and cried, wetting Kal's sleeve.
Kal violently shook off Lila who was now crying her eyes out.
He took her head and pointed it at the scene before them.
"Take a good look, that is what happened before, that is how you lost your family!"
"NO! No I haven't! Why are you doing this to me Laven? Why!?"
"I'm not Laven, Laven is dead, along with your parents, it's time you accepted it and moved on."
"No! Don't say that Laven! You aren't dead because you are right here! Right Laven?"
Lila forced herself to smile, looking at Kal's face.
Tears were streaming down her face.
Kal didn't like this, but he had to keep going.
"Lila, do I look like Laven to you?" he asked
"Ahhhhh! You aren't Laven?!"
"Do I look like Laven? I've always been Kalus, I'm not your brother!"
"Waaaaaaa!"
Lila cried loudly, she shoved Kal away from her.
"Laven! Where did you gooooooo!"
"No wait!"
Too late Lila ran off.
Kal was about to give chase, until he noticed a targeting laser pointed at him.
"Gah!"
He barely had time to jump back.
'That was close! I'm going to get splatted if i'm not careful. Lila? Where did you go?'
He had lost sight of Lila in the chaos, she might have already been splatted.
'Dammit! Inker if you are here I need your help now!'
What was he thinking, bringing Lila here?
He shouldn't have done something so rash on the off chance that it might all work out.
Ignoring the other Vanguard members, Kal searched for Lila, fending off the occasional Octarian soldier every now and then.
Not too far from the fighting, Inker, Neon, Victoria, Lynn, Eliza and a few other Octarians arrived.
They had started out as a group of four, but now there was enough Octarians with them to form three squads.
Inker wanted the Octarians accompanying them to try attack the enemy Octarians from behind.
He was about to tell Eliza that, but then realised there was no way she'd listen.
"Hey Lynn, can you get Eliza and the others to try going around the rig and hitting the other Octarians from behind?" Inker whispered
Eliza would listen to Lynn and Lynn would listen to him.
"Ahh yes of course."
Lynn and Eliza broke off from the group, leaving just Inker, Neon and Victoria.
"Alright now, Sky do you know where Lila and Kal are?" Inker asked through his hero suit.
"About that, things aren't looking too good, Lila has run away from Kal, now Kal is trying to find her but he's pinned down with the rest of the Vanguard movement." Sky reported
"Tell us that earlier next time, we'll go for Kal first."
"So I can let loose now?" Neon asked, waiting expectantly for Inker's anwser.
Inker did want Neon to charge in and get splatted, but he did see her do similar things in the past and emerge unharmed.
It's not like she'd enjoy being held back.
"Yeah sure go ahead, just don't leave us behind." Inker said
"ALRIGHT! heeeeeyyyyyyyAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" With her E-Liter held high, Neon ran full speed towards the rig.
"Come on, let's not get left behind." Inker said.
"Right."
Inker and Victoria chased after Neon.
Neon did the usual, she left a squid beakon behind while running ahead, then she found several spots for sniping. She left a Squid beakon at each spot she found and super jumped between them.
She also seemed to know that Octarians had trouble shoot at targets up high, so she made sure to always stand on high ground.
Inker and Victoria had similar fighting styles, as the Hero Shot and Octo Shot were similar themselves.
Unfortunately they did not have the same ink colour, so they had to separate shortly after reaching the Vanguard movement.
There were a few Vanguard Inklings running from Octoballs, desperately trying to splat them while running on uncovered turf.
Inker saw this, he knew that Octoballs had to be submerged in ink first before being splatted.
He was trying to reach Kal, but he wasn't about to leave these Inklings to die.
Inker fired his Hero Shot at the ground behind the Inklings.
The Octoballs immediately diverted their course to avoid his blue ink.
Inker swam after them, tossing a burst bomb ahead of them.
The running Inklings looked back and saw Inker finish off the Octoballs trapped in his ink.
"You need to stop them from rolling if you want to splat them!" Inker told the Vanguard Inklings.
"Oh, okay I got it, thanks…. Hey wait a sec I don't remember seeing you before..."
"That doesn't matter, I'm here to help. Where are the other Vanguard members?"
"I don't know, we all scattered when the fighting began."
"Oh alright then, hey you guys should start heading back to Inkopolis or finding the other Vanguards."
"Yeah alright."
The two Vanguard members Inker started making their way out of the rig as Inker went further into the lair.
Meanwhile Victoria's side wasn't going so well.
There was two Vanguard members backed up into a corner, four shielded Octotroopers were advancing on them.
The two Vanguard Inklings emptied their ink tanks trying to splat the shielded Octotroopers.
"It's the end! Why did we come here?!" one shouted
"I thought it would be safer if we stayed in a corner! Sorry Deep but this is it."
With a wall of Shielded Octotroopers in front of them, the two Inklings swam around in their ink swimming around in hopes of surviving a bit longer.
Victoria didn't feel like rescuing the Vanguard members, since they were technically her enemy but maybe they knew where Kal was.
Victoria inked the Shielded Octotroopers from behind, splatting them all quickly.
However this only lead to her being fired upon by the two Inklings she just helped.
"What are you doing?! I just saved you!"
"Yeah sure, I think you just wanted credit for splatting us!"
"If I wanted to do that, I would have waited for you to be splatted first!" Victoria shouted as she swam around, dodging ink.
"As if anyone would believe an Octoling!"
'I knew it, these Vanguards are idiots.'
Resisting the urge to test the Inkzooka on those two, Victoria tossed a splat bomb at them, both Inklings immediately leapt out of the way, Victoria used this chance to run.
'So the Vanguards won't let me talk, how else can I get to Kal?' she wondered
'Maybe Inker would have a better shot at reaching him…'
Avoiding the Vanguards and the hostile Octarians, Victoria made her way to Neon.
"Hey hey! It's me." Victoria shouted when Neon instinctively aimed at her.
Neon rapidly snapped her E-Liter away, hitting an Octotrooper instead.
"Don't sneak up on me like that, it's hard to tell you apart from the others."
For some reason that made Victoria a little angry, but she had other things to worry about.
"Give me your headset for a while."
"Why? Hey give that back!"
Victoria yanked away Neon's hero headset and put it on.
She couldn't speak through it, so she just hoped that Sky or Inker would say something useful.
Although all she heard was Sky warning Inker what side the Octarians were coming from as well as Inker reminding Sky to keep an eye out for Kal and Lila.
'Oh right Lila.'
Victoria had been so focused on finding Kal that she had almost forgotten about the little girl.
"Here take it back." Victoria gave Neon her headset back and swam away.
Sky couldn't find Lila, nor could Inker and Kal.
There was the possibility that she was splatted already, but not the only one, Victoria had another idea.
Back when she was helping Callie, Marie, Sky and Neon reach Melanin prison, she had waited in a blindspot at this very same lair, where no camera could see.
Since Sky could easily watch the whole lair using said cameras, the only reason for him to have not found Lila was if Lila was hiding in one of the blindspots.
Lila was brainwashed for a while, so it was likely that she knew where the blindspots were.
Victoria took care to avoid everyone she could, both Octarian or Inkling.
There were a few other Inklings losing to the Octarians, but Victoria knew that saving them would only make them turn on her, so she left them to their fates.
Then she found out that she was right, Lila was sitting in a far corner of the rig, in the same blindspot Victoria had hidden in before.
Lila was trembling, sitting on the ground and hugging her knees.
"Not dead, not dead, not dead, they are still out there, yes still alive, Mom is still alive, dad is still alive, Laven is still alive. They aren't gone, I don't want them to be gone, They are still here." Lila muttered to herself.
Her gaze was focused on the scenes in front of her, the sight of Inklings running from Octoballs, being picked off by Octosnipers and executed by Octolings brought back memories she didn't want to see. Lila didn't even notice Victoria approaching her.
"They are still here, I need to find are still here, I need to find are still here, I need to find are still here, I need to find are still here, I need to find are still here, I need to find are still here, I need to find are still here, I need to find them." Lila repeated over and over.
'She really isn't well, what was Kal thinking bringing her down here? Maybe spending so much time with an insane Inkling made Kal insane himself?'
Victoria stared at the broken Lila.
Could she even help her? What did Kal even plan on doing in the first place?
'Was it revenge? But it's impossible for someone to take revenge on the whole army. Kal should know that.'
He did, but he wasn't here to tell Victoria that.
To Victoria, seeking revenge was the natural thing to do when someone killed your loved ones.
She had experienced it when her parents died.
She had also seen it happen with both Captain Vale and Eliza.
Vale wanted revenge on Octavia for giving her beloved subordinates a suicide mission.
Eliza wanted revenge on Inker for splatting her sister.
But was it the same for Lila?
'Lila was brainwashed when she got her family killed, maybe she blames herself for letting it happen. She was hurting herself before...'
Victoria sat next to Lila and put a hand on her shoulder.
'Hmm? EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK!" Lila let loose a blood curdling scream upon seeing Victoria.
"Calm down, calm down, I'm not here to hurt you." Victoria said, quickly checking around to make sure nobody was drawn to that shout.
Lila backed away from Victoria
"Who are you?"
Victoria took off her Octoling goggles
"Don't you remember me? I'm a friend of a friend."
Victoria saw it in Lila's eyes, she recognized her from before.
Images of a captured Victoria shone in Lila's mind.
"Noo! That didn't happen, I never saw you before!"
It didn't matter what she said, Victoria could tell that she recognized her.
That means she remembers everything she did while brainwashed.
"Hey do you know where Kal is?" Victoria asked
"Kal?"
Lila smacked a hand onto her head.
Her head hurt.
Because the name "Kal" sounded so familiar
In her fake reality Kal was Laven, thus Kal didn't exist.
Yet she could remember someone called Kal.
Someone who reminded her of Laven, someone who comforted her when she was feeling down.
"Kal is….."
She couldn't say it.
"Kal doesn't exist, Laven did. Kal is my imagination. Yes that must be it." Lila couldn't even keep her thoughts in her head.
Victoria didn't know why Lila was so desperately trying to replace Laven with Kal, why couldn't she just accept it?
No matter, she was going to get information out of her even if it means forcing her to accept Kal and Laven and two different Inklings.
"If he isn't real, then how would I know him?" Victoria asked
"No! Stop asking questions! You aren't real either!"
Perhaps she wanted Victoria to leave so that she could stay in her fantasy world, or maybe she genuinely believed that Victoria wasn't real, because Lila waved her hands at Victoria as if to fan away an insect.
Instead all she managed to do was weakly slap Victoria a few times.
"If I'm not real, then how come you can touch me?"
"NOOOOOOO! Get away, you are here to kill me aren't you? Yes that must be it, Laven would never be friends with an Octoling!"
"I'm not Laven's friend, I'm Kal's."
"Noooo! Stop saying that name!"
'If she reacts like that, then she must also remember Kal saving me from the intruding Octolings in Inkopolis, or maybe when I showed up with Kal at her house.'
Victoria wasn't going to stop here.
"Kal and Laven are two different Inklings, one is dead, the other is fighting for his life right now."
"Stop saying that!" Lila was in tears.
"One was part of the Vanguard movement, the other was against it."
"Stop it! Please!"
"One died with the Vanguard movement's first wave, the other is still here."
"That's not true!"
"One is someone you loved, the other is someone I…. want to help."
"No! I don't even know you!"
"You do, I know you do, think back to what happened after the first wave of Vanguard Inklings."
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
"If you do, it will be much appreciated."
Lila went quiet.
"It's a motivating phrase isn't it? A familiar one as well."
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Lila shouted
"You didn't want to do anything of those things, you wanted to save Laven and your family, but they made you lead them into a trap."
"THAT NEVER HAPPENED!"
"It did and its happening again right now. Take a good look in front of you, no don't just look, listen, listen to the sounds of war."
Victoria forcefully held open Lila's eyelids making her see the ink that was splattered everywhere.
An Inkling ran by, being chased by some Octoballs, one noticed Victoria and Lila and rolled towards them.
Victoria quickly splatted the Octoball.
"Right now both Inklings and Octarians are dying, I honestly don't care for the Vanguard movement, but there is one Inkling who I want to save, you and I both know him."
"Laven doesn't know any Octolings!"
"Not Laven! Think! Who else seems just like Laven to you? Who was trapped with you in Melanin prison?! Who came back to Octo Valley to save you?!"
"Laven"
"Does Laven know Agent 3?"
"Ahhhhh!"
After one last scream, Lila muttered "Those stories… Who told me those stories?"
Those stories she heard in Melanin prison.
One of a hero saving Inkopolis from an Octarian threat.
The stories that gave her hope when she was imprisoned and beaten.
Stories that were comforting amongst the cries for help.
No, not just those stories.
There was someone there, she didn't just hear those stories out of nowhere.
Someone was there, someone who gave her a warm hug in the cold cells of Melanin prison.
Someone who stood in front of her when the captain of the guard tried to take her away.
Someone who assured her everything would be okay.
Who was that?
There was an image of Laven in her head, but something was different.
Why was his hair becoming red?
Why was his eyes turning brown?
Why was he splitting into two Inklings?
Was there two Lavens?
No it wasn't that, there was someone else.
Someone who's actions matched those of Laven's.
Lila stared at the scene in front of her.
Inklings fighting Octarians, the Octarian army being at an advantage and the Vanguard movement being disorganized.
She had seen all of that before.
It was all coming back to her now.
Being taken from Melanin prison, being brainwashed by the Octarian army.
Being told to create the Vanguard movement by Acting Leader Octavia.
Being told to bring her family and everyone else she could into Octo Valley, where they would be splatted.
Being unable to do anything but watch as an Octoling shot her brother.
She couldn't keep pushing those memories away now.
Lila had been silent for sometime, Victoria watched as she stared blankly ahead.
"Hey you remember don't you? Look tell me where Kal is, I'll go get him."
"No, no it's hopeless." Lila said
"?"
"It's hopeless, it's the Octarian army, everything goes according to their plan, you can't beat them. They wanted to ture Agent 3 to Melanin, they wanted me to be brought back to Inkopolis and they wanted to create the Vanguard movement, they've always succeeded. Nobody can beat them…."
Lila had known the Octarians plans after being brainwashed into helping them.
She had seem them string along Kal, Agent 3, Laven and everyone who joined the Vanguard movement.
How could someone find closure if something so powerful was your enemy?
"Is that what you think? Well maybe some things did go the way they expected, but not always. They wanted to capture me twice now and failed both times, they wanted to get rid of a rogue captain and failed, they also want to splat Kal and the rest fo the Vanguard movement today, if you think they'll succeed, then let them buy you time and run, run back to Inkopolis."
"!" That last phrase sounded familiar to Lila.
Kal was going to be splatted? With the rest of the Vanguard movement?
"Lila, you need to run, just run anywhere, try to get back to Inkopolis."
"But what about you?"
"Just go!"
That was the last thing she saw of Laven.
"Nooo.."
She could see Laven waving goodbye and fading away in the distance.
"If I run…"
She could see her parents Wister and Mauve waving goodbye and following Laven.
"Then it will be just like before…"
She could see a second Laven turning away and following them.
"Don't leave me! I'm all alone without you!"
The images of Laven and Kal overlapped with each in Lila's mind.
Kal was not Laven, yet he was just as kind and gentle as him.
In her mind, Kal was Laven.
Lila was not going to lose Laven a second time.
Victoria didn't know what Lila was thinking, but it was clear that she wasn't going to run away.
Lila didn't have a weapon and Victoria didn't have anything to spare.
Except…
"Here take this."
Victoria gave Lila the canned Inkzooka she got from Neon.
"You don't want to run, you want to fight right? Or do you want to make things different this time? Whatever it is go for it, take that Inkzooka and clear a path for Kal and the others."
Lila stared wordlessly at the canned Inkzooka.
She looked at Victoria, then at the ink flying about in the distance.
'What was I thinking? What was I doing?' Lila thought to herself
She was starting to cry again.
'Laven is gone, gone because of the Vanguard movement that I created for the Octarians. He's gone because I couldn't do anything but run. Laven told me to run, so I kept running, even after I reached Inkopolis, I ran from the truth.'
Lila stood up
'I can't keep running, If I do i'll lose Laven again. I couldn't do anything before, but now is a different story.'
She still referred to Kal as Laven, but she was starting to see him as someone else.
"I can only remember where I left him, hopefully he's still nearby."
With a look of determination in her eyes, Lila activated the Inkzooka and Charged into the fray, with Victoria watching her back.
She was not going to lose Laven a second time.
Kal was separated from the rest of the Vanguard movement.
He wasn't that much of a fighter, so all he could do was barely stay alive.
He also didn't have Inker's experience, he could deal with shielded Octotroopers but had trouble learning how to beat Octoballs.
By the time he figured out how to do so, he found himself dueling with an Octoling.
Kal imagined that if he was someone like Inker, Neon or Victoria, he would have no trouble with this Octoling, but he wasn't.
They traded ink and hurled bombs but it was Kal on the defensive side, he backed up to give himself some breathing room and recharge his ink while the Octoling covered turf.
That was when a large tornado of purple ink washed away the Octoling, along with any other nearby Octarians.
It might have even caught some Inklings if there were any nearby.
"Laven!" Kal heard someone shout.
A teary eyed Lila appeared, holding an Inkzooka that looked far too big for her to carry.
"Wahhhh!" Lila cried as she shut her eyes and fired the Inkzooka as many times as possible, before it expired.
Lila kept squeezing the trigger, it took her a moment to realise the Inkzooka was empty.
She opened her eyes.
"Laven!"
She threw away the Inkzooka and ran over to Kal, pinning him in her embrace.
Behind her, Victoria also showed up, she eyed the discarded Inkzooka.
"That's quite a lot of firepower, a shame I didn't get to use it myself." Victoria commented.
"Victoria!"
Victoria smiled.
"Hi Kal, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, thanks to you and Lila."
Kal turned his attention to Lila
"See, i'm not Laven."
Lila shook her head.
"No"
"Lila, you can't keep running from the truth."
"I know, just a little longer Laven."
It would seem that Lila already knew that she was talking to Kal, but maybe she wanted to see him as Laven for just a while longer.
"Hey, is it just me, or are the Octarians backing off?" Victoria commented.
Kal and Lila both looked around.
The fighting had slowed down.
There was much less Octarians fighting the Vanguard movement now.
"Yeah, what happened?"
"Where did the Octarian army go?"
Inker and Neon arrived as well.
"Kal, I've been looking for you." he saw Victoria there as well "Looks like you got here first."
Neon pouted "Where did all the Octarians go? I wasn't finished yet!"
"Sky, Cap'n, do you know where?" Inker asked
"Hold on, give me a second."
Back at mission control Cap'n Cuttlefish and Sky jumped between cameras searching for the Octarians.
"Found them, it seems like they have turned their focus towards your Octarian allies." Sky said
"Wait what?" Inker turn to leave immediately.
"Hey hold on! Where are you going?" Kal asked
"I'm going to find Lynn and the others, I brought her along, which in turn made other Octarians follow. I'm not leaving them to fend for themselves."
Neon cheered "Alright! Lets go!"
"I'm with you too." Victoria said.
"Victoria…" Kal began, but Victoria cut him off.
"Kal you still have some unfinished business right? Finish up there and we'll see each other afterwards."
'Wait what did I say? What did I mean by that last part?!' Victoria thought.
"... Yeah alright. Come on Lila, let's go find Deep, Aurip and everyone else." looking over his shoulder, Kal left with Lila to round up the surviving Vanguard members.
Inker, Neon and Victoria had barely made it out of the rig when they ran into Lynn and a squad of Octotroopers and Octolings.
"Agent 3! You are here, we need to leave quickly, the Octarian army seems to have gotten new orders to take us prisoner."
"Lynn? how did you manage to get away?" Inker asked
"I distracted them, then used the bubble thing you gave me earlier, Eliza and a few Octolings volunteered to stay behind so we could escape."
'Not her again… Well if that Octoling is staying behind to protect Lynn and the others…'
"Alright, i'm going to get her."
"U-umm, is that a good idea Agent 3? It's Eliza after all, after what you did to her sister she'd be laughing about leaving you behind."
"I didn't do anything wrong, you told me that didn't you?"
"Ahh yes, yes I did, I shall help out."
"No need, you and the others should head back to Captain Vale's lair, we'll meet up again soon. That's an order from me."
Hearing the word "order" Lynn immediately agreed.
"Neon, Victoria, you should go too."
"No way! I haven't been able to fight like this in forever! I'm going with you!" Neon protested
"I might not have known them for very long, but Octarians don't leave each other behind, I'll go too." Victoria added.
"Even if both of you go, it won't matter, since we have different colours of ink we can't help each other out so you'll just get in my way. I'll be right back!"
Inker ran before Neon and Victoria could protest.
He hoped that Neon wouldn't follow him.
With that many Octarians in one place, there is only one way Inker could rescue Eliza and her squad.
His Hero suit could save him a few times, he had only been splatted once before, so it should allow him to respawn again.
The Octarians there would definitely want a shot at him.
"Alright, is that everyone?" Deep asked.
There was over thirty Inklings who entered Octo Valley as part of the Vanguard movement, now less than ten remain.
"Well we took some losses, but we won! Let's keep pushing forward!"
"Pushing forward!? You want to go even further after losing so many of your friends?" Kal exclaimed
"Crushing Octo Valley is what the Vanguard movement was made for, if we turn back now, everyone who died would have died for nothing."
Lila stepped forward.
"You are wrong, the Vanguard movement was not created for that purpose, everyone who was a part of it was fooled."
The remaining Vanguard Inklings were all visibly confused, so was Kal.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"The Vanguard movement's roots lie with the Octarian army… Actually this deserves to be on the news… so i'll explain when we get back to Inkopolis."
The Vanguard Inklings looked at each other.
'Their organization's roots were with the Octarian army? What did Lila mean by that?' Kal wondered
'Also did Lila's tone change?'
"Please, can we all head back before more of us are splatted?" Lila asked.
"..."
The other Vanguard members looked around, seeing each other in their tired stats, they couldn't deny that they were barely standing as they were.
In the end, the Vanguard Inklings agreed and they returned to Inkopolis.
On their way back, Kal thanked Cap'n Cuttlefish and Sky as he passed Cuttlefish's shack.
As for Lila, she stayed on her guard until she reached Inkopolis.
When she did, she finally let go of Kal's arm.
She had done it, she had saved her brother.
Lila still saw Kal as Laven, to her, she had just changed past events to one where she was able to save her dear brother.
Lila turned to look at Laven, but to her surprise she saw Laven fade away and found herself looking at Kal instead.
'Right, Laven is…'
It was a bit late now, but Lila felt sad.
She wouldn't see them again.
Lila burst into tears, surprising Kal.
"Lila? Lila what's wrong?"
"Laven… Laven is…. gone"
"Huh?"
'When did Lila? Why is she suddenly… how?' Kal's mind was full of questions.
'She was with Victoria at some point, did Victoria do something to make her accept reality?' It was the only explanation Kal could think of.
Silently, he thanked Victoria and decided that he would join her along with Inker and Neon once the day was over.
Kal comforted Lila, but a moment later Lila pushed him away.
"What's wrong?" Kal asked
"I'm fine, I just need some time…. Can you please take me home?"
"I'm not your brother you know."
"I know, just for a little longer, can you keep being Laven for a while longer?" Lila said between tears.
"..."
Well as long as it was "a little longer" Kal was okay with it.
Besides, who would turn down a sad looking child.
"Okay, just a while longer."
"Thanks, when we get back, I have something I need to tell everyone."
The Rig, Octo Valley
Inker had circled the rig a few times before running into Octocopters.
They appeared to be searching for someone, Inker down two and swam around, looking for the remains of Eliza's squad.
He heard a call that he could not understand, then noticed the Octocopters were all flying towards one area.
Inker followed them, soon he saw Eliza and three other Octolings.
They were all that was left.
As they ran from the pursuing Octocopters, Inker arrived, downing the majority of the Octocopters and letting the rest escape.
Eliza and the other Octolings stopped.
Predictably, Eliza was not too fond to see Inker.
"What are you doing here?" Eliza asked
"I'm here to help."
"I don't need your help."
"You mean you don't want it, look this was my mission, so I'm going to make sure all of you make it out safely."
"Go worry about Lynn or the others, I got this handled."
"They've all made it out, you're all that remains, head back to the lair I can hold them off."
"You're an idiot, those copters were scouts you know. They've probably alerted the rest of the army, how can you possibly fight off that many?"
"I won't, but I can draw them away."
Inker handed Eliza the note that she had shoved into his face earlier.
"If you are still mad at me, that's fine. But for now you should all retreat."
"Why are you doing this?" Eliza asked
"I don't like the way Octarians and Inklings are always at each other's necks. I want us to live in harmony."
"That's impossible."
"Maybe, or maybe not, I'm still going to try regardless."
"You really are a fool."
"Haha! Well maybe I am, but today this fool is making sure you live to see another day. Fall back now, I'll see you at the lair tomorrow!"
With that Inker left in the direction of the approaching army.
"How about we even the odds a little! I'll be your opponent!" Inker shouted.
With that he activated the Bomb rush he took from Neon, tossing a barrage of Splat bombs at the hostile Octarians.
As the Octarians scattered and focused solely on Inker, he ran in the opposite direction of Eliza's squad.
He tried to splat the least amount of Octarians as possible, while holding out for as long as he could.
In the end, it was impossible for one Inkling to take on the whole army.
Of course Inker knew that.
As soon as he was splatted he found himself respawning at Cap'n Cuttlefish's shack.
The Hero suit had used up another "extra life"
But what was the point of extra lives if you don't use em?
Cap'n Cuttlefish came bursting out of his shack.
"Agent 3? You got splatted didn't ya? You know the Hero suit can't handle more than three respawns! One more and it's done for!"
"I got it cap'n, I'll be careful next time"
Inkopolis
Less than an hour after the Vanguard movement returned, a message was sent to everyone who was following the movement on any form of social media.
There was going to be an important announcement in half an hour.
After bringing Kal back from Octo Valley, Lila felt some sort of closure knowing that she had done something different this time, thus she returned to her senses.
At the house that once belonged to Lila's family, Lila and Kal were setting up Laven's laptop to start livestreaming to Huetube.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Kal asked
"Yes, everyone needs to know, otherwise more Inklings will end up like my family."
Lila's was always considered somewhat of a prodigy, not only growing fast but being exceptionally smart. She easily remembered everything.
Everything from Melanin prison
Everything the Octarians did to her
Everything she did for the Octarians.
And most importantly, everything the Octarians had planned for the Vanguard movement.
"Well it's your choice, you are live in ten, get ready." Kal said as he sat to the side.
Since its creation, the Vanguard movement went viral online.
They may have only sent less than a hundred members to Octo Valley so far, but there were creatures from all over the world following the Vanguard movement.
That day, they all saw Lila's message.
"Hello, my name is Lila Fields and I was a victim of the Octarian squidnappings.
Most of you believe that it was my family and the family of Bogs Mire that started this movement, but you are wrong.
It was my story, and the story of the other victims that started the Vanguard movement.
But the truth is, I had been deceiving you.
As you can see, the Octarians tortured me." Lila said, showing the numerous scars she had from the boiling pit.
"That was why they chose me, I looked innocent, I was a victim, nobody would suspect that I was working for them.
The Octarians, they twisted my mind, they made me do things I didn't want to do.
They made me a spectator watching someone else control my body.
Under their influence I had my family start the Vanguard movement
But it wasn't my idea, it was the Octarians'.
The Octarian leader wanted someone to create the Vanguard movement, so that we would leave the safety of Inkopolis and fall into the trap that was Octo Valley.
In doing that, the Octarians would be at an advantage, they would cull our population, obtain our weapons, and find ways to disguise themselves as us.
We were stupid and fell right into their hands, I even led my family to their deaths."
Lila wiped away a tear, she still cried at the thought of losing Laven.
"And not just my family, but everyone who was part of the first wave and everyone who died during the second.
Their deaths are on me, because I created the Vanguard movement for the Octarians.
I'm sorry.
But let me make this clear, we cannot beat the Octarian army in Octo Valley, but they also can't beat us on the surface.
The Vanguard movement will only lead to the loss of more lives, therefore it must end."
Lila had one final message
"Stay away from Octo Valley, or you might become their puppet like me."
She ended the broadcast.
Minutes later, the internet was blowing up with stories about the Vanguard movement and how it was actually a plot by the Octarians, news stations all over Inkopolis began pumping out their own reports.
Lila sat in her room one last time, looking around.
She could not afford to live here on her own, so it was the last time she would see her childhood home.
"Well it's done, are you sure you'll be okay?" Kal asked.
"Yes, thanks a lot Laven."
"I'm not Laven."
Lila laughed "I know, i've gotten used to calling you that."
"Please stop calling me Laven."
"Okay then."
Lila hugged Kal, but it was different from the way she hugged him while insane.
She didn't hug him out of desperation, but out of gratitude.
"Thank you Kal. Thank you for looking after me after I lost Laven and thank you for comforting me at Melanin prison."
In Lila's eyes, she saw Laven's silhouette fade away from Kal's figure.
The two were very different after all, Kal was Kal and Laven was Laven.
Lila stared out the window and off into the sunset.
She could see three Inklings there.
Wister, Mauve and Laven Fields.
Her family…
'Dad, Mom, Laven, I'll be fine from now on, so please don't worry about me.'
The three Inklings smiled and waved goodbye, Lila waved back.
"Ummm, who are you waving too?" Kal asked
"Huh? Oh nobody, don't worry about it."
Lila watched as the images of her parents faded away.
Although she was smiling, she was sad.
Tears trickled down her face again.
Lila wiped them away.
The images of Wister and Mauve were gone now, all that was left was Laven.
'Dear brother!'
The image of Laven smiled.
'You're on your own now.'
'I know! I'll be fine, i'll miss you Laven!'
'So will I.'
That day, the Vanguard movement came to an end.
Since Lila was back to normal, Kal no longer needed to stay by her side.
Arcus and the IPD had some questions for Lila, as did Dr Asio who wanted to know more about the effects of Octarian brainwashing.
After a bit of questioning, Lila was moved to an orphanage, since she was too young to even play Turf Wars, let alone make money by herself..
Kal promised he would visit her again someday.
For now he was free again and Lila was saved from the brink of insanity.
A/N: Hey hey! Obliter checking in! Okay this chapter ended up being super long, forget The Enemy Of My Enemy, this chapter is over 11,000 words which makes it the longest chapter so far. I really need to stop cramming tons of stuff into the fifth chapters. Well like I said before, I'm going to take some time to review and hopefully correct some mistakes in the older chapters. For now we have reached the end of Lila's story.
I'll see you all next time.
One last thing, I took part in a collaboration between several authors to write a collection of one shots. The one shot I wrote was titled "Sisters In Arms" which tells the story of Eliza's sister, search for the story "SWC One-Shot Collection" by author ZygardeFusion if you want to read it.
OCs from part 6: Revolution (Chapters 26-30)
Inklings:
Inker Cetamari: Blue Inkling boy, the New Squidbeak Splatoon's star agent. Despite finding himself in more and more situations where he is forced to fight the Octarians, Inker still holds the idea that maybe the two races could live peacefully. He is a skilled fighter, likely due to his experience as Agent 3 and a compassionate individual who would prefer putting only himself in harm's way to help others. (also known as Agent 3)
Likes: Turf Wars, helping others, hanging out with his friends.
Dislikes: Pointless conflict
Kalus Kogia: Red Inkling boy, Inker's best friend/ childhood friend. At first Kalus was pretty much your average Inkling, having lived an easy life in Inkopolis. He used to think of the Octarians as nothing but the bad guys, and was somewhat arrogant at first. It was not until the events of Behind Enemy Lines when Kal learned that Octo Valley was falling apart, since then he grew to be more compassionate and tries to share the joy of living in Inkopolis, becoming similar to Inker in a way. However Kalus lacks Inker's combat skill and idealism.(also known as Kal)
Likes: Inkopolis, Squid Sisters, normal life
Dislikes: Trouble, problems.
Neon: Bright green Inkling girl, a friend of Inker, Kal and Sky. Neon's personality is as bright as her colour, she is loud, cheerful and carefree. Neon is not one to plan ahead, prefering to act on instinct, which somehow works out for her. Although she pretends to forget and not care for her mistakes, Neon is actually hiding all her negative emotions and sometimes even regrets being herself, she also secretly looks up to her friends for being more "normal" than her. Despite her personality, Neon is an amazing fighter, not only is she perfectly accurate with Chargers, she is even on par with Captain Vale in hand to hand combat.
Likes: Fighting, chargers, teasing her friends, joking around.
Dislikes: Mind games, lockdowns, mistakes.
Sky: Cyan Inkling boy, the youngest of his friend group. Sky is self aware, knowing exactly where he stands in life. Sky is the opposite of Neon as he always thinks and plans first before acting. However since Sky tends to act only on certainties, he tends to be bad at fast paced combat where quick decisions matter most, so he prefers to stay on the sidelines and have a low sense of presence. He sometimes wishes he had Inker or Neon's combat skill so that he could do more to help his friends when trouble arises, but for now he is content with helping them out as their mission control. He also wants to learn the Octarian language so that Inklings will be able to communicate with lesser Octarian species.
Likes: Being safe and alive
Dislikes: Danger, risks
Lila Fields: Purple Inkling girl. Lila is an impressionable 11 year old girl, she grew out of her squid form much earlier than the average Inkling and was considered gifted. Due to being different, Lila was an outcast who was kept close to her family at all times, she knew hardly anyone outside of her family and grew attached to her older brother Laven.
Due to her dependance on her brother Laven, she could not cope with his death, first she pretended that the Vanguard movement never happened, when that failed she began to see Kal as her deceased brother Laven. Finally, after saving Kal from being splatted and managing to push back the Octarian army, Lila gains enough closure to accept Laven's death and move on, revealing her actions as an Octarian spy and accepting her fate.
Likes: Friendly creatures, family, Laven
Dislikes: bullies, the boiling pit.
Laven Fields (deceased): Purple inkling boy. Laven was born and raised in Inkopolis, thus he is accustomed to the fun and fair environment there, he has little knowledge of anything outside of Inkopolis, this includes Octo valley. Laven was happy living in Inkopolis, easily making friends and happily living his youth, he also cares deeply for his little sister Lila, often comforting her and cheering her up when she was still a squid. Apparently he was the only one Lila had ever gotten close to, which is why Lila loves and cares for him so much and vice versa.
Laven was killed as part of the Vanguard movement's first wave.
Likes: Blasters, Inkopolis, Turf wars, Lila
Dislikes: Octarians, bystanders, torture.
Minor characters:
Deep: Green Inkling boy, Deep is one of Laven's friends. He is tall and has his hair swept back. Deep is usually seen with his friend Aurip, the two are both members of the Vanguard movement and appear well acquainted with Laven's family.
Aurip: Pink Inkling boy: Aurip is one of Laven's friends, he has dark skin and seems very fit. Aurip is usually seen alongside his friend Deep, the two are both members of the Vanguard movement and appear well acquainted with Laven's family.
Lissa Asio: Chestnut Inkling adult. Lissa Asio is a doctor working at the Cephalic hospital in Inkopolis, she is assigned to work Lila's case by the ministry of defense. Dr Asio does everything by the book.
Wister Fields (deceased): Father of Laven and Lila
Mauve Fields (deceased): Mother of Laven and Lila
Octarians:
Victoria Holter: Octoling, originally an average Octoling soldier, Victoria wandered into Inkopolis on accident, she was originally distrustful of Kalus and the other Inklings, but have come to learn that they are not the evil creatures Octavio had them made out to be. Victoria is often serious, calm and cunning, choosing never to outright stand against anyone, however when things go wrong, Victoria will often lose her cool. Victoria is loyal to the Octarian race despite her friendships with Inker and the others and might also harbour feelings for Kalus.
Likes: Her family, Calamari Inkantation, Octo Valley, Victory, Kalus?
Dislikes: Octavia, Violet, being talked down too
Octavia: Elite Octoling, Acting Leader of Octo Valley, Octavia claims to be simply acting as a backup leader for Octavio, yet seems to not care about her former leader at all. Octavia is clever enough to take control over Octo Valley in Octavio's absence, but she does not do a very good job of leading the Octarian army, though she does manage to accomplish a few things. Octavia holds her rank in high regard and finds it offensive when her rank is ignored. Octavia also chooses an oppressive way of leadership, choosing to make examples of those who step out of line.
Likes: power, obedience
Dislikes: insubordination
Captain Vale: Elite Octoling, known as a hero to the Octarians for her actions during the Salmonid war, Captain Vale is a brilliant tactician and hand to hand combatant. Unlike the other Octarian officers, Vale values her subordinates lives and even makes sure to remember each of their names and stories. Vale would go so far as to disobey direct orders if she thought it would get her splatoon wiped out. She tried to overthrow Acting Leader Octavia to save her splatoon and take over Inkopolis her own way, unfortunately her plan failed and half her splatoon was executed by Octavia's orders. Captain Vale hates Inklings, though she cannot seem to remember why…
(Also known as: the captain, Emily Vale, Octarian captain)
Likes: sparring, planning ahead, her splatoon
Dislikes: Octavia, sacrificing soldiers, Inklings?
Lynn: Octoling, a soldier serving under Captain Vale. Lynn is as loyal as they come and will gladly follow orders. Thought she is more calm and upfront with her fellow soldiers, she becomes meek, shy and obedient around those of higher rank. Lynn explains that this is because she feels that those with higher ranks have more experience, she shows that she trusts those with higher ranks by obeying orders from them. Lynn does not seem to hold any sort of resentment towards the Inklings, she does not blame them for keeping the Zapfish and is okay with befriending Neon, she also gladly follows Inker's instructions.
Likes: Orders, the captain
Dislikes: tough choices
Eliza Pierce: Octoling, a soldier serving under Captain Vale. Eliza had a sister named Eileen, who was splatted by Inker on her 19th birthday. Because of that, Eliza has an immense hatred of Inker and would do anything she could to make his life miserable. Although she has an unreasonable hate for Agent 3, Eliza appears to be quite friendly and jokes with the other Octarians, in fact she looks out for her comrades in arms, even eavesdropping on Lynn and Inker's conversations incase Lynn was being forced to do something dangerous, she is also willing to sacrifice herself to allow her teammates to escape.
Likes: her brothers and sisters in arms, joking
Dislikes: Agent 3