Chapter 6

Rolling along

It took hours of intense concentration (and a not-inconsiderable amount of loud music), but the Octoling captain was finally able to shake off her intrusive thoughts and focus on her new roller.

That was until the barrack door shot open and someone started screaming.

"Gweeeeen!"

"Captain…!"

The captain was given less than a second to react before being tackle-hugged out of her chair by a pink blur.

"Whaa-? AAGH!"

"OhmycodGwenI'msohappyyou'realive!"

"D-Donna..! Calm down, you might hurt her…!"

Her headphones had been knocked off her head just in time to hear the name of her attacker.

"Wait… Donna…?" She gasped as she lifted the Octoling off of her, so she could get a good look.

"Sup, cap! Ya miss me?" Donna giggled as she finally got off of Gwen.

"I… I didn't think… When they told me I was getting teammates, I never would have dreamed you would be one of them…"

"Well… We did work well together 2 years ago… it makes sense to me…"

Gwen's head snapped towards the second, almost identical Octoling girl.

"Bella…?"

"Thaaaat's right! The Toxic twins, Bella and Donna, out of brig and back in the ink!" The energetic Donna said with a wink, all while pulling her twin sister into a one-armed hug.

For the first time in a long time, a smile crossed the captain's face. These two had been her close friends for a long time, long before they joined the Octarian army. She was so afraid she had lost them forever. But still… there was one thing missing…

"Hey… If you two are here… Where's Marc?"

That simple question brought a wave of silence to the group. Donna shifted uncomfortably. Bella looked like she was about to cry.

"Uh…"

"Marc… h-he…"

"He's gone." A new voice stated plainly.

Standing against the doorframe with his arms crossed was a young male Octoling.

"Danny… wow, you've grown… wait.. G-gone…? What do you mean…?"

"I mean, he's gone. That stupid brother of mine went before the general sayin' stuff like 'This whole situation is own fault' and that he's 'Living in the past', and got himself splatted."

She was prepared to hear something like this. Or at least, she thought she was. Actually hearing it out loud hit her like a burst bomb to the hearts. Marc had been a close friend for just as long as the twins, all four of them lived in the same habitation unit when they were growing up.

"D-Danny…"

"Yo, you didn't have to go that hard, man… He was your big bro…"

The Octoling boy just sighed and looked away.

"I've had plenty of time to get over it… It's been over a year now. I'm not sad anymore. I'm mad. It was that song that did it… It brainwashed him… made him sympathize with those rotten Inklings…"

Now Gwen was angry. Not only did that song make the last 2 years miserable for her, but now it cost her one of her closest friends.

"Well… we have our chance at revenge now. The Squidbeak Splatoon doesn't have Agent 3 to rely on this time. According to Octavio, they have a new agent."

"O-Oh…! Right…!" Bella wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled out a data pad. "I have our mission details right here… Donna, Danny, and I already went over it…"

"Would you quit calling me 'Danny' like I'm some kind of little kid? It's Daniel." The Octoling boy groaned.

"R-right… right… Daniel. Anyway… ahem"

After taking a moment to compose herself, Bella spoke.

"In a few days, we'll all be deployed into Inkopolis. We're going to a place called 'The Reef'. Apparently it's a popular Inkling hangout, but it's lost power due to us stealing the Great Zapfish."

"I see… And our goal here?" The captain questioned.

"We're settin' a trap. For that Inkling agent." Daniel spoke up.

"Yeah, what Daniel said. Here… One of the octocopter scouts was able to get some pictures of him."

Bella handed the data pad to the captain as she finished her briefing.

Gwen scrolled through the pictures and eventually stopped on one of him fighting the Octo oven.

He's younger than I thought he would be… If I had to guess, Agent 3 was a couple years older than me… this one looks a little younger than me… I doubt he's had control of his squid form for long… why would they send just one kid against us…? Agent 4… That's what they call him…

"Uhhh, Cap…? Hellooooo? Earth to Gwen…?"

It took the captain a moment to realize that she was staring.

"Oh.. hm. Well, I can't say that he looks like much of a threat… but we felt the same way about Agent 3. I suggest we keep our guard up. Bella, considering you had the intel, I assume you were appointed as active lieutenant in Marc's…. absence…"

"I was… I-I promise I won't let you down.."

"I know you won't." She shot her lieutenant a quick smile before addressing all three of them. "All of you. Get to the practice range. Bella, Donna, you two will be rusty after your time in prison. Go shake some of that off. Daniel, this will be your first mission, correct?"

"Yes, Captain." He straightened up as he answered.

"Then you'll need all the training you can get. Go. I'll be right behind you… Once I finish building my new roller." She ordered, gesturing to the partially assembled weapon on the workbench.

"Yes, Captain!" All three yelled in unison before walking out the door.

Alone again, Gwen sat back down and got back to work, now more motivated than ever.

Squidbeak Splatoon… now you've made it personal… Maybe once I splat that Agent 4, I'll finally feel like myself again…


Cuttlefish Cabin, Tentakeel Outpost

It had been 5 days since Agent 4 had destroyed the Octo Oven. In that time, he had spent nearly every waking moment with Marie, training his body for the coming battles. With each passing day, Marie found it harder to hit Four with her charger shots. Not to mention that chasing him around with a roller had started to become more tiring for her than him. Next time they trained like that, she'd have to come up with some different methods. After taking a little time to recover, It was finally time to get on with the mission.

"Fouuuur? C'mon, wake up, you've got some octoslobs to cook!" The pop star said as she knocked on the cabin door.

"Hang on, Marie…! It's a little hard to get dressed in this tiny- whOOA!"

The thud that followed Four's words told Marie all she needed to know.

"Heh… Yeah, ok, whenever you're ready."

A few minutes later, Four joined Marie next to the launchpad to the next area.

"Hehe… S-sorry about that. I'm ready now."

"Good. I've already scouted things out there, and there's no ground patrols at the moment. So we have a window to work with. Let's get moving."

With that, both of them changed into their squid forms and launched over to the next area, Suction-cup Lookout. After a quick flight, both of them landed in the entrance area.

This area was much more complex than Tentakeel outpost. Brick structures lined the edges of the large floating platform, most of them covered with ivy and graffiti. Some of them even had decals and police tape covering their sides.

"Huh… I figured that you were the one who put up the flags n' stuff around Tentakeel. Did you put up this stuff too?"

Marie just shrugged her shoulders.

"For all I know, some other squidkids came by. Annnnnyway."

She pointed her parasol at the top of a nearby structure, to their left.

"First kettle's up there. So, whenever you're ready. Oh, and I kinda forgot to mention something. Leave your hero shot here with me."

"Wait, what…? Don't I… uh… need it?"

"Well… yes and no. Don't worry, you won't be unarmed. Sheldon's got ya covered. He'll give you a new weapon to use when you get there."

"Ohhhh, right he wanted me to test some weapons. What kind does he have for me?"

"I dunno. Guess you'll see."

Getting to the kettle itself was no issue for Four. Just a quick climb up the scaffolding and to the top of the structure.

Sigh… such a waste gettin' my hero shot upgraded and not even gettin' to use it right away.

"Here, catch!" He called out to Marie as he tossed the ink gun to her.

"Remember your training. I don't feel like scouting for an Agent 5 just yet." She yelled up to him as she caught the gun.

"Gotcha. Later!"

And with that, he dove into the kettle.


The inside of the octodome was much less welcoming than anything he had seen thus far. It looked like some kind of murky, decrepit industrial area of some sort. The humidity was high, the air smelled dirty, and the metal structure he was standing on looked like it was about to fall apart. Looking below him, he couldn't see much. Only a smokey abyss with a few decrepit catwalks leading down into it. Definitely not his kind of place. The area he was starting in was rather small and narrow with only a couple storage crates and a launchpad on the opposite end. Taking a quick look up at the metal scaffolding above him, he saw the zapfish he was after.

What are they even using the zapfish here to power?

Before he had a chance to follow that train of thought any further, he was approached by a tiny drone carrying a large metal case.

"Oh, this must be my weapon from Sheldon." He said as he took the suitcase from the tiny drone. "Thanks little guy!"

Opening the case revealed his new weapon… A roller.

"Whoa… Never seen a roller like this before.."

Four could help but marvel at its unique design. It was constructed somewhat similarly to a carbon roller, but with black and fluorescent yellow brackets holding it together. Taking it out of its case revealed that it was much heavier than the carbon roller it resembled.

"I present to you, the hero roller! You'll find that it's rather similar to a standard splat roller, but with a few key enhancements!"

"Whaa-! Sheldon?!" The sudden and unexpected nasally voice in his ear nearly made Four jump out of his skin.

Marie, on the other hand, could already feel her head starting to hurt.

"Sheldon…? How did you get our radio channel…?" She sighed, annoyance in her voice evident.

"I may have written it down when I was over there, putting together my enhancifier. You should be glad that I'm here! It helps to have an expert in ink weaponry, especially when you have an Agent who knows next to nothing of the subject!"

"H-hey, I know enough!"

"Four, the adults are talking. Sheldon, try to keep the blabbering to a minimum. I need this channel to look out for Four." Marie said, addressing them both.

"Fine, fine, I'll be brief. As I was saying, the hero roller! Not only can you fling walls of ink horizontally, but now thanks to the reinforced hinges, you can swing it vertically as well! Good for hitting enemies out of the roller's usual range. Don't forget you can still roll along the ground to ink a ton of turf very quickly!" Sheldon rambled on.

Marie pinched the bridge of her nose.

"... Brief. Riiiiiiight…" She mumbled.

"Huh… I.. uh… Didn't actually know about the vertical swinging thing." Four muttered out sheepily. "Well, I've never actually used a roller before, but… uhh… no trial like a trial by fire, right…?"

"Just… take it slow. Get the hang of it before diving into too much trouble, 'kay?"

"Copy, Marie. I'll be careful."

After a few test swings of his new weapon to get used to its weight, he was off. While he hadn't used a roller before, he had held one before. Although back then, he could hardly lift the dang thing, let alone swing it.

This thing must be lighter than that one I tried to use back then, I can actually swing this thing around!

Testing out the vertical swing, he inked a long and narrow path to the launch pad.

After a quick flight, his mission truly started.

As Marie had instructed, Four took it slow at first. He was so used to using shooter weapons like his splattershot jr. and hero shot that using a melee weapon felt more than a little off.

Thankfully, the only enemies four had to face on the first platform were standard octotroopers. They were hardly a problem, he could easily dispatch by swimming up, popping out of his ink, and splatting them with a single swing of his new roller.

"Woah-ho-ho! Dang, this thing is powerful!"

"Hehe… I'm well aware." Sheldon chuckled.

Advancing forward, Four encountered several new obstacles. From the relatively harmless spreaders, that just spread octo ink around without targeting him directly, to the more dangerous octobombers, that through splat bombs at him the moment they saw him, to the outright helpful (If hard to pronounce) rolonium. One new enemy really caught his eye however…

"What… the heck… is that…?"

At the far edge of the current platform was a huge octarian trooper. It was tall, had four wiggley tentacles atop its head, wore goggles, and seemed to sit in place.

"That, my young agent, is an octohurler. And yes, it's as gross as it looks." Marie stated plainly.

"Octohurler? Why's it calle-"

Four's question was quickly answered as the large octo opened up its huge mouth, vomited up a bundle of rolonium and spit it at him.

"...Can I just say… EW." Four exclaimed in sheer disgust.

"Yeaaaah. Just wack that rolonium with your roller and return it to sender!" Marie said

"Ech… I don't wanna be anywhere near anything that that thing barfs up…!

Sure enough, that did the trick. Although the disgusting smell of that particular rolonium bundle could have killed a man.

"Gross… hope I don't have to face many of those…"

"I… have some bad news for you, bud. Keep goin'..."

One short climb up later, and he was faced with many octohurlers, all riding on top of spreaders revolving around a platform ahead of him.

"Aw, Come on…"

"Hang on, Agent 4! Look up there! A canned special attack!"

He still hadn't gotten used to the crab man's voice in his ear, but this time it was appreciated. A quick jump onto the grate above him revealed exactly what Sheldon was talking about. Four read the label upon picking it up.

"A sting ray… hang on, I've seen one of these on tv before! Hehe.. Oh, now I'm gettin' excited…"

Pulling back on the tab, the can popped and the special power rushed into him. Upon activation, a massive air compressor appeared on Four's back and a long hose appeared in his hand.

"Alright… Eat this!"

With a battle cry, Four fired the pressurized cannon at the group of octohurlers, splatting each and every one as the rotating spreaders moved them in front of the blast of purple ink.

"That. Was. Awesome!" The agent said as he discarded the spent weapon into his ink.

"Well done, Four. It's a straight shot to the Zapfish from here."

Just as she said, the Zapfish was only a short walk away from the rotating spreaders he had just dealt with. One splat bomb later, and he was super jumping out of there.


Suction-cup Lookout

"Phew, alllright! One down!" Four exclaimed as he emerged from the kettle.

"Better yet, the practical weapon data you collected is coming through!" The hyperactive horseshoe crab spoke into his ear.

"Data…? All I did was fight with it."

"Yes, well, that's all that needs to be done! I put a special chip in each of these hero weapons that collects data as you use them in real combat scenarios!"

That didn't make a whole lot of sense to Four, but luckily Marie walked up soon after to explain for him.

"In Inklish… Just fight using the weapon he tells you to fight with." She clarified. "That was a fast mission, Four, consider me impressed."

"Heh, don't be too impressed yet, I've hardly broken a sweat!"

Marie couldn't help but smile a little. Her agent was finally starting to realize some of his own strength.

"Confidence. I like it. You ready to go after another?"

"You know it!"


Cephilon HQ, Army barracks

Work was moving along nicely. The dynamo motor was easy enough for anyone with the blueprints and a slightly-above-average intellect to figure out. The roller itself was finished and the motor was mounted to it. At the moment, Gwen was in the process of taking apart three splat roller covers in order to put together one big cover. Making a roller cover big enough to fit the massive frame wasn't gonna be easy or quick, but it's not like there was a custom part like that in the armory.

I'm really about to unleash this insane weapon on some kid who had absolutely nothing to do with what happened to me 2 years ago.

"Doesn't matter. He's an inkling. He's with the Splatoon. He's taking our Zapfish. As far as I'm concerned, he's asking for it."

As far as I'm concerned…

With the cover nearly completed, her eyes hit the tablet Bella had left with her. Without thinking too hard about it, she took it and powered it on, swapping the display to the pictures of this Inkling agent and flipping through them again, her amber eyes stopping on his aquamarine ones.

He really doesn't look that tough… Short, skinny… Even though he's fighting in this picture, he doesn't look all that fierce…

"Whatever…" She muttered to herself, dismissing her rampant thoughts once again. "None of that matters. Octavio wants this Inkling dead. So he dies. It's not my place to question it."

Another hour of work, and she was nearly done. The cover was finally complete and attached to the arm of the roller. Only a few finishing touches were needed before this roller was ready for battle. One more quick adjustment… and it was complete. The mightiest roller of them all. Her dynamo roller.

Lifting it from her workbench confirmed its immense weight. Most Octolings would struggle to swing it with any kind of speed or precision.

Fortunately, Gwen wasn't just any Octoling. She'd been training with rollers since before she could properly grip one. In fact, she was drafted into the Octarian army specifically because of her immense strength.

The roller may be twice her size and five times her weight, but she could swing it around as easily as most could a regular splat roller.

If nothing else, my team is counting on me. I need to be at the top of my game. No distractions. No hesitation.


With a splash of purple ink, the agent made his landing and began his next mission.

"Wow, this place is a lot more welcoming than the last place."

In contrast to the drab industrial area he was in less than an hour ago, this area looked like some kind of amusement park. The ferris wheel was easily its most recognizable feature.

Four was, once again, unarmed. Sheldon had requested that he leave the hero roller behind along with his hero shot. Thankfully, a little drone came along to fix that.

"Well, Sheldon, what have ya got for me?" He spoke to himself as he grabbed the small suitcase from the drone. "Thanks buddy! Later!"

Opening the case revealed a weapon that Four had only seen in his dreams.

Or rather, two weapons.

"Dualies…" He whispered to himself as he took one of them in each hand.

Never had a weapon felt more right in the palms of his hands. It's like they were made for him specifically.

"Ah, I see you've heard of this hot new weapon type… I present to you, the hero dualies! The ultra-light construction allows for incredibly fast movement, which is only further helped by the mini inkjets built into the handles! Activate them to execute a lightning-quick dodge roll to get you out of danger! It may take some getting used to, but trust me when I say they're satisfying to master!"

Dualies were a relatively new innovation to ink battling, having been cleared for use and released only a month or two ago. Four had been following their testing online for almost a year now, but never dreamed that he'd be able to get his hands on some so soon.

"Uhhhhh Four? You gonna get moving, or are you just gonna keep staring at your weapons?"

"Eh..? Oh, sorry Marie."

Stepping off the spawn pad, he gave his new weapon a few test shots. Their firing rate alone was nothing special, but when firing them together they were comparable to a splattershot. Their range was about the same as a splattershot as well, but their shot deviation was near non-existent.

"Alright.. How do I do the dodge rOLL?!"

Accidentally touching the secondary trigger on one of the dualies activated the inkjet and sent him spinning to the ground, splashing into his own ink. Marie didn't bother trying not to laugh.

"Haha.. Hey Four, you ok? Those Dualies kicking your butt?" She giggled.

"Whooa.. Those things got some kick to 'em… Hang on…"

Getting back to his feet, he tried doing the dodge roll again. Now ready for the kick of the dualies inkjets, he actually managed to clumsily do it. It felt a little awkward, but he's never been thrown forward by a weapon before, so that's natural. After a few more practice rolls, he felt ready to take on the mission.

And ready he was.

Even if dodge rolling felt a bit awkward at first, he got the hang of it quickly. The ink ride-rails scattered around were nothing new to him, he had dealt with them when he collected his third Zapfish, but with the dualies in his hands it made traversing the stage incredibly smooth and natural. With the dualies ability to activate the ride rails with the dodge roll's ink spray, he only even touched the ground a handful of times as he gilded along with incredible speed. Not even the plentiful octotroopers and octocopters throughout the dome could slow him down.

"Holy carp, Four… I think we might have found the perfect weapon for you…" Marie finally said, after speechlessly watching Four tear through most of the dome's defenses.

"You think?" He replied as he took out one twintacle octotrooper, rolled out of the way of a second's shots, then splatted it too.

"Y'know, I really shouldn't be that surprised. With how fast you're capable of moving, dualies really are a perfect fit for you."

"Well, I dunno about that, but I'm havin' a lot of fun out here!"

Jumping off of one last ride rail, he arrived on the Zapfish's platform.

"Aw, it's over?"

"Sure is, good job out there, Four."

"And thank you for the practical weapon data! With this, I'm one step closer to perfecting the basic splat dualies design!" Sheldon added on

"Thanks for lettin' me use these dualies, Sheldon. They're totally fresh!" The agent remarked as he freed the Zapfish from its prison.

One super jump later, he was out of there.


Cephilon HQ, Practice range

Everyone else had retired to the barracks hours ago. Thanks to the lack of windows, it was hard to tell the time, but the Octoling captain knew it was very late. She didn't care, however, as she had two long years of rust to shake off.

With every passing hour and every popped dummy balloon, she could feel her old battle instincts slowly returning to her. With every swing of her mighty dynamo roller, she could feel her stiff muscles loosening up.

Soon, she would finally be back in the fight. Two years ago, she would have been eager to jump back into the frey, but now? Even with her battle instincts returning to her, something felt off.

Just a couple more days, then we fight that Inkling… but.. Why do I have this pit in my stomach…? Am I just nervous…? That would make sense… last time I fought an Inking, I ended up rotting in a metal hole for two years…

With a deep breath, Gwen folded up her roller and set it aside. That was enough for tonight.

I better shake off these nerves soon… otherwise, this will end the same way it did last time.


Aaaaaaand there you have it. Chapter 6.

Like Gwen, I'm a little nervous. About posting this chapter, I mean. It's kind of the longest thing I've written in a year or so.

Well, now more than ever, I appreciate any criticism you all see fit to throw my way. Especially with my grammar.Improving my writing is one of the goals of this whole thing.

Until we meet again

~Ghost