Author's Note: Starting next chapter, I had implemented arcs for the whole story, which spans chapters, and may intertwine occasionally. I did such for future chapters to be more streamlined. That would be all, onto the story. :)
"You deal with them, I'm stopping the Ray!", Evan frantically swam in squid form, desperate to save the hostages from the Ray aimed at them. Neither Marie nor Callie hadn't had the heart or chance to object, as they were busy dealing with the commander and her lackeys. The weapons they were wielding would definitely be deemed illegal for Turf use, no doubt about it on both cousins' minds.
Shooters vs rollers are a hard enough match-up for the latter, but this one was compounded with the extra range these weapons had. They basically had Pro range but fire as fast as the normal Splattershot. Callie was pestered every which way by the shots went, dodging just enough shots for her not to get splatted. Marie was on her top sniping form, but the opponents proved something else, as if they were predicting her shots perfectly, dodging just in time for her snipes to miss.
The commander's weapon were... Something else. An unholy combination of an Inkbrush and Aerospray, it had fire rate to spare, which the cousin duo don't have. Callie was tossing ink with all the strokes she can muster, landing one on one of the commander's cronies. Marie used this opportunity to finish her off, landing a perfect shot to her ear to splat. The commander had turned her attention to Callie, desperate to one up the former idol.
"You got lucky last time, Agent 1.", Catalina said, swiping maniacally at Callie, but missing.
"Oh come on! Excuses, excuses!", she snarked back, lobbing a vertical flick.
"You and your pathetic excuse of a species.", she snarled, twirling her SprayRush around, like a bladed staff, which Callie dodged masterfully, and retaliated with her own swing.
"At least we aren't the walking dead.", she snarked back.
"Ever the snarky one. Must be your superior cousin rubbing off on you.", Catalina gloated, trying to goad Callie, switching to her Aerospray mode, which had further range than the retail ones Sheldon sold.
"Too late for that tactic, Sanitized trash!" she said, managing to graze her head with a vertical flick. "If it was 4 years ago, it may have worked!", she taunted her opponent.
"But you still sting from that Splatfest loss do you? Come...get yourself Sanitized. You will find it better, devoid of these... Idiotic festivals." she tried harder to gloat at Callie, but clearly wasn't working too well against her, as she nearly hit her strokes every time.
"Oh please. You lifeless squits don't understand any bit about culture or tradition or anything like it! You're just robots, processed from mutilated remains so to fight for a flawed philosophy." Callie mocked Catalina, as she parried her brush swing.
"Why waste time on those, when you can conquer the world and rebuild it?", Catalina said, swiping to attack Callie's midsection, but missed, as Callie dove down into ink to dodge the strike. Callie returned the favor by firing a horizontal swing this time, catching the commander this time in the face, which made her irate.
"You filthy subspecies!", she growled, her cyan digital eyes glowing menacingly as she swiped furiously at Callie, who responded with a raspberry, only infuriating her more. The two exchanged swings, both scoring hits on each other. Later, when Callie had the upper hand, Catalina gunned for someone else: Marie. But, the sniper already saw her, and was training her aim on the incoming Sanitized Commander.
On the run from Callie and unawares Marie was on to her, Stormsurge had a rather violent splat coming to her.
"All too easy...", Marie smirked, as she set her sights on the commander.
*Meanwhile, at Bravo Spawn Point...
Evan was racing to get to the Stingray operator in time, traipsing over fences and swimming full tilt towards it. He wasted no second running to it, as seven innocent lives were on the line, all depending on his actions. He then opened fire just in time before the operator got a full steam on the Stingray, forcing her to turn it on him instead.
"Lay off the Stingray. NOW.", he forcefully said, as he pulled the trigger on his Hero Shot. He was giving everything to close the distance to the hostages while trying to avoid the deadly ink laser that passed through everything, even walls. A lucky Splat Bomb greatly damaged the Ink Armor she was wearing, and Evan finished the job, leaving the Stingray operator for the taking.
"Last chance, girl!", he offered, still dodging the deadly jet of cyan she was wielding. Evan jumped, slipped, and danced his way around the beam like a much more risky version of limbo rack, only this time, this game is for the 7 innocents held captive. A moment of zen, and soon... He got his shots down, neutralizing the operator, but the guards were into him, all eight engaged him with Dualies, Octo-shots, and Sloshers.
"Ah shit here we go again...", he sighed, readying himself to face them.
*Meanwhile, with Jesse and Shannon...
Jesse expertly sniped down one of the Elite Guard, but Shannon now has to bear with one engaging her directly, while the other is gunning for Jesse, which was a possibility now with the range the enemies had with their guns. Shannon did her best with the Roller, using her flicks for both attack and movement, swimming up and down from ink whenever needed.
"I'll hold off the enemy while you take a shot, Three!", Shannon said to the Inkling.
"On it!", she replied, and got down to her job, tossing an Autobomb to start. Shannon was starting to pull every stroke in the book putting down her opponents, who were gunning her down with the extra range they had on their weapons. This is where ordinary squids and octos would have been splatted, but Shannon was battle-hardened from her days in the accursed Metro, with all those tests and whatnot.
The two Elite Guards were continuing to gun down Shannon, but even the enhanced range wasn't enough to placate the fierce Octoling, flinging waves of deadly ink with her vertical flicks and horizontal swings. Jesse took advantage of the situation to line up a clean shot at the enemy, aiming for the neck. She then pressed the trigger to initiate the charge, lining it up on the target, compensating for her every move. She then let go of the trigger at the perfect time.
"Booyah, squitch.", she muttered, as she released the shot, hitting her straight onto her eye, eliminating her from the fight. Shannon then took down the remaining Elite Guard, whacking her Roller across her chest from behind and slamming it onto her head to ensure her demise.
"You left me no choice.", Shannon said coldly.
"Come on, let's go help Evan.", Jesse told her, hearing the distant sounds of a Stingray being operated. Both squid and octo dodged the deadly beam that traversed the entire area, as it did in normal matches. But this one...didn't seem to end. Regardless, both soldiered on to reach him in time, only to see him now dealing with the guards assigned to the hostages. Wasting no time, Jesse engaged her sniper position, while Shannon, being a roller, rolled nearby while the Sanitized were busy with Evan.
*Meanwhile, over at Marie and Callie's side...
With cold fury, Marie let loose her Charger, aimed right on the commander's head, right above her nose, between the eyes. It went through...only knocking down the commander however. Marie wondered why the commander didn't go splat like normal cephalopods...
"Sub-species! Ha!", she mocked the cousins, a haughty look about her.
"Squitch...you NEVER had a chance.", said Callie, raising her Roller behind her, poising for a strike, her speaking startling the sanitized commander, swiping her SprayRush to hopefully fend off whatever Callie had planned. Callie then immediately proceeded to slam the Roller horizontally, dealing with the commander for the battle, exploding in a violent purple blast.
"Cuuuuuuurse yoouuuuu, you inferior scuuuuuuuum!...", the commander's ghost yelled in anger, shame and agony as it flew back to the King Manta, probably to a private spawn pad.
Over at the three Agents' side of things, they were definitely giving the Elite Octoling fireteams a run for their money and then some, with Jesse going ham with the snipes, nailing one after the other, and Evan and Shannon finishing off whoever survived Jesse's wrath. The enemy were armed with Octo-shots and Dualies, but wasn't enough for the three Agents, as they soon disposed of the guard, much to the relief of the hostages.
"And stay down.", Jesse snarled, as she joined her colleagues, who were checking up on the freed hostages, who are now back to their own colors, relieved that the catastrophe has been ended.
"Hey man, thanks for saving our tentacles out there!", said a buzz-cut Inkling.
"Hadn't you come, we would have been splatted for sure!", said a beat-up Octoling girl, no doubt the Sanitized being the culprits.
"Hey, you were hella cool out there, man!", said Nate, "WAIT WHAT, EVAN?!", he yelped, as the male turned his head to face him.
Marie and Callie soon arrive at the spawn point, and hanging back to observe the events. Callie, out of respect for the hostage victims who are Evan's friends, hung back too, waiting for Evan to catch up with his freed friends.
"Job well done, Splatoon.", Marie called out.
"We saved the Hotel!", Callie cheerily said. They soon convened the freed hostages for a confidentiality briefing, to not leak the secret of the New Squidbeak Splatoon to the general public until further developments. All of them huddled outside of the play area, in Bravo Team's landing area.
"Alright, listen up.", Marie called up the small crowd, "You cannot publicly say who I or my companions are, but we are the New Squidbeak Splatoon. You also cannot, under any circumstances, openly reveal the organization.", she lectured them. "Now then, return home to your families, take the day or two, and remember what we said. Please.", she finished her briefing.
"We'd be in touch.", added Jesse, Charger slung around her shoulders. The Splatoon, along with the freed hostages, made their way down the Hotel, separating ways once they reached the ground floor. Evan whipped out his phone to text his mates.
"Hey guys, Seaflix and chill later? My place. Later tonight."
He then sent the message, while ambling on along with the rest of the Agents, making their way back to the ship Ink & Oceans. The Splatoon soon found a place to discreetly Super Jump back to the ship, and simultaneously soared away, five streaks of purple zooming away from the scene.
They soon thudded on the ship deck, surprising Sheldon.
"Mission accomplished.", Marie was the first one to speak up. The rest of the crew were already stuffing their weapons back to their respective cases; the roller users folding up their handles, Evan gently putting back his Hero Shot, and Jesse bequeathing her weapon back to it's container.
"Nice to hear, Agent 2!", the weapons expert squeaked.
"Kicked ass out there Splatoon. Good on all of you.", she addressed the team in Hero Gear. "Deadly aim as ever, Jesse.", she complimented Agent 3. "Callie, you're as vicious as ever on the Roller.", she turned to her cousin. "Evan. Still as much of a showboat as when I first hired you.", she chuckled.
"And Shannon?", she turned to the lone Octoling among the group, "Nice work there.",she said to her, releasing her fears. "We made it and saved everyone. No foul done.", she told the team.
"Can we go home yet?", asked Jesse in a bored voice.
"Yes, I got a series to watch!", added in Callie.
"I believe everyone wants some rest after that hard work!", squeaked Sheldon. "Captain, it's time to sail home.", he beckoned the jelly captain.
"Alright, setting sail back to Port Mackerel!", he called up the deck. Everyone soon cooled down in the cabin, which had cable services even, which was switched on to the news. All of the Splatoon were either slumped down or slouched on the felt sofas, indicative of how tired they were after all that action.
The news shifted to the showbiz section, where the date for the farewell concert of Off the Hook was announced; it was for next weekend...prime time for a concert. Additionally, auditions now were open for Off the Hook's positions as news anchors.
Meanwhile, back at the Square, the people were celebrating the freedom of New Albacore Hotel, and the rescue of all the eight hostages. Even the normally detached shopkeepers were buzzing about it to their customers.
In the Off the Hook studio storage room, an Octoling pair, one blue; male, one green; female, ere talking about this recent news and what it would mean for their future in the job, while they were busy.
"So...this is it huh? The final curtain...", the blue male spoke, as they were finishing listing up the items of the storage.
"Yeah. Heard they gave tickets free to studio employees...", the green female told him.
"Say, Ecca...how about we go together? It'll be a helluva riot, and better with a certain green Octoling female...", he offered. She blushed green: he was basically offering a date at a concert.
"Aw Josh. I'll take you up on your word, because you are a sweet little cutie Octopus.", she smiled at him, giggling even. "Next weekend, was it, the concert?", Ecca asked Josh, double-checking, as she put recording equipment in order.
"Yeah. That's what they announced.", he said, putting some props in order.
"I wonder, how much are tickets though?", Ecca wondered, putting down another box to check the contents for inventory.
"People like Callie are definitely going to have front row…", Josh mused.
"Hmm, both our salaries can buy third row tickets, and that's being generous.", Ecca dryly told the boy, who was finishing up checking up on spare studio props. He then chuckled in agreement. She then checked her watch. "Hey, it's already freedom-o-clock!", she said happily.
"Definitely good to hear…", Josh said, heaving a sigh of relief. "Hey, what say you and I Turf a little, eh?", offered Josh.
"Hey, that's a little cash on the side too.", she smiled at him. "Come on, let's round these up and report to Cerule and be on our merry way out for the day.", she told her fellow Octoling. Both finished up all their task and soon were on the waiting rooms, awaiting a match. Ecca armed herself with the vanilla Octobrush, while Josh opted to try Splat Dualies for this day.
"I see we both frontliners this match.", Ecca said, seeing Josh's new weapons. "Watch my veemo ass out there, eh?", she winked seductively at him, to which he chuckled.
"Oh definitely. Just as I had yours the night we met.", he smirked.
"Oh you coy son of a…", she reacted, playfully slapping him.
"But seriously, I'll be having my eye out on ya.", he tapped her shoulder. Soon the rest of the impending match arrived, and all of them jumped into the battle area assigned to them.
*Hours later, at Callie and Marie's residence…
Every one of the Splatoon was chilling at the sofa, relaxing after a hard-fought battle hours ago. Marie's "Tide Goes Out" was playing on the speakers, and all five had a drink in hand. Even the captain, their grandpa, was with them, bobbing his head to the tune.
"Great work right there, Squidbeak!", he spoke up after a while, commending the five youth assembled. "You stepped up right to the plate when no one dared to. You remind me of my more livelier days…ah the privilege of youth and a plentiful ink sack…", he went on. "Marie…you proved again I was right to give you command of this exceptional group of young people.", he told his lime granddaughter. "Callie…you have grown.", he tapped the black and magenta squid's shoulder. "You finally balanced that hyperactive tendency of yours…to prove an exceptional warrior of the Roller!"
"Thank you, Grandpa.", Marie and Callie replied, humbled.
The elderly squid then turned to the rest of Agents, one of which who was busy chugging away; Evan.
"Agent 3.", he called the long-haired female, "Jesse.", she called her by her real name, "We have been through so much together, and yet you still you amaze me.", he began. "You, you have been fighting for the both of you sisters!", he commended her.
"Thanks, Captain.", Jesse replied solemnly.
"The battle of Deepsea Metro changed you, youngin.", he tapped the younger female on the shoulder. "That crazy lump of goop…he made you…do things. I see vengeance within you, young squid. Here be my advice Jesse…don't let it consume you.", he told her like a grandfather would to his actual grandchildren. "I made that mistake before…and will regret it forever.", he hung his head the memory of it…how the Great Turf War began.
"Hard not to, grandpa.", she said quietly, chugging down her beer.
"I know, young lass. Not when the disappearances of your parents are even making one tiny bit of sense.", he comforted her. "I personally hired you into the Splatoon, years after my One and Two…my beloved granddaughters made up the first Agents of the New Squidbeak. It would be a downright blow to this old soul if I lose you…", he said, actually sounding sad.
"I won't be going anywhere, grandpa.", she held his wrinkled hand.
"Moving on.." he mused, turning his attention to Evan, who just began on another beer. "Agent Four.", he addressed the slicked back male inkling, who turned to face him, "You were hired by Marie when I was away with Three. Ever since I got back, I have seen your liveliness overflow.", he smiled at him. "I say Marie made the right choice."
"Thanks Cap. It means a lot, coming from you.", he addressed the elder Inkling.
"You may think me ears are going dull, but I heard you had an eye for my granddaughter.", he began on Evan. "Now, my girls owe you big, and I don't know what you youngins are up to, but I tell you this, bucko. Don't hurt my granddaughters, or so help me.", he told the green inkling.
"You have my word, Captain. As Agent, and as a man.", he told him with a serious face. "I will love, cherish, and protect your granddaughter Callie above and beyond my duties to the NSS."
"Last thing I want to see my girls going through is a heartbreak.", he said with a stern tone. "I trust my granddaughters to make the right decision. Prove them right.", he told Evan, clasping his hand with his own. He then turned to the lone Octoling in the area.
"Agent Eight. No, Shannon Triheart, Agent Five.", he began at her. "You remind me of better times…better times when our species hadn't drifted apart yet. When the whole sea level baloney haven't been a factor yet.", he reminisced. "I was witness how day in, day out you labored to get us all out of that infernal train station.", he said, "and for that, I admire you. Regardless of tentacle.", he nodded at her.
"I am deeply honored, Captain.", she said solemnly.
"Funny what alcohol does eh? But back to you, young lass. You endured being wrung through by that crazy pile of cyan goop only to stab you in the back when you did all he asked. You walked right though a planned ambush to kill you, yet…here you are, without any trace of paranoia.", he affirmed to the young Octo.
"Now then, I believe a toast is in order?", Craig Cuttlefish declared to the room. "For family, for Inkopolis…For the New Squidbeak Splatoon.", he raised his bottle.
"For the New Squidbeak Splatoon.", all chanted, clinking their bottles together.
And that...was crisis averted. Next up: Off the Hook's final concert as anchors of Inkopolis News! Stay tuned! Catfish out.