Author's Note: I got all chapters of the story planned. And expect something big in August. That would be all, enjoy.
The group then started bringing out every available weapon, which included the Hero Shot 1 and a few Splattershots and a Carbon Roller. Naturally, Callie immediately grabbed the Carbon Roller while the rest grabbed a Splattershot, with Jesse hanging on to the Hero Shot 1. Whatever few denizens were there in the library either left or hid in terror at the sight of the Sanitized Soldiers rampaging the once quiet library.
Marina and Pearl retreated to the counter, Marina still clutching to her laptop, opening some kind of program. Both told the motley crowd to retreat or get away from the besieged library.
Meanwhile, the soldiers droned out the names of their targets, while simultaneously gunning them down, or at least trying to.
"Target, Jesse Seaspray, capture, or eliminate." droned one Octoling
"Target, Evan Current, capture, or eliminate." another droned.
"Target, Shannon Triheart, capture, or eliminate." yet another droned.
"Did the mind control thing. Not a fan." Jesse scoffed, letting loose a barrage of inkfire, aiming at the Octoling who said her name. Evan and Callie were engaging another squadron at the other side of the library, utilizing the posts to make ambush attacks, which did the trick.
Jesse was having a little muscle memory issues from having a shooter in place of a charger, but is otherwise handling the fight alright. Marina meanwhile was contacting Sheldon, no doubt about it. Pearl was on voluntary guard duty, Marina having packed her a set of Hero Dualies, shooting down anyone who stray too near them.
The library was a complete mess, being the rampaging battlefield the Sanitized made it to be. Books and computers were strewn off their once-neatly placed tables, due to either the Sanitized running through them, or the Splatoon using them for cover, emerging from otherwise innocous ink-coated computers, tables, or shelves. The Splatoon made advantage of the narrow spaces of the library, utilizing Splat Bombs effectively.
Sheldon meanwhile, was doing another of his prototypes, when his computer beeped, signaling a distress signal from the Splatoon. He hurriedly answered it, rushing to press the "answer" button.
As soon as Marina's face popped up, Sheldon felt a tinge of dread.
"Sheldon?" rang Marina's voice. "Thank goodness! We've been invaded by the Sanitized!" she almost yelled in a fast manner.
"What's the situation?" the horseshoe crab asked.
"We need inktanks, fast! And a Brella!" Marina instructed Sheldon. "We're in the Aquarius Library, just outside Inkopolis!" she added, inkfire being heard in the background.
"I shall do what I can!" he squeaked, running to and fro to deploy said creations, with a few buttons pressed and levers pushed. "The drones are on their way, Agent!" he squeaked.
"Codspeed." replied Marina. "Marina out." she ended the call, Pearl yelling battle cries in the background. He then loaded the Agent inktanks onto two drones, designed to lift things heavy and fast, perfected in the Octo Canyon campaign. Securing it safely with harnesses, Sheldon then let the drones fly, returning to the control hub after flying onto the distance.
Meanwhile, in Aquarius Library, the battle was looking desperate for the Splatoon, having to resort to controlled bursts to conserve ink, and their limited supply of Splat Bombs are running out rather quickly for their liking.
The Sanitized seemed to be ending, as they had the advantage of ink tanks, and are slowly, but surely covering more than the Splatoon, which was definitely bad for the situation. Callie and Evan were bunched off to a distant side of the library, Callie just using flicks to defend herself, while Evan fires behind the wall of ink Callie's producing.
Marie and Jesse meanwhile were using the shelves as cover, ducking under them to evade attacks.
"So Three, have you thought about what I said some time ago?" Marie asked Jesse.
"Yes." Jesse sighed, letting out a burst of ink. "Try not to get too absorbed in all of this duty, and whatnot…am I right?" she hesitantly asked the older Agent.
"Quite, but not that much on the money yet." Marie quipped, downing a Sanitized soldier. "But I have faith you're on the way, Jesse." she smiled. They resumed gunning down the soldiers, still on conservation mode. They were too fast for the soldiers, but their weapons were slowly but surely running out of ink. Callie and Evan unfortunately were running into the same situation. Later, their weapons clicked dry, indicating they've fired their last.
"Dammit!" Evan groused, hearing they dry click of his weapon.
"Carp." was all Callie can say. "Evan…" she called out to the male Inkling.
"Right." he responded, making a run for it. Soon, familiar drones appeared in the sky, with familiar briefcases loomed over the air. Sheldon soon began talking from the drones.
"I've got you, Agents!" his voice squeaked over the drones, as they released their cargo. "Now go get em!" he said, as the drones departed. Seven ink tanks and a Brella lay on the ground. Sparing no time, they immediately strapped it on, feeling the tanks' bite into their backs. Slowly, they feel their weapon being refilled, which was just enough for a few shots on the floor so they can refill their weapons much faster.
They soon then returned inside, heaving the remaining paraphernalia. They made a beeline to where Marie and Jesse were, making sure not to alert the Sanitized while heaving the Brella and the ink tanks. They settled on a position near the librarian's post, dividing the burden between them.
"Say, you distract them, while I bring these to Two and Three?" Evan offered.
"Anything for you, darling." she replied with a cute wink. Evan got a move on, heaving 3 tanks and the Brella, while Callie set her cargo behind her, calling them out by blowing a raspberry at the Sanitized. Like clockwork, they responded to Callie's insult and swarmed her. The battle began, Callie opening fire with a volley of horizontal flicks. This showered the advancing troop with her ink, considerably damaging them. Then one by one, Callie thwacked them in an ambush, diving and emerging from the ink.
Meanwhile, Evan was finding out that a solo payload mission is tougher than he anticipated, having to both heave equipment and shoot hostiles. Fortunately, his destination was closer than he thought, hearing the soft calls of both Marie and Jesse.
"Psst, Four, over here!" called Marie.
"Yo!" he said in a whisper, quickening his pace. "Here, Sheldon got us the ink tanks!" he whispered. Both girls heaved a sigh of relief, as they hurriedly strapped the ink tanks in. "Give this to either Pearl or Marina." he instructed the two, handing them the Brella and the remaining ink tank. "I'll be going back now to assist Callie." He bade them, swimming in ink now to speed off.
"I'll handle this." Jesse told Marie, taking both the ink tank and the Brella. She then sped off to their general direction. Marie then covered for Jesse, starting off with a Splat Bomb, alerting the soldiers to her presence. Ink fire then rained upon Marie, but proved insufficient for her, as she easily dodged them all, flitting through the shelves and tables, switching in and out of her squid form.
Evan meanwhile, was performing a lot better now that his cargo was off him, his evasion and speed back to his best. Soon enough, three Agents were now giving the Sanitized a run for their money; Marie, Evan, and Callie. Soon enough, they met up and consolidated their effort, meeting up at the reading section, where they were once seated. Callie then showered the enemy in ink, while Marie and Evan picked off the damaged soldiers. Soon, the lowlier troop types were called in, along with the Octolings.
Meanwhile, Shannon was resorting to fisticuffs, and was getting overrun by the Sanitized. She was a little further away from all the other Agents. Marina and Pearl saw this, and moved quickly, despite having little to no armaments themselves.
"Shannon!" Marina cried out, seeing how she was absolutely getting overrun, but still standing tall. Pearl then tackled one of them down, then Marina slugged the soldier in the face to knock them out. Help couldn't have arrived soon enough as Jesse then showed up and tossed the Ink Tanks and Brella to the group.
"Much appreciated, Three!" Shannon greeted the older Agent. Like clockwork, they caught their respective gear, Pearl and Shannon went for the tanks while Marina for the Brella, and now consolidated their efforts, standing behind Marina's Brella. They quickly made work of the Sanitized that they were having trouble with.
Over at Marie, Callie, and Evan's side of things, a male Octoling has joined the enemy side, which elicited a reaction from both Evan and Callie.
"You!" Evan gasped, "you're in on this too?!" he asked the lone male Octoling.
"Heh." the enemy male Octoling smirked. "I don't give two squits about this war, I just wanna see that blue squit suffer." he scoffed.
"That's one helluva grudge there, Fabian." Evan commented, hand tight on the weapon.
"Not fresh!" said Callie indignantly, making a charge for Fabian, but several Sanitized got in the way. She then turned to deal with them first.
"You know this punk, Four?" Marie asked, while gunning down several Sanitized soldiers.
"Caused a ruckus in the club when I and Callie went." The male Agent replied. "So, this is worse than we thought." he groused.
"They got their rotten little fingers in Inkopolis." Marie growled in a low tone. "Who else or how many more are in the city." She wondered, as she let loose another pulse of inkfire. "Scum like him put Octolings in a bad light." Marie growled.
"No kidding." replied Callie, lobbing a vertical flick. "Come get some, you traitor!" she yelled at Fabian.
"The sensational Callie of the Squid Sisters." Fabian smirked. "It's an honor." He said, charging into the frontline. "I heard you were the ditz?" he mockingly asked her.
"So?" Callie shot back. "I accept it." she continued. "I may not be as smart as Marie, but I'm sure I ain't no rotten fish turning their backs against the very city that welcomed him." she shot at him. "You're at this point, worse than the Sanitized." she remarked.
"Heh, good grief One, you grilled him hard!" Marie said, chuckling.
"Peh, welcome?!" Fabian spat. "You squids beat up anyone who has their suction cups outside instead of inside." he bitterly recalled. "I saw some incidents even in the streets, for splatting out loud!" he added harshly. "The students even in my university were whispering behind my back spreading nasty rumors about me and other Octolings just because we have two tentacles less." he bitterly hissed.
"I'm sorry if life in Inkopolis turned out that way." Marie began, "but there is no situation ever that gives you an excuse to do this!" she lashed out.
"You allied yourself with the very forces that would destroy the very city that you live in, and what for? Just because you hate someone's guts?" Evan interjected.
"You and your pampered 'morals'." Fabian sighed. "Elites, on me!" he ordered to his companions. At once, four Elite Sanitized Octolings appeared beside him, carrying Dualies and Sloshers. "You weren't the ones who spent entire lives under the damned ground!" hebyelled, drawing his weapon: a modified version of Dualies.
"Watch out, he's got a modified weapon!" Marie alerted the other two Agents. Soon, the clash started. Fabian gunned for Evan, while the others gunned for Callie and Marie. They had numbers advantage, but the trio's skill made it even.
Meanwhile, Pearl, Marina, Shannon and Jesse are quickly sweeping up the troops that the Sanitized poured in trying to destroy them. However, Marina's supplies were wearing thin at that point, making it hard to keep up her shield.
"Pearlie, I don't think my shields are going to last any longer!" called out Marina, her Brella propped open.
"Me and gals can do it!" Pearl responded. "Hang tight in there!" she encouraged her.
"Yeah, we'll get the remaining ink tanks!" Shannon volunteered, "if I knew where those are…" she said. "You do know where those are, right?" she asked Jesse.
"They're right by the back entrance of the library." Jesse replied. "I'll suggest you make a run for it. Five!" she urged the younger cephalopod.
"Are you sure, Three? Would you be fine without my assistance?" she asked the older Agent.
"Hmph." Jesse smirked, "I'm the menace of Kamabo, after all." she said with a glint in her eye. She and Pearl then continued to mow down Sanitized troops which are slowly thinning down. Pearl then darted off from Marina's shield, to counter flank some Troopers who were making a beeline towards Marina. Jesse's experience was utterly showing the enemy not to trifle with her.
Back at Marie, Callie and Evan's side of thing, the numbers were now even, Marie having splatted one of the Elites and Callie another. Fabian bothering them while they were engaging their targets didn't make things easier, as Fabian wasn't any slouch either, and his weapon more so. His Dualies had the range of normal Splattershot while retaining the speed of Dualies.
Evan made a beeline for the rebel Octoling, cutting through his previous target, but not before throwing a Splat Bomb behind him. Unawares, it exploded beneath her, taking her out of commission. Now, the fight was in their advantage, numbers-wise. Only one Elite remained with Fabian, wielding a Slosher. The Sisters took on the remaining Elite, while Evan faced off with Fabian.
"You're quite the looker, I'll give you that." Fabian began. "Shame you're in my way." he scoffed, letting loose.
"You do swing that way too huh?" Evan scoffed. "Sorry, not interested." he said, running up to meet his challenge. They began battle, Fabian descending from the top of the shelves to attack. Evan deftly avoided the ambush Fabian posed, rolling backwards. Fabian then rolled to Evan's right, managing to land two shots on Evan.
Callie, meanwhile, was getting the last Elite down, swishing waves upon waves of deadly ink upon the remaining agent, who was trying hard to match with her own sloshes. But alas, two on one proved to be too much for the Elite, as it ended up with a vertical slam of a Roller to the face trying to dodge Marie' shots. Fabian wasn't too happy with this development.
"Useless twits…" Fabian groused, letting loose a barrage from his unique Dualies. "No matter, I shall suffice!" he boasted, in face of three Agents confronting him. "Come at me, Splatoon!" he yelled, as if a battle cry.
"Guess ego is a helluva drug, huh?" scoffed Evan. "Well, I hope you keep that up!" he taunted him, as he attacked.
Meanwhile, Five's excursion was a little more smoother, thanks to the thin number of enemies present, and what little opposed her was easily dispatched, thanks to her "unintended training" back at the Deepsea Metro. With relative ease, she got to the ink tanks, making her way back to Marina and the others.
Meanwhile the fight with Fabian was going full blast, Callie swinging her Roller full force and full speed vertically, flicking it at Fabian, who was already engaging both Marie and Evan, surprisingly proving to be quite a match for three Agents. Fabian darted every which way, a violent clash of pink, magenta, lime green, and neon green, mixed in with Sanitized cyan. The battle pretty much ravaged the once quiet library, whoever remained there were now frozen in utter terror and confusion at the sudden turn of events. Things were looking up though, as Fabian was the only remaining hostile, along with the perimeter guards up front. Fabian clearly was struggling against three highly-skilled Agents, but was determined to keep a defiant face so as to not give them the satisfaction.
Marina eventually ran out of ink with her Brella, but the remaining Agents were more than enough for the task, dispatching any remaining Sanitized troopers. Soon enough, Eight returned just as the fight subdued.
"Here you go." Shannon said, as she handed Marina the ink tank.
"Shall we sweep the perimeter?" Pearl asked them.
"Seems logical." Jesse replied. "Let's go then, wrap this cluster-f up." she beckoned her companions. They did just that, Marina and Pearl on one side while Jesse and Shannon went another way. The two proved sufficient enough for the task.
Meanwhile, as time goes on, the reality of Fabian's situation was getting to him more and more, making more silly mistakes that almost resulted in him getting splatted. Whenever he dodged one of their attacks, a Roller wave or another hail of shots.
"He sure isn't just some ordinary punk." Marie remarked.
"But we know now one of them spies." Evan reminded her. "Now then, how many more are there?" he blurted at Fabian, letting out another burst.
"Now why'd I do that huh?" Fabian scoffed, tossing a bomb at Evan, which he barely dodged in time. "This getting outta hand, I may have to dip…" he thought to himself, rolling out of the way barely for a Callie roller strike. A little later, as he saw all three bearing down on him, he then made for the exit and gunned it, setting off a Toxic Mist that doubled as a smoke bomb, which prevented the Agent from pursuing.
"It was fun playing with you, but I can't just hand you a W now, can I?" he taunted them. "Well, I'll definitely see you again, Splatoon!" he said as final words, Super Jumping into the distance. The three Agents gave pursuit, but was too late to nail him.
Later…
"I can't believe it…all that for a grudge." Evan shook his head.
"Damn." Callie sighed. "We probably should head back to HQ, cuz." she told Marie.
"Yes. Let's gather everyone, and get on outta here, before someone notices who we are." Marie agreed…
*That evening…
*Inkopolis Square
That night, all the TVs in town broadcast only one thing: the attack on Aquarius Library.
"Another attack has occurred, and the infamous Red Fist Revolution attacked an innocuous library just outside Inkopolis…" the TV broadcast began, "a mysterious band of teens of cephalopods repelled the attack, to the point even of making the alien Octoling army retreat!" the reporter said , while flashing various footage of the fight.
"The curator of Aquarius Library thanked the mysterious cephalopods for their valiant efforts, and he has this to say." the reporter continued, footage now switching to the draggled jelly wearing a suit.
"I want to say thank you to that unsung band who drove those menaces away." the jelly curator began. "You stepped up when no else was able to." he continued. "For the sake of all aquatic life, we shall wish them all the best!" he urged the public.
"Another attack, huh?" Josh said, watching the news in the Square.
"This is getting real bad." Ecca shook her head. Much chatter was abound in the Square all talking about it.
*New Squidbeak Splatoon HQ…
The team, along with the Captain, was watching the news in the couches, beat, but otherwise happy that they got through another ambush alive. Callie was snuggling right next to Evan, predictably, while Marie, Marina and Cap were in another couch, while Jesse, Shannon and Pearl picked individual bean bags to sit on.
Later, Marie convened a post-mission meeting, to continue from where they left off before they were attacked. Photos, documents, and more were spread out on the table.
"Well, to pick up where we unceremoniously left…" Marie began. The room collectively chuckled, especially the Agents.
"As we all painfully witnessed, the Red Fist Revolution has rats among us. Among Inkopolis." Jesse bitterly said. "We would need to double our surveillance to weed out any little squitch that reports to them." she declared.
"I can agree with that." Evan agreed tentatively, "However…we may need to be careful about all of this." he warned.
"Not to mention the kidnappings that are happening left and right…" Shannon chimed in, to which Callie nodded in agreement. "Inklings, Octolings, they're all fair game…anyone that can operate ink-based weapons…" Shannon added dreadfully.
"And I thought those no-good bums went down with NILS…" Cap grumbled. They continued to discuss many other matters, later over boxes of pizza and cans of soda. The meeting went on long into the night, where some opted to sleep in the HQ, including Cap.
So there…the NSS found the first of presumably many spies of the Red Fist Revolution in Inkopolis! The stakes are getting higher, and so is the treachery! Can the NSS avoid being burned by them spies? Stay tuned. Catfish out.