Thank you all for the reads guys.
Splatoon franchise is owned by Nintendo. Project Splatoon 3 is owned by Alexis 'Squeaky' Pflaum.
Chapter 3: Agents Assemble!
Squidbeak HQ, 7:21 PM
"We need to hurry. We can't be late," said Callie as she, Marie and Captain Cuttlefish walked down the hallway to the meeting room.
"Relax Cal. It's not that far. And besides, gramps can't be left here alone, now can he?" asked Marie.
"Thanks for your help, girls but Callie is right. We only have about five minutes until the meeting starts," said the captain.
"Sorry gramps but that was just my anxiety talking. The others would understand," Callie insisted.
"But the agents count on me to be there," said Cuttlefish. "And I don't want my granddaughters feeling bad about me."
"We don't gramps. We just want you to be okay," Marie pointed out.
"I'm fine. Let's please just head to the meeting," said the veteran as he sped up ahead of them, albeit slightly.
The Squid Sisters watched as the three of them walked towards the doors. He never wanted to outright admit it but he knew it was true. Age wasn't going so well for him. Not anymore. He couldn't be alone in such a state so the girls took it upon themselves to take care of him. To at least make the last few months comfortable for him.
The problem was although he appreciated the gesture, he was downright stubborn at times, insisting he never needed it. However, they were the only two he could depend on. None of the other agents knew of his current condition and he didn't want them to be all sympathetic for him.
The girls only hope they can keep that secret, even though everybody would find out eventually…
It took the members a good ten minutes to get to the meeting room for the new activities. However, Hitto and Hachi came in last, finding the rest of Squidbeak Splatoon already seated and waiting for Callie and Marie to come with Captain Cuttlefish.
The two were confused as to how long they were waiting for them. Pearl was rocking to music on her headphones (borrowed from Marina), Nana and Inkogen were busy admiring the brand new laptop, Marina was looking through the day's activities on her own laptop and Maika was conversing with Arii. Everybody, including themselves, was in their uniforms.
"I hope we didn't keep you all waiting," said Hachi.
"Hey Hachi. Where were you?" asked Maika.
"I was just walking around. I needed a breather," Hachi shrugged.
"That's it?" Nana said alert, making Inkogen flinch. "Why didn't you answer my call then?"
"Uhh…."
"Nana, you said yourself he always picks up your calls," Hitto interrupted. "So of course he would've answered you call, unless his phone was off."
"Y-yeah. Phone batteries, am I right?" Hachi said in stuttering fashion, almost making Hitto bury his face in his palms as Nana narrowed her eyes.
"Fine. I believe you. But I'm still angry at you," said Nana as the hareling beside her sighed in relief.
Just in time as the two agents sat down, Callie, Marie and Cuttlefish had arrived. Marina was still typing on the keyboard but she nudged Pearl to promptly take the headphones off.
"Morning, everybody! I hope you all had a great day," said Callie with her classic spunk.
"Let's just say there is such a thing as too much turf war," said Hitto.
"Would you quit holding a grudge for once? I got my laptop. You can go back to your old stuck up life," Nana retorted.
"Well, that doesn't leave me with a better mood, does it?" asked Hitto.
"Enough, you two. We have a lot to discuss today," said Marina as she stood up and connected her laptop to the projector.
"And if we don't want anything to screw up because of the time we've wasted, we should start now," said Marie as Callie and Cuttlefish sat down.
"Alright then, what's the to-do list for tonight?" asked Pearl.
"There have been complaints about makoids sneaking around late at night. Especially in Inkopolis Plaza," said Arii.
"In that case, Eight, Five, you're manning the Plaza and scaring away all makoids in sight," said Marina an image of Inkopolis Plaza appeared on the projector screen. "If they get too aggressive, splat them."
"I'll do what I can," said Hachi.
"Come on, Eight. We can splat those makoids into next week. Might as well shut down Mako Missons until then," said Pearl, leaning back on her chair.
"So hyped today, aren't you Pearl?" asked Cuttlefish.
"You bet. I haven't given those guys a real beatdown after what they did to us," said the pop-star princess.
"Okay then. So just a few minutes ago, Riva posted on Aquagram that there would be a party for the arrival of Hadal Zone from their world tour," said Marie as an image of Riva's mansion appeared. "Making sure nothing happens at the bay meanwhile will be me and Seven. We'll be there until the party ends at eleven."
"That means Three and Four will be patrolling Inkopolis Square until midnight,"
"I just hope I don't sleep on the job," said Maika, albeit jokingly.
Hitto simply nodded. That just meant he could simply wait for Hachi at the Metro once Maika was gone.
"That means the rest of you will be staying here until needed. All assigned agents have to go for their ink tanks. All missions start at eight," said Marina. "Meeting's adjourned. Eight, you come with me."
"Hey guys, follow me. You have to see my new CQ-80," said Hachi as the Splatoon began to disperse.
"It's already finished?" asked Maika as they followed Marina and Pearl.
"It took me two weeks but yeah. The new design was Eight's idea but I don't wanna give the surprise away," said Marina.
"Ah, I wonder what it will look like," Inkogen said to herself, already imagining her own incarnation of the device.
"At least it won't end up like the ink tanks," said Nana.
Just some time ago shortly after Nana and Inkogen joined the team, Hachi told the SS about the new ink tanks. After leading them up for weeks, Hitto was notably the most cynical in that the tanks were just the same ones that Hachi used in Kamabo Co. They later appreciated the upgrade when they realized the base which used to carry the fail-bomb could instead be used to carry survival kits, which was Hachi's idea all along (also, it accommodated for Hitto's cape better). Hitto still couldn't let him live it down after they way he made them so excited about it.
"Can we just get to the lab in peace please?" said Hachi, slightly blushing in embarrassment.
"Lighten up Eight, I'm sure it's gonna be sick," said Pearl. "Besides, Rina would never let us down,"
"Aww…" said Marina to herself as she opened the doors to the lab. She could really never get over Pearl's trust in her.
Once they entered it, Marina went to one of the cabinets to the left of the room. Taking out a cardboard box, she placed it on the table and pulled the top off. Within the first layers of foam casing was the new CQ-80.
Instead of the bland color it was, it had a resemblance to the employee device, only it was black with more buttons and the Squidbeak logo they came up with when they became an official team: cross made by two of the canes like of Cuttlefish with a squid symbol over it.
"Ho-ly carp," said Nana, completely marveled.
"I love it!" Maika squealed.
"Okay Hachi, you got me there as long as it's not only the design that's new," said Hitto, surprised but not impressed.
"I've turned it into a webcam. Now, every picture Hachi takes will come directly to us instead of having to wait for him to bring the device here. It has a higher resolution and it can even record footage."
"Not bad," said Pearl before she turned to Hitto. "See? I was right wasn't I?"
"I get it. You win," said Hitto, just to avoid any boast rap which is something Pearl would do. "How does the card look?"
"See for yourselves," said Hachi as he pulled the card out of the second layer of foam and held it up for the agents to see.
It was a silver reflective card to fool people should it fall into the wrong hands but at just the right angle, they could see a picture.
The picture itself was what finally got Hitto's sincere attention.
It was a photo of the team shortly after the official founding of SS. Captain Cuttlefish was in the middle. Directly behind him were the Squid Sisters. To Callie's right was Arii, Hitto, Nana and Inkogen. To Marie's left were Maika, Off The Hook and Hachi. They were all in uniform and were posing with weapons except for Captain who had his peace hand sign up.
"Well...I didn't know you'd be so sentimental about it..." Hitto managed to say.
That is some legit card," said Maika, reaching her hand out. "I wanna touch it…"
"Can I borrow it?" asked Inkogen.
"You haven't even gotten around a phone yet," Nana mentioned from earlier that day.
"Actually, this is a walk in the park for us," said the hareling.
"A holographic device is easier for you to use than a phone?" asked Marina.
"To put it this way, some people just don't know the simple things," said Inkogen.
"Well, I'll have to agree with you there, until later in life, Marina never knew we can't swim," Pearl admitted.
"Hey! Everybody in Inkopolis has heard that by now!" Marina fumed.
"Not everybody. Inkogen doesn't know that," said Pearl.
"I guess she doesn't know you eat cereal with a fork either!" said Marina, crossing her arms.
"At least you get more milk in the end. And you should know better. I won that Splatfest, remember?" Pearl spat.
Meanwhile the five other agents watched as the argument somehow turned into how to roll toilet paper, in complete face fault.
"…We should prepare for the missions," Hitto managed to say as they left the two former pop-idols alone.
"Uh…who's finding that fork for cereal thing a good idea?" asked Maika.
"Don't make this any more awkward than it already is…" said Nana.
Squidbeak HQ, 9:30 PM
Inkogen had to purposefully stay to catch up on the stories of all that had happened since the departure of the harelings. Thanks to the sunken scrolls that had been filed up in the facility, she managed to at least know the basis of the events. She was fairly neutral in some cases but when she started reading on The Great Turf War she became distraught and disappointed. It was a scary thing to know that two peaceful nations were forced to fight each other for land. The lives lost and the results in the end were too much for her to fathom.
What if the harelings were around during those dark times? Would they have joined it or tried to stop it? Would they have done nothing at all? Would they have just frozen themselves like they did before?
"Looks like you're really getting into those scrolls."
As she looked up, she saw Callie standing at the opposite side of the table with two cartons of fries.
"I thought you'd be hungry from all that reading," said Callie. "And please don't say you're not hungry because that'll just make both of these look real good to me."
"Ok, I guess I can have some. You can just leave mine here," said Inkogen as Callie instead sat down.
"What are you reading about?" she asked "The Great Turf War again?"
"Yeah," said the hareling with a more despondent tone.
"Inkogen, I know it was not a good moment in history when you think about it but if it weren't for that, we wouldn't be here. Think about all that's happened after that," Callie suggested.
"I can't," said Inkogen.
"Why not?"
"Because we weren't there! While inklings and octarians were beating the cod out of each other, we were frozen asleep," said the hareling, slamming her fists on the table.
"Inkogen, calm down," Callie insisted. "You had the makoids to handle before that. And besides, you had a prophecy to fulfill. I didn't want it to sound bad but maybe all of that was to bring us together."
"You really think so?" asked Inkogen.
"As a wise squid once said, there is a reason for everything," Callie quoted.
"I didn't know you read about those things," said Inkogen.
"I don't. I hear gramps say that a lot," Callie admitted. "But I know what it means and it helps."
"Okay then. I'll take your word for it. Thanks for coming, Cal," said the hareling as Callie stood up.
"Anytime, Inkogen. I better be going. Make sure you finish your fries before they get cold."
"I will. And Callie, thank you for cheering me up," she replied, causing the inkling to stop at the door.
"I make it my job…"
Inkopolis Plaza, 11:48 PM
If anybody was around at this hour, there would be high chances that whatever was going on there would be filmed and put up on Splatube. It was a good thing that most were residents of the Bay and now those who did live here were asleep.
Makoids were running wild and away from the mess that was made by Pearl as she shot her Hero Splatling Replica directly at them, making them pink puddles of ink on the ground. Doing it all with an almost deranged grin on her face.
Mouth agape on a roof top, Hachi was speechless. Marina specifically told them to do this if the makoids tried anything suspicious. Of course, Pearl translated that to 'if they breathe'.
"Uh, Agent 5, I hope there aren't any more makoids down there," said Hachi, seriously concerned for her sanity.
"It…it doesn't look like it but I'll keep watch," said Pearl as she tightened grip on the weapon. "You can go home Eight. Tell Agent 6 the makoids have been taken care of."
"I don't really think she'd be very happy about how you did it. This wasn't really a 'splat on sight' mission," said Hachi.
"She'll understand. Besides, I did all the work. If she does get mad, it won't be at you. Just chill," Pearl said as she ran down an alley.
Shaking his head, the octoling super jumped to the hidden spawn point and found himself in the HQ. Making sure no-one was around, he ran to the spawn point to the Square, ran through the city and found Hitto who was leaning against the barricade.
"Took you long enough," said the inkling as he was checking his watch.
"Where's Four?" asked Hachi.
"She's at the other side of town. Convinced her to go without me. What about Five?"
"She wanted to go solo," said Hachi. "So we're actually doing this?"
"That's why we're here, isn't it?" asked Hitto as they jumped over the barricade.
"Please don't do that. I'm very nervous right now," said Hachi.
"No promises."
Deepsea Metro: 12:02 AM
It took quite some time for them to actually get to the subway tracks. They just had to wait for the train to arrive. So they sat on a nearby crate to do just that.
Hitto couldn't help but notice his comrade furiously tap his fingers on the charger in his hand. His eyes were darting in every direction. Occasionally, he would rub his temples then go back to what he was doing.
"You okay, Eight?" he asked.
"Three, it's been two years. They must hate me by now. What am I gonna tell them? That I've just been living life while they've been wallowing down here?!" Hachi asked in rapid fire, tugging at the tentacle that hung over his face.
"My cod, relax! You've stayed with them. They know you've always wanted to be at the surface. And if they don't, I'm here to vouch for you," Hitto reassured him. "Just expect me to say something embarrassing if I do."
"You said you wouldn't-"
"I also didn't guarantee that wouldn't happen either," Hitto reminded his partner.
"Ah that's fair," Hachi shrugged.
From there, it had been total silence. It honestly weirded Hachi out. On the other hand, Hitto was quite fine with it but in the Metro it was better to fill the place with sound, especially since they were the only two in the stage at the momentand there was no danger there anymore. Luckily, Hachi figured that out too.
"I saw you guys in the match today," he began. "Nice move you made back there. You made the freshback."
"How did you see us?" asked Hitto. "You were here the entire time."
"Did you think they'd stop showing Inkopolis News here after the Final Fest?"
"No, I just forget sometimes," said Hitto as a sound came from the track.
"It's the train!" said Hitto as he stood up.
"Okay, time to meet the Denizens," said Hitto, following suit. "You ready?"
"I am now. Oh, and before I forget, thanks for saving me the trouble with Nana," said the octoling as the train stopped in front of them.
"You're welcome, as long as you can be better at playing along next time."
"HITTO!"
"Hey, what did I say? No promises," said the inkling as they stepped into the subway.
End Chapter
To put a few point across, Mako Missions is a co-op mode that exists alongside Salmon Run in the project. It is unlocked when the story mode is completed. The makoids (based on sharks) once tried to wipe out the harelings who put themselves in cryogenic stasis to save themselves. The makoids return in story mode and kidnap Off The Hook. They were hypnotized into working with them but were eventually saved by Agent 7 which explains Pearl's grudge against them. Yes, Marina dislikes them too but would rather have nothing to do with them anymore in my theory.
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