Chapter Twelve:

Splatoon Reunion

The Kremling guard was baffled, so too were the Nintendo ninjas.

"C'mon, it's me, Stanley the Bugman."

He held up the phone, showing the image of the man in overalls with the bug blaster. However, the man looked different from how he appeared in the image, sporting black hair and a blue hat with an S in the middle, akin to Mario. The Kremling approached, sniffing Stanley, the guards scratched their heads, nearly confused.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, it was SMG4, having taken on a new look. And, almost by coincidence, he looked like Stanley. Stanley had retired years ago, the sight of him these days was very rare, especially in Smash Bros.

Stanley, SMG4, pulled out the iconic hose and pumped it, steam appeared out of the nozzle with each push of the trigger.

"Hey, come on!" The beanie-wearing Inkling cried, "The boss needs us for the new Mario and Splatoon crossover game!"

"Oh, yes. We're working on that right now." A ninja said.

"Yes, step through." The Kremling stepped aside and, feeling delighted, the disguised SMG4 walked through the gates, into the Mushroom Kingdom at last.

Once they were out of eye-shot of the guards, he and Meggy high-fived. Now, all they had to do was find Mario. And chances were, that firewall had taken effect by now. Hopefully, they could get through to him…

"Agent Red, do you read? Octarians are heading your way, chances are they will attack the castle. Defend at all costs, splat as much as you can. Good luck!"

"Here we go!"

The plumber equipped his Splattershot, brimming with determination. Octarians glided across the field, their weapons battle-ready. Mario ran in, raising his weapon, this would be like doing Duck Hunt with the Nintendo Zapper all over again.

Mario opened fire, blasting several Octarians into puddles of ink. An Octoling girl in battle armor ran towards him, trilling in Octarian. The plumber leaped into the air and fired at her, splatting the tentacle-headed minion into a puddle of purple ink.

Oh, their leader was going to stand no chance against the unstoppable Super Mario at this rate.

He shot several Octo-balls and an Octo-roller heading in his direction. Another Octoling pounced, trying to take Mario down, but he shot her in a second. The ground rumbled and the big one made it's appearance; the Octo-Stomper.

"Let's-a go!" The plumber said in his upbeat manner.

The Octo-Stomper snarled and ran towards Mario, jumping into the air and then landing on the ground face-first in it's attempt to squish the plumber.

Mario ran out of the way and jumped before the Octarian super-weapon's face made impact, these guys were no different from the Whomps he'd faced over the years.

Mario hopped onto the Octo-Stomper's leg and leaped onto it's back, finding the tentacle that served as the enemy's weak-point. He aimed steadily and opened fire, letting the Octo-Stomper have it.

BOOM! The ink oozed into DJ Octavio's bio-weapon and down it went, Mario leaped off and took cover just as the Stomper exploded.

"Ha! Got him!" He cried confidently.

"Aaaaaand cut!"

Inkling janitors entered the area to clean up the mess, the crew began packing up the cameras and the other equipment. The director, a tan-haired Inkling, hugged Mario excitedly.

"Great work, super-star!" He cried, "This game is going to be so fun!"

"That's a wrap for now!" The producer declared, "We'll work on the next scene later. You earned your break, Mario. See you all in ten years for the next big Mario game, after we finish this crossover and it's put out. Splatoon 3 comes out tomorrow, prepare for the big party, hopefully DJ or that bear don't cause trouble."

The crew left the area as Callie and Marie approached Mario.

"Honestly, Mario. You'd make a great agent for the Squidbeak Splatoon." Callie said.

"When we were shooting that scene and I gave you the briefing, I felt like it was an actual scenario that was happening." Marie quipped, "Wow, performances can be convincing if done right with just enough emphasis."

"See you later, Agent Red. Until the next scene..."

"Stay Fresh!" The Squid Sisters posed and headed off, leaving Mario to himself while he overheard them talking about Big Man's birthday.

"Now that's-a done, it's-a time to save the princess." Mario said, he put away the Splattershot, unaware of the youthful man in overalls and the orange-haired Inkling watching him from a distance behind a tree.

"Man, I guess he is under the firewall's influence." SMG4 remarked.

"Probably doesn't remember us too." Meggy commented, "I think I can try to fix that."

The red Italian was hardly half-way across the countryside when an orange squid landed in front of him, it then morphed into a purple-eyed female Inkling in a beanie, headphones, black shorts and a white shirt.

She drew her Splattershot in a swift manner and fired on Mario, splatting him in the face. The plumber fell over backwards, eyes wide with surprise.

"You just got wrecked by the Splatfest champion, Meggy." Meggy declared, 'C'mon, Mario, try to remember.'

"Mama mia!" Mario exclaimed as he stood, "Is this-a part of the crossover? I don't-a know anyone named Meggy, but I got a princess named Peach to save from-a Bowser right now and I can't-a keep her waiting."

"Oh, come on!"

SMG4 came running up, Mario turned and raised an eyebrow in bewilderment.

"Stanley?" He asked, "I thought you retired. Are you here to take part in-a the crossover too? What is-a this weirdness here, you look different and why did-a the Inkling just splat me in the face? I thought me and the Inklings were buddies, I don't understand what's-a going on here?"

"Mario, remember me!" SMG4, Stanley, slapped the plumber, trying to get something out of him.

"SMG4, wait!" Meggy cried, "Let's try something different."

SMG4 stepped aside and Meggy approached Mario. "Sorry about that..." She said, "We mistook you for someone else, kinda looks like you and has a similar name. So, uh, let's try this again..."

She waved the peace sign with her Splatshot held firmly. "Hey, the name's Meggy, Meggy Spletzer. And I'm the upcoming Splatfest champion of Inkopolis, you probably heard of that, right?"

"Splatfest? Oh yeah, I have." Mario nodded, "Special event, often has-a different themes regarding certain topics. As for Inkopolis, honestly, it looks like a nice place-a."

"We were just heading there." Meggy said, she held out her Splattershot, "A Turf War is coming up and you look like someone who could be useful for the team. Would you like to help me train?"

SMG4 leaned in Mario's ear. "It's for the new Mario and Splatoon crossover game." He whispered.

"Okie-dokie." Mario nodded, "Let's-a go."