Unknown
The world appears to be a dream as the sky is amber, only for the water to make a mirror out of it.
The world is empty.
The only sound is panting as both inklings are charging forward, until Rei slows down.
"What is this place?" Rei gasps in awe after seeing the world that is a thing of beauty.
"What? There's no time for sightseeing, we need to hurry!" Zero shouts as he yanks Rei and runs with her.
As both inklings are still running, a glitch has caught them off guard as they stop.
"What the?" Rei looks around as she's nervous.
[Hello, Zero.] An unknown human man appears as he walks towards Zero and Rei.
"Order-03…" Zero gasps.
To Rei's surprise, he appears to be one of the ancient species that is actually taller than an adult inkling, as their heights are human children.
To the inklings and octolings, they're giants, and to the human, they're tiny.
[My my, aren't you a handsome fellow. You seemed to have grown up, unless…] The man in a fancy suit sighs as he calmly smiles.
"I know. I don't age and reproduce." Zero closes his eyes while sighing.
"Wait, you're Zero's puppet master?" Rei asks as she's curious.
[Excuse me?] Order-03 halts with surprise.
"The demons, the virus, Zero and the things you hide. Why?" Rei called the man out on the things he hides.
"Rei? You're…"
"If it's true that I'm reincarnated from Zero, then what am I?" Rei asks while being serious.
[Little Rei. I know who you are… You're an anomaly. A being that denied Zero's soul into your body.] Order-03 answers, which had Rei grunting. [Also what am I hiding? I had nothing to hide, but you did release us into your world. The virus was an old concept that God created and sent, considering he hated us mortals. Since you two survived, you risked that by challenging us to face you in your next world. As for Zero, it's obvious he's not from your world, but he's the oldest Agent 3 that's sole purpose is to fight against the octarians. The demon's are created by another Order, so I'm not to blame.]
All that explanation and Rei and Zero's horrified look has witnessed so many screens of different timelines and other worlds.
"This is…"
[Past, present and future. Welcome to the New World Order.] Order-03 raised his arms as he announced the world itself. [Our goal is to traverse all over the world and create the perfect world to our desires. Zero, you're my loyal subject and I think now's the time for us to kill… No, splat you two.]
"You! You set me up!" Zero snapped.
"Why?" Rei grunts as she and Zero hold out their Hero Shots as they glare.
The man can see why Rei and Zero are desperate to save the world as the New Squidbeak Splatoon Unit's goal was meant to be.
He sighs as he pulls his hair back.
[Because, child, I was chosen by the Order. I lived as an ordinary human and watching fiction fighting for their lives was not only entertaining, but satisfying to see which one slays a true god.] Order-03 answered. [If that's not enough, then my reason for doing this is to create a New World Order.] Said the man as he clenches his fist and points down at the river.
Before Rei and Zero rush, an unknown gravity becomes heavy as Rei and Zero exclaim and fall to their hands and knees.
"What!?" Rei gasped with horror.
"What's going on!?" Zero growls.
[Enjoy it while you last, Zero. In the end, you're still weak, even with your memories returned.] Order-03 laughs while pushing both inklings down as the world glitches while turning crimson red. [Knowing you two, none of your kind have bones. Maybe you two might be as flat as a deflated balloon once your blood splats out of your bodies.]
"You… Bastard!" Zero snapped.
Before the duo are about to be crushed by gravity, Order-03 gasps as he vanishes into data instantly and appears as he stands in front of Rei and Zero, who're panting.
[Who's there?]
"It's me." A voice called.
Arriving is Marina and Pearl, who has black ink instead of pink as her ink floats around her and her irises are pitch black.
[Chaos? Heaven?]
"Heaven? Never heard of that name in a while. I am Marina Iida, and you will be punished for all the sins you committed. Senpai… I hope you're okay." Marina mutters as she remains serious.
"Relax, 'Rina, your senpai is safe with me! Now let's see how I can fuck you up by making you a vagina!" Chaos laughs as she flips a bird at a human, or a God.
[How vulgar. It seems that Chaos is still not done with us Orders. Tch. Zero, it seems that our challenge has been accepted. Mark my words, I won't hold back if you face us.] Order-03 concluded as he let Rei and Zero go.
In the end, Chaos cackles, preparing to kill a human being whereas Marina grunts and sets up her laptop in order to guide Rei and Zero.
Finally, Chaos is creating chainsaws as ink as she's brawling with a human god that is far more dangerous than facing a sanitised octarian and Tartar.
"The exit is in front of you two. Hurry. Save our past." Marina said as she pointed from behind.
"Thanks, Marina. What's the possibility of survival?" Zero asks.
"Very low. Be careful because the time paradox is something you need to avoid. There's a chance that the butterfly effect will cause a glitch in their world." Marina warned.
"Then we'll make sure to avoid that!" Rei said with a grin.
"Hmph. You don't know the meaning of danger." Zero chuckles.
"Why should I? I mean I am about to commit suicide." Rei giggles.
"Rei…" Zero can see why. "Let's go."
Finally, both inklings are charging past Marina and head straight towards the empty world as the blinding light is showing in front of them.
"We're here!" Zero cheers.
"Yay! Let's save the world!" Rei cheers.
As the duo vanishes, Marina is typing as she can see the progress of changing the past.
"Rei, Zero, you need to start with Captain Craig Cuttlefish. You need to warn him about the future without explicitly telling him everything. Turn Aori into a fighter at an early age."
[Roger.] Rei and Zero reply at the same time.
On the other side…
Order-03 slaps Chaos off of him and then swings his kick onto her face as Chaos grunts.
The man stops himself as he sees red blood on his hand after countering a black ink chainsaw that almost killed him.
[Blood. Many humans… Even other races… So they're capable of defeating gods, huh. Interesting, that means gods are actually vulnerable to anything.] Order-03 whispers as he chuckles.
"What's so funny, fucker?" Chaos asked as she frowned out of disgust.
[Nothing much. Oh, how you cephalopods amuse me and here's Heaven… Marina, guiding Zero towards his new demise. At least he did me a favour. Now Hime, wake up.]
"Wha- GAH!" Chaos is hastily pulled up by the neck as both Chaos and Pearl are panting as they breathe for air.
"Senpai!" Marina shrieks.
[Relax. I'm not going to kill her. I'm only putting Chaos in her permanent rest. Now your prince will forever be free and control Chaos.] Order-03 laughs as he ends up with tears and saliva running on his hand.
" Damn… You…" Hardly breathing, Pearl's eyes fades from black to gold as well as her ink from black to pink.
Landing on the water-like ground, Marina hastily pulls up Pearl, who was unconscious.
"Senpai!? Why?" Marina asks as she's looking up at the man who was walking all over the past present and future of many timelines.
[Like I said, octoling, to create a New World Order. Hmph. I must be off. Have fun guiding Zero.]
"What about Rei? You never mentioned her." Marina calls him out as Order-03 himself turns around.
[Because Rei doesn't have the time to live. She's unable to live in the next world since she's not a demon and was not a transferred soul. An anomaly perishes once her goal is completed.]
"No… Even when Rei said she's committing suicide, that means…"
[Correct. She actually is committing suicide.] Order-03 answered.
Marina's eyes widened as she lowered her head in shock. Now another one of her friends is dead.
It may not be over, but the loss of a friend means it's going to end badly for not just Zero, but Pearl and Marina.
"We may have lost to you people… But we haven't lost the battle to Tartar!" Marina snaps as it stops Order-03.
[Excuse me?]
"We did what Tartar didn't want us to do, and it's going to the past and change the events in order to create a better ending for all of us, no matter the cost of our lives." Marina points out with a glare.
[Clever girl. You figured it out. Haah. It's funny. Fictional characters facing us former humans. Hmph. Guide Zero… And Rei to what their fate leads to.] Order-03 concludes while vanishing into glitches.
He's gone.
As Marina holds Pearl's body, Marina grunts as she puts her laptop back on and starts to call.
[We successfully persuaded this old man, what's next?] Zero's voice called as he sounds positive.
Holding her own chest, Marina is worried about the possibility of Zero's reaction towards Rei's final fate.
[Marina?] Rei asks as she's confused.
"Oh! U- Um… The next one you should do is to bring Empress to Hotaru! Once Callie and Marie are formed, bring the envious demon to Hotaru."
[Gotcha. Marina, you sounded like you saw something scary.] Zero sounded concerned about Marina's reaction.
"It's… Nothing…" Marina lied.
[Oh. Anyway, we'll let you know if it succeeds.] Said Zero.
As Zero hangs up, Marina slowly looks at the orange sky as it's getting dark.
She remembers that Rei is trying her best to make everyone live on.
"Please… Be careful."
Next Timeline…
14004 May 26th
Haikara, Inkopolis City
Earlier, Rei and Zero are able to contact those related to Aori, Hotaru, Pearl, Marina, Fuuka, Utsuho and Big Man as they finally change the events that are needed and a huge warning to those inhabited there.
In Aori's case, Rei and Zero convinced Cap'n Cuttlefish, also known as Atarime Yoshio, telling him about how will anyone get stronger or survive longer if they're not aware of the dangers near them. Cap'n Cuttlefish understands as he's reluctant in giving Aori a weapon at an early age, changing her into not only becoming an idol, but a hero as well.
In Hotaru's case, Empress from the past is being taken to Hotaru as she's told to wait for the right moment to encounter her. Hotaru is to live with Aori and to show her true feelings as well as being more like an older sister to her. This resulted in Hotaru and Empress being less antagonistic and more reluctant towards each other.
In Pearl's case, she starts off not being rich, which admittedly was Pearl's idea for Rei and Zero to give her a progression from being an average girl to being rich. After that, she'll be entering Inkopolis City at the end of her Elementary school after her little brothers enter there with their mother. This resulted in Pearl learning to understand more and more people than before.
In Marina's case, she's already a prodigy, but wanted to leave Octo Valley earlier than usual, only to enter Inkopolis City and meet Pearl at an early age, making Pearl a big sister figure to Marina. This resulted in Marina being less afraid of inklings.
Shiver, Frye and Big Man are a difficult bunch since they're from another country, but their past is also affected since they're related to those Rei and Zero knows.
The rest is to change their pasts as it's to save Rei and her friends' loved ones.
Some are meeting their endless fate, most are free from their demise.
14004 May 27th
Inkopolis City, Square, Detaban District
It's the afternoon and Rei and Zero are exhausted from all the deeds they went through.
As the duo are sighing, Rei grunts as she can feel the pain on her chest.
"Rei. Don't give up. We're almost there." Zero said while helping Rei lean on the wall and sit on the ground.
"Yeah… I guess you can still go, but I can't… That's what happens when I jump into your business." Rei giggles as she pants.
Zero stops himself and then turns around.
"Who's there?"
"Hello, big bro." A familiar voice called.
"Huh!? I- It can't be…" Zero gasps as he witnesses the very inkling he lost. "Mirai!?"
Mirai is standing on one of the beams, considering the building is heavily unfinished, appears to completely open her high visibility hero coat and smirks at Zero with a glare.
"Heh. I was right. You made it past Tartar. To think some idiot lost all his friends again has shown up with only his other self? I didn't know you're into selfcest, Zero." Mirai mockingly said as she loves to see the looks on Zero's face.
"You… Don't think you'll get away with it!" Zero snapped.
"I already did, big bro. Now how about a reunion with my friends." Mirai calls as she clicks her fingers.
This signals both inklings to appear as there's an inkling boy and an inkling girl that Zero recognised.
"What the!? You're that inkling who teamed up with me on a Splatfest!" Zero gasps as he can tell who that orange hippie tentacle haircut inkling girl with a beanie, goggles and headphones was.
"And your opponent. You humiliated me for the last time, Zero. This time, we're even." The orange inkling girl chuckles.
"Hm… You're… Nutmeg?" Zero thought if he got the right name.
"It's Meggy! Meggy Spletzer, you idiot!" Meggy exclaims as she yells at Zero.
"Ahahahaha! Good one, big bro! Hey, Nutmeg, sounds like a new nickname for you!" Mirai hollers out with laughter which causes Meggy to growl out of embarrassment.
"That's even worse than small bean!" Meggy groans.
"Oh. Sorry, Meggy." Zero apologises calmly.
"You better be! Calling me Nutmeg…" Meggy mutters.
Zero sighs and then looks at an aqua blue inkling boy.
"Marcus." Zero calls out with a glare.
"Zero. I prefer that you call me Spade." Spade smiles as Zero isn't.
"Alright then, Spade. I see you're hiding your past like earlier." Zero said.
"I like how you're approaching me maliciously, but you're wrong. I have a new goal set up. Us Team Spades are overthrowing the world as a means to show who we really are. Meggy and Mirai are my loyal partners that's about to 'play the villain.' But Mirai is going to save the world with you."
"What? That doesn't make any sense!" Zero doesn't get what Spade means.
"Think about it. You sent the Orders to get all of us and now you're paying the price." Mirai giggles in a mocking way.
"So, Zero. Are you feeling sorry for yourself?" Meggy asks out of disgust.
Zero lowers his head as he can tell why he made things worse for his friends and family.
"Heh. How pathetic. Poor big bro, you shouldn't have crossed your little sister like this." Mirai's disgust is shown as she's piercing a pink glare at Zero. "But I'm not here for petty revenge and jealousy, but I'm here for YOU, big bro."
"Tch. You think all this is a game to you!?" Zero growls as his rage fuels up.
To Meggy's surprise, Zero's ink is bursting as he's releasing his demon body as ink is all over him and his eyes that are a number 0, are shown.
"Mirai, um… You shouldn't have pissed him off." Meggy warned.
"Heh. Let him be. I can't wait to trample his legacy!" Mirai cackles.
"Actually, you'll sit this one out, Mirai." Spade orders.
This stops Mirai from laughing as she hears what Spade said.
"Eh?"
"You heard me. You'll fight Zero someday. If he's still alive." Pulling a smirk, Spade has waited for the moment to face Zero. "Meggy, deal with Rei."
"Yes sir!" Meggy accepts as she jumps down from the building.
As Meggy lands, Rei changes her colour similar to Zero as both of them become demons.
"Are you sure you can do that?" Zero asks with surprise.
"Yeah! If that girl wants to face me, so be it! I won't go down without a fight!" Rei said as she smiled.
"Boo… Why not me?" Mirai moans as she pouts.
Afterwards, both Rei and Zero raise their Hero Shots at their opponents, whereas Meggy points her Splattershot at Rei and Spade points his Hero Charger at Zero.
"So, Rei, tonight's your last day. I can't wait to beat you." Meggy said, chuckled.
"Bring it on, Meggy Spletzer." Rei grunts.
"It's been a while since we fought each other, Zero." Spade chuckles.
"Indeed. This time you'll lose for real." Zero concluded.
Zero vs. Spade, and Zero vs. Death.
The real final battle begins.