Warning: Abuse is depicted through flashbacks in this chapter.
The sun wasn't even up, and Cerulean was awoken by a scream. "HE'S GONE!" Haru shouted as he flung his boyfriend's door open. The inkling sprang out of bed. "Agent 8, call agent 3 and 4!" he instructed. "As your captain, get em' down here on the double!" He yelled as he ran to grab his gear and hero shot. Within minutes, everyone was ready to fight any potential foes. Agent 3 and the captain had their hero shots, agent 4 her hero dualies and agent 8 had his octoshot– Celeste, Cerulean, Ember and Haru respectively.
"I finally figured out this thing!" A REEF-LUX 450 fired a clean charged shot, knocking down a pile of trashed cans. The octoling flopped on the ground of the abandoned parking lot he stood on, watching the end of the sunrise in the sky. "Turf war, here I come..." he smiled as he drifted off to sleep.
"STUPID INKLING BITCH!" shouted Octavia as she fell into a pitch black void. "Is she…?" Quartz looked into the pit below. The inkling, wearing a black and yellow jacket with a glowing blue headset looked at him kindly, and nodded.
"Agent 3, or captain 3, or whatever you go by now…Who are you?"
"What brought you here, in such a strange place, before the sun rose?"
"I have to play turf war! If she comes back, I can fight her!"
"Quartz…You aren't alone in this anymore."
A blue glow surrounded him…
"HEY QUARTZ!" shouted agent 4, startling him. "How do you know my name?!" He then got a closer look at her. "Agent 4…"
Flashback…
Five years ago…
"Shit! She's making her way here!"
"Miss, we just sent four troops over!"
"I'll join them, after I take care of some business…"
She went into a small bedroom that looked like it was falling apart. The young octoling inside trembled in fear. "P-please don't hurt me…"
"Did you contact those squids in an attempt to save yourself?"
"N-no! They're just after the great zapfish again!"
"I don't fucking care about what you have to say about it. They'll take the zapfish from us regardless of why they're here. So tell me, DID YOU TELL THEM TO COME HERE?"
"I DIDN'T! DON'T HIT ME!"
She slashed his face with a knife.
"YOUR PARENTS WOULD STILL BE HERE IF YOU WERE NEVER BORN."
She then marched out of the room to lead the soldiers after agent 4. The young octoling cried as he used his blanket to wipe the blood away.
Present day…
"Agent 4…"
"What happened?"
"Nothing. I just remembered something…"
"From your past again?"
Quartz was shocked. "How do you know?" he asked, not knowing the agent's identity. She showed him a photo of Cerulean and Haru. "Ember?!" The inkling winked. "Keep it a secret!" The other agents got a message from agent 4 saying "He's safe!"
"Ember, who is the captain?" he asked. "Not allowed to say." she replied. "Why'd you come out here anyway? It's really creepy here." said Ember as she looked around the abandoned parking lot. "It's peaceful." said Quartz. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I came here and practiced this weapon I found for turf war."
"You wanna play turf war?" smirked Ember. "You came to the right squid." She grabbed Quartz's hand and ran him to the heart of Splatsville, changing out of her hero gear sometime along the way. "The best practice is not practicing!" Ember exclaimed proudly, shining her dualies. "Lemme just ring up my buddies so we can get a full team here…"
A few minutes later, two inklings–Pink and green, arrived. "Hey Ember!" chirped one. "You needed a full team?" asked the other in a calm but confident tone. "Who's this?"
"He's Quartz!" Quartz laughed nervously, he saw those two all over TV and the internet. They were the most famous cephalopods in the above-ground world. "Nice to meet you!" happily smiled the pink squid. "I'm Callie!" She then paused and waited, but no one knew why. "Marie, you're supposed to say "I'm Marie!" and do the stay fresh pose!" she whispered to her cousin. The green squid chuckled as she rolled her eyes. "I'm Marie, no need to be nervous." she said, noticing Quartz's visible anxiety. "I'll carry you all." smirked the green inkling.
"Yeah right, charger user!" Callie sassed jokingly. "Says the roller main." Marie shot back. "Says the both of you, dualies are the toughest!" Quartz became less nervous as he watched the three inklings joke around.
The battle took place at Eeltail Alley, they were an orange-yellow (agent 4's) ink color playing against a team of pink inklings. Ember was rolling all over the place with her dualies while Marie was perched on the bridge above, sniping the enemies. Quartz was shaking nervously. "You can do it!" cheered Callie with a wink. "I've never played this before…" he stammered. "Just pretend they're all your worst enemy and their clones!"
Quartz tried to imagine it, suddenly the four inklings looked just like a certain elite octoling. "RIGHT!" shouted Quartz as he rushed to the middle of the stage. "There ya go!" waved Callie as she painted the rest of the base.
WIPEOUT!
When the four opponents respawned, they were all instantly hit with tenta missiles from Quartz's Reef-Lux.
WIPEOUT!
The battle ended, and they won! Unsurprisingly, both Ember and Callie hit the double-cross dab to celebrate. "Now THAT was turf war!" Ember exclaimed. "You were amazing out there!" applauded Callie. Marie ended up smiling too. "Not bad, much better than Callie's first turf war." she snickered. "I had to drag her to the old spawn and teach her how to shoot ink!"
"MARIEEEEE!"
"Carp, we have an interview to get to. We'll see you two later."
"See ya!"
"Bye!" waved Ember. Quartz waved, still slightly nervous in their presence. "Bet you weren't expecting the Squid Sisters! I didn't even know who they were for half my life!" she laughed. One of the inklings came up to them. "You did great!" one of them said. Quartz thought he was being sarcastic and just rolled his eyes. "Geez, you're cold." remarked Ember as the unnamed inkling sadly walked away.
"How can you be so nice to the one who kicked your ass?" he scoffed. Ember wasn't sure how to answer, but his question was rhetorical anyways. "You know, you could really use some friends of your age!" she said. He was nervous at the thought of it. "You're 14, you could go to school and meet some people…" she continued. "...Or find love."
"And why would I do that?"
"I dunno man, just an idea."
While Celeste stayed at home and played video games, Haru and Cerulean went out to find Ember and Quartz. They finally saw them chatting outside of the lobby. "Ember did you seriously throw him into turf war like that?!" barked Cerulean. "Maybeeee…" she shrugged. "So do all of you know the Squid Sisters?" asked Quartz, innocently.
"We do." said Cerulean. "I can't really explain the story though." He hid the Squid Sisters being agents 1 and 2 with the whole New Squidbeak Splatoon stuff. When they went home and waved goodbye to Ember, Quartz couldn't help but think about Octavia again. When he found out Ember was agent 4, his respect for her grew immensely, but it also reminded him of Octo Canyon. He was laying in his bed, deep in his memories again.
Flashback…
Less than a year ago…
"You're all soft." groaned Octavia, on the phone with the leader of Suction-Cup Lookout. "946 is…He's staying with me for a reason, okay? I know what i'm doing, that's final." She aggressively hung up the phone.
"No you don't." quietly growled Quartz.
"What did you just fucking say?"
"YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT. ABOUT. ANYTHING."
"YOU'RE JUST FUCKING ASKING FOR IT, AREN'T YOU?"
"I'M GOING TO LEAVE THIS FUCKED UP HELL AND NEVER LOOK BACK!"
"You've tried to do that so many times, and how did they turn out?"
The young octoling went silent.
"Exactly. In FAILURE." she let out an ear-shattering cackle and smacked his head with her octoshot. "You'll never escape your own home!" she continued her maniacal cackling.
Present day…
Beaker's Depot, Octo Canyon…
"He's in Splatsville and lives with the two cephalopods he was initially spotted with." an octoling announced. "He seems to have learned an unfamiliar weapon class."
"WHAT?!" yelled Octavia, her visible anger then quickly faded. "He's barely been there for two days, we can easily drag his ass back here." she sneered. "I've decided on who's going to head there alongside me, and the disguises are ready."
Back in Splatsville…
"Quartz, it's all okay." comforted Haru. "I'm here." Quartz broke down again from remembering another thing from his past. "It's ridiculous." said Quartz. "Instead of crying, I should be ready to fight her if she tries to take me back." He then hugged the older octoling tightly for a moment. "Quartz…I'd fight alongside you." nodded Haru. Celeste then walked in. "I would too!" she said with confidence as she entered the room. "Sorry about that, but I only heard that last part in all fairness."
"Anyways, I came in here to ask you if you wanted to watch some turf wars." Celeste asked Quartz. "I think it'd help you with the game." He nodded. "Sure!" They went to Flounder Heights and found a spot to chill out and watch from.
"It's really pretty from up here." she said.
"It doesn't compare to the bridge." he mumbled.
"Bridge?"
"When I was escaping, the train crossed a bridge over a really pretty ocean."
Quartz noticed a familiar inkling, who was fighting on the heights with a splattershot. "Hmph, that weirdo tried talking to me earlier." Celeste was confused. "That guy with the beanie?" she asked. "Yeah, he tried congratulating me and was clearly being sarcastic."
WIPEOUT!
"He's pretty good with his weapon though." the octoling girl commented. "Whatever." scoffed Quartz. "Callie and Marie kicked his ass."
"The Squid Sisters? We're all friends with them!"
"Heh. Ember brought them over to join our turf war team earlier."
The inkling noticed them and waved, smiling. Quartz just gave him the middle finger. "Who the hell does he think he is?" he scoffed. "If it makes you feel better," his friend chimed in. "He just lost to an all-aerospray team. Booyah bomb spam is the worst though."
They watched a few more before heading back. To get home, they had to go through a somewhat shady neighborhood. Since it was raining, the usual creeps were all inside, but three octolings intensely watched the two.
"Who are they?"
"Huh?"
They ran into hiding before he could turn around. The two thought it must've been an illusion and continued walking home.
(I hc that water isn't lethal to inklings and octolings, water is a common obstacle in video games and they probably just said they can't swim as a way to explain that in the game)
"Wait a second. Those footsteps…" Fear spread through Quartz's body. "Celeste," he said quietly. "We should run." Once again, she was a bit confused. He raised his voice. "RUN." He grabbed her hand and ran for his life. Being an agent, Celeste had no issue with keeping up.
"Why?!"
"It's them."
She understood exactly who he was referring to.
Neither of them dared to look back until they got inside. The two rushed into Cerulean's room. "W-what's the rush for?" asked the inkling. "Octavia…" Quartz whispered in an eerie tone. "She's here."
"Shit…" Even the captain of the New Squidbeak Splatoon felt a shiver go down his back. "Don't worry, they won't touch you." he reassured. A little while later, the two teenage octolings were playing on Celeste's switch again, keeping their weapons close. They actually forgot about what they saw due to how much fun they were having. "Second win!" cheered Quartz.
"Man, i've never had a friend who likes playing games with me." sighed Celeste, smiling.
"They're idiots, you're the nicest person i've ever met!" Quartz barked.
"You too! The past two nights have been really fun!"
The two eventually drifted off to sleep, right on the octoling girl's floor. Outside, captain 3 with agents 4 and 8 were running down the street, chasing an octoling soldier.
"You're really wasting your time on a useless rat?"
"SURRENDER OR ELSE I'LL RIP YOU APART!"
"How does it feel, captain? How does it feel to fail?"
"The hell are you talking about?"
Inside, a thud could be heard in front of Celeste's window. Quartz sprung awake when he felt a hand aggressively touch him.
"We got you now."
"DON'T YOU FUCKING LAY A FINGER ON ME!" he screamed. "I'LL FUCKING FIGHT YOU!" He yanked Octavia's hand off of him and grabbed his Reef-Lux. "So, that's your weapon?"
She dodged his shots. He couldn't risk charging up a more powerful shot due to how fast she was. He screeched as she grabbed him by the neck. "Rat." The screech woke Celeste up. "QUARTZ!" she screamed and without thinking, grabbed her hero shot out of the closet.
"Oh, are you one of those agents too?"
"Yes. I, Celeste Moon, am AGENT THREE of the New Squidbeak Splatoon."
"If you're truly worthy of that title…"
In what seemed like anger, she went to fight Octavia with her bare fists. The elite octoling yelped quietly after being unexpectedly hit, but kicked agent 3 down.
"If you're truly worthy of that title, catch me!" She super jumped out of the window, taking Quartz with her.
Meanwhile, the others were still fighting that other octoling.
"You wasted your energy on a lowly soldier like me, while your precious boy gets taken away in his sleep? If you were competent, you would've seen right through this." The soldier then super jumped away.
The captain fell to the ground, defeated.
"Those ABSOLUTE FUCKWADS!" screamed agent 4. Agent 8 just watched the octoling leave, with a look of shock on his face, and tears forming. "Captain, we have no choice but to go to Octo Canyon and get him back." agent 8 said in an upset but determined tone.
The captain slammed his fists on the ground and screamed the younger octoling's name into the night sky.
Oddly, Celeste seemed very calm back in her room. She got into her agent gear and called her smallfry friend–Her little buddy, if you will. "There's a reason why I hit you in the back like that." The octoling went into octopus form and held her smallfry tight. She performed her own super jump, aimed for the tiny device she stuck onto the elite's back.
"I won't let you get away with this."
It was the longest super jump she ever had to do, going across the entire Outer Splatlands Desert and the very same body of water that amazed Quartz when he first escaped.
"Those who hurt others like this…"
She landed in Beaker's Depot, with Smallfry resting in her ink tank.
"...BELONG IN HELL!"
To be continued...
So many different emotions, shit's about to go down! The first flashback in this chapter took place during the events of splatoon 2, in the level Octoling Assault. I imagine Octavia being the elite octoling in the opening cutscene.
I also hc that captain 3 uses his old agent 3 gear when he's fighting (while wearing his captain's hat ofc) I also think that agent 8 got new gear when he got to the surface, and it looks like agent 4's except it's black instead of yellow with a headset that better fits octoling ears (and he probably got better looking shoes lol)