Chapter 10: Operation Murdock
Earlier
Splatoon HQ
"…What's your plan?" Cap'n Cuttlefish asked.
"Getting down there and shutting down their operations." Oliver responded.
"Well, yeah, that's the obvious end goal, but what's your plan, doofus?" Sheldon said.
"...The Underdogs. It involves the Underdogs. Because after their own failed attempt to destroy Inkopolis, many of their remnants instead came to be recruited by a man named Gideon Tecca. You know him?"
Cuttlefish and Sheldon glanced at each other before they looked back at him. "…No, but it's nice to put some kind of name to the enemy."
"Yes, Gideon Tecca is behind all of this. He and Hugh Ward have had ties in the past… but to learn more about that, I need the help of the Underdogs former leader."
Sheldon rolled his eyes. "Uh… dude?"
"...I think your clock is a bit off there, bucko." Cuttlefish told him. "Hugh Ward has been dead for almost a year. Jessica already killed him."
"No, no, not him." Oliver responded. "I'm fully aware he's dead. I'm referring to his Inkling replacement. Agent 3's brother. Daniel Murdock."
From there, the room remained in an awkward, painful silence as everyone stared at him, looking around at each other.
"...Don't look at me…" Samantha replied shyly.
"...I take it from your silence you're not happy to hear me say that." Oliver continued.
"Yeah, dude, you're completely nuts." Sheldon told him, before turning to the Cap'n. "Can we get him out of here now?"
"Hold on." Cuttlefish regardless stepped toward Oliver. "Do you know who Daniel Murdock is?"
"Yes. I've heard of him." Oliver said, looking him in the eye.
"I mean, do you really know who he is?"
"...Can't say I've met him."
"...Agent 5." He turned to Sheldon. "Can you give him a rundown, please?"
"Whatever…" Sheldon went to his computer, pulling up the logs they had on Daniel on the largest monitor. "Ok, ok…" He jumped up onto the desk. "Daniel Murdock. Brother of Jessica Murdock, AKA Agent 3. A former high-priority target of the Splatoon for murder and terrorism. He made his first kills at age ten when he burned down his own house with his parents inside, then went to juvie for several years until he joined the Underdogs as their Executioner. He ended up earning Cap'n Cuttlefish's trust, joined our Splatoon as a temporary Agent 9, turned out to be a double agent all along, leaked all of our Splatoon data and got us put in the slammer, proceeded to murder a bunch of people and try to destroy all of Inkopolis… do I have to go on?"
"That's even without mentioning his mental illness. He has schizophrenia. And a major grudge against his sister that caused us many problems." Cuttlefish held his cane with both hands. "In short, he's done a lot of horrible things, and is not mentally fit to work with us. I trusted him once, for a brief time. But I do not carry that trust now."
"I'm aware of his record." Oliver replied. "But this isn't about that. It's about the fact that he's one of the last remaining Underdogs. The fact that he was both their Executioner and their temporary leader makes him useful, because we need someone with credentials like that where we're going."
Cuttlefish and Sheldon looked at each other, still filled with doubt and concern.
"Hold on…" Samantha replied. "Is Daniel even still alive?"
"He's in prison." Cuttlefish replied. "Solitary confinement. Johnson locked him up and threw away the key. Which is just another reason on why this is a bad idea."
"...Ok, well, I doubt he actually threw away the key..."
Sheldon stared at her. "…Are you stupid?"
"...No… I found you here, didn't I?"
"Regardless…" Cuttlefish turned back to Oliver. "There has to be another way."
Oliver looked at him. "If we take too long finding another way, the Octarians will win."
"If we're on the clock, how can you be sure we'll get Daniel to cooperate in time?"
"That's a good point." Sheldon added. "The dude doesn't even trust anybody. His general usefulness can also easily be called into question-"
"I never said this was going to be easy." Oliver continued. "This will be by no means an easy fight. We are going up against forces that your Splatoon alone won't be able to handle. Just look at how things went down in the Square. But I'm trying to help. I've seen their power firsthand and I know that to stop them, and to rescue your agents, we need to start taking other angles. And if we're going after the remaining Underdogs, with all due respect, Cap'n… I need Murdock."
Cuttlefish and Sheldon fell silent, looking at each other. It's not like they a lot of options at this point.
Sheldon shrugged at him. "…Your call, boss…"
Cuttlefish looked at him, then back at Oliver as he thought it over.
The Next Morning
'Get out of here.'
'Shatter the door.'
'Break out of here.'
'Kill the guards, Daniel.'
'Daniel…'
'Kill yourself, Daniel.'
'Daniel?'
'Nobody loves you.'
'Daaaaniel…'
'Give it all up.'
'What are you waiting for, Daniel?'
'You're a criminal and a monster. Lower than scum.'
'Daaaaaniel…'
'WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? JUST DIE!'
Daniel Murdock closed his eyes, sighing to himself as he paced through his cell, a metal room that kept him in solitary confinement, alone. He shuddered a bit as he listened to the voices in his head, taking in a sharp breath. "Shut up…"
"Telling the voices to shut up doesn't work, you know." A female voice spoke to him.
He turned to see his sister, Jessica, casually sitting on his cell bed. She was in her full Agent 3 outfit, and was staring up at him, kicking her legs back and forth like a child despite her adult appearance.
"...It works sometimes." He told her, continuing on his pacing route.
"Hm. Only for a moment at a time, at best." She looked around the cell. "You have to get used to them. You're gonna be in here forever, with them."
"...And with you, too?"
"I dunno. Keeping track, I only seem to be here when you're in a mood. Which means you're in a mood today. What's wrong?"
"I'm always in a mood." He groaned, raising his arms like he was throwing a fit. "Some days are better than others, but not by much."
She watched him pace. "…You know you can talk to me about anything."
"I know, we keep having this conversation… again… and again…" He sighed, leaning his hands against the wall.
"...Well, then… come sit down." She patted the bed.
He paused. "…Are you going to try and hurt me…?"
"No…" She shook her head, patting the bed again. "Sit down and focus on me."
He turned and looked at her, hesitating. He sighed for a moment before he slowly moved to sit next to her.
She put her hand on his shoulder. "You're not alone in here… I'm here for you…"
"...It's not…" He lowered her head in his hands. "…You're not really here…"
"Because we both know what you tried to do to me…"
He started tearing up. "…I… thought that's what I needed… to get better…"
"...You thought that… with every person you killed… the voices would get quieter… but how did that work out?"
He didn't respond.
"...Look at me…" She said, prompting him to look at her. "…We lost a lot of time… we spent, so much of our lives apart, and when we finally got to see each other again, your… mind got the best of you. But I'm here now. You didn't kill me." She shook her head. "You couldn't kill me. You never will kill me. Because I love you…" She leaned her head forward. "Let me be here for you… I'll help heal you… and eventually, we'll make this box… livable…"
He turned to stare at her. This wasn't the first time he had this exact conversation with Jessica in his mind. He knew deep down it probably wasn't going to be the last, either. "...I know… I love you, too…"
She gave him a smile.
He leaned forward to hug her, but his arms failed to grab onto anything, as the image of Jessica disappeared. He sighed, slowly lowering his arms. He looked around, just to see if Jessica was appearing anywhere else in the room, but at the moment, it was just him and the voices. He laid down, curling up.
A few minutes passed, before he heard a buzz, and the light above his cell door turned green. He raised his head again.
His guard came in, holding cuffs. "You've got a visitor, Murdock."
He blinked. "…Who?"
Daniel kept his gaze downward as the guards led him down the hall, in order to avoid the demons he tended to see lurking around the prison halls. It didn't take them long to arrive at the visiting room, where Cap'n Cuttlefish was sitting at the table, waiting for him. He narrowed his eyes in confusion as he saw him, before the guards shoved him into his chair. They cuffed him to the table.
"You have five minutes." One guard said, before they walked out, closing the door.
Daniel looked behind him to watch them leave, before turning to Cuttlefish.
"Good morning, Daniel." Cuttlefish told him.
He just stared at him, not sure what to say. After a moment, he opened his mouth.
"Yes, I'm real, son." Cuttlefish cut him off.
"...Right…" He looked around a bit. "…I'm surprised you're still so polite after what I did to you guys."
"Well, now's not the time to be arguing and belittling each other like children."
"...Is Jessica here?"
"No."
"...Does she know you're here?"
"I doubt it. Not even Johnson does. Although, I suspect he'll know soon."
"What do you want, then?"
"...Have you been keeping an eye on the news?"
"I'm in solitary confinement, I don't get the news. This prison is cruel, you know."
"You were pretty cruel, too. To a lot of people. So let's not bicker about what's fair or cruel or not, got it?"
Daniel fell silent.
Cuttlefish sighed. "…Sorry… Let's start over…" He leaned forward, looking him in the eye. "I assume you've felt the earthquakes lately."
He stared at him. "…I've felt shaking. Got pretty bad yesterday. Didn't know what was going on. Wait, are you saying that-?"
"Yeah. The shaking was real."
Daniel sighed as he stared at the wall. "…Ward did like to say that the Earth won't last forever… sooner or later, it'll turn on us…" He slowly turned back to him. "…You know I've only felt more relieved each day since he died? Well… at least when he's not appearing in my cell at night…"
Cuttlefish didn't respond, staring at him as he did some thinking.
He stared back. "...What?"
"...I'd like you to tell me some more about Ward." He gripped his cane tightly. "Anything about some… contingency plan he might've had. Did he ever tell you anything that might be useful?"
He leaned back, feeling more nervous. "…Are you sure you're real?"
He sighed. "Yes, Daniel."
"I mean, can you poke me or something? So that I can-"
Cuttlefish leaned his cane forward and poked his arm.
"...Thank you." He gulped. "…No, I don't believe I have anything more to say about Ward… I wasn't… that close to him…"
"Have you ever heard about someone named Gideon Tecca?"
He thought about it. "...No…"
Cuttlefish kept staring at him, feeling pretty sure that he was lying. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"I… think so…"
"Then think hard about it. Because this is very important." He stared him directly in the eye. "The Splatoon is up against… a new threat… and remnant Underdogs are involved. And as crazy as it sounds… you may be our last shot at finding them."
They fell silent for a few moments as he stared at him, before he finally chuckled. "…You're getting senile, Cuttlefish… I'm nobody's last shot. Even… Even Ward and my own sister threw me aside like an old rag… here, to rot away inside my own mind for eternity. Do you…" He suddenly leaned forward, slamming his fist against the table. "Do you even know what this place is!? Why I'm here? Do you know what I've done!?"
Cuttlefish jumped and leaned back.
Daniel stared at him, then at his own fist, realizing he revealed the scar that ran down his wrist. He gulped as he put his hand over it and leaned back. "…I'm… I'm sorry…"
Cuttlefish just looked down and nodded slightly.
They were silent again for another few moments. "…I'm not any help for anyone, Cuttlefish… uh… I've had… a lot of time to think… here… and… it would've been better for everyone if I just burned myself down with that house… that would've been the best way I can help… So, uh… you can relay that message to Jessica, uh… the real Jessica, I mean…"
Cuttlefish stared at him, before he slowly stood up. "…Jessica does need you, Daniel. She's always needed you… even if neither of you know it. But she needs you now more than ever."
Daniel just stared back at him.
He turned back to the door, but before he left, he turned back to him one more time. "…You're a victim of your own mental illnesses, son. I don't think anyone can deny that. If you had better luck… who knows what you could've become? You and Jessica spoke from a young age about being heroes… do you think that part of you might still be anywhere in there?"
"...I'm…" He looked down. "I really don't know…"
"...Neither do I… but I can hope for it." He finally knocked on the door. Daniel watched as he was escorted out, and the guards returned to pull him from the table and take him back to his cell.
Oliver, Samantha, and Sheldon were all waiting in the Splatoon HQ: Samantha was sprawled across a seat in boredom, Oliver was sitting up straight in his with his hands together as he stared at nothing, and Sheldon, of course, was tinkering.
Oliver looked up as he heard the elevator open up, and Cuttlefish stepped out, walking into the main HQ. He stood up to greet him. "Sir."
Samantha did as well. "How did it go? Does he know how to find Dylan?"
Cuttlefish just sighed and shook his head.
Samantha groaned anxiously as she looked at Oliver.
"Go figure." Sheldon shrugged as he kept tinkering.
"Did he at least want to help?" Oliver asked.
"No, he's just as crazy as the last time I saw him…" He walked up to the front of the room and looked up at the monitors, where Daniel's biography, along with a bunch of Oliver's smuggled notes, was still plastered for them to double check. He stared at them before he turned back to Oliver. "We need to be looking at other options."
"There are no other options." Oliver replied firmly. "You agreed to let me help, but this is the only way I know how to help. With Ward dead, Daniel is the last Underdog who can help us get the rest of their research."
"Even if he is of use to us, how do you know he'll want to help us? When I just spoke to him, he didn't even seem all there."
"So we'll make him cooperate."
"He's in solitary confinement, there's only so much I can do while visiting him."
"Then we get him out of there and take him into our own custody."
Sheldon suddenly jumped onto his desk, thrusting his hands forward. "Woah, woah, WOAH!" He paused and pointed at Oliver. "…I actually kinda like how this guy thinks."
They all looked at him as Cuttlefish stepped forward. "That's simply not an option."
"Do you have a better idea?" Oliver replied.
Samantha blinked. "Wait, are we talking about an actual prison break right now?"
"If him being in that prison stands in the way of the fate of your Inkling world, then yes, we'll have to bypass it."
Sheldon rubbed his hands together. "Oh, man, things are getting interesting…"
"No, they're not." Cuttlefish told him before turning back to Oliver. "What you're talking about is too risky. We've already been on the police's radar before, and things have only gotten worse with the emergence of KRAKEN. Putting ourselves on a wanted list will only make things harder."
"…Are you not the New Squidbeak Splatoon?" Oliver replied. "Are you not the ones who won the war and broke into Octarian settlements multiple times? Are you not the ones with an underground headquarters to hide in?"
"...We are, but-"
"Then it's a risk we can and will have to take. Breaking one guy out of an Inkling prison? That will be the easy part. Whatever we're doing, we still need to act fast, because you know Gideon's plan has already moved forward. If his criminal record is what concerns you, the Inkling prison can have him back once we're done with him."
He paused, looking at Sheldon.
Sheldon was thinking as well. "…It's ultimately your call, boss, but, I think he's right." He leapt onto his chair and slid over to his computer, where he immediately got to work on preparations. "Breaking a schizophrenic psychopath out of prison? Somehow not the weirdest thing we've done. Also not the least fun."
Cuttlefish stared at him, before he looked back at Oliver.
Oliver looked at Sheldon. "You gonna help us?"
"From the comfort of HQ, yeah." He briefly turned to him. "My grandpappy was part of the original Squidbeak Splatoon, they did prison breaks before. Nowadays, a prison break would be easier than ever with the technology at my disposal!" He laughed wildly as he turned back to his computer. "Grandpappy would be so proud of me…"
He nodded and turned to Samantha next. "What about you?"
"Me!?" Samantha's eyes widened as she put a hand on her chest. "I've never even-… I'm not even a Splatoon agent!"
"You infiltrated Octo Canyon, though, correct?"
"T-That was… one time… and I didn't do any fighting. It's called sneaking. I snuck around."
"Exactly. This job is perfect for you."
She paused. "...Look, I know I've said I wanna be an agent, but this might be too extreme of a first job-"
"It's a simple job, we go in, we get Daniel, we get out."
"We got shot at, we get splatted, we go to prison for the rest our lives-"
"Samantha, your brother needs you. He and I both need you to do this." He leaned toward her. "Can I still count on you?"
She stared at him, gulping. She couldn't just think about how scary this seemed, she had to think about what Dylan needed. She awkwardly nodded. "…Yes… yes."
He nodded and let go. "Good…"
She gulped a second time. "…How are we gonna… go about this?"
"I think I got that covered." Sheldon said as he frantically typed down his new plan, smirking.
Later
In spite of the earthquake, the prison that held Daniel Murdock continued its usual operations as it always did: the legion of prison guards worked full-time to make sure their many prisoners stayed in line, keeping watch over people in the cafeterias, the courtyards, and their own cells. The halls where prisoners were kept in solitary confinement were among the more quiet, with a sturdier locking system and less guards patrolling those halls. Other guards remained in the surveillance room, watching the many monitors that displayed the surveillance feeds. One guard watched a particular monitor where two newcomer guards had entered the prison and were going through check-up.
The guards that were performing the check-up on Samantha and Oliver were a bit confused at these two younger guards, who were already wearing authentic guard uniforms, but as they looked over their badges, everything seemed perfectly legit. The two of them just stood idly as the guard looked at their fake IDs, then back at them.
"You two straight from the academy or something?" The guard asked.
Samantha nodded. "That's right." She straightened herself. "…Bub."
He stared at them. "…Alright. Go ahead and step through."
She couldn't help but smile at Oliver, who maintained his blank expression as they walked through to receive their issued weapons, which were two high-pressure Splattershots.
They holstered them and Samantha proudly tipped her hat at some of the other guards as they headed down the hall.
"What did I tell you about smiling?" Oliver asked her.
"I'm sorry, sometimes I can't help it, it's like my face muscles just twitch." She rubbed the grip of her gun. "Oh, man, I'm carrying an actual police-issued gun right now…"
"Stay focused…" He told her as they kept walking.
"Sorry. This… really isn't your first time sneaking around like this, is it?"
"No… no, it's not." He looked around. "But Occius bless our new Sheldon friend this time, he was better-prepared than I expected."
"Yeah, he's a cool crab." She kept looking around. "So, what now?"
"We stick to the plan and grab Daniel."
She nodded and kept navigating the halls with him, heading toward the halls where the solitary confinement prisoners were kept. There was a singular guard walking around directly in their path, and the fake guards both glanced at each other before Samantha stepped forward. "Hey, bub, we've got this hallway for now."
He looked at her. "Excuse me?"
"Uhhh…" She paused. "I just mean that… the boss reassigned us and swapped our places. So… we've got this hallway for now."
Confused, he grabbed his radio and held it to his mouth, but before he could speak, Oliver suddenly stepped forward and grabbed it, relentlessly punching him in the face until he was unconscious.
Samantha jumped and stepped back as the guard collapsed. "Oh, my god, oh my god…"
Oliver grabbed the guard's weapon and chucked it down the hall. "Ok, we've gotta move…"
Samantha took just a second to observe the man's face, now bleeding and swelling, before she followed Oliver further down the hall.
"Our man's seven cells down, on your right." Sheldon's voice spoke through their earpieces.
Oliver rushed down as he located the cell, pulling on the door handle. He looked up at the red light above the door. "Sheldon? You're up."
Just inside the cell, Daniel was lying about in his bed, curled up like usual, when his attention was caught by the flashing red light above his cell door, as if it was fighting against something. He slowly sat up and stared at it, confused, with even this being a new visual for him.
A moment passed before the light suddenly switched from red to green, and a second later, the door opened. Oliver stepped in. "Daniel Murdock?"
He stared at him. "...Yeah?"
"It's time to go. I don't know how long we have before they catch on to us, so we've gotta get out of here. Now. The Splatoon is waiting for us."
Daniel stared at them for a few seconds before he sighed and lied right back down.
He got closer to him. "Murdock. We need to go now."
"Shut up…" He curled up, closing his eyes and covering his ears. "Shut up…"
"Murdock." This time, he shook him.
Daniel opened his eyes and looked at his hand, his touch feeling very real. He then looked up at him.
"You're going to help us stop the Octarians, but in order to receive your help, we need your cooperation and we need you out of this cell. Do you understand me?"
Daniel stared at him, pretty confused at this point. "…You… Cuttlefish sent you?" He sat up a bit. "Is Jessica with you?"
"No. But you're going to help us find her."
He chuckled slightly. "You want me to… find her? I'm not going anywhere near her…"
"We can discuss that later, but right now, you're going to help me get to her. Otherwise, your sister very likely will not survive."
He stared at him, then looked at Samantha, who was nervously standing outside the cell door. He looked back at Oliver. "Who… who the hell are you, anyway?"
In the security room, nothing had gone awry or captured the attention of the security guards quite yet. Unbeknownst to them, the camera feeds that displayed the solitary confinement hallways were locked into a loop of the previous guard going on his usual patrol. One of the guards sipped his drink as he gave it a passing glance, looking through all of the feeds.
After a moment, he paused as he noticed a light that represented Daniel's cell on the panel in front of him, now switched on. "…Hey." He set his feet down and started looking through the camera feeds again. "Is Murdock getting another visitor?"
His partner set his own drink down before he checked his screen for the visitor list. "…Not at the moment."
Confused, he looked at the solitary confinement feeds again, searching through until he found one that showed Daniel's cell, which still appeared to be shut tightly. Further confused, he reached for his radio. "Hey, Bill, can you check on Murdock's cell?" He awaited his response. "…Bill?" He glanced at his partner.
"Son of a bitch." He sat up as they started activated emergency protocols.
Oliver and Samantha were in the process of escorting Daniel out of his cell and down the hall when Sheldon spoke to them once again. "Oh, shit, guys. They're catching onto you."
Oliver pressed on his earpiece. "I thought you looped their camera feeds."
"Oh, if you think it's so easy to keep literally everyone unaware, why don't you try being the support guy? Hey, you've got two approaching on your 3 o'clock."
"3 o'clock?"
"To your right around the corner, dumbass."
Upon hearing that, he pulled out his gun, turned the corner, and splatted both of the incoming guards. He made sure they were both down before he continued onward. "Come on."
Daniel hesitantly stared at the puddles of ink left behind by the splatted guards before he rushed to follow the two of them. They didn't make it much farther before the prison alarms activated, flashing lights through the halls and slamming the whole prison into lockdown mode. They all looked up at the lights, and then looked around as multiple gates started to shut around them, sealing off the hallways.
"Oohhh, shiiiit…" Samantha droned.
"I've got you covered." Sheldon said. A moment later, the gates opened back up.
"Oh." Samantha shrugged.
"Come on." Oliver kept moving forward.
Daniel stared at them in amazement, but remained frozen where he stood. "…H-Hold on!"
They both looked at him.
"...A-Are you sure this is real? Because, sometimes I let myself get lulled into these… fantasies… and they usually end up with me running into walls…"
He sighed and pulled him along. "I'm gonna hit you with more than just walls if you don't keep moving."
As they ran along, several guards across the cell block were all running to converge on the solitary confinement halls, but before a lot of them even arrived at their destination, multiple of the gates slammed shut on them, ironically locking them up. Just like that, most of their forces were incapacitated and left extremely confused.
One reached for his radio. "What the hell was that? Why are you closing the wrong gates!?"
"I'm not!" The guy on the opposite end replied.
"Then who is!?"
Splatoon HQ
Loud party music was blaring through the headquarters as Sheldon danced along, nonchalantly playing around with his controls to mess around with as many guards as he could, watching the security feeds on the monitors as he did. "Hehehehehehe…" He turned to notice on one of the screens that one guard got his tie stuck under a gate. "BWAHAHAHA! These guys are all so getting fired…"
At that moment, the elevator opened up as Cuttlefish walked in, wincing as he heard the music. He walked up. "Sheldon, what the hell are you doing?"
"Nothing much, just getting Daniel Murdock out of prison, as requested."
He looked at all the screens. "…I thought we were supposed to be doing this as discreetly as possible!"
"Hey, I can't control everything from back here." He grabbed his drink and loudly slurped it, watching the screens as some of the guards marched down Oliver's planned escape route. He held down the comms button. "Hey, look alive, guys, more assholes are getting through to you."
Oliver continued down the hall with Daniel and Samantha, pointing his gun down each hallway that they turned into. Several prisoners in their cells that they passed were all leaning against the bars, begging them to get them out as well.
Samantha was ignoring them to her best ability, until one of them managed to reach through and briefly grab her arm. She screamed and backed up from him.
"Girl! Get me out of here!" He begged her. "C'mon, I can help you outta here!"
She just shuddered and stepped closer to Oliver.
"How much farther?" Daniel asked, ignoring the other prisoners as well.
"Just gotta get into the courtyard." Oliver replied.
"Uh… we won't be able to get out that way-"
"Don't worry about that, Murdock. We've got it covered."
"Again, who the hell are you two, anyway?"
Samantha briefly turned toward him. "Oh, I'm Saman-"
"Move!" Oliver suddenly shoved her against the wall to protect her from gunfire of multiple guards that were coming down the hall. Daniel hid as well as Oliver fired back at them, taking some of them out with great accuracy.
Samantha just stared as she hid with Daniel, waiting for the gunfire to end, before Oliver turned to her.
"Move." He told her. "Go down that way, get into the courtyard."
She gulped and nodded before she grabbed Daniel's arm, pulling him down another hallway. She pulled out her own gun, pointing it down the hall as she heard the gunfire behind her. She nervously looked behind her, but regardless soon made her way into the courtyard, which currently seemed empty.
"You're really not gonna listen to me?" Daniel huffed.
Samantha looked around as she pulled out a splat bomb, chucking it toward the sky. It evaporated suddenly as it touched the Zapfish-powered force-field that formed a ceiling over the yard, blocking any escape attempts.
"Now what?" He asked.
"Don't move!" They turned as a lone guard suddenly entered the courtyard, pointing his gun directly at Samantha. "Don't you fucking move!"
Samantha could only slowly turn to him, eyes wide. She slowly raised her hands. "I…"
"Drop your weapon and kick it over to me."
"I-"
"DO IT!"
She gulped and slowly did so, before returning her hands to their raised position, shaking. Daniel just sighed and raised his own hands.
The guard pulled out his cuffs as he made his way over to them. "Smart move, Murdock. But you try another stunt like this, and your own sister will-" He paused as he heard some kind of whirring noise above him. He looked up, staring as some kind of drone flew over the courtyard, hovering just above the force field.
At that moment, Daniel suddenly screamed, and the guard turned back to him too late as he rushed his gun and tackled him. His gun fired to the side as he attempted to shoot him, and his head hit the ground as Daniel grabbed his throat with one hand, before raising his fist and pummeling him with the other.
"Don't- mention- my- SISTER!" Daniel shouted as he punched him repeatedly.
Samantha's entire expression turned to pure shock as she stepped back, watching as Daniel coated his fist and parts of his face with the guard's ink. He stopped only after a long, excruciating moment had passed; His fist remained dangling in the air as he turned to stare at nothing, panting heavily.
At that moment, Oliver ran in with his own gun, barely even noticing the carnage. "Sheldon, hit it now!"
Sheldon said nothing as the drone above activated, and the force field briefly became visible before fizzling out entirely.
They all turned to listen as more guards were heard rushing down the hall toward the courtyard. Without any more hesitation, Daniel turned to his Squid-form and super-jumped out of the prison.
Samantha remained frozen, her body shaking as her eyes locked on the dead guard, but Oliver ran over to grab her arm. "We've gotta go."
She blinked and looked at him, before yelping as she heard gunfire. The two of them quickly transformed and then jumped in the same direction that Daniel did. As soon as they were gone, the drone activated again, and the whole courtyard was lit with a bright-yellow flash as the force field abruptly restarted, raining down sparks on the army of guards that had just entered. They all shielded their eyes as the shield returned to its normal state, leaving them in silence.
The prison was left in disarray after the successful escape, with every guard left baffled at what just happened. The guards in the security room were left equally confused, but were already hard at work trying to find out who the perpetrators were. It wasn't long before the security room was filled with some police who arrived at the scene, along with some of the head guards.
"Out of my damn way." The police's own Captain Hertz growled as he shoved his way in. "Daniel Murdock? You're telling me Daniel Murdock, the most infamous terrorist in all of Inkopolis' many years, just got bailed out of solitary confinement by your own guards!?"
"We're still trying to figure out what just happened." The security guard responded. "The entire prison wasn't working correctly today-"
"If you say it was because of the earthquakes, I'll smack the hell out of you."
"No, someone hacked into our systems." Another guard responded. "Whoever did aided the escape, and… erased all of today's records. We don't know who did this."
Upon hearing that, Hertz slammed his fist down on the desk before turning away, shakily rubbing his mouth. Everyone else in the room just remained silent as they watched him throw his mini-tantrum.
"...Murdock could be anywhere in the city by now, or even beyond." He finally turned back to them. "The world has changed ever since the Underdogs incident. And in this new world Murdock himself created, he'll get to deal with KRAKEN." He angrily pointed at them. "They're not going to leave any stone unturned as they sweep every little corner of this city. Whoever did this, whether it was your guards, or someone else… is going to burn in the hottest hell they could ever feel."
Splatoon HQ
Cuttlefish was watching his phone as, multiple times in a row, he was being called by Lieutenant Grant Johnson. He let the call pass by each time, sighing nervously as he thought about their new predicament. It wasn't much longer before he heard the elevator open up, and he and Sheldon turned to watch as Oliver and Samantha stepped inside. They were followed by Daniel himself, who was once again cuffed and still had some visible traces of the guard's ink on his body.
Cuttlefish turned to him fully, staring at him. "…This was a mistake…" He muttered.
"You're telling me…" Sheldon muttered back. "He looks even creepier in-person…"
Daniel was looking around the HQ as he stepped forward, trying to determine how much of it was real and how much of it wasn't. He noticed Cuttlefish and Sheldon, unable to help himself from chuckling. "…You must be truly desperate, old man…"
"I guess that's true…" Cuttlefish stepped forward. "Matter of fact… I'm extremely desperate."
"Because of a little quaking?"
"I explained why at the prison, I'm just not sure how much you were listening."
"I was listening… but… I'm not sure you understand… you're gonna be put in a dark box for this… just like I was."
"We're being extremely careful." Sheldon responded. "And while we're nice and cozy in HQ, at least, no one's going to find us. Oh, and by the way, once we've saved the world, your creepy butt is going right back to that dark box, so, don't get comfortable."
"...Who's this?" He asked Cuttlefish.
He blinked. "I'm… Sheldon."
Daniel shook his head slightly.
"...Sheldon. Sheldon Shellendorf? Grandson of Ammoses Shellendorf? From Ammo Knights?" He turned to Cuttlefish. "Seriously? How much help is this guy actually gonna be?"
"He should be enough help." Oliver stepped forward. "This will speed up the process of getting to Gideon and his agents, I promise."
Daniel paused. "…So… you guys want my help… reaching your own agents? Just for me to get sent right back to prison afterward?" He shook his head. "No fucking way. I'm done working with terrorists who just want the worst for me."
"We're not terrorists…" Cuttlefish responded.
"You're not exactly my buddies, either."
"No. We're not. But right now, technically, you are an ally."
He scoffed, starting to tear up. "But you know that the second my sister walks in here, I'll… I'll lose it. I should be kept away from her."
He paused as everyone stared at him. After a moment, he looked around. "…Everyone, give Daniel and I a moment, please."
Sheldon, Samantha, and Oliver all glanced at each other before they stepped aside.
Daniel watched as Cuttlefish pulled a chair up, sitting down in front of Daniel.
"...I haven't told you… everything yet, Daniel." He told him.
"Of course you haven't…" Daniel stepped back, tearing up again. "Jessica's already here, isn't she? Isn't she? Is she watching me!? Laughing it up behind closed doors!?"
"...Jessica's not here at all. We don't know where she is." He said, almost looking like he was finally break down into tears himself. "She's MIA…"
Daniel didn't respond as he stared at him.
"Very powerful Octarians came after us…" He gripped his cane. "They blew the hell out of Inkopolis Square, and it was… it was to take my agents out of the picture. And they did. They're gone now." He looked down. "And since half of my agents, including… my own girls… are currently out on another mission, it's… it's come down to this. We're empty-handed."
Daniel slowly sat down on a nearby desk as he listened to him. "…So… she's dead…?"
"No…" He shook his head. "According to Oliver, not yet… but… she is in extreme danger. And right now, Daniel… you're one of our only methods at finding her…" He rubbed his cane. "I'm fully aware, that you two… have an extremely hostile history."
He didn't respond.
"But I can hear it in your voice, Daniel, I always have, you… you love her. It comes across in all the worst ways, but I know, somewhere deep down, you love your sister… and right now, as an old man with no other options, I… we both need you… She… needs you…"
Daniel looked down.
"I know it's a lot to ask… this may just be the biggest risk I've ever taken in my entire life, but… that's how bad the situation is. You two won't have to interact, you can just help us find the remaining Underdogs, we'll find our agents, and then… you'll never have to hear from us again. You'll go back to your cell and you'll never have to see us, or Jessica, again…"
Daniel looked to the side. "…I wish that were true, Cuttlefish, but… real or not, I always see her… she… she still hasn't gone away…"
"I know that your own mental illness has done… unimaginable things to you…"
"Oh, you have no idea…" He sniffed. "But she... this newer Jessica, she's always… she just wants to help me… she can actually… be my sister…" He looked at up, eyes welling up. "…I can't go back to the real Jessica, ever, she… I… I took things too far…"
He paused for a moment. "…Don't you want to try to amend that?"
"...I can't…" He shook his head. "I'll just crack further if I try, you know I will…"
Cuttlefish stared at him, sighing sadly as he slowly leaned back. "…To tell you the truth, Daniel… if you can't help us… if I can't save… her… if I can't save Bridgett and Dylan, I…" He shook his head, holding back his tears as best as he could. "…I don't know what I'll do…"
Daniel sighed and looked down again.
Not sure how else to convince him, Cuttlefish gripped his cane as he slowly stood up. "…I'll give you time to decide… please… think it over carefully. Think about how much your sister needs you right now…"
He didn't respond.
He sighed and walked away, stepping into the other room.
Daniel played with his cuffs for a moment until he suddenly heard a childish giggle, and he paused, looking over toward where he heard it. Jessica, now much younger, in the form of the child he remembered, was sitting in a chair, kicking her legs back and forth as she smiled at him.
"...Jessica…?" He stood up, but as quickly as she appeared, she was gone. He looked around. "…Jessica…?" He swiveled, looking around the entire HQ. "…Are you still there…?"
But she wasn't appearing. The nicer, more sisterly Jessica that often appeared for him in his cell was now seemingly lost, gone somewhere and very possibly in danger… He started tearing up once again. "J-Jessica…" He started to panic. "Please… please don't leave me… please come back…"
Cuttlefish has paused and turned to secretly watch him as he suffered through his breakdown. Looking down, he finally went into the other room.
For the remainder of the evening, Samantha sat by her new sleeping spot, an inflatable mattress in the corner of one of the HQ's side-rooms. The place obviously hadn't been designed for living, but currently, it seemed that she was technically very wanted, by both the Octarians, and now possibly the feds, depending on how well they could trace the prison break to her. As night came, she and the others had a fast food meal that Sheldon was able to get, before she rested, nervously rubbing her hand against her fist as she thought about what she had witnessed back at the prison.
Oliver soon walked in, stepping over toward his own mattress that wasn't far away.
"Hey…" She looked at him. "Is… Daniel cooperating yet?"
"Well, he's not trying to escape or anything." He sat down.
"Right… good, that's good…"
He stared at her. "…What about you?"
"...W-What about me?"
"You still gonna cooperate?"
"Of… of course I am…"
"Well, your body language and your silence has been telling me otherwise…"
She paused before she awkwardly chuckled. "…Body language…" She muttered. "…Could never quite master… body language…" She scratched her head.
"...If you're having second thoughts, then-"
"Look, there's no problem here." She cut him off. "I've played tons of ink battles, I know how… this sort of thing goes. I can handle the action. Clearly."
"Yeah, but… you know this isn't a game… right?"
She fell silent as she looked at the floor.
"If this is about Daniel, if he makes you nervous… we'll get him to cooperate with us. It will be ok."
She started playing with her fingers. "…Were you ok with Daniel… killing that guard?"
He was actually taken aback a bit as he heard that question. Admittedly, he just… hadn't thought much about that. He thought over his answer for a moment, putting his hand on his knee. "…Well… I don't agree with anyone in that prison having to die, but… death is… part of war. People die. It happens."
She didn't respond, uncomfortably staring downward.
He sighed. "…No, Daniel should not have killed that guard. I don't support that. But you need to understand… when we're down there fighting the Octarians, and your own life and your brother is on the line… you're going to need to be willing to make moves like that. The people we are up against are bad people. You understand that, right? Daniel could be a useful soldier when that time comes. I hope you will be, too."
"...I've… I've never…"
"...Samantha, I need to know that you'll be willing to be a soldier. We need soldiers right now. This is a splatoon. This is our duty."
"...Are we… really a part of the Splatoon, though?"
"Right now? Yes. I'd say we are. And as things stand, we are the last line of defense before this war fully goes to your Inkling world. That's how it is now, that's how it's always been, ever since Cap'n Cuttlefish founded it."
"...Yeah…" She scratched her head again. "Yeah, I guess that's a good way of putting it…"
"So, are you still with me?"
She hesitated for a moment, before once again, Dylan and his potential fate crossed through her mind. She looked him in the eye. "…I'm with you."
He nodded and held his hand forward. She reached forward and shook it, smiling slightly.
After they let go, she went back to playing with her fingers. "…If you… want me to be a better soldier… maybe you can… help me?"
"Like… train you?"
"Yeah… yeah, maybe… I mean, you… clearly seem to have some experience there, right? A lot more than I do, anyway…"
He thought about it before he nodded a bit. "…Ok."
She smiled. "Ok."
He nodded again as he laid down on his mattress, pulling the blanket over himself.
"Oh, uh… g-good night…" Her smile turned to a frown before she regardless did the same. She curled up and turned to face the wall, blankly staring into it. Whatever they were doing… whatever they had to do… if using Daniel was even the right call… above all, she just wanted Dylan to be ok. Above all, she wondered where he and the others could even be right now… She closed her eyes, slowly falling into a nervous sleep…
?
A groan escaped the real Jessica's mouth as she finally awoke again, quickly overwhelmed by a splitting headache. In fact, she was sore all over, with several cuts along her face and body. She laid down on her back, feeling her head as she tried to remember what happened to her. She was laid down on a metal bench, which she was cuffed to, she was still in her Agent 3 uniform, which was a bit damaged, and she was in a small, prison-cell like room, that largely seemed to be made of rock. She looked around and soon noticed Dylan, in his Agent 4 uniform, seated by the wall and also cuffed, with his head drooped down as if he was dead.
"...Four?" She asked him, pulling at her cuffs to no avail. "…Dylan!" She hissed. "Dylan!"
A feeling of panic began to take her over as she felt her cuffs, trying to break free. Unfortunately, she felt pretty weak, and definitely not at her 100%. She looked around, starting to hyperventilate a bit as the worried, claustrophobic feeling slowly sank in, but she was even more trapped than she realized; Unbeknownst to her, she was surrounded by lots of rock and dirt, that stacked up far, far above her, trapping her and Dylan deep underground.