Hello again. *waves* So, again, sorry for the long gaps between these updates, but in my defense this one's pretty long and I also must admit I've been pretty distracted by both my other story and a certain Zelda game (*ahem* second one's not my fault).
Anyway, I know Splatoon 3 has been out for a while and probably everyone already knows how the story goes whether or not you've played it, but, for the sake of being extremely careful: As I previously implied in the first chapter, this one uses certain elements from the game's story mode albeit with a twist, and it relates to the boss fights, so, partial story mode spoilers will follow. That's all I need to say, though, so onto the show.
Treasure Hunters
BREAKING NEWS
A special Deep Cut logo splashed across the screen, before promptly sliding out of the way to instead show the three popstars in their usual positions.
"Exciting news, everyone!" Frye held an arm out.
"What?" Big Man feigned cluelessness for the camera. "What is it!? Is the asteroid finally coming?"
"No, silly, that's next week."
"Aw…"
"No, we just received exciting news." Shiver said. "We've just received word that-"
"The Stamperoni Family has just been eradicated!" Frye exclaimed as the logo of the crime family, crossed over with a big, dramatic red X, appeared on Big Man's screen.
"Woah!" Big Man replied. "This is huge news!"
"Oh, man, these guys were legends." Shiver said. "Gone too soon…"
"These guys were the absolute kings of the criminal underworld here in the Splatlands." Frye continued. "But I guess their rivals got the best of them. I heard their headquarters got completely blown up. All of their leading members?" She slashed her thumb across her throat. "Boom. Gone. In an instant. There is no afterlife, by the way, just in case your church told you differently. Yep, these fuckers are gone. And they're never coming back."
Big Man, meanwhile, was a bit confused. "…Is… it really a criminal underworld around here? I mean… with the anarchy and all that-"
"Shut up, Big Man, no one wanted your opinions."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Shiver hid her mouth with her fan. "What's the prompter trying to tell us?"
Her partners looked over at the Jellyfish that was holding up the next prompt. Her and Frye's eyes widened.
"Shut this down. Cut the feed. Now." Shiver whispered as she quickly got out of position.
Within the next few moments, the broadcast was halted, the screen and lights were turned off, and the entire studio was locked down, with metal walls slamming down to block off the doors and windows. The fans who were watching from outside the window all frowned and groaned in disappointment.
The popstars all headed into the backroom to talk as privately as possible. "Was… that prompter serious?" Frye asked.
"Yeah, I think so." Shiver replied.
"Wait, what's going on?" Big Man asked. "Why'd we shut down the broadcast?"
"Can't you read?" Frye replied. "4 million dollars was reportedly left behind by the Stamperoni Family somewhere in Splatsville."
"Yeah. We can't broadcast that." Shiver replied. "Everyone and their grandmas will be looking for it. That's not how we operate, we need to get to it before anyone else does."
"Yeah, yeah." Frye rubbed her chin. "We actually need to act fast. 4 million dollars? No doubt rumors are already spreading, there are probably already other bandits looking for it."
"Not to mention their rivals that blew them up… they're most likely already hunting it down."
"Oh damn, that's right…"
Big Man suddenly gasped. "Are you saying that 4 million dollars was left behind by the Stamperoni Family somewhere right here in Splatsville?"
They both stared at him. "…Yes." Shiver replied. "Ok, um… we need to set out and start searching for it right away. I'll talk to our source about its location, you two need to get our special weapons ready for a possibly big fight. We're gonna fight for this thing."
"Got it." Frye nodded, grinning. "My eels will be ready for action."
"Oooh, can I do the thing where I turn into a giant Stingray?" Big Man jumped back and forth.
Shiver shrugged. "Yeah, sure, maybe. Alright-" She held her hand out. "Prepare for trouble-"
"Make it triple." The other two placed their own hand/fin on hers, before they all lifted them into the air.
Unfortunately for Deep Cut, word was indeed already spreading throughout Splatsville about the 4 millions dollars that were hidden in the city. All around the city, people were indeed whispering or chatting among each other about these rumors, particularly in the Square.
"Is it true that there are 4 million dollars hidden somewhere around here?" A person would ask.
"Do you think Deep Cut knows about it? And that's why they shut down the Splatcast?" A woman would ponder out loud.
"I kiss men! You hear me!? I KISS MEN!" A guy would shout at random passerbys.
But rumor had it, there was at least one remaining person with ties to the Stamperoni Crime Family that knew where the 4 millions dollars were.
This person, an older Inkling man, was eating dinner by himself in an otherwise empty restaurant, with no one but a bunch of guards as his company. He ate peacefully and silently, but soon, he and all of his guards looked over as the front entrance suddenly opened. Wind drifted inside as the silhouetted Inkling, with her torn shirt, Tri-Stringer, and bouncing pet Smallfry stood in the doorway, her hair and shirt dramatically blowing for everyone to watch. She looked around before she stepped inside.
The man just kept eating his meal as she walked over, ignoring the guards. He watched her as she grabbed his wine, downed the rest of it, sighed, and set the glass upside down.
"...Can I help you?" He asked.
"Yeah. If you've got 4 million dollars." She replied.
"I don't have it on me." He kept eating.
The Smallfry bounced up onto the table, trying to get into his food before Syd pulled him away. "Not now, Chase." She leaned forward. "I hear you know where it is. And I can tell you… it'll make my life a lot less shitty. If you know what I mean."
He stared at her, before nodding at a nearby guard.
The guard pulled his gun out as he stepped forward and pointed it at her head. She sighed, angrily raising her elbow to strike the weapon. The gun fired at the wall as she began wrestling with him.
The man simply kept eating as for the next few minutes, the restaurant was turned into a violent battlefield; Guns were fired, ink was spread, tables were flipped, and the chandelier was knocked from the ceiling, until eventually, one-by-one, the guards were either knocked out, splatted, or killed, all of them left on the floor.
Syd panted heavily as she pulled her knife out of the last guy's throat, before she sloooowly stood up, limping back over to the man. Sweating profusely and bleeding in some places, she held her side as she leaned against the table. "…You… are going to tell me… oh… oh god, my side…" She leaned forward, wincing in pain.
He stared at her, unamused, before he kept eating yet again. "You're ruining my meal… your fighting style doesn't even match my entertainment values."
"I took 'em all down, didn't I…?" She motioned to them.
He shrugged. "Yes. But you're no Agent 3."
"I'm flattered to even be compared to her…" She held up the knife. "You… are going to tell me where the money is… or your criminal butt is gonna… is gonna…" She sighed. "You're gonna regret it… I can promise you that…"
He chuckled. "Your interrogation skills need a lot of work, darling."
She stared at him, getting frustrated. "…Alright, then… if you won't talk to me…" She stood up straight, just at the moment that Chase again leapt up onto the table. "You'll get to talk to my Little Buddy…"
He stopped chewing, food still in his mouth.
"Go on, Chase…" She nudged him forward.
"...Wait…" He held his hand forward as he looked at Chase's dumb grin. "Wait a minute." He spoke with his mouth still full, causing some of his food to fall out and onto his chest.
Chase just slowly inched forward.
He stood up and started backing up. "Wait a minute. Stop. No."
He slid forward more. And more. And more. He was getting close now.
He backed into the wall. "No. Wait. Stop! No! NO!"
"Are you… sure that the treasure is here?" Sally asked.
"I'm… pretty sure." Syd responded.
"I mean…" She looked up at the big, largely abandoned and damaged skyscraper that towered above them, alongside Syd, Johnny, and Chase. "This doesn't really feel like a place you'd hide 4 million big ones."
"The dude was literally crying the location to me. Crying. He was begging me to get Chase off of him."
She sighed and looked at Johnny.
Johnny shrugged. "I believe her."
She thought about it. "…Fine… but if this leads nowhere, I'm gonna kill you." She told Syd.
"I'll kill you if you even try." Syd replied.
"Not if I kill you first."
"Not if I foresee your attack and kill you first."
"Not if I kill you so fast and so hard that you die first."
"Not if I kill you right here so that you die first."
"Not if I-"
"Alright, girls." Johnny interrupted. "4 million dollars are waiting, in case you've forgotten."
"Yeah, yeah…" She walked inside.
"Come on, Chase." Syd followed, as Chase bounced and did the same, unaware that three mysterious, masked figures were watching them from a rooftop across the street.
They all headed in through the front entrance, into the dark, depressing-looking lobby inside. Sally looked around. "So, where we looking?"
"I think he said somewhere in the top floors?" She looked around.
"Great…" They started looking around for a way up.
Johnny was right behind them. "We all agree on how we're gonna split this thing, right?"
"Easy. 2 mil for me, 2 mil for you."
"Hey." Syd dramatically held her arms out to remind them she was still around.
She groaned and rolled her eyes. "1.3 mil for the each of us. Happy?"
Chase suddenly moaned and held his fins out in a similar motion.
"...1.3 is final. Now come on, before more bandits come." She kept walking.
The rest of them of course followed, and it didn't take them long to find the elevator, where they piled inside, pressing the up button. They all stood perfectly still and silently as they all listened to the corporate elevator music; Syd looked around at all the cool-looking elevator buttons, Johnny sniffed and rubbed his nose, Sally lightly swayed her body to the music, nodding her head in enjoyment, and Chase stared directly into the wall, not moving a muscle. They were just about halfway to their destination when-
The music shut off, the elevator went dark, and they felt the elevator stop moving.
"Oh, Jesus Christ…" Johnny looked around. After a moment of waiting for something to happen, he pressed the emergency button. Nothing happened. "Jesus Christ…"
"You think we got sabotaged by more bandits?" Sally asked.
"No, I think this building just isn't very sound…"
They then felt the elevator buckle. Syd's hearts sank in fear.
Johnny sighed. "Oh, perfect…"
Sally just shrugged. "Well, I guess this is happening."
Frightened by the strange movements, Chase suddenly leapt up through a small hole in the elevator's ceiling.
"Chase!" Syd called after him, but he had already barely squeezed through. They felt the elevator buckle again, as Syd slowly backed up against the wall.
Johnny turned and noticed. "You ok?"
"Yeah, yeah, it's just that the elevator's buckling, my comforting pet just left, the walls are closing in, and we're gonna die…" She slowly sank down. "Just basic claustrophobia is all, I'll be fine…"
"We'll all be fine, Syd. Just gotta get the doors opened." He went to do so, to no avail. "Damn. God damn doors."
"Never thought I'd die in an elevator." Sally looked up at the ceiling.
Johnny gave up on the doors and started looking around for other options. "How did you think you'd die?"
"In the Splatlands? Geez, I dunno… I just never imagined this particular scenario."
He chuckled. "Ok… top three ways you'd want to die. Go."
"Hm… hmmmm…" She rubbed her chin. "Always wondered what it would be like to fall from a plane without a parachute…" After a moment, she snapped her fingers. "Oh, but you know what? Orgasm-induced heart attack. That would be the way to go." She nodded. "What about you?"
He chuckled again. "Don't laugh, but… I always wondered what it would be like to be eaten by a shark."
She laughed. "No…"
"I'm serious, I'm serious." He shrugged. "Just thought it might be a cool way to go. And a cool thing to be remembered by."
"That actually is pretty cool, though. That might be my number three."
They felt the elevator buckle again, harder this time as it prepared to drop.
Syd sighed and stared upward. "I swear, God, I didn't do anything to deserve this…" She paused, looking back down as she thought about that. "…I don't think…"
They waited a few more tense moments, unable to do anything. Sally put her hands together and waited casually up until the elevator finally… dinged as the lights switched back on. They stared onward as the elevator doors opened, even if the elevator wasn't aligned with the floor.
After a moment, Chase leapt into view, waving at them.
"Oh. Cool." Sally shrugged and climbed out. "We live to see another minute."
Syd recomposed herself, climbing out last. She picked up Chase. "Did you save us, little guy?"
He just bounced in her hand.
"Heh… or maybe the elevator was just more stable than we-" She paused and looked behind her as the elevator finally fell down and into the abyss. They heard a loud crashing sound as it struck the bottom.
Johnny shrugged and drew his weapon. "That's that, then." With the others, he looked around.
Sally quickly opened a nearby door into the stairwell. "Got some stairs here."
"Great…" Syd sarcastically muttered, and together, they all proceeded upward.
They proceeded on the epic, somewhat tiring journey through several sets of stairs, slowly starting to wear out their legs as they made their way to the very top floors. Syd was grasping the railing, starting to think she needed to upgrade her workout routine, while Chase was playing around on the very same railing, climbing up and then occasionally letting himself slide down again, making little "weeeee" sounds as he did. Everyone else ignored that, soon making it up to the top floor.
Out of anywhere in the building, the top floors had been destroyed and worn out the most, with several walls that were straight up missing and allowing lots of large beams of sunlight and city noises into the building.
Sally scoffed. "Whatever, let's just find the dumbass place this guy hid the money." She looked at Johnny. "You got the cracking equipment, right?"
"Dunno why you waited until we're at the top of the stairs to ask, but yeah." Johnny replied, taking off his backpack to open it. He gave a brief glimpse around. "I'm actually thinking we should maybe split up?"
"And… what if more bandits show up?"
"I think we can all handle ourselves."
"...Fine… but only with upped reward. Whoever finds the money first gets a larger share. Might as well make this fun."
"Works for me."
Upon hearing that, Chase suddenly sped off first, disappearing into the other room.
"Chase!" Syd tried to stop him, but quickly gave up. "Fucking…"
Again, Johnny just ignored that has he handed the equipment out to help them break into any safes or vaults. "Here you go, girls."
Sally and Syd both took their equipment. "Alright, best of luck." Sally rushed off next as soon as she was ready.
Syd rolled her eyes and glanced at Johnny.
"Good luck." He told her as well before he headed off in his own direction.
Syd just took her equipment and held her Stringer as she decided to follow Chase down in the direction that he went. He had dipped out of sight completely, so she ended up searching through her own route by herself, searching through different rooms, opening up drawers and desks to look for clues, and occasionally whistling around for Chase. She occasionally got the sneaking suspicion that she was being followed, but every time she looked around to catch anyone, she saw no one. Shrugging, she continued along.
At one point, to her delight, she was the first to find something of interest; A somewhat large safe in one of the offices. She gave one last look around to make sure no one was there before she smirked and chuckled to herself. "Oh, ho, ho, I just hit the jackpot…" Finally, it seemed her luck was turning around. She practically skipped over to the safe as she grabbed her equipment and began cracking open the safe. Yes. She could feel it. Right inside this safe, was 4 million dollars, and it was all… for her. And for Johnny and Chase, of course. Sally could go fuck herself, she figured. She went as quickly as she could to unlock it, but not too fast as to make any mistakes, and she finally opened it just as-
"Hold it right there!" A feminine voice shouted behind her.
Jumping, Syd immediately turned around and pointed her Tri-Stringer at the three familiar figures that had appeared behind her. They were all holding their own different masks to their faces, hiding themselves, but she… definitely recognized them from somewhere.
Syd held her ground as she held them at gunpoint. "…Who… are you supposed to be?"
"We're not supposed to be anything." The yellow-haired Inkling moved her mask. "But I'll tell you who we are." She threw the mask into the air, striking a little pose. "Say it with sizzle… I'm Frye!"
The blue-haired Octoling moved her own mask. "You think you're cool? Sharks call me cold-blooded." She swiftly unearthed her fan, opening it. "But you can call me Shiver!"
"Make money! Get fish quick!" The Manta Ray took off his mask next. "Big Man in the house!"
"The Splatlands are OUR turf!" Frye exclaimed.
"Only we may loot here." Shiver held her fan forward.
"Yeah!" Big Man added.
"We are…" Together, the three of them suddenly struck their signature poses. "Deep Cut!"
Syd just stared at them, baffled. She lowered her stringer, but only slightly. "…You're… You're the Anarchy Splatcast assholes."
Frye knelt down. "Yeah, it's called a day job. You should look into it. Banditing is our real passion. And nothing can stop us!"
"So, then… what's with all the pomp and the posing?"
Shiver closed her fan. "What about it?"
"Do you like… do this same thing every time you run into another bandit or something?"
"Who cares what we do?" She motioned her arms around the place. "Last I heard, this building has 4 millions dollars in it… and now, it's ours for the taking."
"How did you even… motherfucker, I got to that guy first! This isn't fair!"
"Fair?" Frye smirked. "This is Splatsville, sis. We don't do fair here."
"What guy did you even talk to?" Big Man asked. "We just talked to our source and he told us everything."
"...Oh…" Syd replied.
Frye pointed at her. "So, are you gonna try and stop us or what? Because you totally can't! We're taking all of it for ourselves." She and Shiver both laughed, except Shiver leaned back and started laughing more like a full-on cartoonish supervillain.
"...Yeah, you totally do this every time…" She muttered.
Frye leaned back a bit. "Awww, she doesn't even seem scared. What do you have to do to scare someone these days?"
"...I got a little bit scared." Big Man admitted.
Shiver closed her fan and stood up straight. "Not that anyone asked, but I'm over this conversation." She smirked. "The money is ours. I'd wish you luck, but… I don't want to. Catch ya later!"
Abruptly, the three of them disappeared behind an explosion of thick smoke.
"Son of a- hey!" Syd rushed forward, but as the smoke dissipated, she found that they were already gone. She looked around, confused. They didn't even try to get into the safe that she had just gotten open… but as she finally took a moment to look inside, she saw why. It was literally just filled with a bunch of… well, to put it lightly, porn. Pretty explicit porn, too. "…Son of a bitch..." Feeling like an idiot, she slammed the safe shut and got on her phone to call Johnny. She angrily tapped her foot against the ground as she waited for him to answer.
"Yello?" Johnny answered.
"Did you find the money yet?"
"Er, no…"
She sighed and looked around. "Well, look, we might have to hurry because we might have a problem… Deep Cut just showed up. As bandits. They're bandits, apparently. God, that's… another time Splatsville got me."
"Deep… Cut? Are you SERIOUS!?"
"Yeah. Dead fucking serious. Why would I joke about that? Especially during an important mission?"
"Well, I dunno, but did you get an autograph?"
"...No…"
"Dammit. Well… if you see them again, ask for one, I'd really like one."
She was a little bit irritated, thinking back to the time when she was ecstatic to see Judd and Johnny was silently judging her, but she said nothing about it, sighing. "…Kay. Whatever." She hung up and kept moving, but not before secretly taking one of the gay porn magazines with her and hiding it.
Johnny relayed the message to Sally, and the three of them all continued on their separate searches, while elsewhere in the building, the three Deep Cut members were now doing their own searches, except in a much more stealthy manner, as they silently stalked their treasure-hunting rivals throughout the floors. It was unbeknownst to all 6 of them that, down below on Splatsville's streets, multiple vans were driving up to the building. They belonged to none other than the rival organization to the Stamperoni Family themselves, the Hodgson Syndicate. Soon, a bunch of suited men got out, preparing their weapons.
One could, if they really wanted, call them criminals, but… around these parts, they were technically just another organization that did some really nasty things. Their leader got out of his own car and walked up, dramatically licking his lollipop. "The money is inside. Find it by any means necessary. Kill anyone who resists us." While his subordinates rushed inside, he attempted to bite onto his candy, accidentally hurting his beak. "Ow…"
A few minutes passed as everyone continued on their searches. Of the three of them, Johnny was the first to find something: a large, locked vault-like door down a somewhat secluded hallway. "…Woah…" He looked around. He seemed to be in the clear… but he had to make sure he had found something worthwhile first. Getting his equipment out, he went over and began cracking the lock, opening the door to find… another locked door behind it. Oh, yeah. Now he was getting somewhere. Remaining as cautious as before, he went to crack that one, revealing another similar door behind it. And another. And another.
After opening a few of these doors, he finally opened the last one to reveal a large, somewhat glamorous office. "…Woah…" He looked around. The whole of the 4 million dollars wasn't visible quite yet, but there were still plenty of bills just casually lying around, left behind by the Stamperoni goons that clearly worked from here. Excited, he quickly got on his phone to call both Syd and Sally. "I think I've closed in on something." He said, explaining his location to the both of them. "Yeah. Yeah. Get here, as soon as you can. The 4 mil is totally ours." He hung up and immediately began combing the room.
He looked through multiple desks, drawers, filing cabinets, documents, and the like for any sort of clues or directions, and although a few minutes passed without him finding anything, he remained invested enough to the point that he didn't notice as someone else starting sneaking down the outside hall.
In fact, Johnny was completely tearing apart parts of the room, creating a fair amount of noise as he started taking things down from the walls, and from there, it didn't take him long to take down the painting that hid a large safe behind it. He backed up as he looked at it; the 4 mil. dollars had to be in here.
He took a breath to keep himself from becoming giddy. "Ok…" He grabbed his cracking equipment once again and got to work, taking all the time he needed to unlock it.
It took a few minutes, and a fair amount of patience and sweat, but lo and behold, his hearts just about skipped a beat as he heard the final click. Grinning widely, he took another breath as he turned the knob and slowly pulled the big door open.
His eyes widened as he looked inside. Although he had already known just how much money they were looking for, it was still surprising just seeing how much money was here! "Hoooo-ly SH-"
Then, he heard a laugh behind him. A rather villainous laugh. He immediately turned and pointed his weapon behind him.
Shiver was standing just behind him, pointing her fan at him. "Awww, look at you, opening the treasure up alll for me. How so very sweet. You have excellent taste."
A part of him was shocked and excited that Shiver just showed up, but it didn't exactly override his desperation. He glanced back at the money stash before he gripped his weapon tighter. "Sorry… I found it first."
She snickered. "But you're too delicate to claim this particular stash… don't you agree?"
"Agree to disagree, sure."
"Yeah, yeah. Step aside, my fellow bandit, and I might be willing to split some with you. How's that sound?"
Again, this was a bit tempting. But, then again… "I'm already splitting with some friends, so-" Deciding to protect the money, he slammed the vault shut. "I'll have to remind you. I found it first. Finders keepers."
They fell silent as they stared at each other. Shiver seemed annoyed… but only mildly so, and only for a moment. She opened her fan to hide her face as her annoyed frown formed into a smirk. "Ah, I see… the cold-shoulder routine. Guess you're pretty wicked after all." She again closed her fan. "We'll have to teach you some manners."
He glanced behind her. "Uhhh… 'we'?"
She smirked and turned around. "Join me, Master Mega!"
Johnny looked around, a bit confused as motorcycle noises erupted from out in the hall. He briefly lowered his weapon. "What the-?"
He was knocked off of his feet, as out of nowhere, crashing his way in and destroying parts of the wall, was an actual Shark, equipped with rocket engines that was strapped to his body and, for some reason, sunglasses that were on his head, far away from his actual eyes. He splattered blue ink all over the place as he erupted into view and came to settle, and Shiver mounted the mechanical seat that was on his back. She posed with her fan, sticking her tongue out. "Pedal to the megalodon!" She exclaimed as Master Mega roared at him.
"Oh, come on!" Johnny shakily scrambled to his feet, but was then forced to dodge as the Shark leapt at him.
The sounds of the Shark's roar could be heard from throughout the nearby rooms as Syd rushed up toward where the hidden rooms were, looking around as she heard the noises. "What the hell is that?"
She slowed her approach only somewhat as she navigated the hallway, stealthily making her way up to Johnny's location, when she was once again interrupted as the yellow popstar Inkling leapt in front of her, blocking her path.
"Not so fast!" Frye straightened herself. "You're pretty tough, I can tell."
Syd stopped in her tracks, holding out her Stringer. "Oh, hell no, not you again."
Frye leaned back somewhat. "How 'bout this. You call it quits, join my crew, and we split the treasure!"
She huffed. "I'm flattered, but I'm technically already a part of a crew. Well, like… if you wanna call it that. But just step the fuck aside already, I have money to split with other prettier people than you, if you don't mind."
Frye stared at her, getting a bit frustrated. She leaned forward, dramatically dangling her arms. "Bah. You wanna resolve this Splatlands-style, huh?" She suddenly slapped her fist into her palm. "Fine by me! DANCE BATTLE TO THE DEATH!"
Syd squinted. "Uh… dance battle?"
She just responded by pulling out a flute, whistling into it. She played a brief call before again putting it away. "Eels! Get your wriggly butts out here!"
Syd looked around before suddenly, just behind her, a swarm of floating, orange eels with black Inkling-like masks over their eyes swooped in, trying to bite her. She instinctively dived out of the way as the eels swooped past her and began circling their master. Groaning in pain, she looked back at them as she started getting back up.
"HUP, HUP, HUP!" Frye pointed forward. "Let's dance!" And with that, the eels flew forward for another attack.
Sally was rushing down another nearby hallway, also hearing the noises, but she remained unaware as a mass of swirled green and yellow ink was slowly following her, covering the ground as it stealthily moved along the ceiling and then the wall as it made its way toward her.
Sally was, too, stopped in her tracks as she heard the Manta Ray's "Ay!" behind her, translating directly to "Hold it right there!"
She immediately turned to see Big Man, who had appeared from the ink mass. "Oh, shit. Hey, uh… dude." She awkwardly waved.
Big Man put on a battle pose. "The money isn't yours! You can't have it!"
She pointed her weapon at him. "That's cute. I'm taking it anyway."
He huffed and began circling his fins around each other. "I wouldn't fight you if I didn't have to, but…" He clapped them together, as his entire body began to shift into the same green and yellow ink. "This is for Splatsville!" He then swirled into the air and dived back into his ink. The large Manta Ray-shaped puddle he had formed once again began closing in on her.
As all of this was happening, more and more battle noises were starting to fill the building as the Hodgson Syndicate made their way up the stairs, also closing in on the location of the money.
"Contingency plans are in place." One of them announced as he caught up with his allies up the stairs.
"Good." The one up front said as they made their way toward the door. He opened it. "But something tells me we won't have too much to worry abo- woah…"
They all paused, watching as Syd was knocked to the ground in front of them. She quickly back-flipped up onto her feet and dived back into battle, dodging all of the eels that swarmed her. Although taking quite a few hits, she managed to navigate around them, rushing forward as she moved to tackle Frye.
"Bah!" Frye briefly held her arms out before she was tackled, leading to a brief wrestling match before Syd was forced to dodge more eel attacks.
A couple of the armed men backed up. "Yo, is that Deep Cut?" One of them asked.
The rest of them just stared, wondering how to even proceed.
Blue ink and stacks of both paper and money were being flung all over the hidden room as Master Mega threw himself all over the place trying to bite Johnny, smashing into walls and desks. Johnny was of course forced to dodge nearly constantly, all while trying to fire his own ink at him to slow him down. This continued on for a good few moments, and although Master Mega was starting to get tired, Johnny was more tired, to the point that his dodges were becoming less and less slick.
He was in the process of firing at him from behind when suddenly, the Shark glanced back at him and spun around, swinging his tail to knock him into the wall. He slumped down, feeling pretty defeated, as he groaned and held his cut arm.
Master Mega, thankfully, was starting to show his own wear as he panted a bit, squirming around as he briefly settled to re-hydrate with his own ink once again.
Seeing this, Johnny took a breath before he slowly got back up. "Oh, getting tired, huh…?"
Shiver was still sitting atop the saddle, shaking her head. She was actually a little impressed. "You're pretty tough… for an appetizer. But we all have our breaking points… Master!" She leaned forward and used her fan to poke the shark's head. "I need you to really focus now, ok?"
The shark took another moment to re-prepare before he bounced a bit, shaking the room. He roared once again as he faced Johnny.
"Attaboy, Master!" She held her fan up into the air as she gripped the seat handle. "Let's finish him off!"
Johnny groaned in frustration as the Master's engines reactivated, and he lunged for another attack, forcing him into another dodge as the fight continued. It continued just as it did before, causing further destruction to the room, but this time… Johnny simply wasn't able to keep up with the shark's constant attacks. No matter how much of his own ink he unloaded into the thing, it refused to let up before he did, and he soon felt it clearly as the shark tried to ram directly into him, managing to cut him with some of his teeth as he was sent flying backward.
Johnny rolled onto the ground, actually defeated now. He tried pushing himself upward, but quickly gave up, letting himself lie on the ground. It seemed he was actually going to get eaten by a shark today after all… but now that it was actually happening, it felt much more embarrassing than he had previously imagined. He weakly turned his head to face the victor.
Shiver sighed a bit and partially hid her face with her fan. "Remember, I gave you a chance to back down… but hey, you made for a fun little distraction. Shame it couldn't have been under better circumstances, cutie." He again tapped Master Mega's head. "Alright, Master. Dinner time!"
Master Mega again roared.
Shiver gripped the seat tightly. "I'll remember you when we use the money for worthy causes!"
Johnny flinched as the shark again lunged forward, but this time, he was interrupted as out of nowhere, Chase leapt into the room, flinging himself around the room as he bounced around Johnny.
"What the-?" Shiver pulled the Master back.
Without warning, Chase then leapt directly into Master Mega's mouth, slipping past his teeth as he tried to bite onto him. Confused and panicked, Master Mega suddenly began thrashing around as he felt the Smallfry attack his mouth.
Shiver flailed her arms around. "M-Master, what the hell are you-!?" She was thrown off, striking the floor. She grunted in pain before she quickly scrambled back to her feet. "Master! This isn't how we behave! Spit that thing out no-" She, too, was suddenly struck by his tail, which knocked her aside.
Johnny couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. "Attaboy, Chase…" He muttered, before taking a moment to push himself back up, as Master Mega continued freaking out, rushing out of the room.
Further destruction was reigning through the halls nearby as Syd ran through, every once in a while aiming backward to fire at Frye's eels, until she suddenly tripped on something. "WOAH!" She faceplanted on the ground.
Sally was on the ground by her feet, shaking her head. "Ow! Watch it, braid bitch!"
"Wha-" She started to get back up. "What the hell are you doing on the floor?"
"I was hiding from the- what the hell are those!?" She screamed as Frye's eels flew toward them, one of them hurling itself at Syd's head.
Syd fired at it to stun it before she rolled out of the way. "In case you haven't been paying attention, we have compa- what the hell is that!?" She pointed as she then noticed Big Man's approaching ink shadow down the hall.
"Big Man from Deep Cut!" She looked around as more eels began to swarm them. "Back to back!"
Without questioning it, Syd stood up straight before she and Sally pressed up against each other, and the eels began circling around them; Every time one tried to lunge at them, they were both ready, firing at them to take them down accordingly.
At that moment, Frye herself was approaching the scene, still holding her flute. "You think you can treat my eels like shrimp? Wrong! Nu-huh!" She played another brief calling tune, bouncing a bit. "No more holding back! Get ready to feel the pain!"
Syd and Sally both looked up as more eels came in for more aggressive attacks, prompting both of them to dodge as they fired at the attackers.
Big Man, in his ink shadow form, continued to slide his way toward the girls as they remained distracted, even as he began to slide under Frye's feet.
Frye, who was just noticing his presence, looked down at him, immediately annoyed. "What the- Big Man!"
Big Man ignored her, continuing to make his way toward Sally.
She began stomping on him, frustrated. "Big Man, get out of my way! You're ruining my dance!"
"Hey, I think that green puddle is trying to kill us!" Syd announced to Sally.
Sally turned to notice, aiming her gun to fire at it. "Deal with the eels!"
As the battle continued like this, Syd and Sally worked in tandem to hold off both foes as, irritated by Sally's ink, Big Man's shadow began to split into several, smaller shadows, spreading ink absolutely all over the place. But this ink didn't just get in the way of his opponents, it also heavily threw off Frye.
"Big Man!" Frye cried out as her dance was interrupted further. "Big Man, you fucking mor-" She fell over entirely.
Suddenly, sensing that their master had been hurt, the eels all, one of the after, turned to notice what had happened, before they lunged at Big Man's shadows.
"Wait, no, sto-" Frye was unable to stop them as her eels and her partner attacked each other.
In an instant, the eels had all injured themselves with Big Man's sting, collapsing onto the ground like noddles, and Big Man himself emerged back into his physical form, sitting down and hunching over. "Ooh, my tummy…" He whimpered.
Syd and Sally both stood up straight, panting as they faced their opponents. They were both apparently down for the count, and Frye, surrounded by her eels that lazily lied around on the ground, threw her flute aside, crossing her arms. "Well, this stinks…"
Syd and Sally glanced at each other and shrugged before they finally ran to meet up with Johnny.
Johnny was in the process of trying to crack the safe again when Syd and Sally ran in after him. "Didja get the money!?" Sally pressured.
"Uhh, hi to you too, and yeah, just about." Johnny got right back to the cracking process. "Just right behind this door…"
"Woo…" Syd put her hands on her sides. "With all of our tentacles intact, too. Hey, have either of you happened to see-" She was interrupted as Chase bounced up and onto her shoulder. She smiled and immediately pet him. "Oh, hey, Little Buddy. We're about to be rich. You know that?"
Chase just bounced on her in response.
"And nothing can stand in our way now." Sally smirked.
"Just a few… more… momeeents…" Johnny continued as he got the safe unlocked once again. The rest of them all watched with both intense nervousness and excitement as, finally, they all heard the last click. Johnny opened the door.
The sheer amount of money was completely staggering. It was unlike anything any of them had seen before. It was indeed the 4 million dollars they had searched for, and Syd's, Sally's, and even Chase's eyes all went as wide as dinner plates as they-
The sounds of guns cocking could be heard behind them as they all turned around, seeing the suited Hodgson Syndicate men that had come in to hold them at gunpoint. The one up front smirked, licking his lollipop. "Thanks for opening the safe for us. And clearing out the competition. Made our jobs much easier…" He then tried to bite it. "Ow."
They all sighed. "…Aw, man…" Syd grumbled.
Syd, Johnny, Sally, Shiver, Frye, and Big Man all sat in a line against the wall, bonded by zipties, as they watched the crime syndicate celebrate their victory. They were having an absolute field day, not only collecting all of the money, but playing around with it as well, throwing some of it around and jumping into the pile like it was a pool.
"...Is being rich and happy, just… too much to ask for?" Syd mused.
Sally leaned back. "…Hell, I'd settle for just being rich."
The Deep Cut members, meanwhile, were all pissed. They were all silently sitting there, up until Shiver nudged Big Man. "Big Man… still waiting for you to do your thing…" She whispered.
"I can't…" Big Man replied.
"Why not?"
"My tummy still hurts…" He frowned as he hunched over.
"And he took out my eels." Frye replied. "Thanks a lot, Big Man."
Shiver sighed. Even she couldn't call Master Mega for assistance at the moment. Frustrated, she turned to the opposite trio. "Thanks to you too, dipshits."
"Really? Insults?" Syd replied. "This wouldn't have happened if you three hadn't intervened."
"We literally offered to split the money with you."
"Yeah? Would you have split it evenly?"
"We… we would've… given you a fair amount."
"Yeah. Sure." She couldn't help but chuckle, nudging Johnny. "These Splatcast assholes really thought they were better than us… could you believe that?"
Now the three Deep Cut members were just insulted. "Not that anyone asked, but, the money wasn't really for us." Frye said.
"Oh, really?" Syd smirked now. "Who was it for?"
"Splatsville, moron."
"Yeah! For all of the people in need out there!" Big Man waved his body a bit. "…Right? That's who it was for, right?"
Shiver sighed. "Yes, Big Man…"
"Yeah, there are some people out there that are really hurting." Frye continued.
Shiver nodded a bit. "That's right. We planned to divide the money among the needy. While keeping a… shallow cut." She then gave them a bit of a glare. "And we came after it ourselves to keep it from instead falling into the hands of greedy bums like you. Now… look who it's fallen into the hands of instead. Happy?"
Everyone fell silent. There was, of course, no proof that they were telling the truth, but whether or not they were, Syd did receive an awful realization, practically in the pit of her stomach, that she had, well… not ever considered doing something like that. She hadn't even thought of it. A bit ashamed, she looked down. "…Oh…"
"Regardless…" Shiver sighed. "We're in the same boat now, but I guess you guys won the fight, so… GG, I guess. Not that you get any award, but… good job. Enjoy your pride." She leaned back, slumping down.
But Syd felt no pride at all. And in the moment, neither did Johnny or Sally. They all fell into silence, all feeling quite defeated, as Syd looked up at the suited men that were collecting all of the money. A few moments passed as she stared at them, and suddenly, a weird feeling came over her. "…But… there's gotta be something we can do, right?"
"Like what?" Shiver replied.
"I dunno, but we can't just… we can't just sit here. We can't just let them have the money. Like… it has to go to better people than them."
They all looked at each other. Johnny looked back at her. "Do you… have any ideas?"
She looked back at the suited men, thinking it over. A few moments passed as she ultimately came out blank, and she leaned forward with a defeated sigh.
The others gave up as well, not exactly having their own ideas. It was just gonna go down as a shitty day for them, and very possibly, a shitty, non-honorable memorial for each of them. They all leaned back, deciding to await whatever happened next.
Then, as a few more moments passed, Syd looked up, noticing something. Just barely, she could see Chase, poking his head out from a piece of rubble. He had apparently decided to hide from all of the scary guns that these guys had, but he still had eyes on his Inkling owner, occasionally peeking out at her to see if she was ok.
She smirked a bit. Maybe the day had a silver lining after all. "…I might have one idea…"
The others glanced at her, then followed her gaze. Shiver couldn't help but smirk a bit as well. "…I might have one, too."
They nodded at each other before Syd motioned the Smallfry over.
Minutes passed. The syndicate, as they collected the money, remained unaware as Chase slipped out of the room, then down the hall, down some stairs, then some more hallways. He obediently searched the halls where Shiver had suggested he look, and for a little bit, was coming up empty. But luckily, he didn't have to search too long before he heard the familiar sound of a low breathing, He bounced and headed over to the door that was open just a crack.
He kept bouncing up, struggling to reach the doorknob, until he finally got it opened, turning to the beast that had hidden himself inside here after their last confrontation. The shark angrily growled in his face, blowing him with hot air.
In response, he just closed his eyes and waved up at him, beaming.
"So, you think we should be putting these guys down?" The syndicate men upstairs pondered with each other as they got all of the money put into bags, uncaring that their prisoners could still hear them loud and clear. A few other men carried some other bags in, setting them in the pile.
"Why? It's Deep Cut." Another one of them responded.
"...So?"
"...So… we'd be ridding the world of their music. No one wants that."
"We just scored 4 million bucks, we can make our own music."
He paused as he pondered that. "…I guess I could try again with my rapping career."
"Who's anyone's favorite Deep Cut member, anyway? No one. Because they're nobodies. Nothing like Solar Flair. Solar Flair are the ones who are really hot these days, you know?"
"...Big Man is my favorite member."
All of their crew members nodded their heads. "Big Man, yeah, Big Man's the best one. No contest." One of them said.
Shiver and Frye both rolled their eyes.
Their leader, now licking a new lollipop, walked in. "You're all very cultured, but either way, we might as well take them out. They've seen our faces. And they're likely gonna want another crack at the money."
"But… sir…" He leaned forward. "It's Deep Cut… we can't just… do that to them…" He whispered.
"I don't care." He took another bite. "Ow. Motherf-"
"Don't worry. I've got them." One guy grabbed his gun and walked over, aiming at the prisoners. "You girls got any last songs to sing?"
They didn't respond. Shiver just glanced at her watch.
"...Do you have any Manta Ray medications for my tummy?" Big Man asked.
Before he could respond or even shoot, they all fell silent as they felt the ground rumble. He looked down. "What the-?"
"Protect the money!" Someone demanded.
They got into position to do so, but weren't able to do much as, crashing his way in through the door, was Master Mega, roaring. Chase, who was riding on his back, squealed in excitement. Like a speeding train, the shark tanked their gunfire as he rammed into them, crashing into the remaining unpacked money and sending it flying all over the place.
The syndicate members all shouted as they attempted to take down the shark, but to no avail as he attacked them all. Chase leapt off of his back and finally rushed toward Syd to nibble her restraints off.
"Attaboy, Little Buddy!" Syd cheered.
"Man, this is at least the second or third time you've saved us today…" Johnny added as Chase got to work on freeing everyone else.
As they all stood up, Shiver briefly stopped Master Mega before she climbed up onto his back. She struck the same pose she did while previously battling Johnny. "Time to show you our REAL power!" She patted Master Mega. "Hit it!"
Master Mega roared before leaping back into action, while the rest of them grabbed their weapons to join the fight, working together to take out any remaining syndicate members.
One of them fell to the ground, scrambling to get on his radio. "Activate the-" He coughed a bit. "Activate the contingency plan!"
"The contingency plan!? Are… you sure?" The person on the other end said.
"Yes! Everything's going off the deep end up here so just do it!"
"O… k, then. Nice working with you, dude."
He looked back at the battle until a moment later, they heard a rumbling sound. The entire building shook and the lights flickered, catching everyone's attention.
His eyes widened as he turned back to the radio. "Which contingency plan did you activate!?"
"The bombs!"
"T-The bombs!? The bombs were for things going really south, we're still upstairs, dude!"
"I thought that was the only contingency plan we had!"
"I was referring to the HELICOPTER!"
"...Oh… well, you should've been more specific."
"Shut it down!"
"I can't!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T, JUST SHUT IT DOWN!"
"i can't, I already ran out the exit!"
"Ohhh, nooo!" He yelled dramatically, starting to cry at the prospect of death before he grabbed his weapon and tried running out, only to suddenly get knocked down and eaten by Master Mega just a moment later.
Within the next few moments, all hell broke loose as the bombs really started to go off, starting to collapse the whole building. Syd and Johnny, both in the midst of battle, were almost thrown off their feet, spinning their arms to maintain balance. Frightened, Chase leapt onto Syd's shoulder, hugging her neck.
Frye sighed in disappointment. "You know, money is overrated, anyway." She disappeared behind a puff of smoke.
"I should really just move to Inkopolis…" Big Man disappeared as well.
Sally looked around. She had no… whatever disappearing ability that was, but she did have one idea. Grabbing one of the bags the syndicate had left behind, she bolted for the exit. "See you guys on the other side!"
Johnny tried to call out to her, but quickly gave up, sighing in disappointment.
"Now what!?" Syd shouted.
He didn't really have any survival ideas himself, so much like Sally, he decided to just bolt it, grabbing Syd's hand. "C'mon! I'll get you out of here!"
She blushed a bit as they ran out into the hall, looking for an exit strategy. It did, at first, look like they still had time to escape on foot, but those hopes were dashed as the building shook more violently, nearly knocking them off their feet.
"Woah!" Syd tried to maintain her balance, but even as she did, part of the ceiling above her started to give out.
"Look out-!" He dived to tackle her, and they both barely fell out of the way. Syd groaned in pain as Johnny landed on top of her, and they both looked over to examine the aftermath. He looked her in the eye. "You ok?"
She stared right back. "Ohhh, I love you…" Her words were muffled by another loud crashing sound.
"What's that?"
Unable to think, she blurted out her next line. "Oh, I uh… said you're really, uh… hot…" She closed her eyes, cringing to herself.
"Oh… uh, thanks." He pulled her up with him, but as they continued running, it quickly became clear that there really wasn't gonna be a viable escape on foot for them now. However, before they could even come to terms with their upcoming deaths, Master Mega, with Shiver still on top, once again leapt into view. He roared as he slid to a stop near them.
"Shiver!?" Johnny shouted. "You need to get out of here, there's no ti-"
Shiver rolled her eyes. "Oh, just hop on, cutie."
He and Syd exchanged a split-second glance before they both rushed to hop on. Master Mega briefly leaned upward before he sped forward, charging through a couple walls before suddenly, they were all sent soaring outside of the building and through Splatsville's air. Syd and Johnny were both screaming bloody murder, while Shiver cheered more like she was on a roller coaster, up until they suddenly landed on the roof of another, smaller building. The shark swerved as he again skidded to a stop, and Syd was thrown off, rolling onto the ground. She laid there, groaning in pain.
The building behind them collapsed further and further until it was nothing but a pile of rubble, surrounded by a huge cloud of dust, with all of the 4 million dollars now buried underneath.
Shiver got off of her shark. "You guys ok?"
Syd shakily help up her thumb. "…Never better…"
"Figured."
"Well, well, well…" They all turned to notice that Frye and Big Man were already standing on the same roof. Frye struck a bit of a pose. "That was quite the show you helped us put on there."
Syd groaned and slowly stood up. "Now what do you want?"
"Another fight!" Big Man exclaimed.
"No. Actually just a talk this time." Frye corrected.
"A talk about what?" Johnny asked.
"Are you kidding!? After everything we just went through!? You don't know what we're gonna ask?"
Shiver rolled her eyes as she joined them. "You guys proved to be pretty good bandits… misguided intentions aside."
"That's right! We've got to do this again sometime! We can be a team!"
She opened her fan. "A team of six, even."
"A team of excellent bandits. Together, we can be unstoppable!"
"A team of six?" Big Man tilted his body. "Isn't that a bit much?"
Shiver ignored him. "I know we didn't get off to the best start today… but I think with some proper team training- and better motives- we really will be unstoppable. We can be one of the best bandit teams out there. I can tell you guys have the heart deep down… so… what do you say?"
They all fell into silence as Syd and Johnny thought that over. They looked at each other, carefully selecting their decision before Syd just kind of let out a weak, measly "Eh."
"Eh?" She closed her fan. "What's eh?"
She shrugged. "It's just an eh."
"I don't think they like us…" Big Man hunched over in sorrow. "I knew it…"
"Hey, hey, don't get me wrong. Today was… surprisingly fun. Annoying, but fun. I'm not interested in starting a team, persay, but… if our paths happen to cross again… who knows." She shrugged again. "Occasional team-ups might be fun."
Shiver and Frye looked at each other, admittedly a bit disappointed. Ultimately, though, Shiver gave her own shrug. "…Well, alright then. Relying on future circumstances it is." She pointed her fan forward. "You know where to find us, I presume."
She just nodded.
She smirked. "Alright, then. Until next time." She held her fan up, lowered it, and suddenly, the three of them all disappeared behind the same puff of smoke. Master Mega, left by his lonesome, glanced at the two of them before he suddenly leapt of the building, leaving to who knows where.
Johnny scratched his head. "…Dammit… in all the commotion, I forgot to ask for that autograph…"
Chase finally let go of Syd's neck as they stood atop the roof, turning to look at the sunset behind them.
He sighed. "I hope Sally's ok…"
"Eh…" Syd replied yet again, taking Chase in her hand to pet him. She glanced at the sunset, then back at Johnny. It had certainly been another day in Splatsville, but… this was… certainly a nice moment. With just the two of them, too. She stared at him a moment, and he turned to look at her as well, smiling a bit.
Yep. She was feeling it. She was pretty sure he was feeling it, too. Sneakily, she moved to lean on him, when-
Apparently, Johnny's mind had just caught up with him right before she could make her move. "Hang on, did you seriously say I was hot earlier? Did I hear that right?" He said, pretty weirded out.
She paused, extremely embarrassed. "…Errrr…"
In spite of her unlikely escape attempt, Sally had actually barely managed to make it out of the building herself, having super-jumped out of the building to safety in the nick of time. And, she still had the bag she stole safe and sound on her shoulder.
She giggled in excitement as she set the bag down to check its contents. "Hehe, come to mama… wait… what the-"
Inside was the collection of porn magazines that were originally in the safe Syd had initially found. She groaned in disappointment, extremely aggravated, before she did a double take at some of the covers. "…Hm…" She looked around to make sure nobody just saw her, before she decided it wasn't that bad of a steal anyway, shrugging as she closed the bag. With that, she strung it on her shoulder and continued on her way.
In case anyone asks, no, I haven't forgotten that the Salmonids just vowed to invade the city last chapter. I'm still working on getting through the initial list of ideas I wrote down for this story, with there being one more, (being a Tableturf chapter, which is next up), and I didn't want to do multiple Salmonid chapters in a row anyway, but don't get too comfortable. The Big Run is still coming.