Chapter Seven:

A Spidery Test Run

Agent 8 and Saya helped Makerboy with his superhero costume, with Parker making some suggestions along the way. It wasn't that hard to find the right fabric and coloring material, but it would look quite good, the eye part of the mask also wasn't a major hassle as it was decided from the start that facial motion sensors would be used in it.

Weaving and coloring took an hour after the materials were gathered, and Makerboy suggested that the back of the mask could be open a little to allow a bit of his hair to show through. When the outfit was completed, Parker had Makerboy put on the costume.

The green-haired Inkling looked at himself in the changing room mirror as he slipped the gloves on, completing half of his costume. It looked just about right, the costume was half-gray and partially dark-red, with green linings and the spider symbol on the front was colored in the right shade of green as well.

"Mask time." He whispered, then he slipped on the mask, and the sensors activated.

He stepped out from behind the curtain, and Saya snapped a photo, for memories. Parker grinned and lightly elbowed the web-slinging green-haired Inkling. "You don't look too bad, my dude." He said, "And it won't be long before those bad guys get a taste of you as ya whoop them."

"Spider-Squid and Spider-Inkling, partners in fighting crime." Makerboy said in a nearly gruff superhero voice, "Yeah, we're gonna rock. And this costume fits me snugly, it fits so well, I can't feel any tightness in the old Splattershot area."

"Alex!" Agent 8 exclaimed with a giggle, "You can't be that excited already."

"Relax, 8." Parker chuckled, "He didn't mean it like that."

Now was the time to give the new Spider-Inkling's powers a test run. Luckily, the group knew a place where nobody could watch them, and they all made sure that, just in case someone was around, they would keep the volume of the action as low as possible. The place?

Camp Triggerfish. The place wasn't open for campouts or seeing any Turf Wars, especially today, and nobody else was around. This meant that the two web-slinging Inklings and their girlfriends were in the clear.

Agent 8 helped set up some dummies, which looked like Octarians, and Makerboy flexed his shoulders. Parker started up a timer, and snapped his fingers, giving a somewhat all-clear signal. Makerboy stared own the Octarian dummies, then he flicked his wrist, and globs of webbing shot out, knocking down the targets and leaving traces of web all over them.

Makerboy blinked, giving his mask's sensors another little test, and the eyes of the mask blinked just as his eyes blinked. Saya set up more dummies, which resembled Inklings this time, and the green-haired squid boy thwipped them up hard. He then leaped towards a tree, spun a web-line and swung towards one of the large wooden beams near the edge.

"Sending up some drones!" Saya called.

Agent 8 tapped a button on a remote, and the tingly sensation at the base of Makerboy's brain went nuts. He spotted several drones coming for him, resembling metallic Octarians, and the Inkling made a leap from the platform he'd just swung to. Makerboy flicked his wrists, blasting several drones with his webbing, while he swung under another one.

He leaped to a tree, then he flicked another web at the drone, and slammed it into the ground with a strong web swing. The drone sparked and shattered upon its hard impact, then the sparking settled.

"Not too bad there, Alex." Parker remarked.

"Doing my damndest, my man!" Makerboy quipped, "These drones are good practice. Where'd you and Saya find 'em, 8?"

"I looted them from an old rogue Octarian base while on an assignment from the captain and shared the discovery with Saya." The Octoling agent replied, "But never did we think we'd be using these things to test an upcoming web-slinging Inkling superhero. Now, watch out, you got another Octarian drone after you!"

FWT-FWT-FWT! The next drone opened fire on Makerboy, who carefully dove out of the way, and he prepared himself. The drone swooped towards the Inkling, its targeting systems engaged, and the Spider-Inkling leaped high before thwipping up the incoming practice enemy, causing it to crash into the nearby tree.

"Aaaand time." Parker stopped the timer, "Ain't too bad there, man. You may have been a little rusty, but you're getting there."

"Hang on, lemme try somethin'." Makerboy said, holding up a finger.

He thwipped a web at the ground, then he conjured up a fireball in his hand, and threw the flame at the web. A pillar of fire rose up, partially scorching the ground, and Makerboy spun some more webs on the spot, even as the flames charred them.

The super squid boy thwipped a web at one of the fallen drones close by, then he conjured up another fireball, and threw it at the broken drone. The broken piece of machinery exploded in a burst of flames, which ran for a while. And Makerboy proceeded to throw more webs into the spot, until the drone's remnants were burnt to a webbed crisp.

"You can't just use flames in battle as well..." Parker told Makerboy, "We don't want to harm anyone too badly. Y'know, I just had another idea, in regards to testing your power and strength, and I know a guy who could help us test you."

Note: Whoops! Sorry I didn't post this on FF sooner...