"Booyah!" The young inkling pumps his fist, laughing as he scores the match winning clam. "Another win for me."
He waves at the crowd, cheering and chanting his name, blowing kisses to them. "Thank you~! You're too kind!"
An inkling punches his arm, glaring. "Hey. It was a team effort, jackass."
"Really?" Ray asks, acting shocked. "If I had a team, why am I the only one that scored? So weird…maybe I'm confused~?"
He grins smugly. "Where's my check?"
"You're insufferable." The inkling shakes their head. "I'll give it to you in the lobby."
"Thanks, you're a doll~" He says, slinging his charger over his shoulder, heading back and getting his stuff put away in his locker. After getting paid, of course.
As he finishes up, he has the feeling of getting watched, and closes the door, looking over to spot an inkling woman watching him from the far side of the room.
"Hey." Ray says, nodding, then smiling. "What's up? Looking for an autograph?"
"That was impressive." She says approaching him slowly. "The autograph can wait though."
"Eh? Looking for something more? I've got time." He takes a step towards her, and she sticks a hand out to indicate he stop
"Not here, and not now. It's a proposition. If you're interested, meet me in the square." She says, leaving the room.
Ray looks after her, curious.
"You know, I can just come along now. Got nothing else going on!" He walks beside her. "So what, we're going to your place?"
"Something like that." The woman replies, sighing. "You've really got a one track mind, don't you bud?"
"I know what I want." Ray shrugs. "Nothing wrong with that."
"I guess not." They exit into the square now. "Tell me, Ray. You like recognition, right? Being needed?"
"What clued you in?" He asks, chuckling. "I don't necessarily need to be needed but it's nice to get that praise, you're right."
"Come with me." She says, stepping onto a sewer grate and slipping through it.
Ray shrugs, and doesn't hesitate for even a moment, coming out right behind her in the Octo Canyon. That gives him pause
"Woah…"
"Welcome to Tentakeel outpost." She says, twirling her umbrella. "...My name is Marie. And I need your help. I have to give you a chance to back out though–I'm asking a lot. You've got the skills, but you'll be attacking people, and splatting them, for real. If that bothers you…"
"Eh." Ray shrugs. "Need me to sign a paper or something? That's fine."
"You don't even know what I'm going to ask yet!" Marie retorts, annoyed, before continuing. "I need you to join the New Squidbeak Splatoon as an agent. Our job is to keep the world safe from any and all that'd threaten it…but Agent 3 is gone, and so's the Cap'n. I'm sure they'll come back. But it's Agent 1–my sister I'm worried about." She looks at the ground, "She just left one day, and disappeared. I haven't heard anything from her, and that's not like her. I need you to locate her–oh, and the Great Zapfish, too." She adds on as almost an afterthought. "Still in?"
Ray mulls the idea around in his head for only a few moments. It sounded fun. Being a hero–saving the girl, and the city…like some sort of movie. And what, all he had to do was splat some people along the way? "Deal." Ray says, smiling. "Anything for a pretty lady in need."
Marie's expression drops a bit. "Alright, well. You'll need the right equipment…" She gestures over to Enhancifier, with a big metal case beside it. "Go open that case and gear up, Agent 4. You start today."
And so began Agent 4's assault on the Octo canyon. It took a bit for him to make his way down, but from there…it was nonstop fighting. As of right now, he'd just finished up combatting…a giant cube with legs.
"Yeah, so…that was weird, right?" He asks, holding the little zapfish he just freed. "It felt weird."
"That was Octostomp. Agent 3 got rid of them years ago, but I guess they un-got-rid of themselves."
"Yeah, well…" He superjumps back to the outpost, letting the zapfish go wander off wherever it needed to return to now. "It's been months." He says, walking over to Marie,"...are we any closer to finding her? At all?"
"I wish I knew, Ray." She sounds troubled."I did get some new intel while you were away though."
"Oh yeah?" He heads over to the enhancifier, getting his weapon upgraded. "What's that?"
"There's a big show soon." She replies, "Probably a trap, but–"
"But I'm going." He lifts his hero shot and chuckles, "Where's it at?"
"I'll send you the coordinates." Marie says. "But Ray…be careful. You don't know what's going to be waiting for you there."
"I do, actually. I have a hunch it's a bunch of octo's waiting to get splatted, maybe even Octavio himself." He replies, checking his phone. "Got it. Heading out."
"...Be safe, dude." Marie says, watching him go.
Ray was determined. Getting here was easier said than done. And now that the gates lay broken open before him, he knew that it was a mad sprint to get to the stage at the end and face the king. His footsteps echoed, as the entirety of the Octarian Army's strength was thrown against him. His trigger finger started to hurt from how often he was using it, a trail of injured and splatted Octo's in his wake. The fighting lasted for hours–until finally, he was at the final stretch. He started to walk, but was cut off by a squad of Octarian Operatives. He readies to attack, as the squad breaks up, he dispatches three of the four with ease. The last one stares him down.
"Oh, wanting to talk, huh?" He aims his gun at her, glaring. "Too bad."
"I can't let you reach the king." They say, hand slowly going for their gun
"Stand down." He stares at her hand. "Don't make me repeat myself."
She draws, and he releases his charge shot, tearing through her shoulder and sending her to the ground.
"I'm saving her." Ray says, walking away. "And you can't stop me."
"You mean…Callie…? She…doesn't need rescuing." The octoling yells, enraged. "She came to us willingly!"
Ray turns, furious. "Liar!" He walks back over to her, and grips her collar, lifting her off the ground. "How dare you?!"
A thousand thoughts raced through his head. There was no way this octoling was telling the truth. They were just trying to get to him…right? But there'd been doubts. If she was truly a prisoner, why hadn't Callie tried to make contact? She was an agent too–in theory, she could have at least broken free to do that. But she hadn't. Even Marie had begun to doubt they'd find.
The octoling smirks, seeing the expression on his face. "Tch…haha…guess you didn't know her as well as you thought!"
She grabs his wrist and swings her wounded free arm, a knife sailing for his eye. He pulls his head back, causing his eye to get missed, but still takes a hit to the eyebrow. Ray cries out in agony, dropping her.
"You've stalled long enough!" He growls, putting some pressure on his wound. "I've got bigger fish to fry…"
His gaze turns towards the stadium, and he starts walking, ready for the final confrontation.
The fight was brutal. Ray started off doing well enough, but after taking an unexpected bomb rush, not only was he pissed at Marie, he was pissed at Octavio, too.
"I'm on my way, Ray! Just keep hitting him till I get there!"
He didn't bother replying. Just kept on fighting, until finally, Marie and Shelldon arrived. He wasn't expecting much from it, but Marie fired off a shot, nailing Callie and stalling any further bomb rushes from Octavio. A little bit more of the same, and Marie managed to convince Callie to return to her. Octavio yells something about dropping the sea-bass, and heads upward–Shelldon deploying ride rails, and a drone bringing Ray a rainmaker.
"Here you are, though you may have issues firing it one handed, this is the super modded rainmaker! It–"
"Shoots big shots." Ray lugs it onto his good shoulder, face locked in a snarl. "Thanks."
He hops on the rail, using the rainmaker one handed, earning a "Dude, that's crazy" from Marie. It didn't take long for the Octobot king to be defeated–the machine exploding in a violent ball of light. When he could see again, the stadium was mostly empty.
He walks over to Octavio, Marie and Callie joining him. "Should I finish him off?"
"No!" Callie says quickly. "That isn't necessary!"
"We'll take it from here. Go back to the outpost and get your arm looked at." Marie says. "You've earned a break."