Chapter Fifteen:

Finding The Impersonator

Makerboy sat at the table near the diner, wearing his best fresh clothes, with Agent 8 seated across from him. It had been hours, even a day, since the former had taken on Kraken the Hunter as the black-suited Spider-Inkling, and the green squid was eager to enjoy a date with his Octoling girlfriend without crime-fighting or field missions getting in the way.

"He may have been a tough cookie, but a hunter doesn't always stand a chance in some cases." Makerboy was saying to the attractive Octarian.

Agent 8 giggled. "I'm just glad you and Parker managed to incapacitate him, Alex." She said, "In fairness, I don't know if the whole Squidbeak Splatoon could keep up with such prowess from a Russian Inktoling hunter."

"Yeah..." Makerboy took a sip of coffee, "...but I will admit that business with a dead Octoling science coat guy is disturbing. Can't believe someone would want him dead, and I'm also not so sure why a drone was leaving the scene of the crime just after you got there. It's like the drone knew when to leave, and had already been there before you showed up."

"HEY! AGENT 8!"

A tan skinned female Octoling walked towards Makerboy and Agent 8's table, glaring furiously at the latter, and Makerboy leaned back a little in an uneasy manner. Either the Octoling was a rogue Octarian soldier who had a beef with the Inkling's girlfriend, or she had some serious race-related issues.

"Look at you..." The angry Octoling said to the Squidbeak Splatoon agent while ignoring Makerboy, "...sitting around at the cafe, acting innocent and happy. You think I forgot what you did this morning? YOU SPLATTED MY SISTER AND PICKPOCKETED ME!"

"What? I would never do that!" Agent 8 exclaimed with surprise, "I have never stolen from anyone nor have I splatted anybody outside of Turf Wars. I've been hanging out with my boyfriend all morning."

"Oh please. You think making out with a squid boy will change what happened?"

"Ma'am. I'm not a thief, nor would I ever go up to someone to splat them."

"BULL-CARP!" The angry Octoling grabbed 8's arm, "I RECOGNIZE YOUR FACE ANYWHERE, REGARDLESS IF THERE ARE OCTOLINGS WHO LOOK SIMILAR TO YOU IN CERTAIN WAYS! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU LEFT THE OCTARIAN ARMY, YOU'RE NO DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER OCTOLINGS FROM OCTO-VALLEY!"

'I better get to the bottom of this.' Makerboy thought. He sipped up his coffee, then he departed the cafe to change into his symbiote Spider-Inkling outfit. It was up to Inkopolis' second web-slinging superhero to get to the bottom of the case, before Agent 8 landed in more trouble.

Finding criminals wasn't that hard. All that the dark-clad Spider-Inkling had to do was sense where and when something fishy was afoot, then he'd head right to the scene of the crime and take care of the bad guy.

At first, he considered contacting Parker, the pro Spider-Squid, but the situation was brought to Makerboy's attention first. However, the junior superhero squid wasn't opposed to teaming up with his friend if the situation called for it, and there was no way a sweet Octoling like Agent 8 would actually do the things she was accused of, right?

Makerboy swung through Midtown Street, several avenues away from Inkopolis Plaza, and studied the streets below with all eyes peeled for suspicious activity. He saw many Inklings interacting with various Octolings, many of whom were almost the same variation as Agent 8.

'Out of all the many Octo girls in Inkopolis, it isn't uncommon for a female Octoling to have the same tentacle color and eye color as Agent 8, and get easily mistaken for her.' Makerboy thought.

He took a left turn down a district, and swooped down a little lower to get a closer look at the wandering citizens while making sure he didn't hit anyone. Moments later, Makerboy felt a strong tingling sensation in the back of his head, indicating that someone was up to no good.

The green-haired superhero Inkling swooped into an alleyway near an appliance store, and the tingling sensation got stronger by the second as his every instinct told him that trouble was close. Makerboy poked his head around a corner, and that was when he spotted a pink-haired female Octoling dressed in black leather with a gold bracelet on her wrist.

Just as he lay eyes on her, Makerboy's spider sense went off again, even as he recognized her face.

It looked like Agent 8, but it wasn't her, and the super squid knew it.

The smooth squid noticed the Octoling was fidgeting with a wallet, a wallet that very likely didn't belong to her, and Makerboy could hear her chuckling quietly to herself. She hadn't noticed him yet, but the web-slinging squid was going to make sure that the Octoling knew he was.

"Hey, Agent 8!"

He made his approach, and the Octoling lookalike turned to look at the black-clad superhero with surprise. "Oh, Spider-Inkling. This is an honor." False Agent 8 said, "I heard you defeated a hunter named Kraken the other day with the other Spider-Inkling. You must have been so brave."

Makerboy chuckled, in a mannerism that didn't sound like his regular self whenever he laughed, "Is that your wallet or did you steal it from someone? A little jellyfish tells me Agent 8 was seen stealing a wallet this morning."

"Steal a wallet?!" False Agent 8 giggled, "You must be mistaken, Mr. Spider-Inkling. If you saw a wallet in my hands, you must have seen MY wallet. I almost got pickpocketed, and I was making sure my money was unscathed from the fight..."

"Care to tell me about your bracelet?" Makerboy pressed on.

False Agent 8 smiled, "I found it on the street. It's so sad when people just leave their items laying around..."

He made his move, grabbing the evident imposter by the arm with the bracelet, and cutting off her lies before they pressed on. False Agent 8 gasped, and Makerboy chuckled uncharacteristically again while giving the Octoling a serious, and menacing stare. He observed the bracelet closely, noticing a small glowing button in the middle, and tapped it.

"No!" False Agent 8 wailed.

The bracelet let out an odd ping, and a flash illuminated the alley as Agent 8's look-alike vanished, and Makerboy was greeted by the sight of the imposter's true self; a gray-tentacled male Inkling in an orange uniform with bright red eyes.

Whomever this guy was, Makerboy knew that getting answers out of him wasn't that simple. The criminal drew a dagger from his belt, and sliced at the dark-clad web-slinger with a snarl. Makerboy ducked, and snagged the knife with his webs, then he tossed it away. Agent 8's imposter lunged at the Inkling, and attempted to seize his throat in a furious manner.

Makerboy moved aside, out of the criminal's line of attack, and the aggressive Inkling brought up his fist, which the symbiote spider suit-wearing squid blocked with an uppercut, then he flicked his wrists and began webbing up his opponent.

The dangerous Octoling agent-impersonating squid toppled over, bound from shoulder to feet by thick ropes of webbing. Once the Inkling was helpless, Makerboy grabbed the wallet from his person, and glared at him furiously. Now was the time to press for answers.

"So, who are you?" He demanded, grabbing the webbed Inkling almost aggressively, "And what were you doing impersonating Agent 8 today and framing her for the theft of an Octoling's wallet!"

"You may call me... 'The Shapeshifter'." The Shapeshifter replied in what sounded like a Russian accent, "And I was just getting started with my mission, which would have involved the reputation of Inkopolis' heroes being tarnished. Agent 8 was perhaps the best place to start, causing a rift in this city's Octoling population and Octoling-Inkling relations."

Makerboy growled at him. "You're in major trouble, pal." He sneered, "And how much do you know Kraken the Hunter?"

The Shapeshifter chuckled, "Oh, I was eager to face you after I heard the news that you and the other Inkling spider had defeated him. It is easier for me to say that Kraken... is my half-brother."

"You can join him in the Inkopolis beast preserve..." Makerboy snarled.

"I care less about my half-brother's hunts... unless he asks me for help!" The Shapeshifter spat, "You can do what you will with I, Motisky Reiltov, Grand Imposter, and Shapeshifter, but an impersonator's work is far from finished. I spent years training with the best agency ever, and you are nothing next to Spider-Squid!"

He ignored the criminal's words as he picked him up, and departed the alleyway, ready to turn him over to the closest cop patrol. Makerboy took off swinging through the city with The Shapeshifter safely in tow, and with the stolen purse ready to be returned to it's owner...