Hey, all! Looks like that Toon Think guy is back with a... *double checks* sequel, apparently! Yep, we're retreading old ground with this one! *ahem* Yeah, as I teased a long, long time ago, I had plans on making a direct sequel to my Splatoon story Agent 3: Execution, and after four years, another story that took me way too long to finish, and lots of headaches, I'm finally getting around to it. (Yep, I've been writing fanfiction for the funny squid game for over five years now and I'm still going... hehe...) So, I don't know how often Fanfiction writers suddenly bring four-year-old stories back from the dead with sequels, but with this indeed being one, I do have to recommend that you read A3:E before reading this. But, if you don't want to, or haven't read it in a long time, I will have a recap here for you, so don't worry too much. This is also set after the events of my last major story New Squidbeak Splatoon: Ascension, but that one isn't quite as essential to this, so, do with that what you will.

As with A3:E, this is very much M-rated and is NOT for kids. There will be lots of graphic violence and gore, graphic sexual content spread throughout, and dark, disturbing themes, so if that's not for you, please turn back now. This will be my only warning, so please go into each chapter with this in mind.

For any new readers who are just joining me, I wanna clarify that this story is centered around the original Agent 3 from Splatoon 1, not the newer one the fandom dubbed Neo Agent 3. My story universe is pretty canon-divergent at this point and is its own timeline, but if you want some Splatoon 3 content regardless, may I suggest my other story Into the Splatlands? Anyway, with all that out of the way, onto the show.

Disclaimer: I don't own Splatoon or any of its characters. Splatoon is owned by Nintendo.

Recap: Jessica Murdock has been working as the ruthless, heroic vigilante known as Agent 3 under Cap'n Cuttlefish's New Squidbeak Splatoon for years. One day, however, she found herself brutally injured by a terrorist attack upon her own apartment, and was saved from death only by the leftover Sanitization fluids in her head. The attack, as it turned out, was done by her own brother Daniel Murdock, a violent psychopath with schizophrenia who had joined the terrorist Octarian organization known as the Underdogs, who sought to take down Inkopolis and Inkling society. With the NSS's information leaked to the public and rendered temporarily defunct, Jessica made a harsh recovery and discovered her brother's crimes. Teaming up with jealous childhood friend Vanessa Reyes, police detective Grant Johnson, and fellow NSS vigilante Bridgett/Agent 8, Jessica battled the Underdogs, led by the mysterious Hugh Ward and his sadistic second-hand, Ayesha. Several violent events followed, including Vanessa's injury in which she lost her knee and was herself injected with a small Sanitization dosage. Following the climactic battles and the near-destruction of Inkopolis, the Underdogs were permanently defeated, with its leaders killed by Jessica and Daniel taken into custody. Vanessa left Inkopolis to parts unknown, and Jessica and Bridgett were reunited with the NSS, who began their slow rebuilding. Meanwhile, Ayesha made a sudden reappearance from the dead that has yet to come to light, sporting green skin…

Following the events of New Squidbeak Splatoon: Ascension, the NSS's world has been shaken to its core and the team has again gone their separate ways. The city of Inkopolis is now patrolled by the overbearing military faction KRAKEN, but Jessica and Bridgett, still recovering from their losses, are still defending their city against an uncertain future. Daniel, now loose from prison, is preparing for his re-emergence…

An ear-piercing screech of grinding and sparks filled the air as the large, black truck barreled down the moon-lit, run-down streets of downtown Inkopolis. Many gun-induced holes had penetrated the shell, its faceplates were missing, and chunks of the truck's hull had partially collapsed, grinding violently against the street as the truck sped along. It occasionally and indiscriminately grazed other trucks, and even nearly ran over many pedestrians on the street, who were forced to dive out of the way.

The driver at the wheel, a large Octoling man, was bleeding down his legs and panting in spite of the thick body armor he wore. The front windshield was riddled with these same high-pressure ink holes, and the corpse of his partner lay awkwardly in the passenger seat next to him, with a massive hole in his forehead. The front seats were both covered in his splashed purple ink and torn-apart brains.

The driver desperately grabbed and gripped his radio tightly. "The package is off route! I repeat, the package is off route! Some kind of gunman showed u-" He ducked his head down a couple inches as more high-pressure gun shots rang through the air. "Son of a bitch!" He glanced into the rearview mirror on the car door to check up on the black truck that was chasing him down.

He tried swerving onto another street, but his truck in its current state was not fast enough, and he felt the truck buckle as one more gunshot rang out. Losing control of his wheel, he screamed as the truck sped straight ahead into a small, closed flower shop, and crashed through its walls. The entire windshield cracked, and broken glass shards flew all over the place as they tore through this building's windows and glass doors. Finally, all momentum was stopped as the truck crashed into the back wall of this shop, and the hull briefly tilted into the air before falling back down.

The driver was completely dazed as his head hit the wheel; Its air bag had failed to emerge. Here, he was left groaning in pain, slowly leaning back as he felt his ink gush from both his nose and fresh cuts in his forehead, painting nearly his entire face.

He paused as he took one more look at his now-cracked rearview mirror. The truck that had been chasing him was pulling to a stop just outside this building, and the driver's seat door opened. The dark figure inside crawled through and then leapt onto the ground, already holding his small, blue, high-pressure charger. He was covered from head to toe, with full, black body armor, gray gloves, thick black boots, and the equally black, cracked mask that covered his entire head. The steps he took toward the crash site were slow but intimidating, as he casually held his charger at his right side.

Whimpering in absolute fear, the bleeding Octoling driver undid his seatbelt and slowly pushed his door open. Just as he tried exiting the totaled vehicle, another high-pressure shot went off, and the powerful blue ink shot straight through his left hip. He screamed and collapsed onto the floor, cutting himself on the glass shards.

As he gave one more effort to crawl away, he screamed yet again as his right leg was shot this time, as the figure finally stepped over him. He was aggressively pulled by his left shoulder and turned onto his back as the figure grabbed him, staring down at him.

He took a moment of pause as he saw this figure, and his horrifying cracked mask. He knew now, better than ever, that he was staring at none other than the Executioner, just the latest vigilante to show up in this city. He managed a choked chuckle. "You… look at you. Playing at being the hero."

The Executioner aggressively grabbed and pulled his left arm, bending it upward as far as he could, prompting another ink-curdling scream. "You know why I'm here." His mask's voice changer gave the illusion of an extremely deep voice as he spoke. He pointed his charger toward his face. "The package. Where did it come from?"

The driver forced another chuckle just to sound tough. "You're not gonna get what you want. You don't know what you're walking into."

"Neither did you, clearly." He pressed on his cheek with the charger's muzzle. He kept pulling his arm.

He groaned loudly. "Take the package and do whatever you want with it. I don't care. But that will be your last chance to walk away… Murdock." He smiled mischievously up at him.

The Executioner uttered but a brief "Hm" as he let go of the trigger, and with one shot, the driver's head was blown apart in a gory explosion, painting the vicinity in just more ink and brains.

It was far too late to walk away from this mission, anyway. He knew this, even as he could start to hear police sirens that approached from a distance. As he stood up, not even bothering to clean himself off, he moved toward the truck, found the hidden key that was stashed underneath the driver's seat, and moved toward the back of the vehicle, which had its double doors into the trunk locked up tightly by a set of locked chains. He unlocked it all, aggressively pulled the chains off and threw everything aside, before he opened both of the doors. He froze as he looked inside.

The 'package' was a simple Octoling woman who sat alone in the back of the truck, with Octarian armor on and somewhat long hair. She was simple, but by no means ordinary; The entirety of her skin was an ominous shade of green, and her blue hair was capped off with green tips. Her unnatural green and blue eyes stared into his soul as she looked up at him, smirking in an unbothered fashion.

"Hello, Daniel." She spoke.

Agent 3: Intransient

Chapter 1: The Other Vigilante

Peace was not a sensation that the grand city of Inkopolis had known for a long time now. It had now been over two years since the chaotic events that had been dubbed "The Underdogs Incident" by the public, that had almost left the city as a pile of rubble. Although the city still stood, and the Octarian terrorist organization known as the Underdogs hadn't really been heard from since, the consequences of that fateful incident were still rippling through today's world in the most unexpected ways.

As Summer kicked off this year, moonlight pierced through the clear night skies amid the atmosphere of honking cars, police sirens, and other chaotic noises. It was the city that never slept, and was constantly being fought over for control.

The main patrolling force throughout this city was no longer even the Inkopolis Police Department as it once was; Instead, in the aftermath of the Underdogs Incident, a new anti-terrorism military branch known as KRAKEN, with their bright-red full-body armors, large, powerful guns, and tank-like red trucks that they drove around, were the new law of the town. Their oppressive boot could constantly be felt on Inkopolis' neck, with no need for warranties or any of what they considered to be wastes of time like that. Inkopolis' very structure and culture had changed, and KRAKEN was now the top of the food chain.

Although they did their best to maintain the order throughout the entire city day in and day out, crime was still running rampant, arguably even more-so than before. Criminals hid in the shadows, and their chaos and death still plagued the streets every day.

To help combat the chaos in whatever ways she could, the legendary Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, the vigilante who was already responsible for saving this city from a grisly fate in the very same Underdogs Incident, still stood watch, perched upon the rooftops like a gargoyle in the night. She was adorned with her long orange hair, yellow Hero Outfit, blue Hero Headphones, black Ammo Knights goggles that covered her orange eyes, slick black shoes, and her ever-iconic black cape that flowed in the wind, with its proud, white 3 that practically glowed in the dark. Her name was Jessica Murdock, and this city was still her playground. Her ink. Her home. Her grand challenge. With her goggles, and its green UI that only she could see, she scanned the city vigilantly for anything that may come about. Her yellow-and-black Hero Shot remained in the tight grip of her right hand, eagerly poised for attack.

Finally, the night was ready to send something her way. She glanced to the side as a new emergency alert popped up on her UI, detailing a huge hostage situation that was going on not too far from where she was currently perched. She didn't even need to read the details to know this needed her attention; The need for action called to her no matter what. She stood up straight and cracked her neck. With a smirk on her face, and with a swift transformation into her Squid-form, she blasted off through the city in a massive super jump.

KRAKEN soldiers, with their heavy boots and large guns, were already outside this medium-sized office building that was still in late construction. Many of its higher floors that jetted up into the sky remained unfinished, and the lower floors were bordered up with wooden fences. The lot was lit with a frenzy of red and white lights as only more KRAKEN officials pulled in with their red trucks.

"They've got five hostages in there!" One of these soldiers told the others as he walked up to them. "Ransom of 10 million. Mercs are all armed."

"Well, they'll come to find that we don't negotiate." Another soldier replied. He stared ahead at the building. "We'll see what happens next. I hear she's active tonight."

Hearing those last words, the rest stared on at the building as well.

Inside this building, just down in the basement that was made up out of incomplete, unpainted walls, a group of several Inkling mercenaries, all armed with their own large high-pressure guns and armor plating, were carrying their 5th hostage, with a nice but cut business suit and a bag over his head. They shoved him down onto his knees, alongside the other four; They were all Inkadian government officials, and were all already down on their knees with their hands behind their heads. One of them was even a pregnant Inkling woman, with tears sliding down her cheeks as she whimpered to herself.

The mercs aggressively pulled the mask off of the fifth hostage, revealing the older Inkling man with a black eye and bleeding nose, and his gray ink dried up over his lips and chin. Additionally, there was a gunshot wound in his hip, that was steadily oozing ink down his left leg. He grunted and glared ahead at the mercenaries in front of him.

The leader of the mercenary pack was none other than the Inkling man by the name of Richter, with ugly green mohawk hair, pale skin, black eyeliner, black fingerless gloves, and a leather coat over his own chest armor. He pulled the toothpick from his mouth as he turned to him. "Good evening, Senator." Even his voice sounded highly nasal and slimy.

"Hands behind your damn head." Another merc pointed his gun at Senator Garrett as he grabbed his shoulder, getting him to sit upright.

Garrett hesitantly obliged, but didn't take his eyes off of the merc leader. He panted, feeling steadily weaker as he lost more ink. "New group of punks trying play the Underdogs game, huh? Do you know how many times we've been through this charade?"

"I know." Richter flicked the toothpick aside. "Underdogs wannabes, vigilante wannabes, they're everywhere. But you'll find that we're a bit more legit than we look."

"Ahhh, fuck you. Fuck all of you."

"You're bleeding out, you know." He raised his eyebrows. "I don't think you'll have long here."

"KRAKEN will come for you! I could already hear them outside!"

"KRAKEN doesn't really give two shits about you. If they did, they would've started negotiations by now. Do you think they're happy with you? After you let those documents leak? About all these different buildings across town and what you're building them for? It's why we're here. They'll let us toy with you. All five of you, and this building, are expendable. We can get away with whatever the fuck we want down here."

"What do you want?"

"You should know the routine by now." He briefly held his hands out at waist-height. "Military assets, government secrets… passwords, passcodes, whatever you wanna call 'em, to all of your accounts and documents. Then… we want your territory." He leaned forward. "It's the new turf war. Yeah, we know who owns this building, and who you've really been working with. The hidden kingpin in Inkadia's shadows has made a cozy home for himself… and we wanna dip our toes into that pool. "

"I don't know what you're fucking talking about."

"Sure you don't." He stood up straight again.

"You're fucking crazy!"

"We haven't even shown you yet how crazy we can be. But I'm willing to start at any moment." He went over to the nearby black, plastic crates, where he picked up his own high-pressure charger that was laid on top. "If we don't start getting what we want… we'll start removing heads." He loudly cocked it.

Each of the hostages could only whimper and close their eyes as Richter stepped over and stared teasing them with the muzzle. He brushed their hair and poked their heads.

"So who wants to start?" Richter finished.

The rest of the mercenaries guarded the floors just above them, patrolling the narrow, dimly-lit, brown hallways in set paths. Every potential entrance to this building was already sealed off and protected, guarded by more gunmen just for extra security.

There should have been no opportunities for anyone to get past these defenses and sneak in. Yet, one of these gunmen, who was guarding the stairwell, looked over as he heard a grunt and then someone collapse around the corner. He pointed his gun forward and took slow steps in that direction, looking around. As he turned the corner, he looked downward at the puddle of ink, and one of their own guy's guns that laid in it. He frantically pointed his own gun in all directions, listening for any details he could possibly pick up.

As he backed down the hallway, he was left defenseless as his neck was grabbed from behind, and he was then splatted, bursting into his own puddle of ink.

In fact, more and more of the guards on these floors were noticing that more of them were being mysteriously splatted. One of them, examining one of these puddles of ink, looked down as he noticed that some of this ink was a signature shade of orange that practically every criminal in Inkopolis now feared.

"Shit! Agent 3's here somewhere!" He spoke into his earpiece as he stood up.

Alarmed, every mercenary around the building aimed their weapons and looked around. The tension could now be felt in the air for everyone as they all looked around, wondering with great dread where in these halls she might be. Some of them began to sweat, shaking in fear.

A group of three of these men, who had chosen to stick together in their fear, looked over as rapid gunfire, then a panicked scream, went off just around another corner. The guard that was the source of the sound fell into view as he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious with his face extremely bruised and swollen.

As they pointed their weapons and stepped forward, turning the corner, they saw no one there who could've done this. Instead, it proved to be nothing but a distraction as the gunmen in the back of the group was suddenly grabbed and pulled behind another corner, with nothing but a scream to announce his disappearance. The other two swiftly turned in that direction instead, but upon checking around each corner, they were again left with no answers.

As the one in front of them turned the corner and walked down to investigate further, he jumped and turned around as a SPLAT sounded behind him. The second-to-last of their group was now a puddle of ink on the ground, leaving him completely on his lonesome.

In a panic, he frantically pointed his gun in all directions as he turned more corners. "WHERE ARE YOU, FUCKER!?"

Running footsteps approached him from down the next hall. He turned to shoot, only to find that his gun now wasn't going off. He repeatedly squeezed the trigger, only for nothing but little clicks to come out.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" He dropped his gun and pulled out his knife instead. He navigated backward through the halls, ready for anything until he was backing himself into a dead end, with nowhere to sneak up to him from behind. "COME GET ME!"

Finally, the terrifying vigilante decided to show her face, turning the corner and landing squarely in the center of the intersection ahead of him. In spite of his preparation, with his knife held as tightly as it could be in his hand, he couldn't do much as he was rushed, and his last screams echoed through the halls a moment later.

The hostages down in the basement weren't even permitted to leave their surrender positions, even with Garrett's steady bleeding, and could only watch as Richter spoke on his radio nearby.

They could hear as Richter was being updated on the situation upstairs by one of his own men. Then, more to their confusion, they could hear as a new, feminine voice came on a moment later.

"I hope I don't need to remind you what we feel about Agent 3 around here, babe." The voice spoke with a teasing yet somehow cold demeanor. "It's now your life that's on the line~ Oh, and, of course… don't forget to play with your food. Remember that's what I hired you for~" The radio then went silent.

Pausing a moment, Richter nodded toward some more of his men, and in response, they obediently took their guns and went down the hall toward the stairs.

Garrett was only getting weaker as he bled all over the place, yet, he managed to ease up slightly, knowing that help was, after all, on the way. He managed a small chuckle. "Getting nervous? Because man, you messed up big time… bet you're regretting your life choices now."

"Trust me, Agent 3 isn't getting down here." Richter replied as he turned back to them. "I still have plenty of time to, as she likes to put it, play with my food." He picked his gun back up. "So where were we?"

The hostages all avoided eye contact as he again teased them with his weapon.

"Eeny… meeny… miney… moe." He uttered sarcastically as he poked their heads. After a moment, he paused as an idea came to him. A smirk slowly grew on his face as he looked over the pregnant woman in particular. He leaned forward. "Hi."

She didn't respond, starting to shake. Tears were building in her eyes.

He patted her belly. "How far along are you?"

Her lips started quivering as she barely looked up at his chest.

"Oh, if you don't plan on talking…" He pointed his weapon toward her face.

"S-Six months. Six months." She blurted out, trembling more and more violently.

"Aw, that's sweet." He used his gun to brush her hair. "Miracle of life, right? The daddy still around?"

All she could do was nod desperately.

"Of course. Glad to hear. I'm sure you'd make a happy family." He suddenly grabbed her hair and yanked her forward.

The other hostages gasped in shock, and the woman screamed as she was pulled onto the ground, falling onto her side.

"No, no, no… please." The woman sobbed as she held her hand up toward him.

"My patience is growing thin." Richter circled her, lazily aiming his gun toward her. "So trust me when I say she'll be the first to go."

"Please, please." She sobbed violently.

"Say please again." He suddenly turned and aimed directly at her head. "I dare you."

As she laid there, terrified out of her mind, Richter let out a small snort before he suddenly stepped toward her, grabbing her again.

The hostages couldn't even watch, tearing up as they stared at the ground. The woman's screams echoed down the halls, where all the remaining mercenaries were stationed, with their guns hot and ready for Agent 3.

Jessica, as it happened, was sneaking down the steps into the basement, bathed in darkness as she stepped toward the first door that stood between her and the hostages, all without making a sound. She could hear the pregnant woman's screams, and on her goggles, could see the situation through the walls via infrared heat signatures. Her hearts started to race, knowing she only had so much time to act. Just behind this door, there was about 15-20 more guards throughout the different hallways here, with Richter and the hostages positioned in a larger room in the center of the basement. It was a linear path, with no options for stealth like she had before.

Standing with her back against the wall, she took in a deep breath as she pulled out a small remote from her pouch with the Splatoon emblem painted on the back. This remote, which was actually of older repurposed Underdog technology, briefly lit up as she aimed it toward the door, pressed some buttons in a specific order, and then slipped it back into her pouch.

With her breathing steady and her nerves as calm as she could make them, she turned and kicked the door down.

The seven guards that were in this first hall all reacted immediately as Jessica came jumping in, unloading her own orange ink from her Hero Shot upon each of them. Upon trying to fire back, they only found that their guns no longer worked, and were left largely blindsided as Jessica danced around them, twirling, kicking away any enemies that tried to strike her, and then aiming her gun to splat them effortlessly. The walls were splashed with all the ink that was left flying around as she swiftly splatted them one-by-one.

More guards ran down the hall toward her, with more diverse weapons her remote couldn't shut off such as Rollers, Splatanas, and even knives. She reacted accordingly to just barely dodge their slashes, able to feel the wind and soft spray of ink in the air that their swings created. Unable to hold off all of them at once, Jessica ended up giving one guy the window he needed to grab her in a headlock from behind, yanking her back; She grunted and choked as he strangled her, allowing the next guy to try slashing at her with his own Splatana. As he got too close, she kicked his knee so hard that it bent backward, prompting an ink-curdling scream out of his mouth. She then elbowed the merc holding him hard enough to bludgeon his eye, loosening his grip just enough for her to break free, and grab his arm, twisting it.

As the guy with the Splatana came in for a second strike, she pivoted and yanked the guy behind her to ensure that he instead took the swing, and then explode into ink as he was splatted. Within the split second, she aimed her gun to splat the Splatana wielder as well, sending his weapon hurdling through the air.

As she continued along with her gun aimed for attack, now coming into the next, larger room, she was blindsided as, from just around the corner, a double-edged blade flew at her, gashing her weapon and slashing her hand. As ink spilled from how now-broken weapon, she dropped it entirely as she swiftly turned to her Squid-form and rolled to dodge, turning back just in time to see the chained kyoketsu-shoge blade that was once again hurling at her face. With one more bare dodge, she transformed back and poised her fists in the air as she turned to face down the place's most dangerous adversary yet.

The blademaster mercenary that held the chain whip smirked at her as he stepped out from the corner of this room, and they began circling each other, daring each other to make a move. He nonchalantly spun the chain in his hand in a circular motion. "You're bleeding, Agent 3."

Jessica gritted her teeth, an unsteady nervousness washing over her. She braced herself as the blademaster rapidly spun the chain around himself in a focused, dangerous dance, before he again slashed it forward vertically with great accuracy. With equally sharp reflexes, Jessica pivoted and threw her head back, arching her back to dodge to the side. Allowing her minimal time to think or react, he twirled, rapidly swinging the chain and blade at its end around the entire room, now swinging horizontally and even diagonally at her. Jessica was only able to barely dodge each swing with no room to breathe, using her Squid-form and a few improvised, side jumps to dodge the horizontal slashes.

She screamed as, during one of these jumps, her tentacle was slashed, and her ink began steadily pouring out. As the sharp pain practically ricocheted through her body, she grunted and clenched up, her adrenaline and fury now only rising further. Using her further jumps and dodges to get in closer, at the cost of receiving one more large cut, she was able to step on the chain to ground it, before she delivered a furious, swift roundhouse kick to his head, dazing him.

The blademaster quickly tried punching her, which Jessica dodged. It was only one quick struggle as Jessica swiftly got her foot under the chain, kicked it up into the air, and grabbed the blade at its tip, tightly gripped its hilt. As the blademaster attempted another strike, she swiftly slashed his side as they slid past each other.

She briefly looked up to see more of the mercenaries running into the room to apprehend her, leaving her little time to react. All within a second, he stabbed her newly-acquired blade into the blademaster's upper back, and then slashed downward and outward, gashing through his back and spine. He screamed and collapsed as his ink splashed all over the place, and Jessica moved to block the next Splatana-user's attack without skipping a beat, blocking his arm, spinning, and then gashing vertically at his throat. He stepped back and gagged as his ink gushed onto his own armor, and Jessica spun again before she kicked his stomach, knocking him back into more mercenaries just behind him and holding them off for a couple seconds.

Dropping the blade and grabbing the chain, Jessica casually swung her new chain weapon just like the blademaster had before, taking a couple steps back as she braced for her next attackers. The second they ran forward to attempt their own next attacks, she cut them off with quick, brutal slashes, slicing at their heads and torsos before they could get close, painting the walls and ink with their splattered ink. With the last mercenary, she finished him off by throwing her blade in such a way that the chain wrapped around his neck, before the blade dug itself into his throat. As he too gagged, she used this position to drag him forward and then deliver as strong a punch as she could muster to knock him down.

With all these mercenaries down behind her, she turned and marched down the next hallway, briefly swinging her cape behind her. She pressed up against the wall and snuck along as she came into this next room, where at last, she could see the hostages.

The last mercenary left here was Richter himself, who was pacing slightly around the room.

She clenched her fist and moved to sneak behind Richter, but paused upon seeing the pregnant woman that he was tightly grasping by the hair. Her face was bruised and given long, teasing cuts in multiple places as her sobbing tears rained down onto her suit alongside her bleeding ink.

As Jessica froze there, Richter took one look over at her, smirking. "Ah, there she is."

The woman screamed as Richter yanked her in such a position that Jessica could clearly see her, and pressed his knife against her throat, pressed against her skin. Even the slightest movement would cut her wide open from there.

"Let her go." Jessica commanded.

"How about you come out first?" Richter angrily gripped the knife handle. "Come out where I can see you, or I pull her throat out!"

Jessica briefly closed her eyes in defeat before she turned from around the corner and took slow, steady steps forward.

"No gun, no options… There's only one thing that feels wrong. Let me see those eyes." Richter continued.

She reached up to deactivate her goggles, pulling them off. Not even the bravest facial expression could hide the anxiety in her eyes as she and the hostage made eye contact.

"See, even the most terrifying symbol in all of Inkopolis is just an Inkling." He pet the hostage's hair. "Who cares juust a bit too much about those below her. Even when she's ripping apart the city's so-called scum. She can't control everything she thinks she can." He looked down at his hostage. "See, Agent 3 isn't invincible. Just another sucky mortal like the rest of us." He looked back at Jessica, grinning. "Can't save 'em all, Agent 3. So you're gonna walk away. Right?"

Jessica didn't respond.

"Right!?" He clenched his fist over the hostage's hair and moved the knife ever-so-slightly. A small amount of ink started to leak from his hostage's throat as the top layers of her skin was cut.

"If it's something else you want…" Jessica held her hands up. "I can negotiate. Just let her go."

He chuckled. "It doesn't work that way. I'm the hostage taker, I take what I want. You play by my rules now. You've had a hold on this city long enough. It's time for someone else to take the top of the food chain. And trust me, if you go down that rabbit hole…" He smirked slightly. "You might not like what you find at the bottom." He kept petting his hostage's hair, looking down at her tear-soaked, trembling, terrified face. "What're you gonna do, Agent 3? Huh? You gonna sacrifice her?" He briefly held his knife outward. "Or are you finally gonna-"

Within that single second, before anyone had a chance to blink in surprise, Jessica quick-drew her hidden grapple hook gun from her belt on her left hip, and fired directly at his hand, stabbing through it and splattering some of his ink on his face.

Richter screamed, instinctively loosening his grip on the hostage as he tried pulling his hand away. Jessica yanked the gun downward hard, bringing his arm down with it. The hostage, whimpering, fell to her knees and frantically crawled away.

The instant Richter was exposed, Jessica ran forward two steps and leapt into the air, drop-kicking into his chest with both feet and sending them both toppling to the ground.

Jessica swiftly got on her knee and pressed the pull button on her hook gun. More ink gushed from Richter's hand as the grapple hook winded back and ripped from his hand, but that didn't stop him from getting back on his own knee. As he swung his hand at her, she retaliated by grabbing his arm and bending it backward, folding his elbow. He screamed again, as Jessica then punched his nose with a resounding crack, sending him toppling onto the ground. His cheeks, nose, and left eye were then bludgeoned as Jessica left a flurry of four more powerful punches, bursting part of his cheek open. He let out stifled choking sounds as ink poured from his mouth and cuts.

Jessica's chest heaved as she panted there, catching her breath. "Look who's not invincible, now." She grabbed his coat with both fists, yanking him upward. "Who hired you, you piece of shit?"

Richter just smirked through all the pain he felt.

She punched him again, coating her own knuckles with his ink. "Who!?"

He spit some of his own ink onto his own chin. "You'll find out… soon enough…" His grin grew wider. "She's coming for you."

Before Jessica could respond to that, she looked over as she heard a slight bang sound and a flurry of footsteps down the hall.

Indeed, a team of KRAKEN soldiers were running down the stairs at that moment, and took their positions by the same door Jessica had previously broken through. "Breach, breach." One of them circled his finger as his partner moved to kick the door open.

As some of them stayed behind to secure all of the mercenaries who were still splatted or unconscious, a team led them down the halls and up to the central room Richter was based in.

"KRAKEN, nobody move!" A couple of these soldiers up front threw their grenades forward; As they went off, a blinding flashbang erupted through the entire room. By the time the light subsided, the room was already quickly filling with gas, fogging up the area and ensuring that everyone inside remained disoriented.

The laser pointers from their powerful chargers cut through the fog as these soldiers stepped through with thudding footsteps toward the hostages, who were all huddled in the corner. To their dismay, Richter was now left lying by himself, with Agent 3 nowhere to be found.

Some of them went to contain Richter, and others went to evacuate the hostages. Soon enough, most of the hostages were gone from the room, sans Senator Garrett, who was left by his lonesome by the wall where he desperately gripped his wound to slow his bleeding. He looked up as one KRAKEN soldier came to evacuate him last.

"Thank you… thank you." Garrett smiled.

The soldier knelt before him. "One hostage has been found deceased. Looks like hypovolemic shock."

His smile quickly drooped. "What?"

With no explanation or warning, he covered his mouth before he pulled out his knife and jammed it into his neck. Garrett could do nothing but release muffled chokes into the soldier's glove and squirm helplessly, staring on in horror as he began rapidly bleeding. It was only when his eyes went lifeless that the soldier let go of him, and a couple others came to clean up.

The lot outside was still lit by the flashing red and white lights as, finally, four of the hostages, with the pregnant woman up front, were finally released into safety. Richter and the other mercenaries who hadn't been killed by Agent 3 were also dragged out one-by-one, taken into KRAKEN's custody. It was to many of these soldier's irritation that Agent 3 still wasn't among them.

Instead, Jessica merely watched from the rooftops across the street, knelt down on her knee with her cape flowing heroically behind her. No one even thought to look up in her direction; She was undetected in the dark, disappearing just as mysteriously as she appeared. Yet, for her, it was just another night.

With another mission behind her, multiple bleeding wounds to tend to, and a new haunting question to investigate, she transformed back into her Squid-form and launched off into the night air.

First chapter down! Well, as always with each of my major projects, I'd like to humbly request whatever thoughts and feedback you have, whether you thought this was a strong start, or whether you hate these stories and my guts, either or. I've been on an up-and-down road as a writer and am always learning, so, it would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime, this is another longer story for me that I'm starting, and I'd better get to work, so, see you next chapter! *waves*