Chapter Text
Agent Three tentatively let out a sigh of relief as Four and Felicia turned slightly to properly assess the intruders. Their weapons were still facing her and the Captain, with the Commander's hero splatling looking especially menacing as it remained fully revved up, but at least their attention was now divided.
“Sorry to crash the party, but we heard about a certain… situation happening on the far side of Inkopolis. Something about keeping some innocent Octarians trapped underground?” Shiver tutted as she gestured with her fan towards the audience, who were curiously gazing at the colourful group.
“Tsk, tsk. We can't have that, can we?” With a flick of her wrist, she snapped her fan shut and jabbed it pointedly in Four's direction.
“Yeah, don't get it confused that we only care about the needy folks in Splatsville! This trio is ready to save the day no matter where the fight is!” Frye grinned, winking playfully to some Octarians in the front row.
“Ay, Ay! Ay! (So, uh, get ready to feel the pain! They don't call us Deep Cut for nothin’!)” Big Man forced as much confidence into his voice as he could muster. At the sound of their group name, all three struck their signature pose, waiting for the sound of cheering to fill the arena.
… A sound that never came. Instead, the quiet howl of the wind only emphasised the silence produced by the confused Octarians.
A scowl covered Shiver's face as she flapped her fan vigorously, murmuring under her breath that “...aaannndd… just more proof of why we don't come to Inkadia unless absolutely necessary…”
The piercing stares of the inquisitive Octarians started to unnerve her, and she flapped her fan even more. If they had never heard of her before, why were they watching her so intently? She was just an Octoling after all - one from the Splatlands, yes, but surely that wouldn't matter all too much? Some were looking at Frye and Big Man with the same astonished wonder as well. Just one question crossed her mind: How long had they all been - quite literally - living under a rock?
The brief moment was suddenly interrupted by a grateful shout from Marie.
“You guys are just in time! I'm so glad you could make it on such short notice…” She was smiling more than the group had ever seen before.
“It was no problem, boss! As soon as we got your call yesterday, we grabbed our stuff and headed out. We even had some time to practice our deadly moves on the way!” Frye replied, punctuating her last sentence with some mock punches.
“Ah yes, when you described your plight to us, we thought of something that might come in handy… Big Man?” Shiver looked at the manta ray expectedly.
With a flip of his fin, he tossed not a weapon but a simple megaphone up to the platform, which was caught deftly by Callie. Before she had the chance to thank him, Frye shouted up to them.
“Wouldn't want ya both straining your voices, talking to a huge audience this high in the air and all that, right?”
Her chipper attitude, or possibly her ignorance of the threat at hand, clearly rubbed Felicia up the wrong way, as they started audibly grumbling the more Frye talked. Meanwhile, Four was curiously uttering to herself, repeating the word “Boss?” as she tried to work out how on earth these newcomers were Marie's employees. Neo and Captain, on the other hand, glanced at each other and shared the tiniest of smiles; they both realised that Marie's mysterious back up was finally here to help.
“Ay, Ay? Ay…Ay…(So, is this who you wanted help dealing with? They don't look… too strong…)” Big Man seemed to be eyeing the hero weapons warily.
“ENOUGH chatter. Whoever you are, if you think you have a chance against us, you are sorely mistaken.” Four snapped, glaring at her new opponents.
“And me and my boss will be happy to prove that to you!” growled Felicia, a proud grin on their face.
A renewed chatter broke out from the audience, as they prepared themselves to watch another heated ink-slinging battle. Deep Cut did not seem rattled at all by the imminent threat; Shiver and Frye glanced at each other mischievously as Big Man placed his fins on their shoulders for reassurance. Nodding at them, he stepped back, hunched over and began secreting a green ink over his body.
“Oh yeah? Wait till you see the TRUE might of the Splatlands!” Frye declared, producing her eel flute and performing a short tune. The stage rumbled ever so slightly before a fountain of swirling yellow eels erupted from behind her, making Four and Felicia stagger back in shock. They rose into the sky and Frye hitched a ride on one as her ink colour changed to the green of the agents’ ammo, a shift that was instantly reflected in each of her eels.
At the same time, Shiver laughed theatrically as she summoned a terrifyingly huge shark, her beloved Master Mega. As it sprang up, she effortlessly landed on its back as they began circling the edge of the stage, spraying blue ink everywhere and forcing the Commander, her bodyguard and both Captain and Agent Three to jump forwards. Just like Frye, her ink quickly adjusted to green, spreading it far and wide across the arena as Master Mega jumped up occasionally to fling a splatana-like streak of ink at their nearest opponent.
This was exactly the distraction the agents needed - Captain briefly exchanged a look with Neo, gesturing to Four with her eyes, before she tackled Felicia to the ground without hesitation. The two, seemingly evenly matched in terms of physical strength, struggled for dominance over the other, rolling away slightly before righting themselves and gunning each other down with their weapons.
Four, her tentacle wildly flapping about in what could only be extreme outrage, turned to face the young agent, trying her best to block out any distractions as she focused on her opponent.
“Looks like it's finally time for our showdown, kid.” She hissed, a disturbing smile not quite reaching her eyes.
The Commander charged, only to stop clumsily in her tracks as she scanned the ground in front of her, which was now covered in transparent green markings, reminding her of something she had once dreaded in her turf war days…
Before she could catch her breath, an array of eels bombarded her from above, driving her away from Three as she hastily dodged each of them. Her strengthened hero splatling allowed her to send them back into the air with ease, but there were so many to deal with that it gave Neo enough time to manoeuvre behind the Commander at a relatively safe distance. Just as she was about to fire, she heard a call from above.
“Yo, kid! Try this weapon on for size!” Frye's eager shout was followed by a customised splatana stamper landing right by Three's feet. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Shiver was throwing the Captain her ornately decorated tri-stringer in return for a battered, but well-loved, hero shot.
Grinning, she swiftly picked up the splatana and tossed her own weapon in the air.
Though she was more used to the speed and efficiency of the splatana wiper, she had to admit, the prospect of having a weapon advantage over Four filled her with unbridled hope. The feeling was quickly pushed away, though, as she barely got the chance to check if Frye had caught her hero shot before Four approached, ready to unleash another barrage of yellow ink.
The Commander was unbelievably fast, all but a blur of yellow, and so the younger Inkling was forced to once again squid roll out of range to avoid being hit from pretty much every direction. As soon as the bullets stopped raining down, she leaped out of the ink, charged up the splatana and rushed forward, slashing an unprepared Four across the chest. The shock alone was enough to make her fall onto her knees, and Neo took advantage of every second to hit her repeatedly with the consistent strokes of the stamper.
It soon became clear that the weapon was incredibly heavy, compared to the standard models. Perfect for someone with Frye's strength, but for a kid of Neo's size, not so much. It all hinged on her temporary adrenaline boost, as she was desperately trying to pierce the Commander's armour and make her vulnerable.
Squinting her eyes, she could see specks of her green ink clinging to her armour, slowly chipping away at it… but it was no use. When she briefly paused to refill her ink, Four swam away and charged up her splatling again, clearly still psyched out from the strength of the strange new weapon. Only a few seconds later, another group of eels slammed down on her, and she lost sight of Neo whilst she batted them away.
Nearby, Felicia had taken the upper hand in her struggle with the Captain, laughing triumphantly as she towered over the downed agent. The loaned stringer had given the Inkling the opportunity to shoot them down from a greater distance, but her inexperience with the Splatlandian weapon meant that it was all too easy for them to overpower her.
They wasted no time in unleashing the hero blaster’s might onto their opponent, and were tantalisingly close to splatting her when their world turned upside down and they found themselves opposite the Captain on the floor. Her mind blanked for a moment, stunned at what had just happened, when she realised that the ground was slick and painful like enemy ink, yet felt distinctly different. Weirdest of all, it felt almost as if it was moving, like there was a current running through it.
Whilst Felicia wrestled to free their limbs from the stickiness covering the floor, the Captain shuffled away and recuperated in her ink, grateful to see that she wasn't affected in the same way. Jumping back out into the cold air, she confirmed what she thought was happening - Big Man was using his Manta Storm ability to swim into the ground and trap Felicia!
The Octoling did the only thing she could think to do, pointing the hero blaster to the floor and unleashing her yellow ink on this unfamiliar obstacle. Jumping up as soon as they were able to, they were about to sneer at the futile attempt to stop them when they realised that the strange ink, now revealed to be the silhouette of the manta ray intruder, had merely been split in two, with both shadows now sailing directly back towards their feet. With a groan, she fired again, dividing the shadows even further before they had the opportunity to trip her up once more.
At the same time, the Captain was sneaking away from her opponent, using the ink splashes from Master Mega's path to cover the ripples of her own swimming. When the right moment arrived, she emerged from behind Felicia, drawing the stringer to full strength, and, once her aim was steadied, let loose. A small but prideful smile appeared on her face; it was a direct hit! The Octoling had moved a pace to the right of the point of impact, only just saving themselves from being splatted in one shot, but their pained grunt told the Captain that it was time to move in and finish the job whilst she still had the opportunity.
Up to that point, Four had been covering the stage in marigold, hoping to knock Three out of her hiding place and continue their battle, going as far as firing at the eels when they were still recuperating in the sky to prevent any interference, much to Frye's exasperation. Alas, it had been several minutes since she had caught a glimpse of her, and with every passing second, Four became more and more aware of hundreds of expectant eyes peering down at her, analysing her every move, waiting for the outcome of this confrontation. One pair of strictly focused golden eyes pierced her much more than the others.
“Grr- stop… stop looking at me… stop it!” she mumbled to herself, voice cracking, a mixture of anger and anxiety swallowing her words.
The more overwhelmed she felt, the greater that burning sensation in her back became, almost like her tentacle was spurring her on, fuelling her fury and ferocity. She growled, abandoning her effort and instead beginning to chase after Shiver and Master Mega, enraged by Deep Cut's meddling and how everything had fallen apart so quickly.
How dare these strangers march into her territory and turn the tide of the battle? How dare they threaten to take her people away from her? It seems Marie's influence knew no bounds; she could convince anyone that Four was worthless, that she deserved to be alone and miserable for the rest of eternity. No. She would not let this happen. She could not lose everything now, when she had everything she could ever need in the underground-
Splat!
Whipping her head around, her hearts sank. Felicia. They had been splatted, and were standing bent over next to their respawner, exhausted.
“Don't do it…” Four urged under her breath. With the latest splat, her bodyguard was totalled at three, meaning the respawner was empty. Now, neither of them would have a lifeline to rely on: just one more splat, and…
The Octoling growled, staring the Captain down, and super-jumped towards her.
“No!” The Commander couldn't stop her petrified, desperate shout as she raced across the stage towards Felicia. Throwing a splat bomb at the Captain's feet, she slid between them and grabbed her bodyguard by the shoulders.
She looked confused by the sudden save, only realizing what happened when Four spoke to her:
“Felicia, what are you doing!? You have to stop, you have to get out of here and save yourself-”
“You really think I'm going to leave you here? With them? I can't just let you be alone again!” the Octoling responded, their voice cracking with emotion and their gaze hardened yet mournful; clearly they were all too aware of the gravity of the situation.
She struggled against Four's grip, trying in vain to aim her Octoshot at the Captain before she recovered. But, at Marie's silent signal, she and Deep Cut had backed down and were merely watching the scene unfold, not quite easing themselves but not actively attacking, either. Three was still nowhere to be seen, and even the Tentacle Twins had halted their performance of Octarmaments and were eyeing each other warily.
Four's throat burned as she stared back into their deep purple eyes, furiously blinking away tears. Squeezing their arms even more, she tried another way.
“Felicia, I am formally ordering you to retreat immediately - get away from the stage now and go find safety somewhere, anywhere-”
“But Commander- Four!”
“I ORDER you!”
Felicia was stunned. She had never seen her so desperate. So panicked. So… worried for her.
A sentiment from deep below her heart… emerged. She couldn't leave her alone. Not now. Not when they were so, so close!
“N-no… I refuse.”
“Wh… what?!”
“Commander, I refuse this order!”
The Inkling was stunned.
“Y-you can't do that! Don't do this to me, not now!”
Felicia had never denied orders before, being too good a soldier and a friend to give up on anything her Commander had demanded of her, no matter how difficult or dangerous it was. Of course the first time she would think to play this card would be to uphold her loyalty. Despite everything, a smile formed on their lips.
“Four, you're more than just my Commander.”
At these words, the Inkling's knees buckled and she sank her head into the shoulder of her bodyguard.
“I- I can't let you risk your life for me… If anything happened to you… I…” she whispered, her tears falling freely down the battle-torn armour of the Octoling. She couldn't care less about how many eyes were trained on her now; the only thing that mattered in this moment was Felicia's life.
The Octoling wrapped her arm around the Commander, whose tentacle quickly wove itself through her fingers, as her voice wobbled.
“But- but I can't leave you here-”
“Yes, you can. They haven't splatted me even once yet - they can't. They won't. I'll be fine.”
The resolution in Four's voice had struck a chord in Felicia. Their eyes darted around the Inkling's face as they silently communicated an array of emotions: fear, regret, heartbreak and, to Four's relief, acceptance. They swallowed a sob, and the Inkling withdrew, squeezing their hand one last time.
“I'll come and find you after the battle. Now go, please!”
The Octoling barely risked a final glance back before super-jumping into the distance, landing heavily on the tentacle-shaped rocks of the canyon and scurrying away. Droplets of yellow followed her in a trail, the colour of her ink connecting her back to Four even as the distance between them both increased.
It seemed as if everyone was holding their breath as they watched Four stand there, motionless, for what felt like forever. No-one was as conflicted as Marie, though. Her hearts ached for her protégé; as much as she was angry at Felicia for upholding Four's twisted beliefs about the underground, and perhaps even of a little jealous of them for having such a strong bond with the Inkling, it was difficult to watch the scene without feeling for both of them.
Whilst she was watching them argue, she had had to swallow the cry that had threatened to jump out of her throat and disrupt them, a shout that would have reassured them both that of course the agents wouldn't try to splat Felicia if she had no respawns left, that they weren't monsters. Alas, she hesitated, worrying that the Octoling would use this to her advantage and attack with even more fierceness. The last thing she wanted to do was place the Captain and Three in even more danger.
Simultaneously, despite everything, a spark of hope grew within Marie. All this time, concerns about what the others thought about Four had clouded her mind. None of them had known her like she did, especially Three and Deep Cut, and she couldn't ignore the way their faces contorted into expressions of fear and aversion whenever the Commander's name was mentioned. But this, this display of pure devotion and connection, would surely be enough to prove to the others that all was not for naught. She was closer than ever to breaking through to Four - she could feel it.
Once Four was absolutely sure that no-one would chase after Felicia, she turned around slowly to meet the Captain's wary gaze. Below the helmet, her eyes were bloodshot and crazed out, a focused sight so strong the agents could swear it was visible to them despite the dark lenses.
It was five versus one now, and yet…
“You will all pay for this.”
That was all she uttered, her voice gruff and choked, before she surged forwards.
The Captain braced, charging up Shiver's stringer as fast as she could, but the Commander stumbled down before she could reach her, howling in pain. At first, she thought it was Big Man refocusing his attacks on Four, but as the Inkling fell down, she caught sight of Agent Three behind her, splatana in hand, finally out from her hiding place in the ink.
“The tentacle! Target it!” She cried, pointing at the writhing limb that now had a few sizable flecks of green ink sticking to it.
As soon as she spoke, Four tensed in realisation and quickly swam away, her reaction informing the Captain that the younger Inkling was right on the money. Surely that had been obvious, though? When she had fought the Great Octoweapons back in the day, exploding their tentacle was always the key to victory… Then she paused; throughout the entire battle, Four had never turned her back on her opponent, even for a second. That could only mean she was prioritising protecting her tentacle over attacking her enemies. It suddenly clicked: she had been masking her defensive strategy as an offensive one!
On the other side of the arena, Three immediately delved into her own ink to pursue the Commander. When she disappeared a while ago, making use of the fresh ink being tossed by Frye's eels and Master Mega to avoid being found by Four, it was so she could think of how to switch up her battle plan. This wasn't like a turf war, where the constantly fluctuating tides of battle meant that both teams seemed generally evened out until the very end. If they didn't take the lead now, they would lose possibly their only opportunity at rescuing the Octarians from the underground, and even Four from herself.
As she was observing the Commander from the safety of her ink, the wildly flailing tentacle had caught her eye, its X mark emitting a stronger glow the more the Inkling pushed herself past her limits. Of course, she had never seen Four without this extra appendage, but it still stuck out from the rest of her body, both figuratively and literally. After facing so many bosses before, Neo knew exactly what it was: a weak point. A target. Once Felicia had fled and it was safe to emerge, she knew what she had to do.
Charging at Four with the same reckless abandon that the Commander had displayed moments before, the younger Inkling dodged the ruthless fire of enemy ink coming from the hero dualies that her opponent had quickly changed to in a moment of desperation. She felt an unbridled confidence surge within her as Frye's splatana effortlessly carved a path for her, easily keeping up with Four's dodge rolls as she circled her opponent to face the tentacle. Though the Commander did her best to keep Three away from her back, an incoming attack from the Captain forced her to divert her attention, leaving herself exposed.
With a few swings of the splatana, Four's tentacle began bulging and ballooning as it struggled under the pressure of foreign ink. Letting out a cry of pain, the Inkling connected to it doubled over, immediately opting to swim away even though her bloated tentacle was now slowing her down as it strained to heal itself.
After this reaction, all three members of Deep Cut joined the chase, refocusing their efforts into cornering the Commander. Whilst the agents closed in again, the rest of the New Squidbeak Splatoon readied themselves to appeal to the audience once more. Gripping the megaphone in one hand and grabbing her cousin's hand with the other, Callie called out with more determination in her voice than ever.
“Everyone! Your freedom shouldn't have to depend on the outcome of this battle! Don't you see that it's about time you had more control over your own lives? Your Commander has taken good care of you, I'm sure, but you're all long overdue for a fresh start!” Her eyes sparkled as she referenced one of the greatest hits of the Squid Sisters.
Tearing her eyes away from Four, Marie scrambled for something to say, sharing the megaphone with her cousin.
“Y-yeah! No more darkness, no more silence. Your worlds can be filled with music and light if you choose to wave goodbye to the domes for good!” She smirked at Callie, trying to discreetly one-up her.
They watched and waited as the Octarians seemed to shuffle in their seats, unsure of what to say or do. Some still looked to Four to see if she would argue back, but their Commander was too busy urgently defending herself from an unrelenting array of green ink coming from all directions. All was quiet, until one Octoling with sparkly orange hair abruptly sprang up from her seat.
“I- I want more from my life than just order and repetition! And I want to be able to live without the constant worry of whether or not we have enough supplies to last us the week!” Cynthia yelled, hands already shaking as she addressed the whole population of her home. She swallowed, took a breath, and carried on.
“Many have left the domes already and gone on to have wonderful lives on the surface. And so many have left and not even made it that far. This is our chance as a community to escape and live the lives that our friends and families never had the chance to.” Her voice faltered and she scrunched up her eyes. A murmur rippled throughout her peers, as they all remembered the countless troops that had gone missing or were taken by the huge furry invader not too long ago.
“I can't wait for another chance to leave. I don't think there’ll even be one.” Doing her best to shake off her sadness, she let a bright smile light up her face as she looked up at her idol, Callie.
“It's now or never, everyone! I, for one, will gladly go into the light with the Squid Sisters!”
A cheer went up from some of the Octolings and Octotroopers, and the rest of the crowd seemed to at least smile in appreciation at Cynthia, but no-one else made any effort to add to her plea. Callie prepared to step in again, megaphone at the ready, when Opal suddenly stood up as well.
“Perhaps… Perhaps what they say is right! Maybe there are more opportunities for us on the surface, and maybe, for once, it would be better that we do choose to pursue them rather than staying here, in the remnants of an army that has nothing left to fight for. There might even be more of us up there… maybe I'm not the only Octobomber left!” The excitement and hope that emanated from her voice was so infectious that the people sitting next to her gasped in delight.
She glanced over at Cynthia, nodding, and looked up at the platform where Callie, Marie and Cuttlefish were standing.
“I will also join the Squid Sisters and start a new life on the surface!”
At this, a stronger buzz was created. Now, not one but two of Octopia’s citizens had sworn to leave their underground home, with absolute surety in their voices. Were they right to disobey the orders of the Commander? Or would it truly be better to take fate into their own tentacles?
Steadily, more and more people began standing up, confirming their intentions to go with the New Squidbeak Splatoon in search of a better life on the surface. Eventually, once the more reluctant troops were encouraged by their friends to take a leap of faith, no less than every single Octarian was on their feet. Though some of their eyes kept flicking guiltily to Four, the elated cheering that echoed through the crowd was enough to prove to the Squid Sisters that they had succeeded.
Callie excitedly clung to Marie's shoulder and shook it, relieved tears forming in her eyes. Glancing back, they saw Cuttlefish gazing over the crowd into the horizon, as if he was looking for something, one tentacle covering his eyes even though the sun had almost set. But Marie's attention was soon called to something far more important; below them, the Commander was still putting up a tremendous fight, yet was weakening with every moment as tears obscured her vision.
“N-no, no, no, NO! You can't do this! You can't- reduce me into nothing… yet again…” Four's lament came out in distressed pants and blubbers as she weaved in and out of Frye's eels, Big Man's manta storm and Master Mega's ink-filled jaws.
Marie kneeled down on the platform, abandoning the megaphone and getting as close to Four as possible. Her voice remained calm even if her expression betrayed her inner panic and desperation.
“Four, listen to me, please. I think I finally understand what's happened, and how we even got to this point.”
With no more energy left to dodge roll or run away, Four tried her best to stand her ground against five opponents, but it was just too much. As they blocked off all of her possible escape routes, she focused on Marie above her, losing control over her emotions and letting out a loud sob, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“Y-you… I'll tell you what happened! I needed you! And you weren't there! YOU NEVER WERE!”
“I know! I know I wasn't… But I'm here now. And, more than anything, I want you to come home with us. Just give me a chance and I can-”
“You think you can fix this? Fix me?” The yellow-haired Inkling finished Marie's sentence as she somehow found the strength to fend off the incoming attacks and protect her tentacle from as much enemy ink as she could.
“Well, you can't. I'm beyond salvation! I can never go back to the surface… not after the operation!”
Marie could tell that she was referring to her tentacle, the repressed anguish in the Commander's voice making her heart ache. The grey-haired Inkling didn't hesitate to reassure her.
“No, Four, you're not beyond salvation. You're still the kindest, funniest and most thoughtful Inkling I've ever met, because… well, just look around you! Despite your errors, you've still given these people the best home you could offer them. And, actually, I wasn't going to say that I can fix this. I was going to say that I can explain what I've come to understand…”
She concentrated as she ran through her entire thought process.
“All this time, I've been wondering about exactly how you became the Commander of these Octarians. Nobody knew they were still trapped in the domes, so… well, I'm assuming you found them underground… I figured that you must have been down there for some other reason!”
“Then it dawned on me. Your anger, your misery, it led you underground because you thought that the entire surface world hated you, and that you didn't belong there. A belief that you've passed on to the Octarians! This society you've built may seem like a refuge to you, but I see it for what it really is; a punishment that you've imposed on yourself, for thinking that you're inadequate, or worthless, or whatever lies your brain has been feeding to you!”
Four's awareness was slowly being absorbed more and more by Marie's words and not the battle at hand, though her attackers had all slowed down their movements so that the Inkling could pay closer attention to what she desperately needed to hear. She stammered as she tried to refute what she had just been told.
“N-no, it's… not…”
“Trust me, I've been there. Feeling like you don't deserve any happiness because you think you drove someone important to you away…”
She glanced at Callie, who gave her small, sympathetic smile.
“... It's one of the hardest feelings to overcome. But you were the one that helped me get over that feeling, years ago, when I wanted to just dig a hole and stay in it forever, away from everybody and everything that I love.”
As she spoke, she felt the urge to jump down there and hug Four run through all of her body, but she forced herself to press it down and continue.
“And now I want to help you get past that feeling, because I can see what your brain has been refusing to admit to you; that there is no fault within you that has to be punished, and that you don't deserve to be deprived of your joy and freedom. You don't need to make yourself suffer because of what we did to you. In fact, just the opposite. Please, this is your opportunity to stop this cycle of hurt and suffering that you've put yourself through... I ask you, once more, to please come home.”
More and more green ink stuck to Four's body, even as Deep Cut had backed off to quickly reassess their strategy. Bracing herself through the pain, she retorted, scrambling for any tangible reason that would evidence her self-hatred.
“But- but look what I've done to myself! I asked for this, I asked to be turned into a m-”
Not letting her finish that sentence, Marie responded more earnestly than ever before.
“Four, we love you all the same. I love you all the same. I'm so sorry it took losing you to realise how much you mean to me… But I feel that connection now. Don't you? You're more than just my protégé, more than just an agent, you're… you're my child. My daughter. And I missed you so, so much…”
Standing up, she steadied her breathing and started singing her solo song, Tide Goes Out, in an astonishingly serene voice.
“Wanoyurarishueru tiretirenu narinushu~
Wanoyurarishururu miremirenu furimukuyu~
Raretyurare tyutte mieruni uneratune
Medekyuera kyuera kerarunife…”
Tears silently slipped down her face, but she smiled as she sang about lost love, forgiveness and new beginnings. Resting her hand on her cousin's shoulder, Callie joined in with her own solo song, Bomb Rush Blush, adjusting to the slow tempo of Marie's song and creating a beautiful melody that took the breath away from everyone in the crowd.
“Dekkyanshī dera ritchere cherira
Boreborebore wekeraponi
Chorape chorapenape yutchomorabinyu~”
“Dekkyanshī dera ritchere cherira
Boreborebore wekeraponi
Chorape chorapenape yutchomorabinyu~”
As the two finished singing, the crowd exploded into a raucous applause that echoed throughout the whole canyon, and Callie quietly remarked that she had forgotten how amazing their solo songs sounded together.
Upon hearing Marie's song, Four's sobs had slowly subsided, her shoulders slumped, and her tentacle relaxed, as if she had totally forgotten that she was on a battlefield. She closed her eyes as Big Man swam under her, dropped her hero dualies and almost didn't wince as the Captain shot at her tentacle, once, twice, three times…
In an instant, the outer shell of her armour broke, degrading into a silver reflective jacket and bicycle helmet. Only a moment later, it broke again, leaving her in her old neon yellow hero hoodie and snowboots, and for the first time, Neo saw her not as the terrifying Commander of the last domes, but as the lost, lonely agent that was left behind all those years ago.
Her tentacle was now almost twice the size of her as it bulged and bubbled under the green ink that was now coating it. There was no time to lose; the Captain charged up the stringer one final time just as Four's eyes snapped back open.
Now that there was no helmet obscuring her face, Three could clearly see into her eyes, and what she saw was not boundless anger or pain but panic. Though she seemed to be surrendering, her fight or flight instincts were still kicking in, and, pushing herself one final time, she feebly super-jumped away to one of the stands where the Octarians were still cheering. Her exhaustion proved too much, though, and she missed her mark, instead clinging on to the side of the stand with one arm, dangling over nothing but sky.
Ignoring the shouts of surprise from the rest of the Splatoon, Three scrambled to think of what to do. They were so close to splatting the tentacle, and they couldn't risk Four hurting herself as she tried to escape… the young Inkling was overwhelmed with the feeling that she was missing something crucial as her mind went blank as to what she could do.
Almost in response, Smallfry jumped from her bag onto her shoulder, gazing at his friend with a knowing look in his eyes. Neo grinned, and without hesitation threw him as fast and as hard as she could in the direction of Four, who was quickly being pulled down by the weight of her swollen tentacle.
Everyone watched on in awe as the Salmonid gracefully whizzed through the air, babbling in excitement, though it quickly became apparent that he wasn't going to even get close to Four. Three kicked herself, remembering her similar blunder at the Octoballer machine the day before - how on earth could she have thought this would work?!
And yet, even as Smallfry started his descent, something strange, and strangely familiar, happened: the various cries from the audience, both of wonder at the impromptu performance and of concern for their Commander's safety, seemed to unify into one chant, their energy emanating from every single Octarian and centering around the Salmonid. The power was so palpable that the air around him seemed to glow bright white with a red tinge, as Three realised what she recognised this from. It was marine life energy, just like in space when Smallfry had transformed into a Hugefry!
This time though, instead of growing in size, the lights powered him up to be even faster, until he was but a shooting star on the horizon. He sped directly towards the tentacle, as if he was actually flying through the air, and collided with it as it finally burst in a fountain of green ink.
Before anyone knew what was happening, Four was falling through the air, unconscious. Without even sparing a moment to cry out in alarm, Marie super-jumped off the platform and caught her in one swift movement, just before she disappeared into the canyon below, with the two landing heavily on the stage. Deep Cut and the agents rushed towards them as Callie super-jumped to the group, guiding Cuttlefish with her hand. The light above had faded and Smallfry steered himself back to the stage, jumping back into Three's backpack with a proud grin on his face.
Marie propped Four up against her chest as the tentacle slowly re-formed from her back, limp and weak. Following that, the younger Inkling's eyelids flickered as she dipped in and out of consciousness. There was a collective sigh of relief; the tentacle has survived, and Four along with it.
The group saw Marie gently lift up Four's chin as she tried to whisper something, but out of all the onlookers, only Three was close enough to hear it.
“I-I'm… sorry…” she breathed, before losing consciousness once more.
The grey-haired Inkling laughed weakly in relief, muttering words of comfort even if Four could no longer hear them. One final tear was shed as she gently kissed the forehead of the yellow-haired Inkling, clinging onto her as if she would never let go.
One by one, the group shared delighted grins and shifted back to their natural ink colours as they took in the fact that it was over, truly over. This had been the last fight, the last victory that would finally bring peace to the Octarians, one that they intended to be everlasting. As Deep Cut embraced each other in a three-way hug, the Captain quietly shuffled over to Neo and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it in pride and affection.
Yet their celebrations were quickly drowned out by the noise of confusion and distress from the audience. Their Commander had just been defeated, though in exchange they had been promised their freedom… but where to go from here? If they were to no longer obey Four, then how would they know what to do? Some were impatient to leave and start their new lives, whilst others wanted to go back to Octopia to say goodbye to the only place that they had ever called home.
“So, uh, how are we gonna do this? …In fact, the first question should really be how do we get everyone down from this stage? Ha ha…” Callie awkwardly laughed as she pointed out the obvious difficulties awaiting them. They had a huge shark and a bunch of eels, yes, but there were at least two hundred Octarians around them awaiting rescue. It seemed too daunting a task to complete from this high in the air, especially after such a gruelling battle.
Just as the group were about to brainstorm some ideas, a shadow appeared on the horizon, growing bigger with every second. When Cuttlefish spotted it, he clapped his spindly tentacles together in gratitude.
“Ah-hah! Fear not, young-un’s, our transport has arrived!”
Marie, finally lifting her eyes away from Four, was about to ask what he meant when the shadow veered into the light and became much clearer: it was the Octobot King L3.Gs, and at the helm was none other than DJ Octavio himself.
The bulky machine landed on the stage next to the group, receiving possibly the loudest cheer of the entire evening. The king, who had disappeared one day, never to return to the domes, was more than just alive; he was here! He was back!
Nobody looked on in more astonishment than the agents and Deep Cut. The last time they had seen Octavio was in space when he'd helped Three take down Mr. Grizz. Where had he been this whole time, and how had he known to come here?
“Did I, uh, forget to mention that me an’ Octavio have connected walkie-talkies? I contacted him last night, whilst everyone was busy. There was no doubt in this noggin’ that we'd succeed, and I knew he was the key to relocating the Octarians!” Cuttlefish piped up, answering his granddaughters’ confused faces.
At the same time, Octavio raised his tentacle and cleared his throat to command silence from the crowd, to which everyone obliged immediately.
“Gyah ha ha! Hello, everyone! It's been far too long since I've seen so many of you together in one place!” He paused as cheers erupted once more, his face for once not expressing anger but gratitude, with an element of sadness, or perhaps guilt, mixed in. The audience quickly settled again and he resumed.
“The reason why is that, once I discovered that the rest of the army had been fuzzified, I did something I'd never done before… I, uh, well, I gave up. I had no idea that some of you were still stuck underground, or I would've returned at once. I guess I just… wallowed in my own self pity, believing that I'd failed each and every one of you.”
At this, a cacophony of sympathetic sounds reverberated around the stage, with Deep Cut even joining in, being mostly unfamiliar to his plight. When he continued, a newfound determination rang through his voice.
“But now, I have the opportunity to right my wrongs and deliver you all to the lives that you deserve! Not through another ‘steal the zapfish’ scheme, and not as your king, either.”
A series of gasps sounded out from the Octarians as the assumption that they had collectively made was proven wrong. At this, Octavio just laughed.
“Gyah ha ha! Please, don't act so surprised! This day was bound to come. I haven't been your leader for a very long time, and I hope that you all understand now why your independence is for the best!”
He glanced down at Four as he spoke. This time, there was no mistaking his regret, as he went to say something more but swallowed his words. Instead, he clapped his tentacles together and called out again.
“So! If the Squidbeak agents have promised you freedom - which is something I never thought I'd believe, let alone say - I will do everything I can to help! My Octobot can carry you all down to the Canyon, and we can discuss where to go from there. Tonight,” he paused, gazing up at the deepening purple of the sky, “Or rather, right now, will be your first night of many under the stars and constellations of the real sky!”
The speech concluded with one last round of applause, as the Octarians turned to talk to each other about the exciting futures that awaited them. Satisfied, Octavio hopped out of the cockpit and ambled over to the agents, taking on a much more serious stance as he knelt down next to Marie, who instinctively drew Four closer to her chest. After truly taking in the Inkling, who was sleeping a dreamless sleep, and her barely-twitching tentacle, he looked up at Marie.
“You're serious about helping everyone settle on the surface?”
She nodded, and he looked down again.
“Then the least I can do in return is to help you look after Four.” When Marie opened her mouth to object, he explained, “Please… she was the one to free me from the snow globe so I could chase after Grizz. I left her, knowing about the absolute state she was in without you. It's only right, especially after she dedicated herself to looking after my people in my place for so long.”
With what seemed to be a smirk, he added, “Oh, and that's a clone of my tentacle jutting out of her back. Pretty sure you wouldn't know how to deal with that without my expertise.”
Wordlessly, Marie agreed, though she seemed grateful to do so. When all was said and done, Cuttlefish glided over to Octavio and teased him about his sentimentality, leading to the two of them bickering as if they had never been apart.
“We gonna get moving then? The job won't finish itself!” Frye interrupted, eager to settle down somewhere and rest after a long day.
“Yes, and preferably sooner rather than later. We do have things to attend to in Splatsville, y'know.” added Shiver, getting less courteous as time ticked on.
“Of course! Speaking of Splatsville, I think that we should maybe set up a temporary campsite in the Outer Splatlands Desert to house the Octarians until we can get them all homes in the city. What do you guys think?” Callie asked, already proud of her idea. Now that the fight was over, and a new future just beginning, she looked happier than ever.
“Ay! Ay. (I think that's a great idea! It's right next to the canyon, and it's generally cooler at night, so we could lead them there right now.)” Big Man chirped, and soon everyone had set to work announcing it to the crowd and organising people into groups to be loaded onto the Octobot.
Three, though, stayed put, deciding to sit next to Marie, who was still cradling Four in her arms. Looking at the unconscious Inkling, she knew that this journey was still far from over, and that the fate of the former Commander was still relatively undecided. But, in the calmness of the moment, she was able to let her worries slip away.
“You did it, kid. I can't thank you enough.” Marie whispered, gazing at the sky. The sun had now fully set, and an array of stars was smiling down at them.
Three breathed in, allowing the feeling of contentment to wash over her. She had done it, with the help of her friends, her family. And now, that family was even more complete than just a few days ago. She smiled, knowing that, when the sun rose again, the world would be brighter than it had ever been before.
The end