#agent mantis

(Several miles from the crater in Takoyarkov, 100 feet above sea level...)

“GBR HQ come in. This is Commander Blitz. Do you copy?”

Roger that we hear you loud and clear sir.

”Excellent, me and the other Agents are approaching the drop zone in approximately 5 minutes.”

Understood sir. Tell them to prepare for low altitude jump once you are at the drop zone.

“Understood HQ. Over and out.”

The inkling commander packed his radio away in a pocket on his parka and made his way towards the back of his aircraft, a reverse engineered helicopter from human schematics. He looked to the passenger compartment and saw 4 inklings wearing the latest Agent gear and weapons supplied by Sheldon. 

They sat together in pairs, which he assumed meant that they’d rather work with each other’s pairings. Two of them, a sea foam green inkling girl and a lime green inkling boy, were quietly conversing with their weapons, a Hero Splatling and a pair of Hero Dualies respectively, by their sides. The other pair of inklings,  pink and purple, were keeping quiet with the pink one holding onto one of the purple one’s arms nervously. Blitz took in a deep breath and made his way towards them.

“Alright Agents, we’re almost at our target. ETA 5 minutes. I’ll brief you one more time on the mission.” Blitz motioned for all four to move closer to him as he dragged a small collapsible table to the center of the compartment. He took out a folded map and spread it across. “We’re about here,” he planted a finger over a stretch of ocean. “heading east towards here.” he dragged his finger until he stopped at the center of a large city ruins. “Our objective is to extract two of my commando operatives from what we believe to be is a human weapons bunker.”

“Woah...” the lime green inkling stuttered as he stared at the map in awe. “So that’s where we’re headed to?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re saying that there are Octarians and Salmonids there as well?” the purple inkling huffed, a cross look on her face.

“It seems so. We’re not entirely sure why they are working together but it can’t be anything good.”

“Yep,” the sea foam green inkling nodded, holding onto her weapon close. “as if dealing with those Octarians weren’t bad enough...”

“Anyway our primary entry plan is to conduct a low altitude jump with me on point. I’ll clear a small area so that our pilots can land this bird and get you on the ground. Once we establish a foothold there two of you will move into the crater and find my operatives. Once you’ve found them head back to the heli and we’ll get out of here.”

“And if our plans don’t go accordingly?” the lime green inkling asked as he crossed his arms.

“Then we’ll just have to improvise, won’t we?” Blitz grinned and packed up the map and slid it into his parka. He then pulled out a Bamboozler Mk. 4 and planted the butt down on the floor of the helicopter. “Alright! Agents Phantom, Mantis, Penguin, and Polar Bear, prepare for low altitude drop!”

“Sir yessir!” All four stood at attention and readied their own weapons.

Without looking, the inkling commander swung his left arm back and hit a red button, causing the back of the aircraft to open up.

“W-wait, you were serious?” Agent Penguin sqeaked in surprise as air began roaring in and out of the compartment.

“Yes, this is what I mean when I said ‘low altitude drop’!” Blitz made his way towards the opening door and looked outside. As he gazed at the passing buildings and flora he saw that the surroundings were beginning to look like the ones on the map. He turned towards the Agents and stamped his weapon down again. “Alright, don’t forget the mission Agents! I’ll see you on the ground!” With that Blitz started to fall backwards and out of the aircraft, causing the 4 remaining inklings to stare in shock and disbelief. 

“Is he crazy?” Agent Mantis yelled over the sound of the rushing air and propeller engine.

(Meanwhile as Blitz was free falling towards certain death...)

Blitz turned himself so that his body was facing the ground, ever growing closer to him as wind whipped by his face. He made a small grin as he quickly holstered his Bamboozler and pulling out a Hero Shot, aiming at the ground and letting out quick bursts of ink. Once he saw a small puddle of his ink reach the ground he quickly shifted into his squid form and aimed himself right at the colored splotch, landing with a loud SPLASH! 

Looks like I made it to the ground safely... Blitz shifted back to his bipedal form and looked around, seeing groups of Octarians and Salmonids beginning to converge on his location. Switching his Hero Shot for his Bamboozler rifle, he calmly pulled out a bayonet and fixed it onto the end of his weapon before cocking it. “Alright ya bunch of scum sucking suckerheads and fish sticks, you want a piece of me?”

The enemies that were already waiting pointed their weapons at him. But he only grinned as he pointed his own at the closest target. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

(Back in the helicopter...)

“Did... did he really just dive off the chopper?” Agent Phantom stared at the others in bewilderment as the others watched him begin assaulting the surrounding enemy force. One by one he gunned down Octarians and Salmonids in quick succession with his rifle, quickly changing his style of combat from close range fire to close quarters combat with his affixed bayonet. 

“Woah... he’s unstoppable.” Agent Mantis muttered, holding onto her Dualies tightly. Moments later the skirmish was over as dozens of enemy troops lie dead or wounded around the inkling commander, his parka splattered with purple ink and green mucus. 

“Agents... the enemy force has been neutralized. Sector is clear-”

Blitz heard a booming crack from behind and dodged to the side as a large projectile whizzed past his face before impacting a few meters behind him.

“Not clear! I repeat, not clear!” He stood up and saw that an armored tank was rolling towards him, the main gun pointed right at him. Gritting his beak he holstered his Bamboozler and started running to its left side, making sure to keep an eye on where the cannon was pointing. As soon as it was aiming in front of him he quickly turned to rush its right. He continued this zig-zag movement until he was almost face to face with the vehicle. He then pulled out his Hero Shot and inked the frontal plates before swimming up to the top. He was then met with an Octarian trooper who popped his head out from the commander’s hatch, which he quickly took down with a few bursts from his weapon. He stood over the open hatch and threw down two Splat Bombs before leaping off and landing in front of the tank. He heard the sounds of panicked voices before-

BOOM! BOOM!

The Splat Bombs went off and rocked the vehicle, the engine eventually stopping and the gun barrel soon leaked of ink.

“Tank destroyed. Agents, tell the pilots that the area is now secured.” 

“You got it Blitz.” Agent Polar Bear replied before making her way to the cockpit. “Commander Blitz said that the area is cleared out.”

“Understood, prepare for landing procedures. Tell the other Agents to get ready.” One of the pilots ordered as he flipped a few switches. Agent Polar Bear returned to the others and relayed the pilot’s order to them. A few moments later all four watched as the aircraft landed next to Blitz, the inkling standing with both his weapons holstered. The group met up with the inkling commander and gave him a quick salute.

“Good, now we’ll split up into two groups. Group 1 will come with me and venture into the vault to see if my operatives are alive, hopefully. While Group 2 stays here with the pilots and holds this landing zone until Group 1 returns. Understood?” Blitz pulled out his Hero Shot once more and cocked it ready.

“Yessir!” All four replied.

“Good, Agents Penguin and Polar Bear will be Group 1 while Agents Phantom and Mantis are in Group 2.”

“Understood.” Agent Polar Bear nodded.

“We’re on it!” Agent Mantis motioned for his partner to follow him.

Blitz signaled for Group 1 to follow him as he descended down the pit. Don’t worry you two, help is on the way. 

(Moments later...)

As Blitz and Group 1 made their way down the darkened corridors of the vault, he tried to radio to Siemo and Torke. 

“Siemo, come in.”

“....”

“Torke do you read me?”

“....”

“Shit, this isn’t good. They aren’t replying to my radio.” Blitz sighed with frustration. 

“Then we should pick up the pace.” Agent Polar Bear suggested as she looked back to Agent Penguin, who was keeping silent and holding onto her Hero Roller. “Hey, we’re gonna be alright. You saw how Blitz took care of those guys earlier.”

The pink inkling nodded to her friend but kept quiet. Suddenly she felt something wrap around her shoulder and looked up to see that the purple inkling was holding her close, a warm comforting smile beaming down to her. “I’ll keep you safe, don’t worry.”

“Come on you two, stay close to me,” Blitz looked back to the pair. “We don’t know who else might be here.” 

The pair grouped up behind him and continued onward until they came upon a set of metal doors. They seemed to have been cut open and torn to shreds. 

“That... is definitely not good.”

Blitz took cover to the left of the opening and signaled for the others to take the right.

“Alright, on my mark I’ll take the left side. You two take the right.” He whispered to them. He took a quick glance around the door way before looking back to the agents.

“One... two... three!”

The group rounded the corner and readied their weapons. However what they saw instead caught them completely off guard, as all around them were several octarian and salmonids soldiers lying dead. Blitz lowered his weapon and stared at them, memories from years ago coming back. 

Good Cod, what... happened here?

He walked to the nearest corpse and took a closer look, noticing that the body was riddled with holes. 

Just as I thought. This isn’t the work of an ink weapon...

He stood up and looked at the other bodies, seeing that they too had the same type of wounds. He also noticed many small metallic cylinders scattered along the ground.

“We have to find my operatives now!” Blitz made a run through the carnage, leaving the two agents behind. They glanced at each other and knew what to do and followed on his heels. As they moved through the ginormous storage space they kept finding more and more dead soldiers, all of them meeting the same fate as the ones they found earlier. Eventually the trio found themselves in front of what appeared to be a makeshift barricade made up of a few vehicles, crates, and pieces of debris. He motioned his hand for the agents to stay put and carefully climbed up the pile. 

“Siemo? Torke?” He called out, hoping to get a verbal response. “It’s me, Blitz! Are you two alright?” He could barely make out the sounds of someone moving behind the barricade. Unsure of who it was he reached over to his Hero Shot. “Siemo, Torke. Please tell me that’s one of you two behind there...” For what felt like a small eternity he waited to hear anything from the other side. Finally he heard someone grunt as though they were in pain. He took a deep breath and quickly crested the top of the pile and aimed, seeing a certain albino octoling pointing at him with a weapon herself. For a moment the two held their breath before Blitz lowered his sights and let go of his gun, raising his hands in front of him. “It’s okay Siemo, it’s me.” But he only managed to take a few steps forward before the octoling raised her weapon at him.

“Don’t come any closer!”

Blitz raised his arms up high and stared at her. The look in her eyes was of determination... and fear.

“Siemo calm down. It’s me.”

“How do I know you’re not some... mimic octoling pretending to be you!”

Blitz calmly reached up to his beret and slipped it off, revealing to her his hair tentacles. She looked and immediately recognized it.

“It... it really is you.” Siemo’s eyes softened and she dropped her gun, the weapon clattering loudly on the ground as she let out a sobbing gasp. She was about to collapse on the ground when he reached to her and broke her fall. “There... there were so many sir...”

“It’s okay Siemo. I got you.”

“And... and Torke got hit and I didn’t know what to do so I just kept shooting and-”

Blitz grabbed onto her shoulders and stared at her with hard but stoic eyes.

“It’s alright Siemo.”

The octoling wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Th... thank you sir.”

Blitz patted her head and back to comfort her before he set her down next to some rubble.

“Agents, come up here! One of mine needs medical attention!”

Seconds later Agents Penguin and Polar Bear went over the top of the barricade and climbed down. The first went over to the wounded inkling commando and tended to his injuries while the second kneeled next to Blitz.

“So, what now? We extract and head back to the heli?”

“No, not yet. Those octarian and salmonid forces were here for a reason, despite everything in this vault.” He stood up and looked around again when his eyes fell upon a third sealed door. This one seemed to have even more security locks on it compared to the first and second. “And something tells me that is why they came here.” He approached the door and analyzed it. The structure of it as well as the amount of locks and security grids gave it the impression that it’s impenetrable. For a few silence minutes Siemo and the agents watched Blitz as he was deep in thought. 

He must be thinking of a way to crack open that door. Maybe some highly calculated guesses on the door’s password? Or perhaps some kind of hacking device that would-

“Hiyah!” Blitz kicked at the control panel of the door, which caused a shower of sparks to fly in all directions. Suddenly the door rumbled and gradually opened.

Or... he could do that and skip the thinking all together.

“Heh, pretty sensitive tech.” Blitz scoffed. Once the door fully opened he walked inside, the hallway stretching towards another chamber. Once he reached it he saw a giant container, similar to the one discovered years ago with the cat Judd inside it.

What the...? Blitz cautiously approached the tube and looked through the glass panel and couldn’t believe his eyes. Inside it wasn’t another feline or even an animal. Rather it was-

A human? He stepped back in shock as he realized what he had just stumbled upon. This changes everything! Blitz reached for his radio and quickly contacted Group 2. “Agents Phantom and Mantis! Get my pilots on the line!”

“Wh-what? Why? What’s going on?” Agent Mantis asked but was cut off.

“Do it now!”

He heard him hesitate for a moment before the agent rushed to the helicopter and handed his radio to them.

“What’s the situation sir?”

“Change of plans. Contact GBR HQ immediately!”

“Huh?” The pilots glanced at each other in confusion. “Understood sir, what do we tell them?”

“Tell them to send in everything we have to Takoyarkov!”

“E-everything?”

“Everything!”

The two pilots nodded to each other and began to turn on the aircraft’s communications systems.

Blitz put away his radio and ran to the others as quick as he can. When he reached Group 1 and his operatives he picked up Torke and placed him on his shoulders. “Let’s move! Hurry!”

“What? What’s going on!” Agent Penguin questioned him. 

“I’ll explain on the way to the chopper! Now let’s move it!” Blitz didn’t look back to the others as he ran towards the second door way, leaving the others to catch up with him.

(A few minutes later, back at the helicopter...)

Group 1 along with Blitz and Siemo finally appeared out of the crater to Group 2′s relief. Blitz quickly went inside the aircraft and set Torke down before reaching into a medical box and pulling out an IV bag. He inserted the needle into his comrade’s arm and got the drip to start before moving to the cockpit. 

“Sir, we’ve contacted HQ and they’re sending in as many squads as they can muster.”

“Good, now wait with the others.”

“Yessir.” They obliged and left, leaving Blitz alone. He turned to a small box nestled between the pilots’ seats and opened it, pulling out a koshirae. He then slipped the sheath through a loop on his pants and walked outside. There he saw all four agents, his pilots, and Siemo waiting for him. 

“Everyone, change of plans. We have to hold this area until backup arrives. It seems this alliance between the octarians and salmonids was more than just finding those human-made weapons.” He reached over to a small crate and pulled out several folded panels before giving them to Agent Mantis and Polar Bear.

“Listen up! I’m gonna need you to set up those barriers around the perimeter of the chopper. We’ll form a defensive perimeter and hold off any remaining forces who might try to take back this vault. Understood?”

“Sir yessir!” The two set out and began to place the panels around them. He then took both his holstered weapons out and handed them to the pilots. 

“You two will help the agents and Siemo hold this perimeter.”

“Yessir!” They gave him a quick salute and moved out, pulling the panels up to form cover.

“Siemo,” he called out to the octoling. “I’m going to need you to provide support fire for Agent Phantom and Penguin. Mantis and Polar Bear will be able to help you out as well.”

“Okay...” the albino sighed before stealing a glance at her wounded comrade.

“Hey, I’m worried about Torke too. But you have to keep your mind on the here and now,” He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “He’ll make it.”

She looked up at him and nodded before taking out her Octoshot. “Thank you Blitz.”

He returned the gesture and waited for the remaining panels to be placed. Once the last have been placed he called them all back and ordered them into positions so their respective weapons will have the most effectiveness. 

“Alright everyone. I suspect that any lingering enemy forces will have regrouped by now. And as we speak they are most likely preparing a counterattack in an attempt to force us out of this city. But we will stop them here!” He pulled out his sheathed blade and struck the ground, slashing a line in front of him. “If we can hold out until reinforcements arrive then this city and everything in that vault is ours!”

Just as we was finishing a loud booming horn rang out from around them followed by a chorus of war cries.

“This is it people! Keep calm and soldier on!” He swiped his sword to the side and grabbed it with both hands before raising it to his side, the metal shining the rising sun’s rays off its surface. Then the first wave of attackers appeared a few hundred meters in front of them, their weapons primed and pointing right at Blitz. The inkling took a long deep breath before screaming at the top of his lungs and rushing the oncoming force.

The song: Bomb Rush Blush continues to play in the radio while Fynn and Tundra were dodging incoming Octo-Missles. The Commander's new Octobot MK III is developed from all the previous Octo Weapeons from 2 years ago and formed it into one indestructible machine. The Commander shifted gears as the robotic arachnid started to hover like Octavio's ship. She dropped a huge Octo-Missile from above and it's heading straight towards them.

"Heads up...!" Tundra said, taking aim at the falling missile. She sniped the missile and sent it right back. It destroyed one of it's 8 legs, causing the prototype to wobble a bit. "Now, we know how to beat that thing.. Fynn, focus on the legs first!

"If we make it out alive with your friend on that chair, you have some explaining to do.." He watched the weaponized arachnid fall down, safely on the ground. At times like this, why did he bother getting up in the evening when there's power supply crisis.

As the Commander started moving and attacking again, Fynn examined the person who is driving the arachnid. The blue-ringed Octoling was wearing the same hypnoshades when he first encountered her. ("Hmmm... Maybe she's brainwashed, too... Those shades aren't just for show....") He thought. If he can get closer to the machine, he might be able to clear her senses. But how will he do that?

Tundra continued shooting of a few missles until she noticed Fynn was coming up with a plan of his. "What are you thinkin' about, anyway?" She continued shooting incoming projectiles.

"Remember when Dawn knocked me through a loop..? Maybe, I could save her by knocking her shades off, as well. I just need to use my head before I act.." It well may be the most reckless idea, he ever had. But he has one shot to save her like his sister did. He's not sure why, but he could somehow see the sadness behind her shades.

Tundra thought about his plan, before giving him a thumbs up. She too, wanted to save her Commander from corruption. "Just be careful, out there.. I'm going to take out a few legs, allowing you to climb up the cockpit."

"I don't know, what you two muttering about...? But I can't let you succeed, nonetheless..!" She stopped her assault to stare down at the two. "It's been a year and a half.. We've been searching from top to bottom for you... You've broken our trust after our mission together and you decide to leave without notice..!"

Tundra lowered her weapon as she walked right next to Fynn. She hated bringing up her dark past, but the Commander must know. "The reason why I left is because, I wanted to choose a different route than being an elite. That last mission took out my eye during a fight with an Anglerfish.. It was a suicide attempt and I was scarred for life..." She pointed at the eye patch on her right eye, followed by the two scars over her eye. She slowly took off her eye patch to reveal the whole eye to the Commander and Fynn. The eye lid was sealed shut for several months. "After the accident, I moved to Inkopolis to start a new life.. I wanted to follow another goal like that one Octoling who chased her dream.."

"Whoa..." Fynn was too busy, staring at her closed right eye. On his point of view, it looked badass of her. But on the inside, he felt sorry for her past. He was in the same fix as hers. After he quits his job as Agent 11, he got a job as a dishwasher at a family-oriented diner.

"Everything was going well, y'know.. I became a personal trainer to help a couple of squids to grow stronger. One of 'em is Fynn, right here. I still don't understand why you kidnapped him..? What's so special about my pupil..?" On the same note, Fynn was wondering about it.

"Tch.... Fine.. I'll save you all the trouble by explaining to you all..." The Commander cleared her throat and leaned in closer to them. "Before I was promoted to commander, I did some scouting on an unknown agent.. According to the list of agents from the past, he was called Agent 11. He claims to be the city's defender.."

Fynn's body went stiff when she mentioned to his former alias. He clenches his gut from where he got shot at in the empty streets. Becoming an agent, puts him through some unfortunate struggles and never-ending nightmares.

"I've been watching him from the shadows, while he did his part. From the Octobot invasion, the radio outbreak in Inkoplis, and even a rescue attempt to save a young Octoling from being tortured by two Inklings.. He was indeed, a hero. But... every hero's journey comes to an end." She looks at Fynn with a pleased expression on her face. "It's not easy, carrying on with your life while the past is dragging you down. Right, Fynn..?

Fynn clenched onto his Herobrush, shaking in fear and anger. After a year, she knew about his identity and his downfall. He closed his eyes, trying to look away from her. As he did, he felt a hand of Fynn's shoulder. He turned his head to look at Tundra.

"Don't listen to her... You've done so much to protect the city in the past.. Yeah, no one has ever heard of you. But, you've got the guts to fufill your destiny.. You're one of a kind and you have friends who got your back. It's about time to leave the past behind us and focus on our future.." Her sweet words were enough to bring Fynn back to his senses. Then, she glared at the Commander. "You think you've seen his agent work, but he's stronger than you think. Try to underestimate him or you'll regret it."

The Commander was taken aback by this, before letting out a disapproval huff. "Spare me.. You can't fulfill your destiny when you're dead..!!" She was done, talking to them as she readied herself for more. "I have no choice but end this, quick! Unless, you have what it takes to prove me wrong.."

"She's about to attack, again.. I'll cover you til the end.." Tundra put her eye patch back on and took aim if the Commander releases a few more missiles.

As soon as the arachnid is ready to move around, Fynn has both hands on his Herobrush. He held it close to him and got into his stance. This stance has the resemblance of a samurai warrior. Fynn stared at the Commander and then, at the 7 legs. ("Eimie... I give you my word.. I will come back, a new man...!") Without warning, Fynn charged at one of the legs. His leg weight training really paid off in a good way.

The Commander was shocked by his movements, but she went offensive and launched 4 missiles at him. The missiles were locked onto Fynn and about to chase him. If his tank runs out, he'll have a disadvantage. Unfortunately, the missiles isn't going to faze the pink Inkling.

Fynn was trying to the avoid the homing missiles, until he has an idea. He cleverly went for one of the 7 legs while the missles were on his tail. As he got closer and closer to the leg, he made a U-turn and moved to the next leg. The 7th leg was destroyed from the inksplosion, causing the arachnid to fall over. Fynn kicked it up a notch by serpentining around the other 3 legs, connecting the three inksplosions. There's only 3 legs left and the Commander's arachnid is losing its balance.

"You pink little pest...!!" The blue-ringed Octoling responds by trying to keep up with her prototype but with 5 missing legs, she's unable to function. "My plans will be for nothing, thanks to a former agent and a traitor..! But you forgot one thing..." Suddenly, the mouth of the arachnid began to open and revealed some sort of gas nozzle. "My machine is loaded with my deadly vemon and the Toxic Mist gas. Let's if you can handle my fumes..." She pressed a button to release to strong Toxic Mist into the battlefield. If they get caught in the fumes, they'll lose their ink even faster. Not only it does its job, but the deadly gas will slowly kill the two.

"This isn't good... Fynn, don't breathe in..!! This Toxic Mist is more threatening than before!" Tundra held her breath, trying not to choke in the toxic gas. This is the Commander's secret trump card when facing against bigger threats.

Fynn has witnessed the poisonous fog from before. If only, he brought his gas mask with him. He quickly, held his breath and backed away. At this rate, they won't endure for long. The mist surrounded both Fynn and Tundra, depleting their ink even more.

Unit 64 was still strapped to the chair, watching the whole fight. She couldn't just sit there and watch them perish. So, she tried to struggle with getting the restaints off of her. After a minute of wiggling her hands and rocking her chair from side-to-side, her arms are free from the restraints. She got to work by undoing the restraints by her feet. She made sure to be silent before unbuckling the restraints.

Alex broke free from her chair and stealthfully walked over to the switch for the ventilation van. It was next to the huge monitor, revealing the main event with DJ Octavio, Callie, and the three agents. She quickly turned on the fan as the propellers started moving fast. The huge gust of wind, blew away the deadly Toxic Mist. Feeling relieved, she pulled off the tape in her mouth and she was able to talk. "Destroy that damn nozzle before she releases more...!!" She cried, giving them the signal.

Before the Commander releases another gas of toxic, Fynn quickly recovers his ink tank by diving into his own ink. Once his tank is restored, Fynn pulls out an Autobomb. He chucked the robotic bomb with all of his strength to block the nozzle's entrance.

"What in the...!! It's jammed...!" The Autobomb didn't detect any nearby enemies while it continues to wiggle. The pressure begins to build up as the the arachnid's mouth is breaking apart. The bomb detonated after it was done wiggling, causing the arachnid's mouth to burst into pile of scrap and leftover gas. The blue-ringed Octoling quickly opened the hatch and ejected from her seat. She landed in front of them with her Octo Blaster in her hand. "Okay.. Now, I'm going to destroy you..!! I've worked so hard in creating the prototype..!!" She glares at Fynn through her hypnoshades.

"I can't allow you to harm the citizens of Inkopolis.. Like me and Tundra, they all have a dream to obtain.. And I won't let you take that away from them.. I'm going to finish what I started, right now..!!" Fynn's ink tank is half-empty. With a few swings, he might knock her shades off in time.

"Let's see you try it..!! I still got enough vemon left to splat you..!!" Her tank has enough ink to shoot a couple of ink blasts. One shot will splat him in the center. She instinctively charged towards Fynn with all she's got. She aimed at Fynn and fired her blob of ink.

Fynn closed his eyes, concentrating on his attack. He got into his samurai stance, again to prepare for the inevitable. He thought back to all the memories he did, over the years. His friends, his team, his family, even his girlfriend. They are all waiting for him to return. How they all miss him after so long. As if time stopped in front of him, Fynn cuts through the ink blast with one swipe. He started charging towards her. His tentacles and the ink spots on his body began to glow a radiant light.

The Commander stared at him in shock after he slices through her ink blast with a swing of a brush. "That's... impossible..!! My ink could've wasted you..!!" She couldn't let Fynn take her out that easily. She rapidly fired two shot at him while closing in on him. "Stay back..!! I order you to stay back..!!" She cried, trying to fend off the armed Inkling.

Her warnings meant nothing to him. Fynn cuts through another blob of her ink. As for the third ink blast, he swiftly dodges the final blow and he was in range with the Octoling elite. He grips onto to his Herobrush, preparing to swing. He looks into the Commander's face before he takes the final swing, knocking the shades out of her face. He could hear a loud shriek from the Commander as he watches her collapse onto the floor. She wasn't splatted, but she was out cold. "I'm done taking orders from you.." He said, taking a deep breath.

Tundra caught up to Fynn, lowering her weapon. She stared down at the passed out Commander. "I'm sorry, Eris... it has to be done..." She sighed, deeply before facing Fynn. "We did it, Fynn.. My girls are safe and sound for now.. Now then, we need to reach to the concert.. Phantom, Mantis, and Marie are still trying to bring Callie back.."

Alex approached to them in the middle of the chamber. Now that she is relieved of her duties as an elite, she doesn't have the will to fight anymore. She hands Tundra, the key to her flying vehicle. "...Take it. I'll try to shut off the system while you two can go see the fight. I'll stay here with Eris to see if she's coming back to her senses."

There wasn't time to have second thoughts. He took the keys from her and nods. "Thanks for blowing out the toxic gas.. If it wasn't for you, we'd be dead within seconds.. And sorry about wrecking your gun..." Even though she tried to splat him, he can't stay mad at her after what she did.

"....I'm still mad at you, jerk. You should be grateful, I returned the favor. Go after your sister or whatever.. She has fought her way to get here." Alex turns away to work on the controls.

"You're welcome." He left her to get to work and turned around to meet Tundra. He was wondering, how his sister and her new friend are holding up as the music continues to play in the background with Callie, singing Bomb Rush Blush.

"C'mon, champ. We're gettin' a VIP access to the fight. If only, we brought some popcorn for this fight." She joked around, before she left the chambers.

Fynn looked back at the monitor, showing the live concert. It pains him to see Callie on stage, brainwashed like he used to be. He loves the outfit and the tattoo on Callie, no matter how bad the situation is. After a few seconds to watching the monitor, he left the chamber with the keys in his hand. This ship will take him to the concert with ease. ("Dawn... Please be safe...") He prayed for his sister's safety and her partner as well. Someday, they will both have a future to succeed.

Agents Phantom and Mantis appeared at the spawn point in the dome. This will be their first mission to retrieve the Zapfish. From the distance, they could see a bright lightbulb from here.

"We arrived at the lair of the Octotroops." Phantom contacted Marie through her Hero Headphones as she stood in front of the launch pad. The insides of the dome looked as beatiful as the one outside.

"Okay, I'm going to guide you two to the goal. So, listen carefully. Take the launch pad in front of you and super jump to the next platform. Proceed with caution and good luck." Marie was using a transceiver to speak to either Phantom or Mantis. It's old-fashioned and out of date, but it still works.

"I can't wait to analyze some machines up close!" He enthusiastically, tried to advance to the launch pad but he felt his hoodie tugged by Phantom.

"She said, proceed with caution. Don't be in such a hurry. Who knows, what we're dealing with. Now, let's be careful and fulfill Marie's wish." She went in first to super jump towards danger. After her trip to an abandoned apartment complex with Scorpia on last year's Halloween, she's brave enough to face odds like these.

As they land to the next location, they spotted one of the Octarians. This one is called an Octotrooper, which is one of the lesser troops in the army. The trooper didn't take long to notice the two intruders. Without warning, he fired a huge blob of purple ink at the two.

"Don't get too close, Mantis." She said, avoiding the ink. It wasn't as fast as how the Inklings fire their ink.

Mantis scanned the vehicle and nodded. He knows what to do, next. He fired his weapon at the trooper, splatting him instantly. All was left was his vehicle on the ground.

"Nice shot, Mantis! Keep up the pressure!" Marie complimented on his performance. She continued to give them both tips during the missions. This is just like 2 years ago, when Marie and Callie helped Agent 3 out with saving their grandfather. The thought of Callie was getting worse for her. She wished her cousin was there by her side.

Moving on from platform to platform, they were almost there to the Zapfish. Mantis stared through the grates and there's a dozen of troops, around the vaults. One of them has a key, somewhere.

"See that tuna can on your right? There's a special weapon inside to cook 'em all on a silver platter." Inside the can reveals the Tentamissles. Once locked onto many targets, it releases ten bottle rockets at the cohorts. They could imagine a barrage of tiny Inkstrikes, creating a lot of mini inknado. Too bad, Inkstrike is unavailable for now.

Mantis deployed the missiles and locked on 6 Octarians. He steadied his aim until he released all 10 missles on the battlefield. The missles were sent flying for a while, until they crashed down on the enemies. Mantis relaxed a little from the tension until it was safe to jump down.

"There's another horde of Octarians up ahead. I'm going down there first, while you find one more Tentamissle to find the keys to the three vaults." Phantom bravely went down there to distract the troops.

Luckily for him, there was another special inside the vault near him. He got in position and aimed the missles at the Octotroopers. While Phantom is getting there attention by striking up a conversation, Mantis didn't waste any time in launching another set of missles. Phantom watches the rest of the troops get rained on. She looked up at Mantis and gave him a thumbs up.

"Good work, you two. Now, unlock the vault and the Zapfish is ours. The journey will be a long one, but you two will learn alot before going back to Turf Wars." Marie said.

"Splendid! Let's grab that Zapfish!" Mantis hopped down to catch up to her. Inside it was another launch pad. They were getting close to finishing the mission. The two agents super jumped from the launch pad and arrived in front of the Zapfish. The small catfish is trapped in a lightbulb to light up the entire dome. The only problem is.. how are are going to bust it open?

"I wonder if the shield is breakable..." She aimed her Hero Shot at the lightbulb. "There's only one way to find out." She fired at the shield, only exanding it even further. The lightbulb shattered apart, freeing the Zapfish. They shouldn't delay here for long. Who knows what would happen if they don't complete the mission. Agent Phantom grabbed the Zapfish with one hand.

"This mission is a success. We're heading back to the surface, Marie." Phantom contacted the Squid Sister, while Mantis was gazing at the adorable little Zapfish.

Once they retrieve the Zapfish, they both returned to the surface. Marie has been standing in front of the kettle, the moment they got out. She gave them a calm smile. "I knew, I would count on you two. There are two kettles to go until you unlock the boss kettle in the middle. Once all the Zapfish are collected in this area, it's onto the next area."

"On the contrary, Miss Marie. I was thinking, we should split up and grab each Zapfish that way. It would be quicker to get this done, lickety split." Mantis said, knowing that it'll take a long time.

("Good.. I don't have to hear him geek out, every time he sees a vehicle or two..") Phantom needed some space, anyway. Her mind drifts away about someone important. She still wasn't aware about Fynn's disappearance. Yet.

"Uh.. I don't think it's such a good idea.. Cod knows, what would happen to the both of you.." Marie said, looking a bit worried about their decision. She remained silent for while, until closed her eyes and sighed. "Fine.. Just contact me, if you're done."

"Don't feel down, Marie. We'll get this done in no time! I'm going to kettle on the left!" Mantis walked over to the invisible kettle. He inked the kettle to reveal itself. He turned into a squid and dove right in.

"I'm taking the right, if you don't mind." Finally, Phantom can focus and not deal her new teammate. She revealed the kettle behind the crates. She entered the domes, without warning.

Marina was having mixed feeling about her answer. If they can make it through the second and the third kettles, then she won't have to worry much. While Marie is waiting outside, Phantom and Mantis were doing well on their own.

3 minutes later...

Phantom left the kettle on the right. The dome she visited, slowed her down a bit because she was dealing with the ink-covered spinning pilars. She took her time until she grabbed the third Zapfish. Now that they have all three, they can proceed to the boss kettle. As soon as she approached to the boss kettle, she sees none other than Agent Mantis.

"What took you so long? Marie's been going on and on, while you're busy." Mantis has been listening to Marie's past. Mostly the Splatfest events, 2 years ago. He was wondering about the black-tentacled girl beside her. He tried asking, but Marie changed the subject.

"What were you guys talking about?" She asked, leaning against the big kettle. She seems a bit curious to know what's going on, while she's gone.

"I was telling him about the Splatfests, we hosted for at least 12 months. And a few live concerts, we performed. Me and Callie had a blast, seeing all our fans from around the world..." She fell silent, when she mentioned her cousin. "By the way, Mantis. When this is all over, make sure you buy our album on Squid Tunes. Since you don't know about the Squid Sisters, you'll listen to all the songs, including our hit singles." Sometimes, Marie wished that Bomb Rush Blush got praised than Tide Goes Out. At first, she was taken aback by the amount of likes on her song.

"Okay! I'll give it a listen! But for now, we have one Zapfish to save in this 'boss kettle', you speak of.. What's in there, anyway? Is it a bigger platform than the rest?" The boss kettle seemed meanacing enough. He's not afraid to find out.

"Inside it, lays an Octoboss who is guarding a Zapfish. Just like the Great Octoweapons from 2 years ago, they power up their machines to the max. Don't lower your guard, you two.. They're no pushovers.." Marie walked back to her shack to contact them while they're inside the kettle.

"Alright, Mantis. You heard the lady, time to nut up or shut up!" With that said, she went down there first. There is nothing that Agent Phantom can't handle. As for Agent Mantis, he seemed a bit nervous to know which boss is inside the kettle. Once they entered into the boss's lair, there's a Zapfish from afar.

"There it is.. I don't see the Octo Boss, yet.. Maybe he must be sleeping..?" Sleeping or not, Phantom went in there without caution. She waited for Mantis to come forward to grab that Zapfish that is hanging from the ceiling. "Now then, let's shoot it down and..." As soon as Phantom was about finish, a huge octopus tentacle emerged from the ink and pulled down the Zapfish with it. Suddenly, a huge spark appeared in front of them. Both Phantom and Mantis was either surprised or shocked.

As they stood there in awe, something huge and bulky rises out of the purple ink. They could both see what's coming out of the ink. And they thought it was going to be easy. Once the huge object rose out of the ink, it screeched and loaves of bread popped out in front of them. This is one of the Octobosses, they were going to fight. "It's... an oven toaster.. We're fighting a giant oven toaster..." Phantom just realized, why did she take Marie's offer in the first place.

"Agents, can you hear me? This is Marie." Marie answered through the transciever. "This one is called the Octo Oven. A bit bizarre, if you ask me. Don't them toast you, agents. Just climb to the top and wail at the large tentacle. Every boss has a weakpost. Video gaming 101.

"Whoa... That looks so awesome..!!" Mantis stared in awe. Whoever designed it, must be a proud inventor. While Mantis was too allured by the machine, the Octo Oven approached to him. The oven's door will pop out and damage him if he keeps dallying.

"Mantis, watch out..!!" Phantom quickly pulled him away from danger, as the toasted bread pops out for a few seconds. She inked the bread and climbed up. Then, she inked up the wall and encountered the weak spot. Even though the fire rate on her Hero Shot is low, she shot the large tentacle. She super jumped out of harm's way and landed next to Mantis. She gave him a disappointed look. "Don't just stand there! Get moving!" She snapped him out of his trance. As soon as Agent Phantom called him out, the toaster looms over while her guard is down. The oven looked rather mad than threatening. It popped out of the over and shoved her away. She wasn't splatted yet, but her Hero Suit is critically damaged. One more hit from the Octo Oven and she's toast. Metaphorically speaking.

"Ack....!!" Phantom fell backwards and landed near the ledge. All was left of her Hero Suit was her tanktop. She looked up at the enormous oven, trying her best to keep up. "D-Dammit... I let myself get hit.. I can't move..!!" This isn't how her journey ends. Even if she inked an exit lane, the inevitable would still happen. Before she could accept her fate, Mantis rushes in and scooped her up. He's quick on his feet to avoid the enemy's attack. Feeling surprised, Phantom was being carried by her teammate.

"S-Sorry for not reacting. Are you alright?" He asked, breathing heavily. He looked back to see the over, shifting towards the two. He set her down and stood face-to-faces against the machine. "I'll take care of this guy. You stay here and recover." He got up and made a frontal approach to the oven. He was serious in completing the mission, this time.

"I-I..." Phantom was about to say something, but he was already taking on the giant oven. She quickly submerged in her own ink color. After a few seconds of recovering, her Hero Suit is fully restored.

"C'mon, you overgrown toaster! I'm not afraid of you!" Mantis was taunting him to attack and the oven didn't waste any time to attack. It shifted from bread to bread, but he dodges by rolling to the right. And then, he made his move. He climbed to the top and shot the opening tentacle, creating a massive eruption. He super jumped put of here and landed near Phantom. He watched as the giant toast over was acting up. The loaves of bread are burnt to a crisp as the machine explodes in a massive heap of soda-colored ink. Once it was over, Mantis walked over to finally grab the Zapfish.

He cracked open the lightbulb, freeing the Zapfish. They would soon hear Marie's voice after the mission was over. "Good work, Mantis. Even though, you hesitated a bit.. But still, both of you did well. Head back to the surface. Marie out." Marie's heart was beating when Phantom was in trouble. She could never get use to this like her grandfather did.

They hopped out of the boss kettle. Suddenly, the plug in the outlet blew a fuse. The gate to the next sector opened up after they defeated one of the Octo Bosses. Actually, it was Mantis who took care of the rest. He looked over to see his teammate. "You haven't said anything, since we got the Zapfish. Is there something wrong?"

"...." Agent Phantom clenched her fist and approached to him. Without Mantis noticing, she slugged him in the jaw. She was angry at him for standing there and admiring at a huge oven. She watched him tumble to the ground with a loud thud.

Shocked from her assault, Mantis placed a hand on his bruised jaw. "P-Phantom.. What was that for..? Was it something I said...?" He has no idea what was going on with her.

"That's for knockin' some sense into you..!! You could've help me fight that Octo Oven, but YOU just stood there because you were too obsessed with junk that no one cares about!!" She shouted so loud, Marie could hear it from afar. "Why even bother coming here in the first place..? Do me a favor and stop following me, you weirdo."

Mantis went silent for 10 seconds, until he frowned at Phantom. He was shocked at first, but he's not going to stand there and let her get away with it. "Junk...? Junk?!" Mantis began raising his voice. "I am collecting data on different machines, used by Octarians! And secondly, you're the one to talk about being obsessed! You and your obession with spirts is a waste of time and you know it! I was trying to help you make some new friends and this is the thanks, I get?!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, YOU TWO!!!" Suddenly, Marie came in and broke up their argument. This was indeed, getting out of hand. For some reason, this argument reminds her of the final Splatfest. "You may have defeated one of the bosses, but ya'll have forgotten the #1 rule for this task! Both of you need to work together as a team! Even though, you two don't get along! It's basic!"

Phantom groaned a bit, rubbing her head. "I appreciate you giving us advice, but I can't work with him. I just wished, he hadn't followed me... We're splitting up again to collect more Zapfish.. I'm done talking.." With that said, Phantom stormed off to the next launchpad. She has nothing to say to them at the moment. She morphed into a squid and super jumped to the next sector.

Mantis looked at Marie with a mixture of sadness and anger on his face. "I couldn't agree more.. I'll call you, once the task is done.. Good bye for now.." Mantis left the area, leaving Marie behind. He moved on to the next sector. Guess, they're on their own for the time being.

"Ughh... This just went from bad to absolute worse... At times, I just wish Agent 3 and Gramps are here..." The idol rubbed her temples and groaned. She has no choice, but to contact Agent Freeze to reason with the two.

Meanwhile in the deepest and darkest part of the canyon, a group of Octolings were watching the monitor. The two agents are foiling their plans for tonight's concert. One blue-ringed Octoling cleared her throat as she spoke through the mic. "It appears that our guests that Marie just recuited are delaying the inevitable.. They're heading to Suction-Cup Lookout. Group Alpha, go to The Reef and make sure you give our guests a 'warm' welcome!" The Commander ordered a group of soldiers to get ready to splat them to oblivion. Teams Beta, Omega, and Delta are watching the monitor.

Unit 64 walked in to see the Commander and she brought Fynn with her. She has to look after him, just in case if he does something suspicious. The brainwashed Inkling walked over to see what's going on. He sees a couple of squids on the next sector. Something about this female Inkling seemed familiar to him. ".....Who are they..?" He spoke in an unethusiastic tone.

"Ah, Unit 11! Just in time to see the show! Those new agents that pop star just recruited are crashing this party, without an invitation. If they succeed like the last agent, you and Unit 64 will take matters in your own hands. Don't worry, I'll have your backs~" Her giggle was adorably sinister.

"Good. I can't wait to take my anger out on them.." Unit 64 clenched onto her new Octobrush that she knocked Fynn out with at the dojo. She was still sour after Fynn broke her Octoshot.

Fynn stared at the agents through the screen. They are both in separate kettles from each other. "...I won't let them take what's rightfully ours.... All intruders will pay..."

The Commander seemed pleased by his remarks. "Well said but you'll have your turn, soon enough. Be sure to hunt down that sorry excuse of an elite who betrayed us.." She was talking about Tundra. It's only a matter of time to bring the agents and Tundra, either dead or alive.

The fight continues in the middle of the concert against DJ Octavio featuring Callie. And of course, the DJ is doing all the dubstomping while the brainwashed pop star is still singing. He launches out ink bombs, takoyaki bombs, and even his own two golden fists to stop the two heroes but ends up getting pounded by his own robotic fists..

After what feels like an eternity of knocking back one golden fist after another, they were on the brink of winning. “Geez… Nobody said, this was going to be easy.. There’s no way to reason with Callie..” She was getting a bit exhausted from avoiding incoming projectiles.

“All of our spawn points are shut down, the moment we got started. We need to get this done, quickly. Or else, the power will soon go out…” Mantis thought back to his brother, Gale. He couldn’t let him down, while he’s recovering in the hospital.

Callie was displeased by their actions as she stamped her foot to get Octavio’s attention. “C'mon, DJ!! Step up your game!! They’re ruining our concert!” There was anger behind her hypnoshades as she glares at the two agents.

“You got it! I won’t be bested by a group of slimy little hipsters, twice!! I’ve been waitin’ for the right moment to bust outta this snow globe while Cuttlefish is away.. I’m going to take back, what’s rightfully mine after 2 years!” Octavio doubled up his assault by hovering into the air. His two golden fists began spinning and spewing out a huge amount of his ink. He throws in both punches, trying to crush the two agents.

Phantom and Mantis managed to dodge from the gold fists, once more until they were cut-off by a barrage of Suction Bombs. They weren’t getting away that easily. The bombs detonated in front of them, causing the two to lose their Hero Hoodies. “A-Ack..!!” Phantom winced, falling back onto the pavement. She was caught off-guard by the surprise attack from above. She laid there, struggling in Octavio’s ink and she’s vulnerable at this state. Mantis was struggling to stand up as his Hero Hoodie was damaged for the time being.

“Oh no, this is bad..!” Marie was watching them from the spawn point, giving them some instructions. As soon as the two Inklings were on the edge of getting splatted, she must take matters into her own hands and try to focus on Callie. “Hang in there, you two..!! I’m on my way..!!” She has no choice, but to call in Sheldon to help her out

Octavio looms over them with a sinister look on his face. “Gyahahahaha!! I meant to miss, in order to catch ya’ll by surprise! Hate to cut this short, but dubstomping you two into oblivion will be icing on the cake!”

Struggle as she might, Phantom could barely move away from the gigantic machine. She looks up at Callie and began to plead her to snap out of her trance. “C-Callie..!! This isn’t like you..! Please, don’t do this..!! You belong in Inkopolis… not in Octo Canyon..!! He’s manipulating you like my brother..!!”

“Foolish girl… It’s too late to stop to me.. I like it here, already… You’re just obstacles in my way, keeping me from fulfilling my destiny..” She gave her a thumbs down, before glancing over to Octavio. “Crush em….” She ordered the Octobot King.

Suddenly, Marie was standing still on a flying truck, driven by Sheldon. She changed into her usual Squid Sisters outfit, before she hopped on the truck. It’s a surprise that one of the Splatfest trucks. “Keep it steady, will ya..?” Marie said, maintaining her balance. She can’t allow her allies to never see the light of day. She’s sure of it.

Mantis held onto Phantom, before the DJ launches one more attack. He was indeed scared but thanks to Phantom, he made it all the way to the end. “P-Phantom… I know, we just met and everything but… If we don’t make it alive, I wanted to have the courage to say that I li-” Mantis was cut-off by a sudden hug from Agent Phantom.

“I know.. I like you, too… I’m sorry for giving you crap from the beginning.. I was a real jerk to you..” Phantom started to shed a few tears, still holding onto him. She was never afraid of anything, but this is her first fear of losing a new friend. They both closed their eyes for the last time, before the inevitable.

Before Octavio could finish the job, he heard Marie’s voice and it’s getting closer. Callie heard it as well, but she can’t see her cousin. Wherever she is, the sound of hovering is getting louder and louder.

“Don’t worry, Callie… I’m here.. And I can’t let those agents get splatted, too..!! I have one shot to knock off those ridiculous shades..” Marie takes aim at Callie’s shades while she’s standing still on the truck from afar. She sheds a tear, before pulling the trigger without warning. Marie’s special Low-Tide ink travels across the air at blinding speed, directly on Callie’s shades. The impact knocked back Callie and her shades with a sounding shriek. Her shades were missing on her cousin’s face and Marie was glad to see her eyes after so long. “It worked..!! My Low-Tide ink finally worked..!” She was relieved to save Callie.

Octavio noticed that her shades were missing and he freaked out. “No!!! The hypnoshades!!!” He cried, canceling his attack. Now that Callie is stunned, his plan will be ruined.

“Uuuooogh….” Callie groaned from the headache, she’s having. The Low-Tide ink is taking effect like Fynn did, back in Musselforge Fitness. She couldn’t remember where she is or how did she get here.

“H-Huh..?” Phantom opens her eyes to see Callie who is still stunned. This was the perfect chance to grab her Hero Splatling and recover in her own ink. “Callie’s not looking too good.. Is that the same ink that saved Fynn…?” She asked, getting up on her feet. She pulls out a Curling Bomb and tossed it, backwards. She descended into the ink, restoring her Hero Hoodie within seconds.

“Maybe.. We still have a chance to fight back…!” Mantis can rest for now as he restored his Hero Hoodie. He grabbed his Hero Duelies and stepped away from the DJ.

“Don’t give up, agents! While Callie is stunned, fight back to stop Octavio at all costs! I’ve got some singing to do!” Marie lowered her Hero Charger and started to sing her own single, Tide Goes Out. Sheldon steered the truck away from the action. There’s no point in interfering anymore.

“She’s right.. Let’s wrap this mission up, once and for all!” Phantom got into position as she revs up her six barrels of destructive power. Their mission is coming to an end, real soon.

DJ Octavio was furious about not only Callie, but Marie and the two agents. He has no choice, but to double the efforts in stopping them. “You will ALL pay for this..!! Time to turn up the heat, pronto!” The DJ released more ink bombs onto the battlefield, seeing if he can fool them again. One things for sure, that’s not the case. He is preparing to launch both golden fists.

Phantom and Mantis can’t be tricked, a second time. They separate each other, avoiding the explosion. Once they dodged, they were greeted by two large fist. The agents looked at each other and nodded as they fired at the two golden fists. They knocked them back and hit the ship with Octavio and Callie. The impact caused Octavio to fall out of his booth and landed near their feet. They didn’t waste any time to shoot him and knock him back to his seat in return.

“Gwaaargh!!” Octavio crashed into his ship from getting pelted by a barrage of ink. His head was spinning for a short moment until he shook of the dizziness. He glared at the two Inkling with rage in his eyes. “You two are as annoying as the last agent who defeated me!” Octavio couldn’t bare the thought of seeing Agent 3. It makes him sick to his stomach. He still wasn’t going to give up that easily.

The battle rages on for at least, a minute or two. In the background, Marie continues to sing her single, while Callie was singing hers. She is still in a daze until the corruption wears off. Agent Phantom took turns by taking care of the takoyaki bombs, while Mantis is covering her by fending off a golden fist or two. While they were in the middle of fighting, the music was turned off.

“Uggh… My head is spinning… Callie’s senses are coming back to her. It appears that Marie’s Low-Tide ink was a success. ”…Where am I? …What am I wearing?“ Callie was confused at first, until she realizes what was going on.

“It’s done..! Now, time to bring her back..!” Marie pulls out a boom box in her hand. With a press of a button, the music starts to play. “Callie, please remember..! This is the first song, we performed before we became idols..! That sweet melody…” Marie held it up in the air in front of her.

“The one.. and only…” Callie’s memory came rushing back to her as her eyes lit up. This is the same song that they performed at the Youth Singing Contest, back when they were children. “I… I-I remember, now!! Marie!!” Callie cried as she took the leap of faith over to the truck, where Marie is standing on. She was so happy, she hugged her cousin tight. “M-Marie.. I’m so sorry…!!” And then, she was crying over Marie’s shoulder during her embrace. She was happy, scared, and confused at the same time.

“It’s okay, Callie.. You’re safe now.. You had me worried…” Marie sobbed, happy to see Callie again after a whole week of her disappearance. She lets go of her embrace and she held her hands. “I’ll explain, later. Right now, my new agents are going to take care of Octavio for what he did to you.. Let’s do our part and restore the Great Zapfish, just like old times..”

Callie nodded, enthusiastically. She’s back to her bubbly personality as she stood straight with her cousin. “Whoever these new agents are, I’m counting on them! Let’s rock this town, Marie!!” The Squid Sister began singing Calamari Inkantation in order to shut off Octavio’s funky fresh beats.

“It looks like the Squid Sisters are back..!!” Phantom was happy to see them, reunited after so long. It’s just like old times. Suddenly, a Sheldon drone flew over her and dropped in a briefcase by her feet. Inside it, was the newly developed Rainmaker. “No way.. I get to use this…?!” Phantom has never used the Rainmaker, before in her life. She usually supports her former team to make a path.

“Yes, but there’s only one Rainmaker to use. One of them has to finish the job. I’m sorry.” The Rainmaker is fairly different than the old model. It shoots out a powerful orb of ink, instead of firing an ink tornado. Sheldon gave them a thumbs up in the driver’s seat as a sign of good luck. Even though the mission is coming to an end, he still has some research to do on his new hero-type weapons.

“Only one…? That means, I’m leaving Mantis, behind..” She looks over to Mantis with a worried look on her face. They cleared all kettles, together. Her thoughts were interrupted by Mantis, giving her a pat on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry about me, kay? I’ll just hang here, until you take care of Octavio. We’ve got this far and we’re going to finish this, once and for all.” He gave her a reassuring smile, boosting her confidence. Mantis isn’t fond of using the Rainmaker, anyway.

After a lot of thinking to do, Phantom smiles and nods. Everyone is depending on her to beat the DJ and restore Inkopolis’s power supply. Too bad she’s going to keep this agent shtick, a huge secret from her parents but Fynn. The launch pad appeared in the middle of arena for Phantom to get on. “Thanks.. Thanks for everything..” She grins, happily before walking towards the launch pad and super jumped from here. She landed, safely on one of the two ink grind rails for the grand finale.

Octavio caught up to Phantom in the air in time to flatten her. He would soon head bang to the song from the Squid Sisters. Maybe, he’s a closet fan that Phantom doesn’t know about. Nonetheless, he threw the first punch.

Agent Phantom carefully aimed at the golden fist. She charged up her shot until she releases a huge blob of ink. She was caught by surprise of how the Rainmaker fires. She watched Octavio’s golden fist get knocked back and landed a critical hit on his own ship. “Awesome..” She stared at her own weapon in amazement. Sometimes, she has to expect the unexpected.

Octavio was knocked through a loop for a short period of time until recovered. “You’re a persistent little scamp, I’ll give ya that..! But this is FAR from over! This time, Inkopolis will fall by my hands!!” The second punch is indestructible than the first. He releases the drilling punch at Phantom. There’s no way to knock it back. All she could do is dodge.

“That’s easier said than done, old man..” Phantom jumps up in time, before the drilling punch could get to her. She landed on her feet and maintained her balance on the rail. This could continue for a few seconds.

Meanwhile, Tundra and Fynn arrived into the arena in time see what’s going on. The pink Inkling squints his eyes to see the fight from afar. “I can’t see, clearly from here.. I don’t know where my glasses went..?” Unlike all Inklings and Octolings, Fynn could barely see from a 100 yard radius. That’s why he uses either his contact lenses or prescription glasses to help him.

“I can’t get closer, but I’ll tell you what’s going on.. It appears that your sister is on the rails, carrying some kind of weapon… Don’t know what kind of weapon it is… I know that she’s getting the upper hand.” Tundra steadied her ship, steering clear from the Squid Sister’s performance. All they could do is watch from the sidelines. The battle continues on as Agent Phantom went toe-to-toe with Tundra’s ex-boss. On Tundra’s point of view, it felt like an hour long.

Octavio has had enough of her tendency to use him like a boxing punching bag. With all of his desperation, he launches both drilling fists at Phantom. “I’ll shatter you into pieces!!!” He said, as his fists charged at Phantom at top speed.

“Uh oh..!!” Phantom reacted in a surprising way, but it didn’t faze her. Not even a flinch. Phantom shifted from one rail to another and landed on her feet, maintaining her balance again. She’d noticed the next punch that Octavio just threw. She charges up her Rainmaker and delivers a final blow, knocking the fist back to Octavio once more.

“Cuuuurrseeeeeesss!!” Octavio shouts as his entire ship blew a fuse and he was falling down to the ground. As the entire ship crashed, Octavio was struggling to get out. He’s going to be defeated, twice by a new recruit.

Phantom notices the third grind rail being activated and she hops over to the left. She descends to meet Octavio for the last time. She could hear cheering from the Squid Sisters, Mantis, and even Tundra and Fynn. Earlier, she didn’t wish to be here in the first place. But now, she fought all the way to get here with Mantis. She leapt off the rail and was falling down on Octavio and his damaged ship. She managed to slam dunk onto the fallen DJ’s face by planting the Rainmaker as a victory.

“…This can’t be happenin’. I was supposed to win… It ain’t fair, yo..” As Octavio admits defeat, the ship is breaking apart. It suffered a heavy amount of damage and it’ll soon burst into one massive ink pile.

Phantom quickly got out as fast as she could before the inevitable happens. She ran up to Mantis in the nick of time to see the explosion. The entire ship gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Until the ship exploded in green ink with Octavio in it. “Get down…!!” Phantom pulled Mantis down as they ducked for cover.

Fynn watched the explosion from afar with Tundra. This scenario seemed familiar to him. He remembered watching the whole fight on national television, 2 years ago. He cheered Agent 3 on as the ship blew up into a huge pile of orange ink. History repeated itself as Fynn pumps his fist into the air and shouted: “Alright!!! Way to go, Phantom!!” His vigorous shouting startled both the Squid Sisters and Tundra. It appears that their mission is finally over.

The entire arena went quiet as Octavio was unconscious and falling down to the ground. There was no way he could survive that fall. Before he meets his doom, a large tail grabbed him in time and set him down, safely. The savior is a giant, electrical catfish that appeared in front of their eyes.

“Is… Is it over…?” The two agents stared at the Great Zapfish in awe. It wasn’t long until Sheldon lands the truck to meet the heroes with an unconscious DJ. They both turned to face the Squid Sisters, grinning like fools.

“Agent Phantom. Agent Mantis. I couldn’t thank you enough for not only you saved all the Zapfish and the Great Zapfish, but saved my dear cousin..” Marie smiles, happily. She was indeed crying from pure joy after the mission has ended.

“You two were super awesome!! I can’t believe, you risked your lives to save me! I am forever grateful!” The peppy pink idol gives them, a big huge. After their agents-to-idol bonding, Callie noticed the aircraft from above. It descended down and landed near everyone. Callie wasn’t going to be kidnapped, twice. So, she was getting on the defensive to get even. She may not have her Roller with her, but she can open up a can of whoop-bass.

The hatch opens up and Fynn climbed out of the saucer to see his sister, Mantis, and Callie. “Are you guys, alright..? I saw the whole thing with Tundra..” He was clearly talking to Callie, Phantom, and Mantis except Marie. Which she’s not in danger. He walks past Marie to meet Callie after so long.

“F-Fynn?! You’re here, too?! It’s been so long! The agents who saved are fine! So, how ya been?” It’s been months since she last saw Fynn. Of course, a friend of Lee’s is a friend of hers. She greets him with a big squid hug.

“My mind’s a bit fuzzy, but I’m fine.. I was wondering if you’re ok after breaking the trance.. I too, was brainwashed..” The arena went quiet as Callie wasn’t smiling.

“You too, huh..? To be honest, I was terrified.. I didn’t know, what to do or say anything about this… I was suppose to go with Marie in our hometown, but…” She lowers her head in sadness, not looking into Fynn’s eyes. “I can’t remember a thing, after that..”

Fynn felt the same way, when he was freed from corruption. After all the Zapfish he stole and one bruised up Inkling, he’s afraid if someone finds out that he’s the culprit behind it all. His reputation will be over, quickly. “Guess, we’re both afraid of something.. Now, that nightmare will be put to rest for a long time..” He looks over to see an unconscious DJ on the ground. He looks back at Marie and agents with a resting expression on his face. “Let’s take this outside, shall we..? I’m getting tired after a whole week.. Me and Tundra are going to carry Tavi into the saucer. We don’t know, what to do with him yet.” Fynn carefully pokes the large Octarian with his Herobrush. It wouldn’t be wise to tamper with a passed-out body.

“I guess, our work is finished. I really needed a vacation after this..” Marie agrees with Fynn for once. She took Callie’s hand and escorts her back to the truck. As for Phantom and Mantis, they hitched a ride with Fynn, Tundra, and Octavio. The DJ himself is really, a heavy sleeper.

20 minutes later…

They all arrived back to Tentakeel Outpost after short flight to the surface. The Great Zapfish has finally returned to his post and all the Zapfish went back to their homes. The lights in Inkopolis have been restored, once again. The rest will soon hear the good news from Off the Hook, first thing in the morning.

“There… I put Octavio in a snow globe to keep him contained.. Captain Cuttlefish hasn’t returned home with Agent 3, yet.. If he does, he’s going to have a stern talk with Octavio. I’m not leaving, until he comes back.. Callie will be staying with me for the time being until she goes back to work..” Marie rested on the bench, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

“Now that we’re heroes, it would be best to keep this a secret.. I just want to return to being just Dawn..” Dawn was out of her hero gear and free to stretch. Her parka jacket is still worn out after several months. She will buy some new gear after the whole power supply is solved.

“Understandable.. I’m so happy that I collected enough data on all the Octarian vehicles and weaponry. But still, that was intense for me.” Mantis will never forget this new experience as an agent. He might use his improved skills to join Gale’s team as a 4th member.

Tundra looks over to see the DJ and back to Fynn. “I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess… I have a feeling that I’ll be in serious trouble.. Agent 7 suggested me to go down there to save you..” She has a bad feeling that Tundra still has head on the bounty.

Fynn shook his head in response. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I know, you’re a Mimic Octoling because Unit 64 already told me.. It’s still an honor to be training with you.” Fynn gives her, a hug to cheer her up.

Tundra smiled a bit and returned the hug from her pupil. “That’s good.. You’re still on a long break from training, by the way. Also, I allowed Eris and Alex to stay in the dojo to clean up the place. It was a mess, when I got back.” As long as Eris deletes Tundra’s criminal record for good.

Dawn’s eyes were getting heavy as she yawned, but covered her mouth. She was spent after collecting all the Zapfish for 5 hours. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she realizes something important. “I have to get back to the apartment..! I’ve forgot that I was supposed to return home after I was done turfing. What time is it, anyway?” If Mom finds out about Dawn being an agent, she would be mad at her for going to Octo Canyon.

Sage checks the time on his phone. “It’s 8:15 pm.. Wow.. we’ve been out in the canyon for so long, we lost track of time. I should get back home, as well.. I’d hate to receive another lecture from my mom about staying out this late.”

“How about, I both take you home.. If Mom asks about where we’ve been, tell her you’ve been battling a lot until we pass out.” Fynn would get the feeling that his mom isn’t going to fall for that lie. Fynn turns back to look at the three ladies. “Hate to cut this reunion short, but I taking them home.. They’ve been through a lot like I have..”

Callie happily waves at Fynn, Dawn, and Sage. It’s good to be back after a week. “Take care, Fynn! We should hang out sometime, if I’m not busy with work! Oh! And make sure to tell Lee that I’ve returned. The cutie’s been feeling down, lately!"

Fynn doesn't go back on his word. He gives her an "OK" gesture. He hasn't heard from Inkopolis's wonder squid in a long time. He'll make sure to visit the Squidly residence, once he lays low for a while.

("Why does no one wants to hang out with me..?”) Marie was feeling, a bit left out. Maybe, she’ll invite Agent 7 over for some tea. “Once again, thank you for all your help. Staaaay Fresh.” Marie gives them, a smile before heading back inside to sleep. Callie went inside with her to relax. As for Tundra, she waves at the three before she returns back to her dojo. But first, she’s going back to Cephalon HQ to pick up Eris and Alexandra.

30 minutes later, Fynn knows the direction to Dawn and Sage’s new apartment. During his walk, he admired the new part of Inkopolis. Now that Inkopolis Plaza is less populated, he’ll be battling here. Once the whole mysterious figure footage dies down. Fortunately, no one cared that he used to roam through the night and steal all the Zapfish. They arrived at their after a lot of thinking. Fynn took the elevator to the 3rd floor. where Dawn and Sage lives as neighbors. As soon as Fynn was about to visit Dawn's doorstep, he noticed someone coming out of the apartment room. A flowing purple tentacle appeared in front of him, causing him to stare in shock.

"F-Fynn..?! Dawn..?!" Fynn's girlfriend, Eimie stood in front of his as she brought a hand to her mouth. "I-Is that really you..?" She was worried that Fynn will get corrupted, again after their encounter at their own apartment. Her boyfriend's eyes were no longer crimson and he wasn't wearing his Octoling Armor. Eimie placed a hand on Fynn's cheek, making sure if he's back to normal.

"Babe.. It's me.. I'm the squid, you've fallen in love with for 2 years.." Fynn held her close in his arms. He caresses her by stroking her back. "What are you doing here, if you don't mind?" He asked.

"Mrs. Sparks invited me over for some advice about parenting and stuff.. She asked me to pick Dawn up from the Square, but.. I don't have to go out, anymore." Eimie looks over Fynn's shoulder to see Sage. "And who's that, eh?" She asked.

"I'm Sage Evergreene. I'm Dawn's next-door neighbor and a new friend." He looks at Dawn and smiles and then, back to her. "We met in a Turf match. Not only she's a tough cookie, but she's cool to hang around. I was planning on taking her home, we ran into Fynn." Sage made a promise to never bring up their mission in Octo Canyon. Not anyone, including Gale.

"Ah, that's cool! I'll be sure to tell Cheryl, all about you! Thanks for taking her home!" Eimie and Sage, both shook hands before he was about to go back in his apartment.

Without warning, Dawn ran up to Sage and pulls him in for a hug from behind. She whispered: "I'll see you, tomorrow.. oKay..?" And lets him go from a 3 second hug.

"O-Okay! See you then!" Sage smiles with a shade of seafoam green on his cheeks. He waves, goodbye at the three before heading back inside. They've both gotten off on the wrong foot, but they've bonded until they've completed their mission.

Once Fynn and Dawn stepped inside, they were greeted with a deep hug by their mother. She was so happy to see her son after so long. "F-Fynn, my boy... Don't you ever have us, worried ever again..!! I received a call from Angie and the others.. They've been on a search party for weeks and there was no response..!! Where on earth have you been..?!" Cheryl continues to cry on his shoulder while Dawn and Eimie comforts her.

"It's a lot harder to explain, but... I've been away for a long time, thinking about my life choices.. I realized that my main purpose is to redeem myself from my past.. I'm sorry for worrying you, Mom..." Which is quitting his job as a dishwasher and focusing on making his own photography business. He embraced his mother for a long time until Cheryl decides to get to her room with her husband. As for Dawn, she was too tired to chill with the couple. And so, Dawn went to her room and rested on the soft bed. That leaves Fynn and Eimie by themselves to chat.

They took their conversation on the rooftop the apartment. They could see the beauitul city lights and one happy Great Zapfish from here. Fynn leans over the guard rail to get a better view. Now with his prescription glasses on. "Sure is one hell of a sight, ain't it?" He said, taking it all in. The full moon shines upon the two lovers, making it even more beautiful.

Eimie inches in closer to Fynn and snuggled up with her. "Mmmhm.. It's perfect.." Eimie rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Fynny.. I'm glad this nightmare is over..."

"Yeah.." He stood ther with his girlfriend by the rail for a few minutes to enjoy the view of the city. And then, something was on Fynn's mind. Despite a bit of fuzziness in his head, he remembered when Eimie mentions about starting a family. "Hey, um... Eimie. Can I ask you something?"

Eimie turns to Fynn, getting her attention. Whatever Fynn is asking, she's willing to listen. "Hm? What is it, babe?"

"When you said, you wanted to started a family.. While I was walking home with Dawn and Sage, I've been thinking about our future. I wouldn't mind having a loving wife and kids to raise.. I was wondering if you're serious as I am." Fynn is still 20 years old and hasn't learned anything about parenting, yet. And his mom just brought her over to know about being a parents.

"Fynny.. I'm super serious.. We've been dating for two years and I wanted to spend the rest of my days with you.. There's no denying it.. It's okay, we don't have to do it now. We still have a life, ahead of us." Eimie responds with a smooch on his lips.

Fynn closed his eyes and returned the kiss. They broke the kiss and he was so happy to hear. "I wanted to spend the rest of my days with you. So, yeah.. Let's wait for at least 5 years until we're ready to start a family.." With that said, Fynn and Eimie cuddled each for 5 more minutes until they decided to spend the night at Dawn's apartment.

Speaking of Dawn, she was laying in her bed the whole time. She was heavily exhausted from the mission. Dawn doesn't consider herself a hero, but she improved her battling skills to go into Turf Wars again.

Her eyes were getting heavy as she was about to drift off into a deep slumber. "Tomorrow's gonna be a fresh start...." With that said, the hero fell asleep. She earned it after becoming the saving Inkopolis from a severe blackout. With her neighbor and new friend by her side.

The clock was ticking, fast for the two agents. After their battle against the Octo Samurai, they both advanced to the 3rd sector: Beaker’s Depot. They’ve encountered bigger threats like the Octo Seeker who couldn’t even catch Mantis, a break. Then, there are Octosnipers in that one kettle with a deserted parking lot. When it comes to snipers in general, Phantom would be an easy target if she’s not careful.

One boss after another, they went toe-to-tow against the Mighty Octostomp. Marie and Sheldon recognized this familiar box with legs after 2 years. But this time, it came back with a new coat. They cautiously took down the Octostomp after a lot of struggling to keep up.

The next sector which is Slimeskin Garrison is filled with a few bounce pads and ink furlers. As the sun begins to set in Moray Towers, Octolings and Octosnipers are trying gun them down. Agents Phantom and Mantis had to split up to get all 8 Mini Zapfish, each. For some reason, the soldiers were using Sloshers and Blasters on the battlefield. It didn’t take long to clear all the kettles in this area to face the Octo Shower, the fourth and final Octo Boss. Phantom was able to gun down the Octocopters, while Mantis inks a path for her to escape from incoming missles and pressurized ink blasts.

Back in the middle of Slimeskin Garrison, the two agents and Marie would receive a call from the same unknown disembodied voice. And he’s not pleased. “….Why..? Why do you all insist on getting in our way…? Why won’t you leave…?”

Phantom has been wondering if that familiar voice is actually her brother. It wouldn’t hurt to tell him. “We’re doing this to save Callie and the Zapfish…” She responded. “I don’t get it… Why do you sound just like my brother, Fynn…?”

The unknown voice stayed silent for a short period of time before speaking up. “….There is no Fynn here… Only Unit 11…. You got the wrong guy….” Back at base, Fynn was speaking to them through the CPOD transceiver. Both Team Beta and Omega were both wiped out at Humpback Pump Track and Moray Towers. The last remaining team in Musselforge Fitness is Delta.

“That doesn’t make any sense..! I know it’s you, Fynn..!! What are you even doing here..?! I haven’t heard from you in a week!” After all this time, Phantom wasn’t aware of Fynn’s disappearance until now. Her parents didn’t say much and Eimie told her that he’s busy with work.

“…Tch. Whatever…. Just stay away from me and don’t come back…!! EVER….!!” The brainwashed squid hung up the phone. He marched straight to the Commander’s office to speak with her. As soon as he was almost to the door, he was interrupted by Unit 64. She’s been keeping an eye on him for a week, now.

“And just where do you think you’re going..?” She asked, leaning against the door. Her right shoulder is recovering from the bite wound after snatching another Zapfish.

Ignoring her question, Fynn barge into the Commander’s office without a care. He opened the door to see a blueprint on the desk with her, examining it. It looks like some kind of heavily armed machine. The blue-ringed Octoling quickly rolled up the blueprints and hid it under her desk. “Ah, I was about come over here. What can I do you for?”

“Commander… Is that what I think it is..?” Unit 64 wasn’t the only one who noticed the blueprints. This one is a bit similar to DJ Octavio’s old ship.

“Oh? It’s just the blueprint to my latest prototype weapon to destroy those agents.. I’ve been collecting data on Lord Octavio’s old ship and created a machine that can destroy Inkopolis, once and for all..! We’ve been stuck here for years and we will claim what is ours..!!” Judging by the Commander’s expression, she was obsessed with getting revenge.

Unit 64 was not sure to follow this plan of hers. Of course, it sounded very high-tech and interesting. But that’s a bit overkill. “Are you sure, you’re going to use that…? I know it sounds all well and good, but I think that’s going a bit too far…. I’m sorry to say this, but it won’t work unless you tested it..”

“Of course, I’m sure!! This is what our lord wants! To wipe out all Inklings in existence!!” The commander slammed her fist down on the table, creating a loud thud.

“That’s insane…!! Lord Octavio did wanted revenge after a couple of years, but he wouldn't go too far..!! He might be finding another way for power supply, not… this..!! The lord himself, wouldn’t like your prototype anyway! I’m going to inform this to Lord Octavio at once..!” Unit 64 was about to leave the office, until she was blocked by Fynn. She quickly turned back to face the Commander with a look of shock and anger.

“You dare deny your commander…? Her voice is more venomous than her bite. Her expression was filled with malice and disgust towards Unit 64. “I can’t believe one of my favorite elites, walking away from me…? It’s about time, we put you in your place.. You damned traitor…!!” The Commander snapped her fingers to order Fynn to take her away to a cell.

“…..” Fynn knocked her out by the handle part of his Octo Roller. He watched her, collapsed onto the floor. He immediately picked up her entire body and carried her to the cells. Whatever happens to her, will be either punished or sent to the hypnosis chamber.

As he took Unit 64 away, the Commander lets out an eerie giggle. “Our time has come, Lord Octavio.. Once you finish performing your song with Callie Cuttlefish, we’ll carry out on our missing and destroy everything in our path with my newly developed, Octobot MK III..! Victory will be ours..!!

Meanwhile in the middle of Cephalon HQ, Phantom was bit furious when Fynn spoke to her for the first time. She immediately punched the pole in front of her to take her anger out on. “Can someone tell me.. Why is Fynn in Octo Canyon..!? Why is he siding with the Octarians…?!”

Mantis would try to calm her down, but he’d get slugged in the face again. Marie on the other hand was shocked that one of her formerly obsessed fans was working with the Octarians. That’s when Agent Freeze stepped up and explained why Fynn went missing.

“If I may…. Fynn was kidnapped by a couple of Octolings. The ones that I used to team up with… They were tracking me down for years, because I’m a wanted fugitive for leaving base.. This is my fault for letting Fynn get captured and who knows, what they did to him…. That’s why, I’m here to fix this mess….” She hung her head down in shame. Now that Freeze is here, she’s going to find the Commander and take her out by force.

Phantom decided to relax, a little. But she was still upset about Fynn, leaving Eimie and his friends during the power supply crisis. “If you’re friends with Fynn, please help me get my brother back…” She wanted to face him and smack him upside the head to knock some sense out of him.

“I’ll do the best I can for you and Mantis… The last kettle before we meet Octavio is Musselforge Fitness.. The last wave of Octoling elites will appear everywhere.. This time, I’m tagging along to cover you two..” The two agents have cleared all 5 kettles in Cephalon HQ. There’s only one more to go.

“Proceed with caution, you two.. Looks like Callie wasn’t the only one who is squidnapped…” Marie recognized his pink Inkling before. 2 years ago, he used to have a huge crush on Marie. And of course, Marie doesn’t feel the same way. Even after her break-up with Agent 7, she remains single and happily so.

The three agents arrived at the fitness center. The last 8 Mini Zapfish are located in each nook and cranny. As soon as they stepped down the pedestal, they were all greeted by a familiar pink squid on top of the pyramid. Their hearts sank as Fynn turns around to meet the three. “F-Fynn…?!” Phantom couldn’t believe her eyes.

“…I told you all, not to come.” Fynn was equipped with the Octoling armor for men. It was the only gear, they could find for him. He clenched onto his Octo Roller, preparing to strike them all down. He is now the Commander’s last line of defense.

“So, that’s why they took you..? To search for me….? I swear to cod, I’ll find the blue-ringed bastard and give her a piece of my mind…” This was it for Agent Freeze. She took Agent 7’s advice to rescue Fynn and she will fulfil her purpose.

“Fynn, this isn’t funny… Please, snap out of it…!” Phantom tried to bring him back to his senses, but mere words aren’t going to help him.

“….Now that you are all here, prepare to get crushed..! You’ve all done well in taking back all the Zapfish… But… it ends tonight..!! Delta Team, take position and curb stomp them into oblivion….!!” Fynn super jumped back to his spawn point to let a group of Octolings to stop them at all cost. Suddenly, the troops are guarding all 8 Zapfish. This isn’t going to be easy.

“Agent Phantom, there’s nothing you can do to help him.. We need to take back all the Mini Zapfish and knock sense into him.. If I’m in a bit of a pinch, use this..” Freeze hands her a can of the Splashdown. But this was no ordinary Special Weapon. “This one is called the Low-Tide Splashdown. It won’t splat him, instantly but this will clear his senses.. Lady Marie came up with that name, after her special Low-Tide ink technique. It only cloaks up your fist, not your entire body.”

She took the can from Freeze and examined it. There’s a Marie icon on that can with some glitter on it. She looks up at Agent Freeze and nods. “I-If that’ll save my big bro, I’m putting my faith in you…”

“It’s gonna be okay, Phantom… I’ll stick with you to grab all the Mini Zapfish.. If my brother was in this situation, I wouldn’t hesitate to help him in any way…” Mantis placed a hand on Phantom and gave her a reassuring smile. "Now, let’s bring the battle to them..!!”

Phantom nodded, slowly as she went for the first Mini Zapfish. With her newly equipped, Hero Splatling. She charges up her six barrels before the Octolings could act. And then, she released her rapid fire at them. With a long ranged weapon, Phantom can tear up the competition from afar. After she splatted a few Octolings, Freeze shattered the light bulb, allowing her to grab the Mini Zapfish. Agent Freeze will cover them by breaking every light bulb in the gym and snipe foes if they’re stuck in pinch.

2 in a half minutes later, Mantis and Phantom grabbed the remaining six Zapfish. If it wasn’t for Freeze, they would’ve failed the mission after making it this far. Before they could grab the last remaining Zapfish, they noticed that Fynn was not at spawn. Confused and worried, Mantis contacted Freeze who is still at the other side of the spawn. “This is Agent Mantis, speaking. Is everything okay..?” There was no response until they both heard choking. They quickly turned around to see Fynn, strangling Agent Freeze while they were busy with collecting the rest if the Mini Zapfish.

“Freeze…!!” Phantom cried, watching her brother choke the life out of her. It appears that Fynn snuck around the area to get to his teacher.

“Gnnnk… F-Fynn….. stop…” Agent Freeze has been fending off Fynn, but his skills were too advanced to bring down the Octoling, she trained. Her arms went slack when Fynn has his hand around her throat.

“F-Fynn…. please, stop…” Phantom’s entire body was shaking with fear. She has never witnessed this side of Fynn until now. She has to save Freeze, before Fynn takes her life. She remembered the Special Weapon that Freeze gave to her. The Low-Tide Splashdown. Her gaze was fixated on her brainwashed brother. She clenched her fist in anger as she got into positon. Without warning, she dashed straight towards Fynn while he’s distracted.

“So, I finally found you…. Unit 237… I won’t kill you but the Commander will be pleased if I bring you in, alive… Soon, you’ll be remixed and back in the force… That’ll teach you to go AWOL on us…!!” As Fynn was about to get her out cold, he heard footsteps. And it was getting closer and closer.

Phantom ditched her Splatling as she balls up her fist that was cloaked in her own ink. Her face was mixture of anger and sadness before she lands a critical hit. “FYYYNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!” She lands the Low-Tide Splashdown, directly into Fynn’s jaw. Like Freeze said, the impact didn’t splat him.

“AHHHHHH!!!” Fynn shrieked as he lost his hypnoshades. He loosened his grip on Agent Freeze and collasped to the ground. Now that his shades are finally off, his corruption was shattered while was having a hard time, thinking.

Freeze coughed and wheezed, trying to gasp for air until she was able to breathe. She looks up at Phantom and gave her a thumbs up. “You… did it, kid… Thanks for saving my neck… Literally…” She was almost about to pass out from the iron grip.

“Phantom, are you alright..?!” Mantis said, running towards her. He watched the whole thing when she literally, “knock some sense” into him. One things for sure, Phantom does have a killer right hook.

Phantom was on her knees, sobbing. She didn’t mean to hurt him that bad, but she had to save him or die trying. She got up and walked over to Fynn. She hugged her brother, tightly as she cried over her shoulder. “Fynn…. Please come back to us… Mom and Dad are worried, your team is worried, even Eimie is worried…..” She said, still shaking like a leaf.

As his corruption has been lifted, he was free from being mind controlled. He groaned from the migrane, he’s having and the bruise on Fynn’s jaw. “Ooooogh….. My head… my jaw… my everything…” Fynn would soon feel something warm, against his chest. Before he could notice, he stared at the agent who was hugging him. He was about to ask her why until her face lifted up to see him. Fynn recognized the freckles on her cheeks and the magenta eyes. “D-Dawn…?!” Fynn is shocked to see his sister, working for the Squidbeak Splatoon.

“F-Fynn… You’re okay..!! I’ll explain everything, once we grab the last Mini Zapfish.” She dried up her tears and lets go of Fynn. The Mini Zapfish is still in the light bulb, waiting to be freed. It wasn’t long until the agent shattered the bulb and grabbed the last Mini Zapfish. Their mission is a huge success.

5 minutes later…

“So, let me get this straight… I was brainwashed for a whole week and stole all of Zapfish while you hired my sister and this random guy to help get them back….?” They were all standing near the entrance to the last Boss Kettle. Fynn was having a hard time, thinking at the moment.

Marie’s glad that Fynn is back to his old self again. “Yep.. They both fought hard to get here and their teamwork is flawless.. Now, we have a Great Zapfish to save and my cousin, Callie.. You're not the only one who is missing, Mr. Sparks..”

Mantis walks up to Fynn. He couldn’t believe that he was the mysterious figure in the footage that put his brother in the hospital. He was mad at first, but he couldn’t stay mad at him for a long time. “It’s an honor to meet you, sir! I’m Sage Evergreene, Dawn’s neighbor!” He enthusiastically shook Fynn’s hand.

Fynn looked over to his sister as smiles, a bit “I like this guy, already. Are guys dating or something..?” As soon as he said it, both Phantom and Mantis were blushing.

“Fynn..!! We are not dating..!! We barely even know each other..!!” Mortified, she turned away from him. She was still blushing up a storm. Then again, she’s starting to like Mantis more than ghosts.

“Hate to cut the reunion short, but ya’ll need to save the Great Zapfish and Callie.. But first, you have to take down my ex-boss.. DJ Octavio.. From what I heard from Lady Marie, he busted out of the snowglobe in Octo Valley and came back for revenge. It ain’t going to be easy like last time.. Me and Fynn are going to settle the score with the Commander and destroy the Hypno Chamber into scraps. All of this is my fault and I’m going to erase my mistakes, permanently..” Agent Freeze hands Fynn some hero gear for this final battle. “Take the briefcase and you’ll be equipped in your Hero Suit. Also, I’m lending you this..” She gave him the Herobrush to help out.

Fynn got dressed into his new Hero Hoodie, immediately. It doesn't suit him well, because it's a bit humid to wear and too much neon yellow. He looks like walking ripe banana. He held the Herobrush as the memories came rushing back to him."I remember what happened before I was captured, now...! I borrowed your Octobrush to defend myself and I got knocked out in return... That reminds me... Where is that girl who was with the Commander..? Unit 64, was it..?" He also remembered, breaking her Octoshot by stomping it on the ground.

"Wherever she is, we'll get some answers from her. The Hypno Chamber isn't that far from here.. I know the way." She turned back to look at the three Inklings. "It was an honor, working with you guys.. Make sure ya'll give ol' Tavi, a bass whoppin' for me! M'kay?" She winked at them with her left eye.

"Be careful out there, Agent Freeze. You too, Fynn.. Sometimes, I'm worried about you or your sister because you're both grandsquids of Cyrus Sparks.. Gramps told me about him." She thought he was just another obsessed fan with bad hygiene, but he's an honorable Inkling at heart.

Fynn was touched by her kind words. The Marie, he knew was sarcastic and sassy in general. Maybe, she turned into a new leaf after the last Splatfest. "Heh, thanks. Keep this up, I might fall for you again.." He would, but he already has a woman to love. Otherwise, he'll get his legs shot off by Agent 7 again.

As soon as Fynn said, Marie reacts with a groan. "Aaaaand, I take it all back. I'm not worried about you.. Just get your butt to the Hypno Chamber, now." Even after Fynn being brainwashed, his smugness never changed.

"Try not to break a hip, grandma. Let's get it over with, so I can go to bed." Fynn turned his back, leaving the three squids to face against the DJ. Agent Freeze shrugs and went with him. When this is over, she promise to let him lay low for a while until everything's back to normal.

Marie lets out a huff, turning to face the two agents. "I liked him better, when he's brainwashed... Whatever.. Are you both ready to finish this?" The idol asked.

"Whoever this Octavio guy is, I'll make him pay for what he did to Callie and my brother..! We've fought long and hard to get here, thanks to your help..!" Phantom was nervous at first, but she has to stay strong for not only Marie or Fynn. But the entire city of Inkopolis.

"Like we said, we won't let you down. I'm sure, my brother will have me as the 4th member on his team! I just can't wait to participate in League Battles, someday. And even the Splat Tournament!" He said, twirling his Hero Duelies.

"Then, let's take the fight to Octavio's doorstep..!!" Marie led the two heroes into the Boss Kettle. After a few seconds, the entire saucer-like platform descended into the main arena where they finally meet the DJ for the first time.

They all appeared into the large arena. They spotted a large crowd of Octotroopers and Octolings, cheering and shouting to get the concert started. Not to mention, there's a huge flying object in the middle of this familiar landmark. ("That looks just like Inkopolis Plaza's pavement...!") Phantom said, staring down at the bottom.

"I'll keep an eye on you, while you go down there.. Once again, proceed with caution..!" Once Marie ordered them, they super jumped into the middle. They could hear a lot of cheering from the crowd.

As they both landed before the huge object, they both noticed the Inkling who is standing on stage. And that Inkling is... "C-Callie.....?!" Agent Phantom was surprised and shocked to see the pink pop idol in her new black midriff. This isn't the happy-go lucky idol that Dawn knew. She's as corrupted as Fynn.

The brainwashed pop idol turned around the face the agents. She looks disappointed to see them. She too was wearing the same hypnoshades as Fynn's and she has a tattoo of an octopus on her stomach. "I told you to beat it..." Callie crossed her arms, glaring at the two.

"C-Callie, wake up..!! This is your cousin, Marie..!! Please snap out of it, this instant..!" Seeing her new look, sends shivers down Marie's spine. Technically, squids don't have spines for that matter.

"You leave me, no choice... Prepare to get rocked, losers...!! DJ, LET'S BREAK IT DOWN...!!!" And with that, Callie summonded the large octopus DJ who is controlling the ship. He was wearing a samurai-looking snapback cap and a pair of shutter shades. He glares down at the two squids.

"So... You must be the two slimy little hipsters that Agent 2 hired... I'm rather impressed that you two, took back all the Zapfish from us.. You both remind me of a certain agent who dubstomped me, years ago.. Allow me to congratulate you two by making this far..... by remixing your faces with my funky fresh, wasabi beats!!! GYA HA HA HA HA!!!" The DJ lets out a hearty laugh, before prepping up for the big finale.

"Here comes our hottest new single: Bomb Rush Blush!!!" Callie struck a fabulous and alluring pose for the audience as the music started. This one is more remixed than the original.

"I'm sorry for what they did to you, Callie... I promise to bring you back, safe..!! Time to nut up or shut up...!!" The two agents before them, got into their fighting stances. It was all or nothing.

Meanwhile in the deepest part of the headquarters, Fynn and Tundra were infiltrating the main base to reach to the Hypno Chamber. Luckily for them, there was no one there to stop them because they're all watching the main event on live television. It didn't take long for them to reach to the chamber. When they arrived, they both see a restraint Unit 64 on the chair. Now, that was unexpected. Her screams were muffled by the tape in her mouth.

"What the- A-Alex..?! Why are you in the hypnotic chair...?!" She calls out Unit 64's real name as she walked towards her. Before she could free her, a large robotic object dropped down on Tundra. She reacted, immediately and dodge backwards from the machine. "You....!!" She said, glaring at the Commander who is controlling the heavily armed object. This machine looks alot like a spider.

"Well, well, well.. Look who decided to show up after all these years... Unit 237... And I see, my buddy came back to his senses.. Bravo, bravo~" She stared down at them like ants. She was filled with madness and hate against the two heroes.

"I'm not your buddy... It's about time, I pay you back for making me do such horrible things...!!" Fynn gripped onto his Herobrush, ready to strike. He recognized the same blue-ringed Octoling who threw a bottle of Toxic Mist to immobilize him. He's still unknown to the new Sub Weapons, yet.

"You won't leave this chamber, alive..!! With this newly built prototype, I'll force you to your knees...!! This ends now..!!" While Phantom and Mantis battling against Octavio feat. Callie, Fynn and Tundra are going to stop the Commander at all costs. This will be their final act in saving the Great Zapfish and Inkopolis for the second time.

After their harsh departure after their victory against the Octo Oven, the two agents are splitting up again to collect 6 Zapfish in Suction-Cup Lookout. Mantis has already collected 2 Zapfish and he’s already on his third kettle. He ended in The Reef to collect all 8 Mini Zapfish. The place is deserted already and there are no Octarians here. Or so, he thought

“Okay.. I only have 4 left.. No one has ever told me about the little ones. The sooner I grab all 8, the better.” Mantis was unaware that there is someone, lurking in the shadow and he ran right into their trap.

“Okay, I’m getting close to the end. This is going to be a piece of….” Suddenly, 4 Octolings have ambushed him from above the bridge. They were all aiming, directly at him. “c-cake…?”

Meanwhile in the middle of the lookout, Agent Phantom was waiting for him to complete the kettle. “What’s taking him, so long..? He should be done by now and I already did 3 kettles… I should contact him..” Phantom tried to contact him through the headphones, but there was no response. “Don’t tell me he turned off his headphones… That’s not like him.. Ugh..!! Why am I concerned for him..?” The more she waits, the more worried she gets. If there’s trouble going on down there, she must go down there and see.

“Nonononononono…!!” Mantis was running for his life to get away from the soldiers that were trying to shoot him down. Unlike the turf battlers in Inkopolis Square, they were as relentless as the Ranked Battle players. The moment when one Octoling was surprising him, he quickly splatted one. He would soon relax, until the remaining three had cornered him against the wall. He stared at the three in fear in his eyes. He was heavily exhausted from an intense game of cat and mouse.

“Well, well.. It looks like the game is over, kid.. To think this weakling could keep up against the Octarians Army..? Your leader should’ve picked her agents, better.” They all gazed at him like a holiday ham on Thanksgiving. The middle Octoling has her Octoshot to his head, giving him an eerie smile on her face. “Any last words or you prefer whimpering..?”

Mantis was too frightened to move at the moment, despite being held at gun point. With all of his might, he screamed at the top of his lungs and said: “HHEEEEEEEEEEELP…..!!!” Before the Octoling could silence him for good, she was splatted by the same ink as Mantis’s. The other two turned around to see Phantom, but they were too slow to react. She splatted the last two until they were nothing but puddles on the ground.

“P-Phan…tom..?” He said, still shaking. He was saved by his teammate, after their fight. He was happy to be alive and breathing. He slumped onto his knees and relaxed, once.

“Mantis, are you alright…? Just what the heck happened when I was waiting..?” Phantom was interrupted by Mantis, holding onto to her. She could hear some light sobbing. “M-Mantis..? What’s wrong..?”

“You were right…. I shouldn’t have followed you… I couldn’t even finish the mission alone… I’m a failure… I always will be….” He thought he would collect more date that way, but this was too much for him to handle.

Phantom stared at Mantis in shocked. She wasn’t expecting him to be scared. There’s no way, she’s going to see him cry for any longer. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. “You’re not a failure… please, don’t cry..” She sat there, embracing him under the bridge. Luckily, The Reef has gone silent.

“Why…? Why did you accept..? You could’ve just quit.. Are you seriously going to collect data or do you have something to prove..?” She was curious to know what made him pursue his goal in the first place. She lets go of him and grabbed his hand. “How about I take you the vending machine for some drinks.. I’ll pay..”

After a few minutes of selecting two drinks for Mantis and herself, Agent Mantis is ready to explain why he tagged along. “First of all, thanks for the drink..” He said, smiling a bit. “Second of all, collecting useful info on machines isn’t my only purpose.. To tell you the truth, I wanted to be a skilled battler like my older brother and be apart of his team.. But when it comes to competitive play, I started hesitating and losing.. Of course, I’ve been receiving advice from Gale or Marina. The other Marina, since the idol and my close friend’s names are the same.” It’s quite a coincidence to him.

“And your brother..? Is he really that strong..?” Phantom listened in. She slowly took a sip of her green tea. She wondered if his brother is as skilled as Fynn.

“My brother, Gale Evergreen is the captain of the Elemental Three. He’s still looking for a new member.. I was going to ask him to be on his team since I ranked up, but….” Mantis hung his head down, not taking his eyes on Phantom. “He ended up in the hospital, a few days ago… He was bruised up, but nothing fatal.. Do you remember that mysterious person who roams around Inkopolis during the night? Gale thought he was going to take him out, but he was out cold by him….” Mantis’s voice sounded, a bit venomous for Phantom to hear. “I wanted to get stronger by taking back all the Zapfish and become a hero. And splat that bastard who did this to my brother..”

Phantom has seen the footage about that mysterious figure during the night. For some reason, she could’ve sworn that this figure looked familiar to her. She stared into Mantis’s eyes and sighed. “Mantis… I really didn’t know about you until now.. And I’ve been really harsh on you since we started… I’m sorry… I just wanted to redeem myself to become skilled again and even form my own team. That’s my main purpose. Since our purposes are meaningful, let’s work together and reach that goal.. Even if the audition for a fourth member doesn’t work out for you, I’d have you on my new team.” If only she could recruit Azalea and Hanzo to her team.

“S-So, we’re officially a team?” Mantis stared into her magenta eyes. About an hour ago, she wanted to split up. There’s no way, this could be some harsh prank.

“Yes. We’re a team! Now, let’s finish our drinks, collect the last 4 Zapfish, and get outta here!” Before they could get up, they sensed the presence. They both noticed another Octoling, wearing the same Hero Suit as them. She has an eye patch over her right eye from her harsh experiences during her former missions. Phantom quickly got up and was in a defensive stance. She readied up her weapon until the Octoling approached to them. “Just who are you..?”

“Easy there, sister.” She held her hands up, defensively. “I’m an agent like you. Th'name’s Agent Freeze, at your service. Lady Marie asked me to check on you two while you guys split up. I already got all four of the Mini Zapfish for ya. Let’s take this outside, shall we?” Freeze decided to escort them out of The Reef. She can tell that Marie was very worried about the two. No point in keeping the idol, waiting.

Once they were outside, Freeze was contacting Marie from here. While she was talking to Marie, Phantom whispered in Mantis’s ears. “Hey.. um. About that fight.. what do you mean by helping me make some friends..? Did my mom put you up to this..?”

Mantis darted from left to right and nodded. “Yeah… You were kinda lonely.. So, I wanted to be friends with you and stuff..” He rubbed the back of his, before looking away. “It’s okay, if you still don’t want to..”

Suddenly, Phantom giggled at his answer and gave him a light and playful jab on the arm. “Of course, she would do that.. I appreciate your help, Mantis.. I was wrong about you.. When this is over, let’s start over and get to know each other more.”

Mantis was happy to hear her words. At first, he thought that phantom would get mad and leave him again. But, this was different. This is going to be a fresh new start. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Listen, Marie. They’re starting to get along, now. I was going to give them a long lecture, but they now understand about teamwork. I’ll keep in touch with you, real soon. Freeze Out.” The Mimic Octoling turned to meet the two new agents. “Marie’s glad to have you guys together. You know, what comes next after all six kettles are cleared.” Freeze glances over to the Boss Kettle in front of them. “I’ll keep a close eye on you two like always. Marie told you about teamwork.. It’s about time to use it. Now, get moving.”

The two agents looked at each other and back to Agent Freeze. “We won’t fail, ma'am!” Phantom nodded, bravely and charged towards the boss kettle. Mantis was right behind her as he caught up to her and entered the 2nd boss kettle.

The two agents are now inside of another dome. It still has the battle arena vibe to it, just like the last one. This one is decorated with stop signs, neon lights, engine pipes, and checkered flags. This reminds them of the Coral Cola 500. Before they could walk towards the dirt arena, two drones appeared in front of them. It has a spinning image of Sheldon for a moment. The two packages dropped by their feet. Suddenly, Marie contacted them.

“Thank cod, you’re both alright and working together. As a gift, Sheldon sent you some new hero weapons to collect some data. Sheldon, take it away.” Marie is also talking to the Ammo Knights owner from here to his store.

“It’s an honor to finally meet you two. You may know who I am, but I’ll introduce myself anyway. I’m Sheldon, owner of Ammo Knights and master of craftsmanship. During your journey to collect all the Zapfish, I will be lending you my weapons that I’m currently working on. The crates in front you contain the Hero Roller inside. Open it, if you please.” Sheldon’s purpose is collecting date on all 8 hero weapons. If he has enough data, all the weapons will be available for purchase. No blueprints like before.

Agent Phantom and Mantis equipped the Hero Rollers. This one has the similar design of the Carbon Roller, but with a unique pattern. Phantom wasn’t use to Rollers since she started as a beginner but her memories of Fynn, came rushing back when he wields a Gold Dynamo Roller. “Thanks, Sheldon. You said, you’re lending all of your weapons? If so, is there a Heavy Splatling?” She asked, resting the Roller over her shoulder.

“I’d love to have the Duelies for this mission!! Did you know that the Splat Duelies were originally a couple of spray bottles?” Mantis is geeking out about the new weapon class.

“I was the one who developed the two pistol while I was spring cleaning. You’ll get your favorite weapons, once the mission is done. But for now, give the two Rollers a whirl! Good luck, agents and stay fresh! Sheldon, out.” The horseshoe crab ended transmission.

“Well, let’s get back to work then. We can’t waste any more time than before..” Phantom super jumped to the center of the arena, bringing Mantis with her to face another Octo Boss. As they approached to the light bulb, a huge tentacle pulled down into the depths.

Mantis gulped, getting in position. Marie did say, there are more Octo Bosses in this canyon. The Octo Oven was easy enough, but who knows which boss is more dangerous than the last.

They both watched the transformation as the figure got bigger, and bigger, and bigger.. Until a huge Octarian emerged out of the ink, carrying a Roller that is made out of tires. He was balancing on a tiny unicycle and pedalled towards the two agents. “Who dares barge into MY arena, huh?!” The large Octarian glared at the two. “So, you’re the two pipsqueaks that the boss warned me about! You’ve been causin’ too much trouble and keepin’ us from seeing tonight’s concert! I, the Octo Samurai will crush you two with honor!” Without warning, the samurai revs up his engine and started burning rubber at the two. He went as fast to try to run them over.

“Scatter!! Now!!” Mantis cried, leaping out of the way, while Phantom did the same. They’re dealing with someone that fierce. Mantis eyed on the custom-made Roller. “What kind of Roller is that..? Did he made it himself..?”

“Allow me to help you out, Mantis. This invention is called the Octocycle. Don’t get caught under his Roller, or you’ll be roadkrill. I’m rather impressed, myself.” Sheldon was watching the whole battle by sending out a flying support drone.

“I know, I was supposed to focus on task. But… THAT IS SO COOL!!!” Mantis squealed out of joy. His excitement died down as he proceed with caution. Since the Octo Samurai is immobilized, he’s going to wail at him if this will work.

“Wait up! Don’t start, without me! We’re working together, remember?” Phantom started swinging her roller at the huge Octarian.

“Gnnng..!! You lil’ pests…!!” The Octo Samurai was taking a few hits from not only one roller, but another one. He’s not going down without a fight. His lifts backed up his Octocycle while the two agents are wailing at him. His eyes, lit up for a second, before he was up to something. Something that will push away the two Inklings.

Phantom noticed the stance and she quickly backed away from him. She tugged on Mantis’s hoodie and pulled him away. “Watch out…!! He’s up to something..!!!” As they backed up, the samurai performed a lethal spin attack. If they continued to wail at him, they would end up in a dangerous situation.

“Is it me or did his eyes lit up..” Mantis noticed that the Octo Samurai’s eyes were closed at the moment. Now, he knows when to avoid his spin attacks.

“It’s ‘bout time to go full throttle..!! I ain’t goin’ down, that easily..!!” The tired of the Octo Samurai’s motorized Splat Roller started spinning. Without warning, he slammed on his roller and created a virtical tidal wave at them. “Let’s see how ya’ll like my Full Throttle Attack!! I’ll stomp ya flat when this is over..!!”

“Mantis.. I got a plan.. Once we dodge that wave of ink, I’m going to create a diversion by going for a frontal attack. While you find an opening for him.. Watch out for his spin attack, though…” Phantom had remembered his tactic, before. Her cousin, Skyla came up with that plan before the squad was disbanded.

“G-Got it..!!” With that said, they both evaded Octo Samurai’s Full Throttle attack. Mantis stayed back to toss a Curling Bomb in order to make a trail. Phantom made her frontal approach with the samurai. She starts flicking her Hero Roller to annoy him.

The Octo Samurai was already covered in the agent’s ink and he couldn’t take much more of it. His attempts of trying to crush Phantom in front has achieved nothing but letting himself out in the open.

Suddenly, Mantis snuck up behind him and finished the job by performing a vertical flick on the samurai. The Octo Samurai bursts into a huddle of ink but he wasn’t defeated, yet. A huge tentacle popped out of the engine in front of them.

“Go for it..!!!” Phantom said as she continuously slammed her roller against the giant tentacle. Mantis helped her finish the attack, as the engine created a purple gyser in front of them. They both super jumped away for distance.

“Gugugugh… Ya thrashed me… the boss ain’t gonna be happy about thiiiiiiissss….” With the Octo Samurai’s last words, the entire engine created a massive explosion. All was left was the Zapfish. Another mission is complete, but they’ve still got a long way to go. Who knows, which Octo Boss would soon show up to stop the heroic duo.

Back at the entrance of Suction-Cup Lookout, they both see the idol with Agent Freeze. They were chatting about something important, the moment they emerged out of the boss kettle. “Ah, ya’ll are back. Did you two retreive another Zapfish, already..?” Marie said, feeling a bit relieved.

“Yes, we did. We used our teamwork to bring down the big guy. You were right, Miss Marie.. We needed to work together to bring back all the Zapfish.. We’re sorry for worrying you… It was out of line..” Phantom bowed, apologetically.

“It’s all good. All it matters is we’re in this together!” Agent Freeze gazes down at the bottom of the canyon. She has a matter of time to support the two agents, before she brings Fynn back. She’s the one that got him into this mess. Now, she wants this to end. While they were all ready to go to the next area, they could all hear an unknown voice and it’s not from Sheldon.

“Leave now…. Don’t come back….” There was familiar male voice, coming from the speakers. He wasn’t done talking to them. “Leave this place…. Get out now… You’ve gone far enough..!”

They all were suprised, yet cautious about the unknown caller. “Just.. who are you..?! Are you the one, responsible for this..?! If so, what did you do to my cousin..?! Where’s Callie..?!? Answer me..!!” Marie cried, getting worked up through the phone. And then, there was no response.

Marie stood there, motionless and helpless. She clenched her fists in anger as she stared at the 3 agents. “There’s no time to celebrate.. We must save all Zapfish and Callie at once.. My main purpose of this mission is searching for my cousin, Callie.. She wasn’t there in Calamari County.. And she’s in danger.. I beg of you, please bring back Callie..” Marie was on the urge of crying, but resisting to shed a tear.

Phantom could’ve sworn that voice seemed familiar to her, but shook her head. She stepped forward to face Marie. She placed two hands on her shoulders. “You really think, I’m unaware of that?”Phantom had noticed this, be she moved. She was in a recent online group chat, questioning about Callie’s disappearance. And then, there was breaking news on national tv. “I honestly don’t know where Callie is or what happened to her.. But I’ll still help you as an agent.” Phantom got herself into this with Mantis. They’ll just have to finish this task and they can all go home.

“And I’ll help, too. I still never heard of you and Callie, before. It doesn’t matter, though. When someone’s in danger, we’ll face what lies ahead. Even if we put our lives on the line..” Mantis has never experienced this kind of situation. He must stay strong for his brother.

Hearing from their honorable words, Marie smiled a bit. She’s glad, she recruit the two squids from Inkopolis Square. “Thank you.. both of you.. Now.. As your leader, let’s go save the rest of the Zapfish..!” She said, pointing her umbrella towards the next sector in the canyon: Beaker’s Depot.

Before everyone could advance to the next area, Phantom couldn’t get that familiar voice out of her head. She heard it from someone, but who? (“Is it me..? Or did I just hear my brother’s voice for second….?”)