Chapter 13: Chapter 10: Octo Expansion (V) – Ancient Revenge

Axl frowned as he saw the Telephone through the right eye of the statue, covered in that gunk. “He really doesn’t know when to quit, does he…?”

“TARTAR IN DA HOUSE! [DISABLING CONTEMPORARY SPEECH MODE] I am Tartar, an AI created 12,000 years ago by a brilliant professor,” spoke the phone, “in the thousands of years since my creation, I have been gathering data on your kind. Similar in intelligence, your civilisation almost reached the heights of the humans who came before. BUT! All you want to do is fight in pointless Turf Wars, don’t you?! Wage war over minor genetic deviations, obsess over fashion choices! You selfish, hedonistic scum only know how to live according to your own whims. And so I used you test subjects to create a seed… A seed that would bring forth a perfect world with a new humanity… BUT ALL OF YOU WERE A COMPLETE AND UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT! Now, with this NILS Statue… I will rework it again and blend all into one. For I will reclaim the world of my divine creators, the world of humans!”

“Uh… Is he insane?” Koji asked.

“Yeeeeeeeeeeeep,” Ayane said.

The statue’s mouth and cheeks suddenly opened up, revealing an enormous cannon rigged with several blenders filled with green ooze, and the main body of the cannon filled with even more.

“He’s gone completely rampant, as I feared,” spoke a voice from behind them. Having teleported onto the platform was a capsule, with Dr. Light’s hologram. “If we don’t stop him now, he’ll wipe out the entire world.”

“You’re not kidding, that thing is emanating a massive amount of energy,” Marina winced, as she worked on her laptop. “If it charges up to maximum power, it’ll turn the whole world into paste!”

“HOW DO WE STOP IT?!” Pearl asked, pacing on the spot.

“The statue’s surface is covered in solar panels, collecting sunlight and converting it into energy,” Marina explained, showing a diagram on her laptop. “So if we cover the whole thing in ink, we should be able to stop it from charging...”

“That’s gonna be a tall order, even with all of us working together,” Karlene said.

“I’ve got something to help with that - my Hyperbombs,” Marina said, showing the group below a diagram of the Hyperbombs on the statue. “Problem is, they’re still prototypes, and won’t explode on their own. You guys will need to detonate them all manually by shooting them.”

“Okay, that we can do!” Liam grinned, punching his palm.

As Marina discussed the next part of the plan with Pearl (including finishing the statue off the statue with a full power ‘Princess Cannon’), Orion turned to Axl and Iris. “Um… You guys look exhausted. You can sit this one out, if you want, we can handle it…”

It was a tempting offer, to be sure. Axl’s body ached all over. But he couldn’t just sit by now. He shook his head, “our new home’s in danger. I’m sure we can help out with a bit of turfing.”

Iris nodded in agreement, “if the world we fought our way all the way up to is in danger, we’ll fight for it, no matter what!”

“Well said,” Marie said from the nearby truck. “Callie, you up for a little action?”

“SHELL YEAH! My Roller has been getting rusty!” Callie grinned.

“And I can get up to places you guys can’t quickly, so I’ll make sure we blow all of those bombs in time,” X said. “We’ve got three minutes before that thing finishes charging!”

“Dr. Light and I will work on Zero in the meantime, see if we can’t fix his AI,” Ciel said. “Good luck, everyone!”

“Alright, Agents, you know what to do,” Cap’n Cuttlefish nodded approvingly… And blinked. “Uh… What about me?”

“You can… Uh… Be the hype man?” Marina said.

“You got it! World about to blow - SQUIDBEAK, LET'S GO!”

“WOOOOOO!” Hinata grinned, being the first to super-jump to the main landing pad.

The drones also started deploying ride rails and Grapplinks for them to get around quickly.

“First set of bombs will be on the chest, followed by the neck at 30 seconds, then the back at one minute, the right arm at 90 seconds, and then the head at two minutes!” Marina said. “Deploying now!”

“I’ll go with the girls to take out the bombs on the neck. Callie, you take the boys and get into position for the neck bombs, we’ll alternate from there,” Marie said.

“Sounds like a plan!” Callie grinned, “come on, gents!”

“The faster we burst those bombs, the more time we buy to get this done,” Liam said.

“Y-Yes sir,” Axl said, finding it weird to be taking orders from an Inkling.

“Don’t call me ‘sir’! Makes me feel old. Also, you technically outrank me,” Liam grumbled. “Axl, go with Ori to handle that harder to reach bomb at the front-right.”

“I don’t remember you ever being in charge, but hey, this works,” Ethan chuckled, using his Hero Shot instead of the Roller, since Liam and Callie used Rollers as well.

As they started position while the girls started detonating the bombs on the chest, Axl found this utterly surreal. Truth is, he never considered himself particularly special or unique. He was just another soldier being shuffled around to different units. The only reason he got assigned to Iris was because he worked hard, but anyone could do that.

“You sound like you’re used to taking orders,” Orion said, as they got into position.

“I’ve been a grunt for as long as I can remember,” Axl admitted, inking the ground around them. “I thought I’d live and die as just another Octarian soldier.”

“Yikes, you don’t look any older than me,” Orion winced, aiming his Charger. “Really puts my fairly cosy life into perspective… Well, um. You’re not a soldier anymore. Once this is all over, you can choose whatever life you want to live, I guess? You seem like a good guy…”

“You too, Orion,” Axl smiled, aiming at Hyperbomb as it landed, and shooting, “I’ve never really had… Friends, before, aside from Iris. Just comrades.”

“I, uh, I’d be happy to be your friend if you want!” Orion said, blowing the bomb with one quick shot. “I’m sure all of us would be!”

Axl grinned. “That’d be fantastic.”

❖

“Alright, chest bombs blown, get to the back!” Marie said, as the girls got moving.

Iris wasn’t used to being in a team comprised almost entirely of Inklings, but the fact that nobody seemed to care that she was the odd one out was a relief.

“Wasn’t expecting the Splatoon to have so many new agents,” Ayane said, as they ran. “What the shell happened while Ethan and I were gone?”

“Octavio broke free, brainwashed Callie and stole the Great Zapfish again,” Artemis remarked. “Marie recruited me and Ori, and we expanded from there.”

“Mostly because you two weren’t careful about operational security!” Karlene said.

“How many times do you need to remind me of that?!”

“As many times as it takes, you ditz!”

Iris giggled. “Feels so weird to be on a team of equals rather than being a commanding officer.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re a Colonel, right? At your age? Sheesh, Octarian society is nuts. No offense,” Artemis said.

“None taken, believe me,” Iris sighed.

“Alright, enough chitchat, if you guys can beat Octavio you better be decent at inking turf,” Ayane said.

“Chill, girl, between all of us and X heading upwards, there’s no way we won’t blow all the bombs in time,” Hinata said, pointing to X wall-jumping up the statue to the top.

“I am chill,” Ayane said. “It’s you guys who are way too fired up.”

“Sooooo coooooool,” Artemis said, her eyes sparkling. “By the way, where’d you get the cape? I WANT ONE!”

“Focus, Arti,” Karlene said, as the Hyperbombs came in, and everyone started firing down the back of the statue, blowing them all in seconds. “Got ‘em. The boys and Callie should be moving in on the right arm, time for us to get up to the head and ride those rails.”

“Hopefully my Saber has enough range,” Iris frowned, as they started moving up.

“You, Ayane and Artemis can head up to the ride rails at the top,” Marie said. “You’ve got plenty of time to get into position.”

“You heard her, let’s get movin’,” Ayane said. “Let’s ink this sucker and make him regret he was ever programmed.”

“How can you just be so effortlessly cool?!” Artemis groaned, following her. “Not fair…”

“Maybe if you lowered your voice and grew a foot…”

“I’m not that short!” Unfortunately for Artemis, she was indeed a foot shorter than everyone else aside from her brother… Who was still a bit taller than her. Also Pearl, but that went without saying.

Iris couldn’t help but giggle as she followed as well. She could already figure out the group dynamic, and it was just so refreshing after being used to being around other soldiers. “I’m sure you’re pretty cool and fresh too, Artemis…”

“Well, you’ve got the trifecta, you’re cool, fresh and adorable as all heck,” Artemis said as they reached the rail.

Iris’ brain immediately short-circuited, and her face went flush. “A-ADORABLE?!”

“Yes, you’re cute, now get on the rail already,” Ayane said.

“N-nobody’s called me cute before…” Iris said, struggling to regain her composure as she used a Grapplink to get onto the rail leading up to the head. Artemis, followed by Ayane, were immediately right behind her, and they quickly went up another rail to the higher level. Fortunately she had plenty of practice staying on the rails.

Artemis changed the subject immediately. “Real talk, ride rails are the coolest. Why aren’t there any in Turf War arenas?!”

“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Ayane said. “Also why are we shooting the breeze when the whole world’s in imminent danger?”

“Because 1) we’re way ahead of schedule, and 2) this is Iris’ first time talking with friends on the surface, if we screw up we might as well make this count!” Artemis grinned.

“I mean, you’re not wrong, but it’s still stupid…”

“You… You consider me a friend?” Iris said. “We barely know each other…”

“Hey, you seem nice and you’re kinda lonely, why the heck wouldn’t I say no to being friends with you?” Artemis laughed.

“That and you helped save my butt, so I think friendship is the least I can do to pay you back,” Ayane said, turning around and aiming her Charger, “alright, focus, last set is coming our way! If we get this right we’ll do this with about forty seconds to spare.”

Iris nodded, and prepared to swing. As the Hyperbombs came in, she swung for the one closest to her, and Artemis made sure it went off by firing at it as well, while Ayane had slowed down to snipe one behind them. They heard bombs going off below them as the others did their part as well, encouraged by the change in music to Ebb & Flow.

That left two more, but those went off in quick succession. Iris looked up, to see X up top, giving them the thumbs up with a smile. She and Artemis both returned the gesture.

After inking any notable gaps left by the Hyperbombs, the teams returned to the chopper. Iris couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride at their handiwork.

“Everyone, the charging has stopped but it’s still going to fire anyway!” Marina called out.

“Number 10,007… Number 10,008… No singular or multiple test subjects have worked so hard to spoil my plans,” Tartar sneered, as the cannon prepared to fire. “But now you’ll blend in the perfect world the Professor envisioned. Farewell to you and that worthless cesspool of a city!”

“Then it’s my time to shine!” Pearl grinned as she hopped down to the platform, and slapped Iris on the back, “great work, guys - I’ve got it from here.” She struck a pose, facing the statue, “alright, hype to the max - vocal chords ready! AYO, STATUE!”

And then she suddenly deployed a Killer Wail, specifically a customised Killer Wail. X gulped. “Uh, we should all probably hang on to something!”

Nobody questioned his suggestion.

As the Statue’s cannon fired, Pearl began to scream. “BOOOOOOYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAA!”

Both cannons collided in an intense mix of pink and green. But ultimately, it was Pearl’s vocal chords that won out, the pink beam of ink ripping through the enemy’s, tearing right though the Statue’s cannon and blasting right into it, completely washing out the interior, sending debris of all sorts flying into the ocean.

The Statue itself began to tip over as the beam subsided, rendered useless as it tipped onto its side.

Tartar was still active, if barely, hanging from its wires just outside of its ‘cockpit’. “Grrrk…! Gaaaaah… Professor… Our reunion… Beckons…”

“You’ve lost all perspective in these thousands of years, Tartar. You idealise humanity to an extent that it never truly was in reality,” Dr. Light spoke. “There was a spark of good intentions behind your madness, but ultimately, neither the means nor the ends were justifiable. I hope if you meet your creator, wherever he is, he is willing to forgive you.”

“I… I-”

“Hmph. How utterly disappointing. But I suppose relying on a mad AI to do my dirty work was a bit much to ask. Sometimes you really just got to do things yourself! Tartar, your usefulness has come to an end.”

“N-No, Doctor, wait-” The phone suddenly shut down.

“Wait… No… It can’t be!” Dr. Light gasped.

A single holographic projector drone emerged from the statue, and it began to display an imagine of someone standing on the statue, several times larger than a normal human being’s size. An old man in a lab-coat, with curly balding hair and a curly thick moustache. “Long time no see, Thomas! I see you too could not resist the temptation of digital immortality.”

“I suppose I should’ve expected this,” Dr. Light frowned. “It has indeed been a long time… Albert.”

“Wait, hold on, that’s Dr. Albert Wily?! He was working with Tartar behind the scenes?! Actually, that explains a lot, really,” Koji mused.

Iris just felt so… Tired. How much more did they need to do to finally put an end to this?!

“Indeed I am, boy! Tartar discovered one of my old fortresses underground, I liked the cut of his jib, and we agreed to a partnership,” Wily chuckled, stroking his cleft chin. “He was even able to help me finally get Zero under control… For all the good that did. What a failure.”

“Why the shell do you sound so happy? We just foiled your plans. Kamabo is finished, and we’re coming for you next,” X pointed out.

“No, it’s not that simple. I know Albert better than anyone,” Light shook his head. “If he’s acting this smug…”

“Ah, you finally wised up, Thomas! And it only took you, what, over 12,000 years?” Wily mocked, “indeed, as you well know by now… I always plan ahead.”

its height above sea level even greater than the NILS Statue when it was still standing. It was an enormous blue and red robot, with a fairly rudimentary head with spiked horns and spiked fists. It was utterly covered in point defence systems. “BEHOLD! I figured it was only fitting that I reign over the world with a perfected version of the last robot you and I worked on together, Thomas!”

“Gamma…” Dr. Light grit his teeth. “So this is what you were working on in secret in the Metro… Why are you going all of these lengths? Humankind is gone. And the both of us are virtually forgotten.”

Wily glared at them with a crazed look of pure hatred that sent shivers down Iris’ spine, as Gamma began to walk forward. “NO! I will not be forgotten! And neither will you, Thomas. I’ll prove my genius once and for all, and you’ll go down in the history books as the villain who always got in my way! Now, watch as Gamma tears down your precious Inkopolis!”

“Now what do we do?! Uh, Pearl, can you fire that thing again?” Callie asked, nervousness creeping into her voice.

“Bleh… Sorry, no can do, I need several more minutes before I can do that again,” Pearl groaned, rubbing her throat.

“Looks like I have no choice… Agents, I can upgrade your Hero Suits and weapons, but you’ll need to get into the capsule one at a time,” Dr. Light said. “Covering Gamma with ink might not work to shut it down, but it’ll make its armour more vulnerable to ink-energy hybrid weapons.”

“Someone needs to keep Gamma busy until we’re all out there, though,” Marie winced.

Iris immediately made up her mind. She was so tired, but that was no excuse to stop here. “That’ll be our job… Right, Axl, X?”

Axl nodded. “Yeah. One last fight. Let’s do this.”

“Are you sure you two are up to it?” X asked.

“Without a doubt,” Iris said. “Marina, got any more Hyperbombs?”

“Only a few, you’ll have to ink up the rest yourself,” Marina said. “I’ve got plenty of ride rails, though! And I’ll be deploying floating platforms as we move.”

“And we’ve got a respawn point on the platform right here,” Callie gestured to the point behind her, powered by a Zapfish. “So don’t worry too much about getting hurt, just… Try not to get splatted too much.”

“Alright, final objective - take down Gamma before it reaches Inkopolis!” Marie declared.

“Good luck, Agents,” Cap’n Cuttlefish nodded. “The fate of Inkopolis lies with you!”

As the first ride rails were deployed, Iris super-jumped onto one of them. The last of the Hyperbombs were deployed, and she slashed at one as she went past Gamma, causing it to explode, and started coming back around. “We’ve fought so hard to get here. We won’t just hand over this world to you! Not without a fight!”

❖

Meanwhile, throughout all of this, Ciel had been quietly working on Zero in the truck, having plugged in her laptop to both his body and another of Dr. Light’s capsules.

“I’ve taken the liberty of installing advanced anti-viral software onto your laptop. I don’t doubt Albert would have put viruses into Zero’s systems,” Dr. Light mused.

“Preliminary analysis suggests that the virus might be the problem, actually,” Ciel said, looking at the output on her laptop screen. “There’s a virus-like program that’s playing merry shell on Zero’s cognitive functions. Wily also has multiple control systems in place trying to suppress those effects, but they don’t work very well.”

“Wily was a fantastic engineer, but good heavens he wasn’t so great at artificial intelligence. Every single advanced AI he’s ever designed usually works, but not in the way he wants,” Dr. Light shook his head. “Albert was absolutely brilliant, no question, but he sometimes he got into his head some utterly silly or hair-brained ideas that don’t work in practice that really should’ve been tossed out at the design stage.”

“Yeah I’m just gonna completely delete all of those,” Ciel said, doing so without hesitation. “I’m gonna isolate his neural and head functions from the rest of his body… Ink wiped clean… No notable damage to his internals from ink exposure… Powering back up… Here we go.”

Zero opened his eyes as he powered back up, turning his head towards her. “Ugh, my head… Why can’t I feel my everything?”

You are reading story Inky Future at novel35.com

“Sorry, had to turn off everything below the neck. I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t just attack me,” Ciel said.

“Fair enough,” Zero chuckled. “Geez, those two kids really kicked my ass. So, uh… You turned me back on. Why?”

“X’s idea, not mine. He was hoping deep down you might actually be a good person,” Ciel smiled. “As for me, I believe almost anyone deserves a second chance.”

“Even though my hands ain’t clean?”

“Neither are mine. That’s why I want to help make the world a better place.”

That gave Zero some pause. It was hard for Ciel to tell what he was really thinking. “I’m not sure what I really want. I think this is the first time I’ve ever had a clear head before. I know my original purpose, but… I don’t know who I really am.”

“Your AI is capable of complete free will. You don’t need anyone else to dictate who you are, you can decide that for yourself,” Ciel said. “All I know for certain is that you are Zero. The one and only Zero.”

Zero looked up to the ceiling. “Huh. ‘I am Zero’, huh. Nothing and everything. I kinda like that.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the destruction of the NILS Statue, Wily’s appearance, and Gamma rising to the surface.

Ciel was somewhat terrified of this new turn of events, but Dr. Light spoke up. “He just called you a ‘failure’, Zero. What do you think about that?”

“If I was a failure, it’s his fault for screwing with my head like that. I’m nobody’s pet,” Zero said. And then he grinned. “Besides… I really want to fight that giant robot now.”

“I think we’re going to get along pretty well,” Ciel giggled.

❖

Artemis stepped out of the capsule with her brand her Hero Armour and Buster Dualies, did not hesitate to launch herself into a high platform deployed by Marina, and immediately started grinding, shooting away at Gamma. Between the massive body and the various fixed-place automated weapons, this was a target-rich environment, and Artemis was in heaven right now.

Gamma was not simply just walking, however. It was swinging its arms about, trying to destroy the ride rails and platforms as it went. And it took a big swing at Artemis.

Let’s see if I can pull this off… Artemis jumped over the punch, grabbing onto the side of one of the fist spikes. She managed to hold on, her feet finding purchase on the hand, and she ran along it, spraying ink and swimming along it, blasting point defences as she went, until she reached the head, which she climbed up onto, spraying ink all over it and starting to fire charged shots downward. “Hey, big, bad and ugly! You missed!”

Gamma started reaching up with both hands to try and swat her off, but Artemis was just dancing around them, laughing as she continued to pile on the damage to the head. “Too slow! Seriously, you even trying?”

“Then how about this, you annoying little gnat?” Wily said.

Suddenly, Gamma started swinging its body back and forth, along with its head. The resulting force flung Artemis right off, as Wily laughed, causing her to tumble through the air, and she tried her best to stop her momentum as she tumbled towards the water.

“I’ve got you!” Iris called out, as she caught Artemis in a bridal carry, grinding along on a rail. “That was stupid and reckless! You almost got hurt!”

“I would’ve respawned,” Artemis grumbled half-heartedly. It felt kinda awkward being carried like this… Nevermind that she realised how toned Iris’ arms were. “Um… Thanks for the save, Iris.”

“You’re welcome, but can you start shooting those turrets? I can’t use my blade while carrying you,” Iris asked, looking at the emplacements on the body still active close by.

“You got it,” Artemis grinned, as she took aim with her Dualies, and started shooting.

❖

“Awesome, it’s just us left,” Callie said as Koji jumped off to help with the battle. “Let’s go fight a giant robot, cous!”

“They’re at least slowing it down a little, but not enough,” Marie said warily. “Still, we’ve got an active and fully-powered respawn point, so-”

“Ah, yes, the respawn point,” Wily said, as Gamma drew a fist back, “I’ll just take you out now and save myself so much trouble.”

“Uh-oh,” Callie winced, and braced for impact. “MARINA! Move the chopper, quickly, before-”

Zero groaned, his ponytail flapping in the wind as he held the punch back. “Heh… Not on my watch, big guy.”

Callie’s heart thumped. So that’s a total of two cute guys today…

“ZERO! What’s the meaning of this?!” Wily howled in outrage. “You’re supposed to follow my orders!”

“Yeah, well, I don’t appreciate you putting a virus and a bunch of control programs in my head. Besides, didn’t you say it yourself that I’m a failure?” Zero remarked. “See, the problem with infinity is that it isn’t infinite if you put a freaking cap on it!”

Zero then drew his Beam Saber, slicing off the fingers in one fell swoop, causing Gamma to back off. He then fell down on one knee. “Ugh… My body ain’t in the best condition right now.”

“Hey, don’t push yourself!” Callie came over, checking him over.

Zero chuckled, “gotta say, I do appreciate having a lovely lady like yourself be so concerned for my well-being…”

Callie was now screaming internally. She didn’t know she could handle being complimented by such a handsome guy right now.

“Still, that was most impressive,” Cap’n Cuttlefish remarked.

“No kidding, I didn’t know you were THAT strong!” Pearl grinned.

“Probably should make sure Wonder Boy here doesn’t get himself killed,” Marie noted, “shame we can’t get you to the head, maybe we could finish it off if you could get a stab at it…”

“Maybe we could pass it on to one of the guys fighting out there?” Callie suggested.

“That’s… Not a half-bad idea,” Marie said. “You okay with that, Zero?”

“Probably don’t have much choice…” Zero chuckled weakly.

❖

As it happened, Karlene was grinding alongside Ayane. Up until this point, Karlene had been wondering why Ayane seemed so familiar. But seeing her in action jogged her memory. “Ayane Higashi… You’re a big hot-shot S-ranked player. I’ve seen some of your tournament matches.”

“Didn’t know I had a fan,” Ayane said matter-of-factually.

“Not sure if I’d call myself a fan, but I’ve wanted to reach your level for a long time on my path to becoming a full-time pro,” Karlene said, leaping over an incoming shot and firing back, “guess being an agent helped a lot.”

“It’s a double-edged sword. I’m actually not sure if I want to go full pro, after what I’ve seen and done,” Ayane admitted. “I’ve been at this for two years. Turf Wars for sport seem kinda trivial when you’ve basically fought a war by yourself.”

It gave Karlene a lot to stew over as she kept her head in the game. She noticed Gamma’s mouth open up, firing off a big energy ball, and she charged up her Buster Shot, firing off a shot that slowed it down, right before Ayane’s Charge Buster sent it flying back, hitting the head. “Nice one.”

“You’re not bad. All of you are pretty good,” Ayane said. “I can see why Marie recruited you.”

“I’ll take that as high praise, then,” Karlene chuckled.

❖

“Oh, you’re the captain of your own team? That’s pretty cool! I remember when I was trying out for teams two years ago. Good times,” Ethan smiled, as he rode along with Liam.

“And now you’re a top player. Ethan Millard… I never would’ve guessed you’d be part of the New Squidbeak Splatoon,” Liam noted, as he kept flinging vertically at the robot. “Heard you actually dated Ayane. Didn’t work out, apparently.”

“Yeah, we’re night and day, and while we do like each other, I guess we just didn’t have a ton of chemistry. We’ll always have each other’s backs, though,” Ethan chuckled. “You gotta loosen up a little, though. I used to be an arrogant, cocky hot-shot.”

“What changed, then?”

“Well, having a near-death experience in the heat of a life-or-death combat situation certainly makes you rethink things, let me tell you.”

That gave Liam pause for thought, but he noticed Gamma raising a fist. “Aw, carp, he’s gonna destroy the rail!”

“Then we give him a good, hard charged smack and send him packing!” Ethan grinned, as he charged up his Roller Buster. “One… Two… Three!”

Liam also swung his charged-up Roller, and the two combined strikes sent the fist flying back. Ethan threw up his arms in triumph, “BOOYA!”

“Booya indeed,” Liam grinned.

❖

Koji knew Hinata to be a Pollyanna who saw the bright side of everything and perhaps had a habit of not taking things seriously enough sometimes. It wasn’t really her fault, it was a mental condition of hers, though Koji didn’t know a lot about the specifics.

But laughing maniacally while wielding her new Splatling Buster? That was a new one. “Hey, Hinata…? Maybe you could tone it down just a bit?”

“But this Splatling is AWESOME!” Hinata said gleefully, as she continued to open fire on the legs, ripping through the gun emplacements. “Shame it runs out so quickly and takes longer to charge than a Hydra, but oh well!”

“Well, that’s why I’m here to cover you when you charge,” Koji said, as the Splatling ran down and he started firing with his Blaster Buster. He marvelled at the sheer area-of-effect damage a fully-charged shot did. “These things would be totally illegal for Turf War, though. I think we’ve taken out most of the emplacements, but the main body is way too armoured…”

“I say we just shoot it until it breaks.”

“Probably not the most efficient use of our time… Any moving parts like the joints would be the most vulnerable without a doubt, but it’s hard to tell which ones Wily reinforced or-”

“Koji, you’re overthinking things, you had it right the first time, let’s just shoot the knee joints until they break!”

“R-Right, we don’t have time to think about it,” Koji said, as he and Hinata proceeded to lay down constant fire on one of the knee joints. “We gotta at least slow him down one way or another.”

“See, you need to stop overthinking things and doubting your own ideas!” Hinata nodded, “you gotta stand up for yourself more, even if it means standing up against, well, yourself!”

“Wish that wasn’t easier said than done,” Koji muttered. Much to his amazement, however, the leg joint finally collapsed from the constant barrage. “Yes! Jackpot!”

❖

Gamma fell to one knee, unable to continue moving once one of the knee joints was sufficiently damaged.

X had been providing supporting fire for most of the fight and doing some damage here and there, but once he saw the leg joint go down, he decided to make his move, charging up a Flame Sword and slicing right through the other one. “THERE!”

“NO! How dare you! Hmph, this is just a temporary setback!” Wily sneered. “The internal repair bots are already working to fix the damage, it’s only a matter of time before Gamma starts moving again, and then you’ll fall to his power!”

“Alright, we’ve got a reprieve, everyone regroup!” Marie called out.

Everyone super-jumped back over to a large floating platform. X immediately started checking everyone for injuries. “We need to be able to do some big damage. According to my combat data, the old version of Gama was extremely vulnerable to Top Spin, but I suspect Wily fixed that weakness this time.”

“That armour is still taking quite a bit of damage from my Octo Saber, so maybe it’s just vulnerable to high-power melee weapons,” Iris suggested. “Problem is, getting in close enough for point-blank damage right now is impossible as long as the point defence systems keep getting fixed up…”

“Then we need a lot of cover fire, and a few people who can get in close and fast,” Koji mused. “Still need to disorient the head long enough so it can’t shoot, though… That mouth has a lot of firepower inside it.”

“That’s MY job!” Pearl called out. “I’ll hit it with the Princess Cannon, you guys get in quick right after I’m done! You better be thankful, because, ugh, my vocals are gonna be shot for a week after this.”

“We might need one more person who has a powerful melee, but I don’t think our Rollers will cut it,” Liam mused.

“Hey! Catch!”

X blinked, turning towards the helicopter, and caught something being thrown to him - Zero’s Beam Saber. He saw Zero waving to them. “I’m a little too damaged right now to help, but you can use that!”

“I’ll need both hands for a full power Flame Sword, so…” X handed it to Axl, “with your abilities, you might be able to get the most out of this.”

“I’ll do my best,” Axl said, accepting it. “How’re we gonna move in fast, though?”

“Charge-&-Roll. Or, well, Charge-&-Sword, I guess,” Ethan said. “Orion and Ayane can launch Axl and Iris over to the head. X can get there by himself.”

“Good enough. Everyone else get into position and start tearing down those point defenses!” Karlene said. “Move it, agents!”

No argument was raised, as almost everyone moved to perform their roles…

❖

“I need to give it my all, but… What if my body can’t do it? I’ve been fighting for so long…”

“Hey, one last push, you can do it!” Artemis grinned. “Show that big robot what those muscles are for! We all believe in you. Now, if you excuse me, I’m gonna help distract the big guy.” She then leaped off onto a rail.

“She’s right, you’ve got what it takes… Even if those ain’t the words I’d use,” Ayane said. “Come on, get on the barrel already.”

“Good luck. Just remember, you’ve come this far already. You can do this,” X nodded, leaping off as well.

“Let’s do this, Iris,” Axl said with an exhausted grin, as he went into octopus form and held onto Orion’s Charger barrel. “Uh… Just make sure it’s on pure ink mode, please!”

“Do I look like someone who’d be dumb enough to forget that?” Orion chuckled, as he raised the Charger to aim.

Iris also changed, hanging on to Ayane’s barrel. “Okay. Ayane, I’m counting on you!”

“Likewise,” Ayane said, taking aim. “I don’t miss.”

“BOOOOOOYYYYYYAAAAAAAA!”

The Princess Cannon’s beam slammed into Gamma’s head, having the desired effect they wanted - the head-mounted weapons were going to be useless for a short window.

“NO! Wait! Stop! I beg of you!” Wily called out, his hologram getting on his hands and knees, “Thomas, I’ve changed my mind! We can work together to restore human civilisation! You wouldn’t let them kill your old partner, would you?”

“Let them kill you? No, I wouldn’t,” Dr. Light said. “But we’re just the digital ghosts of two dead men. We’re already dead, and shouldn’t belong in this world. I promise you this… Once all my affairs are in order? I intend to follow you to the grave. Goodbye, Albert.”

That’s when X reached the head, right as the beam subsided. He unleashed a massive Flame Sword, striking multiple times at the head. “NOW!”

Ayane and Orion fired, sending the two Octolings flying, right past incoming point defence fire.

Iris and Axl changed forms in midair, Axl forming a larger, stronger sword arm from the ink around him. He called out, “too little, too late, Wily! You’ve already hurt too many people.”

“We won’t let you destroy our new home!” Iris cried out, sword raised.

In two swift strikes, Gamma’s head was bisected. Twice over.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO! DAMN YOU, LIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHHTTTTTTTTTT!” Wily howled with pure hatred and rage, as his hologram fizzled out, and Gamma finally fell.

Iris’ strength finally gave out, and she let out a weak laugh as she and Axl tumbled towards the water.

❖

Iris momentarily blacked out. But she never felt herself hit the water.

Instead, she woke up as X put her and Axl down on the helicopter platform, which was now fairly crowded.

“Exceptionally well done, Agents. You’ve saved our world from complete devastation and tyranny,” Cap’n Cuttlefish said, wiping a tear from his eye.

“Thanks, Cap’n,” Axl laughed weakly. “Oooooh geez I need a nap.”

“You and me both,” Iris groaned.

But then she saw the sun in the distance, rising above Inkopolis, painting the sky a stunning blue. She smiled, “but… That can wait just a little longer. I’d like to enjoy my first sunrise as a free Octoling.”

Axl smiled, nodding in agreement.

There was silence as everyone looked out into the sunrise, only broken up by the sound of the helicopter, seabirds and the waves below.

It was a moment Iris and Axl would cherish for the rest of their lives.

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