Inked Over Secrets: a Splatoon 2 Fanfiction

18: Be Strong

It wasn't long until the group headed outside of the small room. Still mourning Cepholo's death, the air around them was somber and sad. Only Stinger managed to keep a neutral expression, and even then he was torn apart on the inside. Cepholo, this group's leader, arguably the strongest of their kind, had been brought down by a puddle of goo on the ground. How would they fare against an entire army of the same force?
There wasn't enough time to think about it, however. Almost like a sixth sense, Stinger's neck tingled as he felt a disturbance near. As he turned, the mystery had already been identified.
A shape rose out of a nearly microscopic drop of goo. From the general shape, Stinger assumed it was once an Inkling or Octoling, deformed after months of the goo infecting it's bloodstream.
"Lord Tartar knows you're here," the deformed being spoke in the monotonous voice that haunted Stinger in his days of mental captivity and emotional insanity. "He requests that you meet him on the topmost floor. Be ready for war." The being collapsed back into its droplet.
Stinger soaked this information in, then looked back at his troops. Half of them were shaking in fear, and the other half were deep in conversation. Only Arty, Avia, Telk, Auru, and himself seemed in control.
"Everyone chill out!" The shout came from not Stinger's mouth, but Telk's. "It's a drop of goo. Does it matter that it can take a shape? It was literally there for six seconds! People, it's no big deal!"
Telk's small pep talk brought smiles to some faces, and even some small laughs. Stinger looked at him gratefully, and Telk returned the look with a slight smirk. He raised his voice.
"And we're not the only ones. We'll be joined by some friends of mine at the top; you may know them too."
At this, Stinger was puzzled. He knew nothing about what Telk was saying. A small tap on his back caused him to turn around and find Arty, with a certain light shining in her eyes. The kind that can only be found when you're with your soulmate.
The light of love.
"I believe you can do this, Stinger," she murmured, her gaze never wavering. "Be strong, and lead us to victory." With a quick peck on the cheek, she walked back to where Avia was almost squealing with happiness, even with Cepholo's recent departure.
"Alright, everyone," he said, for the first time ever feeling in control, "Let's do this."
With a hearty cheer, the army marched forward.
They got all the way to the top of the statue with no casualties or interferences in general. Stinger signaled for his army to stay, and with a firm hold on his Brush, busted into the final room.
A huge room awaited him inside. A massive control panel sat on the other side, with two giant glass panels in front. The room was completely empty, except for a broken-down telephone in the middle.
Right when Stinger was questioning its being here, the telephone twitched, and a small drop of the green goo dropped out. It quickly grew to Stinger's size, and molded into a perfect replica of him, Brush and all. However, the transformation wasn't complete. As Stinger watched, the goo parted, and as if looking in a mirror, he saw himself. The only difference was the eerie glow in his mint eyes, and the green goo replacing his blue.
"Took you long enough," Tartar-Stinger chuckled. Stinger was shocked to hear emotion in his voice. "It was fun, watching you train up a bunch of pups into fierce guard dogs. You'll be sorry to learn, however, that this litter will just die like all life does." Tartar held out his hand. "It's not too late. Join me, and your army, your friends, your girl will be spared."
It was tempting, right then, to reach out and join Tartar. Friends didn't last forever, it was true. Would it really hurt to join this mirror in front of him and spare many innocent lives.
Without warning, the piercing blue eyes Stinger knew so well invaded his thoughts. A sweet voice murmuring in his ear, "I believe you can do this, Stinger. Be strong, and lead us to victory." A tingling sensation on his cheek.
No. Arty needed him to succeed. Arty needed him. And he knew he needed Arty too.
"No," Stinger firmly said. "I've come this far. I'm not going to scrap it all now."
Tartar chuckled. "Very well," he said, "Come with your army and see what you're up against." He snapped his fingers, and a puddle of goo shot to the wall and stuck there. With a salute, Tartar Melted into it.
Stinger waited for an extra minute, then called his group in. He called Arty, Avia, Telk, and Auru close around him, and told them about his interaction.
"So he just left?" Avia asked, exasperated. "He dragged us all this way just to go somewhere else? He made Cepholo die because of a useless cause?"
"I might be able to purify it," Stinger murmured. "Just trust me."
He turned to the puddle of goo and imagined blue. Deep, deep blue. His mind immediately flashed to Arty's eyes, and without warning, the goo softened and took the exact blue shade Stinger was thinking of. The few murmurs around the group stopped as they gazed in awe at the altered puddle. The whole group was already blue, so there was no need to change ink color. Before they went to battle however, something rugged at Stinger's memory.
"Hey, Telk," he started.
"Mmmm?" Telk answered.
"Didn't you say you had some friends that wanted to join us?"
"Oh, yeah," he chuckled, "That. Welp, I wasn't lying." He raised his voice. "Come on out, guys!" From the shadows, seven figures stepped forth.
"The floor is yours," Telk said with a mock bow.
An Inkling Girl with jet black tentacles, tipped with pink, ran in front. "Agent One, here! Hey, everyone!"
Another Inkling Girl, this time with gray-and-green tentacles, stepped out next. "Agent Two, at your service."
Another Inkling Girl, with long green tentacles. "Agent 3, reporting for duty."
This time, an Inkling Boy. "Hey, people. I'm Agent Four."
An Inkling Girl with blonde-and-pink tentacles, next. "Yo, what's good? It's ya girl Agent Five, a.k.a. MC_Princess."
This time, an Octoling Girl shyly stepped out. "Hello. I'm Agent Six."
The last of the line, another Octoling Girl, stepped into the line. "Hello. I am being Agent Eight."
Many exclamations were heard from the crowd as everyone took in the celebrities. However, a few fingers were pointed in the spot between Six and Eight. Telk obviously noticed, because he stepped into line with the other agents and saluted. "Agent Seven. You already know me. But now, everyone is here!"
Agent Eight looked at him with an exasperated look akin to that of Avia's. "You is ruining the moment with old joke, as always."
"Hey!"
A few chuckles were heard from the newly energized crowd.
"Alright," Stinger said, "Let's end this."

;)
So I've been planning the agents to come back for a while, since the beginning of the book, actually. I also had a plan for Telk to use the "Everyone is Here" meme. Also, in case you're wondering, the Octoling amiibos have garbled speech, signaling that they aren't totally fluent in Inkling yet. So that's why Eight has a different speech pattern.
I can't tell you how much it means to me to have this much support on this story. Special thanks to voomy1 for being extremely supportive and even creating her own small one-shot in the comments of a previous chapter.
I will also be going back to school tomorrow (Tuesday), so updates may be a bit slower.
Thanks again!