Squidbeak Splatoon: Agent Random

Retry (short story)

(Agent 8's POV)

A void. That's all there is.

Nothing but an empty void as far as my eyes can see. An empty void that's the same color of my pink Octarian ink, no less.

I had failed to stop the NILS Statue. I had failed to activate all the Hyperbombs in time. I had failed to save everything that I could've known and everything that I could've had, or did have in the past.

I had failed to save not just Inkopolis, but the entire world.

If only I had been faster...

Everything is gone because of my mistakes.

Yet, I cannot cry. What's the point? Crying will not undo the damage that has been caused. It won't bring the people back to life, it won't reverse the collateral damage, it simply won't help.

Even knowing this, I can't help a few stray tears that escape my eyes.

...

I...suppose there is some small comfort in knowing that the Captain, Pearl, Marina, and Agent 3 survived. They were out of range of the statue when it fired.

They have nothing to go back to because of me.

...there goes the little bit of comfort I had.

...

Wait...what's that in the far distance?

It looks like...a floating word?

This void is strange...

I have literally nothing left to lose, so I "swim" toward the word.

The word...it was the strangest thing. It wasn't written in Octarian nor in Inklish, but I could perfectly make out the letters that formed the single other entity in this pink void.

"Retry."

Huh? What's that supposed to mean?

Retry...

Sudden realization settled in. Somehow, I knew what the word before me was for. Simply touching it would reverse time to the point before I even super jumped onto the statue. It would reverse the damage that occurred as if it had never happened. In short, it would grant me a second chance to set things right and destroy the NILS Statue, and the malicious A.I. Commander Tartar, for good.

I couldn't believe it, yet at the same time I could feel in my hearts that it was true.

This was an opportunity that I will not let go to waste. After all, I want to see all that the surface has to offer.

As I was about to touch the word, another realization sunk in. If I failed again, I would end up back in this void and the word would still be here. It would be here even if I fail a third time and beyond.

Good to know that I have multiple second chances, I guess. However, I'd rather not be in this void a second time.

...It's time to go.

I reach out and touch "Retry."

Let's do this.

...again.

***

-Author's note-

Wow...I'm really proud of how this one turned out. I think I'm gonna post this as its own oneshot. Of course, I'll keep it in here as well, I just want others to be able to see it too, if they want.

I never intended for this short oneshot to be so...slightly dramatic, but it worked out well in my opinion.

Yeah, it will be posted as a oneshot. Thank cod for copy and paste because I'm too lazy to type this twice. I mean...I could, but...yeah.

Well, I'm out. Bye!

-CoconutWoomy