Splatoon Manga - Canon Lightroad

GO!!

⭐Chapter 22: GO!!

Rider was now standing outside the doors to the weapon room, as Hex had ordered him. Hex's control had loosened over the few minutes he stood there, and he was now aware of his situation. He wanted to get out of this as quickly as possible, but he also had to make sure Hex and the Luminous were not aware of what he was doing. He had a feeling he was the squidbeak's only hope at the moment. They couldn't fail this test.

He began scanning the room for a way out. At the moment, he could only see hallways and more doors. Slowly, he shuffled to the end of the wall he was on, and peeked around the hallway. Ahead, there was only more doors lining the hallway. As he turned to look in the other direction however, he noticed it.

There was an open window! It looked like there was a metal sheet hanging loose that looked like it had been covering the window, and there was cyan ink around it. Perhaps Vintage had gotten it open? Rider hadn't seen Vintage when Hex hexxed everyone. Perhaps he could get out using that.

He put an ear up to the door to listen. He could hear the luminous chatting amongst themselves mixed with the sounds of metal. Now was his chance. Slowly, he made his way over to the window and looked down. It wasn't too high of a drop, probably more than 10 feet.

Rider began to make his way out the window, careful not to make too much noise. He got one leg over, and then the next, making sure to watch his surroundings as he did it. The city was quiet, and even though it was nighttime, there were still lights on in buildings nearby and street lamps. He was soon hanging by the window with just his hands, and he sighed, ready to jump down at the risk of possibly hurting his legs. He let go and fell to the ground, bracing himself for an impact...

And it came.

But it didn't sting as much as Rider thought it would have. The sting went away quicker than it had happened. He was now out in Nexus Laser City, as the lair must have extended underground to get here. The place he escaped from led to a back alley area of Nexus Laser, further away from the Luminous' lair location.

But he'd done it.

He'd escaped.

Now what, though? He knew he had to save the squidbeak, but how? Did he have to fight them all? Was there a cure to Hex's hexxing? Speaking of which, why was he able to resist, but the others weren't?

As he took a few steps forward, he heard a loud whistle. He winced, hoping none of the luminous had heard that as well. Looking up, he saw black shapes on top of a building. Upon squinting a little, he saw that the two strange figures were peering down at him. They each held a boombox in their arms, but Rider couldn't make out any noticeable features on them.

Rider waited, but then listened as static started coming through the radio. As it cleared however, two voices started singing through the radio. Rider could hear the audio from here.

It...

It was The Calamari Inkantation.

Rider felt himself stare as the heavenly melody rang throughout the area. Slowly, he felt himself loosen up, as if there was a tension within him he didn't know he had. The voice telling him to listen to Hex, the voice telling him Hex was right, faded away in the back of his mind. The inkantation was all his mind was on right now. But...wait...the voice inside his head...

The Calamari Inkantation was the cure to Hex's hexxing!

Rider shook his head frantically. He had his own thoughts back! Hex couldn't tell him what to do! He wasn't focusing on what was right! What really mattered now was everyone else and getting back at Hex. It was the right thing to do.

But first, where was Vintage? Vintage knew how to manage the luminous well, and if the luminous decided to attack while Rider was getting to the rest of the group, he could fight them to buy Rider time. Chances were, Vintage was still inside the Luminous 7's lair, and Rider wasn't sure if he was ready to go back in there. He looked back up at the open window, just in time to see Vintage climbing out of it. As he landed, Rider ran over.

"Vintage?! I thought you'd been hexxed!"

"...No. That purple...thing knocked me against a wall and thought that it killed me. I escaped. Come on, we can take on the luminous together. We don't need the squidbeak."

"And how do I know you're not Flavo?"

"Don't be ridiculous, that low-level maniac always has the same expression. Do I need to show you the X-Zone to prove my identity? Because I will," Vintage said in a very serious tone.

"Alright, I-"

Vintage's eyes lit up with an X mark, the X aura surrounding him in seconds.

"Okay, Okay, I get it!" Rider shouted.

Vintage calmed down and looked up at the two figures, who'd stopped playing the inkantation.

"Who are those people?"

"I...don't know, but the cure for being hexxed is the Calamari Inkantation. I was hoping I could get them to free the others since they're standing guard outside, but maybe you could get them to do that while I rematch Hex? I seem to have a resistance to being hexxed, for some reason, so I might as well go," Rider explained.

"As much as I want to strangle that bitch, there's a better chance of defeating him in numbers. You go, I'll get these losers together and join you."

"Alright."

Rider aimed towards the empty window, and superjumped back into the lair. He hid behind a wall as he heard Hex and the others arguing.

"Where did he GO?!" Hex roared.

"You sure you told him to stand outside and watch?" Lobelia growled.

"YES I'M DAMN SURE!" Hex screeched.

"Calm down. You think he has some kind of resistance to your power?" Mareiah asked.

"I'll check our battle arena again. Maybe he's still there."

The battle arena.

Perfect.

Rider began heading over there using a different pathway than Hex.

Time for a rematch.