Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hiro strolled out of his apartment's entrance, gently closing the door shut and locking it. He lived with three friends– Veronika, Anemone, and one who wanted to be called Buddy. He was really only close with Veronika, though they all still got along well (I mean, he had to get along with Ane. They're on a team after all…). He wore a baggy t-shirt with some cargo shorts instead of his usual (or iconic, as he says) gear, though he still wore his U Jellys. He was going out for a walk, no need to bring anything serious. He’d usually bring his headphones; he planned to not walk around the city today, so the music wasn’t needed.

Hiro felt something graze his leg and he darted his attention downward. A smallfry hopped in response to his attention. Turns out Buddy followed him out the door. Hiro smiled to himself: maybe the two could get closer, despite the Inkfish-Salmonid language barrier. Well, Buddy understood him, but Hiro could only understand a few words coming from them. He felt a little bummed thinking about it.

"I should take some lessons from Veronika or something," Hiro mused to himself, "so we can talk, hang out, and be chill, you know? Maybe she and I can get closer, too…"

Buddy rolled their eyes at him, which garnered quite the reaction: The blue-haired octoling blinked a couple times and opened his mouth to speak, though he could only stammer. He was being teased again, wasn’t he? A light blush spread across his face.

"H–Hey! It's not just for her! It's for us, man. I–I just like her– like a friend would."

Buddy stifled a laugh, and Hiro got visibly flustered again. He decided to keep his mouth shut about it for the rest of the walk.

…Which strayed off his usual path, as expected. They walked outside of the city into the outskirts of the city: the dry, hot desert. Not completely barren, but still devoid of the usuals in city life. The octoling and smallfry duo passed by many structures. Some people lived out here, too poor to afford a place in Splatsville.

Buddy pointed at a particular tent and started talking about it. Hiro tried to pick out the few words he knew from the Salmonid language.

Good memory. House

"...this your old home? Where you came from with Veronika?" Hiro asked, mumbling a tad Buddy nodded in return.

Hiro looked at the total dump. The fabric making up the ceiling was old and tattered, the wooden beams holding everything together looking even older and less stable. A small, abandoned bed made of various objects and materials laid in the corner.

"I can't believe you guys lived like that, sheesh! I'd spoil you guys if I could, you kinda deserve it after living off of basically nothing."

Buddy shrugged. Hiro huffed in return, continuing his walk.

"Aren'tcha gonna acknowledge that living there was a bit… bad, at least? It looks awful."

Buddy shook his head again. He spoke in Salmonid again, Hiro being able to pick out only one word.

Friend

"...The people close to you can't make everything feel better, though. Like hunger. And living in an area with no AC in the hot, dry summer. I dunno, maybe you know something I don't."

Buddy smiled at him. Hiro chose to not try to read into the expression (he didn't particularly understand it– thinking about it a bit more, it was closer to a sly grin).

The two continued to walk until they were nearing The Crater. Neither have ever been this close to it before. It felt a little scary, mainly to Hiro. They walked over progressively more rocky terrain, which felt different to the hard but still soft sand from before. At this point, the two could peer over the edge.

“I don’t think we’re meant to be this close…” Hiro thought aloud.

Buddy ignored him, hopping down the rocky slope. Hiro, feeling a bit pressured to, followed. He almost fell a couple times, but he eventually got his footing. Sand between the cracks of the ground was getting pulled up, an almost misty layer of it covering his shoes by now. “Why did I wear my U Jellys…” Hiro thought to himself. Panic surged through him for a moment when he realized they couldn’t get back up on foot… Though he remembered he could super jump. Surely, the hole couldn’t go too deep enough for that to not work, right?

It did go deep enough for it to not work. After testing it for a moment, he realized scaling the trek back up through well-timed super jumps was not happening. Though, thankfully, the two noticed a small platform further down. It was a large gap, though, and the steep ground they had been going down started to resemble more of a wall. If they were to walk further, they’d just fall down a deadly drop and probably not see Splatsville ever again.

Hiro scanned the area, a little desperate for something. He found what he was looking for.

“...We should go down to that platform.” He stated.

Buddy looked up at him in confusion, muttering something he couldn’t understand.

“Dude, just look! Uh,” Hiro paused to study the platform below, spotting a tent, “someone lives down there! We’ll be fine.”

Buddy spoke again, and Hiro could only pick out two.

Why go

“‘Cause, well… It’s not like we’re getting back up.”

Buddy glanced upward, then looked back to Hiro, nodding in response. Hiro blinked at them, a little shocked they agreed. He was ready to backpedal and find a different solution, so he ended up scanning the area again, seeing nothing else. This was their only option, wasn’t it? That realization escalated his hearts’ beating. He tapped his shoulder, gesturing for Buddy to jump there. They did just that, and Hiro readied his next jump.

“Veronika’s done this with you, right? Hopefully I can land this super jump right…”

Hiro felt Buddy clutch onto his shirt tightly, digging into his skin a tad. Hiro ignored how the pain from that stung a little, and shifted into his swim form. He shot up into the air, hovering at the peak of his arch for a moment. He looked straight down: the gap between him and the platform was much further than he realized. His hearts stopped, regret coursing through his veins with his blood. Buddy held onto him tight.

This was gonna hurt.

The two plummeted down, the super jump marker indicating the landing only getting closer. Hiro closed his eyes, because it was over. He thought about his life, all of the things he could’ve said. There was so much he had to say, to confess, to live through and experience. He regretted not saying his goodbyes–

“Squiddo, listen QUICK! Change your ink to yellow before you splat yourself!”

Hiro opened his eyes, gaze darting around the ground for the source of the sudden command. He spotted it quickly: there was an old man with a beat-up splattershot in his free hand, a puddle of yellow ink on the ground by him. The ink would soften the fall. Hiro quickly shifted his ink color, right before hitting the surface. Buddy swam out as soon as possible, getting the ink off by dusting themself off, though nothing else came out of the puddle on the ground. The old inkling put the splattershot aside and stepped closer to it, peering into it.

“You okay, son?” He asked.

After a couple moments of silence, Hiro exited the ink. He crawled out of it in octoling form, his movements slow and shaky. When he was fully on dry ground, he flopped face down on the floor and groaned.

“...Everything hurts.”

“Well, you’re lucky I was here today,” the man laughed, “I always keep an ink weapon handy in case a kid fell down here… Guess I gotta look out for them jumping down here, too. You would’ve been in a lot more pain if I didn’t spot ya!”

Hiro pushed himself up to stand, stretching his now aching muscles. He checked on Buddy, who seemed completely fine. Lucky. He looked around his surroundings, noting how the old inkling’s tent looked much nicer than the ones closer to Splatsville. Then he spotted the grate in the ground, and he felt his hearts stop.

As if on cue, the inkling pointed at it with his cane.

“That connects right to Splatsville– I appreciate your enthusiasm to see me, but I’d go through that, next time ya come here.”

Hiro sighed, deciding to avoid mentioning the fact that he kind of had to jump here. Then he processed the man’s words.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘next time’?”

“Well– not to alarm you, b-but…” The old man was visibly getting a little nervous himself.

He continued quickly. “Th-th-the Oct-Oct-Oct–”

Hiro felt his hearts sink. He knew this guy was old, but–

“The Octarians are coming!” The old man shouted out. Hiro looked at him completely unamused.

“...Sorry, getting that out reminds me of old times, heh,” the man said, “Anyhow, the name’s Cuttlefish. Senior advisor to the New Squidbeak Splatoon. With that determination of yours to come straight to me, despite the danger, makes me know you’re the one for the job I’m offering.”

Hiro tilted his head to the side in confusion. He was also curious, though. Especially about why he jumped to blame Octarians. Though Inkadia’s conflicts were never even dared to be touched by those in the Splatlands, he still had to read up on some of it during a history class at school. He knew octolings were there, too– and they have to stick up for each other, he thought.

Cuttlefish continued, “The Great Zapfish that powers Splatsville’s been squidnapped… and it has to be the Octarians! Those octojerks have stolen it twice before, even though I’ve kept my eye on ‘em. Now we’ve got to get it back, squiddo.”

Hiro squinted at him. “You do know who you’re talking to, right…?”

“...You’re Octarian?!”

“No– But I am an octoling, man. You could at least have a filter…” Hiro replied. He just wanted the old guy to move on.

Cuttlefish shook his head. “Oh, I’m sorry, sq– kid… I’m still offering you the job, though.”

Hiro’s eyes lit up. “Job? As in, I get paid?”

“Ehh… the pay’s zero, but–”

Hiro lost all interest and started to turn around.

“W–Wait! I could hook up some pay if you, uh… stick it out with the platoon the whole time, okay? Anything to get you to help.” Cuttlefish offered, a bit desperate.

“My friends and I need the money, so…” Hiro held out his hand, to shake, “It’s a deal.”

Cuttlefish accepted it, shaking it unexpectedly strongly.

“And that settles it! Starting today, you’re Agent 3 for the New Squidbeak Splatoon!”

Cuttlefish ended the handshake, going over to his tent area, shifting through boxes. He pulled out a suit, which looked a bit old. He handed it to Hiro.

“That’s your brand new Hero Suit, kiddo. It’ll help you fight out there!”

“What about my current clothes, though–?”

Hiro stopped himself when he saw Cuttlefish pull out a backpack of sorts. It also doubled as an inktank.

“Just put ‘em in here for now, you can take ‘em back home after your first mission.”

Hiro’s hearts skipped a beat. “Wait, I’m working now–?”

“Sure are, kiddo! Looks like your little friend there wants to, too.” Cuttlefish interrupted, pointing toward Buddy.

Hiro turned to Buddy, who looked excited. They spoke again.

Work. Together

“You wanna be an agent too, Buddy?” Hiro asked. Buddy said a word of agreement.

“Don’t mind that! As long as you split the pay. I’m fresh outta hero suits, though.”

Buddy nodded in understanding, though Hiro just stood there. He held his new clothes in his hands. He stared at them, many thoughts about the future filling his mind. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. His nerves were starting to creep up on him.

This was a start to a new life, wasn’t it?

He hoped it’d be a good one.

Chapter Text

Hiro adjusted the straps on his backpack, dusting off the yellow jacket that was now on his body. The Hero Suit fit well, with his clothes snugly fitting in the backpack itself (admittedly pretty packed in there, to make sure they don’t fall out). Buddy found out he could fit himself in there if the clothes weren’t there, which was definitely nice, though a little impossible to use at the current moment. Cuttlefish handed him a “Hero Shot”, as the gun was called, and told him to avoid touching the fuzzy ooze (Hiro remembered what he said: “It’ll cover ya in hair, whether you like it or not, kiddo!”) and it freaked him out. He slowly walked past the pulsating, furry goop, being mindful with each step. Buddy, meanwhile, calmly walked on ahead, which led the two to a dead end. A huge pile of the fuzzy ooze blocked the way ahead, a circular mass growing out of it. It was almost glowing with a strange energy. It made the octoling shudder.

“I don’t think there’s much we can do about that.” Hiro said, gesturing toward their obstacle.

Cuttlefish, trailing behind the two, thought about it for a moment. He then pointed to the circular mass.

“Maybe if ya POP that, the whole thing will go POOF! Disappear!”

Hiro started to shoot at it with ink. It didn’t do a thing.

“...Well, eh… we can worry about it later. Focus on lookin’ for a way into the squidnappers base!” Cuttlefish stated. Regardless, Hiro was worrying about it now.

Hiro and Buddy stumbled upon a taped up kettle, which quickly opened with a couple shots of ink. A grate was under the lid, and it definitely led somewhere. The two agents quickly glanced at each other, then back at the entrance. Hiro helped Buddy onto his shoulder to hold on, and they both went in.

LEVEL 0-1 - Octarians in The Crater? YIKES!

Hiro and Buddy emerged in a strange place with crates lying around and balloons floating in the air. The place seemed huge, despite the small entrance. Television screens showcasing a cloudy sky littered the outer edges, as if this place was made for a room in a video game. It felt unfamiliar and a little unnerving to Hiro. The balloons and orange crates gave out small, orange spheres when broken open. They held a unique energy.

Buddy mumbled something about it. They called them power eggs.

“Is that what they’re called?” Hiro asked. He held one of the power eggs up to inspect it; its reddish-orange hue contrasted against the light blues everywhere.

Hiro squinted, holding the egg out a bit further out, using one of the fake blue skies as a background. It made the egg look like the sun, though it didn’t look like it glowed or sparked any light. It looked like it was being consumed by the bright screen. The scenery being showcased on the electronic screens looped back to the first frame it was on when the two agents entered, taking Hiro out of whatever moment he was trying to immerse himself in. He put the egg into a storage compartment in his backpack. His eyes were irritated from focusing on the lights for so long.

“This place is giving me a headache… Let’s hope the pay’s good, Bud.”

Buddy nodded, the two of them continuing on to the launchpad to the next area, working through the puzzles presented. They learned about balloon fish and their startling ability to explode out ink, reinforced crates that needed more ink to break open, ink switches that were hard to hit, armor (which had a feel that Hiro was not a fan of), and that Buddy’s help was quite the necessity.

Cuttlefish’s muffled voice played through Hiro’s headset, “maybe Buddy could help ya get that faraway crate you’re dreamin’ about.”

The octoling and salmonid shared nervous glances. There was only one way they could do this.

Hiro chuckled nervously. “...So, I’m decent with arced shots… sometimes, so don’t worry, dude.”

Buddy squinted at him before sighing, letting Hiro pick them up and chuck them across the gap. Thankfully, he got his aim right that time, and Buddy landed squarely on the crate. Buddy started to tear right into it, salvaging some power eggs in the process. Hiro watched in a bit of horror, a little unaware that they could do that. He called Buddy back, who jumped back next to him soon after, and the two continued on. After going through more balloons and crates, they crossed a bridge and saw an unusual sight.

There was an Octarian across the bridge they just lowered, though they were covered in fuzz. Hiro tensed up again.

“There’s an Octotrooper! Get ready to splat them, Agent 3!”

Hiro’s hands trembled, Hero Shot barely able to be held onto. He couldn’t imagine how awful that fate was, succumbing to the fuzzy ooze and all, though they were still definitely alive. He didn’t have the heart to splat them… but he did have the motivation to.

“Sorry, I need this money.” Hiro mumbled an apology before aiming at the Octotrooper, splatting them before they could get the chance to shoot. He hoped they respawned.

Hiro sighed, moving on as soon as he could to avoid thinking about it. One splat switch later, the two agents were face to face with a Zapfish. Hiro shot at the forcefield it was in with ink, which broke quickly, and he nimbly grabbed it. That was the last thing of note there, so the two left soon after. Backtracking was notably a little difficult, but they managed. Hiro spotted Cuttlefish close by.

“Well done on getting the Zapfish, Agent 3! You remind me of an old agent I helped teach… Ah, the good ol’ days of when the Captain was just an agent, like you…” Cuttlefish mused.

Hiro raised an eyebrow at the old man.

Cuttlefish continued, “Oh, right, you couldn’t know that– You aren’t the first Agent 3, kiddo. She got promoted to Captain a few years ago, though.”

Hiro nodded along, a little intrigued. Now he was wondering how big this platoon (or was it a secret agency?) was– Or, how small it was, rather. He and Buddy let Cuttlefish handle the newly-rescued Zapfish and moved on to figuring out what to do with the huge blob of fuzzy ooze blocking their path. They got a huge sum of power eggs for clearing the area, which gave Buddy an idea. According to Buddy, the eggs powered them up quite a bit, allowing them to chew through almost anything. The bulging fuzzball looked like a mere snack to them while under its effects.

They were right– As soon as they were powered by the eggs, Buddy gained a ferocious appetite. Hiro hesitantly threw them to the fuzzball, and they plowed through it in mere seconds. The huge glob of fuzzy ooze disappeared, to Hiro’s delight. He hated looking at the stuff.

The group continued on, Hiro and Buddy clearing out as much fuzzy ooze as they could with their limited power egg supply. They found and cleared another kettle, fighting more fuzzy-fied Octarians and getting more comfortable with being on the battlefield. On the walk to the next kettle, Cuttlefish was talking to Hiro.

“Didja even read the label on your Hero Suit? Lemme read it for you,” Cuttlefish started.

Hiro was a bit too bored to listen to most of the explanation, but a certain phrase caught his attention:

Dry clean only.

He sighed in disappointment. Between doing it himself or letting a professional do it, that’s another expense to add onto everything else he had to worry about. He hoped his paycheck for all of this was worth it.

The two agents found some items usable as locker decorations (which Hiro could barely stuff into his backpack), more ooze to clear, and more kettles to go through. Keys, vaults, inkrails, grates… the next kettle was a bit of a doozy, to say the least. The Zapfish was quickly captured, though, and brought back to the surface.

“Those fuzzy Octarians are startin’ to freak me out,” Cuttlefish stated, “I think we oughta consider callin’ some backup…”

Cuttlefish fired up an old-looking communicator, and a higher pitched voice rang out of the speakers.

“Agent 2 here. Over.”

There was a pause before they continued speaking again.

“Wait– Gramps? Is that you? Where are you?”

Hiro looked at Cuttlefish, wide-eyed. “Wait, you’re a grandpa?” He was beginning to think this agency was a family business of some kind. Family-run secret agency that was also a platoon… how does that work?

“Sure am! That’s one of my granddaughters talking to us right now.”

Their attention was put back on the communicator. There was another pause from the person talking on the communicator.

“...Who is that you’re talking to? Oh, jeez… Agent 1, this is Agent 2– Gramps has wandered off again. I think he hired another kid.”

"I'm almost 17…" Hiro muttered. He sounded young, sure (he was barely one of the youngest in his friend group, admittedly) but he stood his ground. A small "Oh" from Agent 2 came from the speaker. Cuttlefish gave him a strange look.

A new voice, which Hiro assumed was the other granddaughter, Agent 1, played over the speaker. “Oh, wow, that's a lot… Well, what are we waiting for, Agent 2? Let’s go get them!”

“...Roger that– Stay fresh, you two.”

Another, much longer moment of silence passed. Cuttlefish looked at his communication device, completely dumbfounded.

“...Did they hang up on me?!”

Hiro and Buddy stifled their laughter.

“Agents these days… so impatient…” Cuttlefish muttered to himself.

Suddenly, someone else had picked up on the transmission.

“GYA…HA..HA…Cuttl…Foun… You!”

Cuttlefish swiftly turned it off. “This ol’ thing’s nearly busted… oh well. Let’s keep goin’!”

Hiro gave Buddy a nervous glance. The salmonid shrugged in return.

“...That could’ve been someone, though. Didn’t you hear the words? They're looking for Cuttlefish– Do you think they're dangerous? Or–”

Buddy replied with something. Hiro could only pick out a few words, again. He was already planning on asking Veronika to help teach him the Salmonid language in his head. He smiled at the brief visual before actually listening in.

Your. Overreact. Think.

A frown returned to his face.

“No I’m not– Or, am I…?”

Hiro took a deep breath, then let it out.

“You’re… right. Everything’s gonna be fine, we’ll get paid for this busywork, and be just fine. Right?”

Buddy nodded, and the two continued on their way. They hopped down to a lower platform to clear more ooze when Hiro’s eyes lit up. He immediately turned to the corner, picking up a spotless Tableturf card pack from the ground. He stared at it for a moment before shoving it into one of his pants’ pockets. He made a mental note to open it later. The two went into another kettle, which was much more notable than the ones prior.

LEVEL 0-4 - What Are They? Can We Stop Them?!

There were a lot more fuzzy Octarians in this area. Hiro was starting to feel a little nervous, missing his shots more often. Despite being good with shooter-class weapons in Turf War, this was different. Seeing his opponent look to be under an.. Unpleasant ailment, and being shot at with ink that didn’t even look safe? It made him feel a little sick.

That feeling increased when he accidentally let one of the bullets of ooze hit him, and it felt all kinds of wrong. It missed his armor and hit one of his few exposed areas of skin, his hands, and it burned. Ink shouldn’t burn. He let out a yelp at the sudden pain and quickly sprayed bullets at the Octarian who hit him, splatting them quickly. Getting behind cover, he dropped his weapon and looked at his hand. Light purple liquid quickly oozed off of his hand, leaving a pinkish mark behind. It stung slightly.

“Th-This isn’t– It isn’t ink,” Hiro stammered out, “Th-this– It’s that ooze, isn’t it? Oh, cod, it's not gonna take over– is it?!”

Buddy inspected the mild injury, saying something. Hiro couldn’t pick up on any of it, though– He was beginning to panic. His breathing quickened, his hearts racing faster and faster. He looked at his hands, beginning to shake.

“Why did I take this job– It’s gonna kill me, huh? I don't want to die. This is gonna o-overwhelm me, then that'll get me killed, i-it’ll do it before I get to–”

Buddy gently touched the spot where the injury was. Hiro flinched, but looked down at his friend, then back at the injury. Turns out, the injury was fading already. His breathing started to slow, and he leaned up against the wall they both hid behind. He held his head in his hands, a little embarrassed.

“...Why do I always work myself up over nothing…”

Buddy jumped up to his back and patted it, saying a couple words.

Okay. We. Moments

Hiro removed his hands from his face, avoiding eye contact with Buddy.

“...I know, but… I can't just ‘have a moment’ on the job. L-Let’s keep moving– and I won’t let that happen again.”

Buddy frowned a bit, worried for him, and hopped down soon after. Hiro picked up his Hero Shot and stood up, the two pushing forward once more. They fought many more Octarians, each stray shot that hit Hiro making him just a bit more nervous each time. He kept that fear to himself. At one point, there was a group of three or four, and Hiro got an idea.

“I-I’m going to use this special,” Hiro checked his special gauge, “‘Splashdown’... hopefully it's what its name implies, or we’re a bit screwed.”

Buddy nodded, a bit fearful themself, as Hiro activated the special. He felt the power of the special flow through his body, lifting him up into the air, then the power coursed to his hand– which was then set to slam to the ground along with the rest of him. He shot to the ground, landing with a large explosion of ink coming out of the impact. He stumbled back afterward, checking his surroundings. All of the Octarians got splatted by the blast.

“Wow…” Hiro exclaimed. Buddy was in awe, too.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in Turf War… It’s like Reefslider. But… cooler.”

Hiro felt a bit safer for the rest of the time clearing the area of enemies, with the help of Buddy. Soon enough, they reached the Zapfish, and left with it as soon as possible. On the way back, Hiro felt a little haunted by the effects the fuzzy ooze had. It was infecting people with drastic effects, and it did not act like ink at all. For the brief moment it was on him, it felt like it was trying to dig into his skin. Like it was implanting itself there. Was it something more than just some weird ooze?

“I wonder if the fuzzy Octarians are in pain. Do you think they’re being, like… controlled or something? Stuck there, helplessly shooting at things…” Hiro thought aloud.

What? Was all Buddy replied with.

“Sorry, I’m overthinking things again.”

There was a moment of silence as they both rose out of the kettle, with Hiro looking out into the distance at the last bit of fuzzy ooze they had to clean up.

“...I really hope they aren’t.”

Cuttlefish mentioned something about that being the last kettle in the area, but Hiro couldn’t really focus on his words. The octoling wandered over to the last fuzzball and let Buddy pop it open. A huge mass of fuzzy ooze was cleared, revealing what appeared to be a battle arena in the dead center of The Crater. Hiro peered down at it, thoughts racing in his mind.

“That isn’t a good sign.” Hiro whispered.

Cuttlefish was going to reply, before his eyes darted to the sky.

“INCOMING! Something’s heading this way fast!”

Hiro and Buddy looked up. A giant ship flew down from above, turning into a mech with robotic fists and legs. It used one of the walls of the crater to slide down to the arena in the middle. It landed at the bottom with a loud crash, sending rubble everywhere.

“GYAH HA HA! I finally found you, Cuttlefish! My troops have gone missing… and I know you’re behind it!”

An octopus in a large hat holding wasabi sticks piloted the mech.

“It’s DJ Octavio!” Cuttlefish yelled out, pointing at Octavio with his free hand. Everything clicked in Hiro’s mind: this was the leader of the Octarians. He and Cuttlefish must have some ill will toward each other, judging by the interaction.

A bead of sweat rolled down the octoling’s face. Nerves were getting to him.

Cuttlefish glared at his enemy. “He’s up to his old tricks again… Agent 3! Get him before he has the chance to run off with the Great Zapfish!”

“Oh stop with the nonsense! I’m about to drop my latest hit–” Octavio stared directly into Hiro’s eyes, “–right on your scared little face!”

Hiro blinked repeatedly, taking a step back. He dropped his Hero Shot in panic, gesturing toward the mech. He quickly glanced at Buddy, who seemed a little unphased by all of this (Just what did they and Veronika get up to before this…?). He then looked at Cuttlefish like he was a madman for asking for such a thing.

“I have to fight that–?!”

Cuttlefish nodded, like he’d sent kids out like this many times before. “Sure do! Now get out there!”

Hiro hurriedly grabbed his Hero Shot and super jumped down to the arena, Buddy trailing not too far behind.

OCTOBOT KING L3.GS

The previous fights Hiro got into were dangerous for sure, but this one was easily the worst.

Having to dodge mechanical fists barreling toward him– some even threatening to drill right through him– put a lot of strain on his body and his mind. Running around the tiny space and having to shoot at the weapons meant to splat him was quite difficult. It was very unfamiliar, compared to what happens in Turf War. Usually, he didn’t worry, because he could just respawn… though he isn’t sure what would happen here.

The thought of potentially dying distracted him, and he almost got hit by a spinning fist attack. He threw himself out to the side, barely dodging it, and started firing straight at it. It was fired back just in time, and DJ Octavio flew out of the machine, crashing into the part of the arena Hiro and Buddy were at. The octoling was completely dazed, but still shot at Octavio, sending him right back to his robot. The Octarian leader yelled something at Hiro, but he couldn’t follow his words. He was regretting his agent job even more now.

What he did follow, though, was the giant vacuum that popped out of the mech. It sucked up all of the ink on the ground and all of the shots Hiro tried to fire. This was turning into a nightmare. Buddy quickly told him something after a couple minutes of hopeless squirming:

Throw me in.

Hiro nodded, throwing Buddy into the air stream when the vacuum next turned on. They ended up stopping the vacuum from working, and Hiro could go back to shooting at the fists again. Every time a fist would hit the mech a bit too hard, Buddy would fly back out, looking a lot more tired each time. Hiro worried about them– But they couldn’t stop now. They had a fight to win.

Octavio got knocked out of the mech and sent flying right back again, and he looked furious.

“GRAH! Now you’ve made me mad!”

On his last legs, Octavio launched out what felt like an all out attack. Mech now sporting red lights, it let out its attacks much faster and threatened to slap its hands on the ground and send out shock waves. At this point, though, Hiro’s adrenaline outpaced his fear, and he was able to fight just well enough to get Octavio out of his mech for the final time. Hiro checked his special gauge quickly before going for the final blow: A Splashdown. It sent Octavio flying back, slamming into the seat of his robot. The robot was visibly glowing hot red, light seeping through cracks in the armor.

Cuttlefish looked down at Hiro and Buddy.

“I–I’d back up, kid–”

Suddenly, the mech exploded, shrapnel flying everywhere. The blast radius wasn’t large, but it still sent what remained of the robot and its pilot flying high into the sky. Hiro watched it as it was falling… directly on top of him. He scrambled out of the way, throwing himself and Buddy into the sand as it crashed into the middle of the arena. Octavio slipped out of the seat, lying on the ground in defeat.

Buddy quickly got back into the arena chipper as ever, but Hiro could barely pull himself out of the sand. He laid on the cold ground as Cuttlefish stood by him, staring down at him with a worried look.

“Hey, Agent 3? You good, kiddo? I don’t want ya dyin’ on me, that’s for sure…”

Hiro was hyperventilating, hands shaking as he tried to grasp for his dropped Hero Shot. Once his weak fingers curled themselves over the grip, he pushed himself up, immediately aiming the gun at Octavio. The older octopus opened his eyes to glare at him.

“Urgh… No fair, your gear is too strong–”

Octavio paused his speech once he truly processed what Hiro looked like. He wasn’t a young agent sicked onto him by Cuttlefish ready to fire with barely any remorse (kids were cruel); he was a scared kid, trying his best to look intimidating. Octavio noticed that he was an octoling, too– perhaps one of his soldiers? He didn’t want to take any risks thinking that he wasn’t.

“...Kid, I won’t hurt you. Not in a million years. You can relax.”

Hiro lowered the Hero Shot, releasing a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Buddy hopped up on his shoulder and rubbed his head against Hiro’s cheek. Hiro glanced at Buddy– He still wasn’t used to how they were so quick to jump to comforting others. Between now and his little moment earlier, though… he was really glad they did.

The next words from Cuttlefish and Octavio were a complete blur. Something about the Great Zapfish being stolen by someone else. Hiro took a sharp breath; in that moment, it was like he felt his stomach start to twist from his anxiety. He stared at the cracks on the arena’s floor, and how they were slowly growing; Something was wrong. He took his ink tank off his back and held onto it firmly, making sure his belongings were safe inside. Cuttlefish and Octavio gave him an odd look, but that look soon shifted to panic when the floor started to break under everyone’s weight.

Fuzzy ooze made its way through the cracks, causing the floor to entirely break. The chaos was blinding. Cuttlefish was taken away by the ooze, his cries for help beginning to etch themselves into Hiro’s memory. The Hero Suit fell apart due to the flying debris and speed they were falling. Buddy called out for Hiro, who had his eyes shut tight.

Then everything went to black.

Chapter Text

“Hiro.” Someone called his name.

Hiro shifted around, turning to his side.

“Earth to Hirooooo…” The voice trailed on.

Hiro slowly opened his eyes. He was in bed. Veronika stared down at him, their eyes a beautiful golden hue. They were waving their hand in his face.

“Hey, Hiro!”

Hiro muttered something under his breath. “Ron…? Why are you waking me up?”

Veronika’s smile faded, Hiro feeling a sense of dread. It was like her frown dulled the colors in the world.

“We’re gonna miss out on the competition if ya sleep in any longer! You said you’d rather die than miss it…”

Her next words were in a soft, yet shaky whisper; One that made Hiro’s hearts stop beating.

“I don’t want you to die.”

Hiro’s eyes shot open. His breathing was heavy, though it slowed down as he processed his surroundings. He lied on his back, body aching from falling onto the ground. He frowned when he didn’t see Veronika; the vast blue sky overwhelmed his vision instead. It was so bright it made him squint, wanting to completely shut his eyes. He felt the ground with his fingers: soft and fluffy like snow, but dry like the sands of the Splatlands. He realized his experience with Veronika was merely a dream. He frowned.

Hiro decided to shut his eyes. Maybe this was the nightmare and he would wake up soon. He spent the moment hoping to wake up in his bed, dazed and confused as to why a platoon would hire him to be a secret agent. That was absurd; there wouldn’t be a secret agency in Splatsville– Or anywhere in the Splatlands, in fact. No one would seriously hire someone like him for anything, anyway. Buddy wasn’t liked by most people, either. He wondered what happened to them, but had a feeling they might’ve not made it through the fall. He felt his stomach twist at the thought. He shelved it, for his sanity.

He laid there, motionless.

The world around him felt cold.

Like enemy ink during the winter.

He didn’t know much time was passing, each moment felt the same as the last.

His breathing was loud. He wondered if he could see Veronika and his home again had he just opened his eyes… But he was too tired at this point.

It was so, so cold.

…

“Hiro.” Someone called his name.

Hiro shifted around, turning to his side. He was roused from whatever state it was in; it didn’t feel like sleep.

“Hiro?” The person asked it this time with some concern.

Hiro slowly opened his eyes. He was where he was before. An inkling wearing a large captain’s cap stared down at him, her eyes a strikingly orange hue. Her tentacles were a golden color, just like Veronika’s.

Suddenly, the inkling’s eyes widened, as if at a realization.

“Oh, cool. You’re alive.”

Hiro blinked. “Am I…?”

The inkling smiled, holding out her hand.

“Need help?”

Hiro shakily grabbed their hand, and was pulled up quite forcibly to his feet. Stumbling for a moment, he got his balance. He looked around, immediately spotting a base camp of sorts. Two other inklings were there.

“I’m Kaori, the Captain of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. But you can just call me captain, if you’d like.” The captain introduced herself. It sounded rehearsed.

Hiro nodded.

“I’m, uh– Wait, you know my name already, huh... How do you know that, actually…?”

“Oh! Your little friend told me.”

Buddy ran up next to the captain, excitedly hopping up and down. Hiro weakly smiled– though that quickly faded.

“Wait, where are we? Is it safe? Is something gonna kill me–?”

The captain firmly placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “It’s safe. Don’t worry.”

Hiro stared at her and studied her expression. It felt like those eyes were already burned into his memory, despite how little he’s seen them. They reminded him of an open flame, burning with determination and curiosity. Pretty similar to Veronika, actually. The captain led Hiro to the other inklings. They seemed excited to see him.

“Heyyy! You must be the new recruit!” The one with long hair called out, waving eccentrically.

“Welcome to the New Squidbeak Splatoon,” the one with shorter hair started, “I’m Agent 2, and this is Agent 1.” Agent 2 gestured towards Agent 1.

“You’re his grandkids!” Hiro stated.

The two agents looked at each other before looking back at Hiro.

Agent 1 started to look (oddly) worried before she remembered. “OH! Right! You were there when gramps called!”

Hiro nodded. “Yeah. You look almost nothing like him, though…”

He stared at the two agents suspiciously. Their eyes were just as striking as the captain’s– though, much more unique. They were a bright yellow that had a 4-pointed star instead of the usual circular pupil other inklings had. He had only ever seen it in the eyes of that one member of the news broadcasters– her name was Frye, right? Were they related at all?

Agent 1’s grin turned into a frown. “What’s wrong? Were you hurt by the fall?” “The landing looked pretty rough… Need first aid?” Agent 2 added.

Hiro blinked a couple times, looking down at himself; his agent clothes were beaten up and broken apart. They still performed their intended function, (assumedly) but they definitely didn’t look as nice as before. He looked back up at the girls, shaking his head.

“Uh– No, not at all. I just thought I recognized you from somewhere? N-Nothing much.”

A brief look of panic crossed the two inkling’s faces before they both smiled again.

“Oh, that’s good! I was worried you sprained a tentacle!” Agent 1 said.

Agent 2 chuckled. “You know, captain’s pretty good at that.”

The captain– who had taken a seat on some boxes between the two agents– pouted in response. They seemed to know each other well, like they’ve been talking to each other for years. It reminded him of his own little friend group– Well, the one with his close friends, anyway. Thinking of his friends made him realize how exhausted of this job he was.

“...Can I go home?” Hiro asked.

The captain looked at him weirdly. “What? But you just got here.”

Hiro let out a loud sigh. “I’m… Not used to this. At all. I’ve been out of the house since 8:30 and all I want to do is go lie on my bed and hope these clothes don’t look too weird…”

The other agents and the captain glanced at each other before looking back at their new recruits.

“That’s fine. Come back soon, though.” Agent 2 said.

“As long as you’re fine going through the sewers, that is!” Agent 1 added on.

Hiro was about to dart his way out of the area when Buddy tapped his shoulder. Hiro stopped in his tracks. Buddy said something to him:

The pay?

Hiro blinked. Right, he wasn’t walking out empty handed.

“Hey, um,” Hiro walked towards his coworkers, “when will I get paid for this?”

“Paid?” The captain asked. She glanced back at Agent 1 and 2.

“Oh, uh… Who told you you were getting cash?” Agent 1 asked.

“Your ‘gramps–’ the guy that hired me.” Hiro replied.

The two agents looked at each other while the Captain pretended she wasn’t paying attention. The agents whispered to each other. Hiro could barely hear them:

“Marie- did gramps tell you about that??”

“Nope. Do you have any cash on you, Cal?”

“Why would I?”

After a long pause, Agent 2 sighed and fidgeted around the pockets of her coat. She took out a nice-looking leather wallet and pulled out a small stack of paper bills. She handed them to Hiro; reading their worth made his jaw drop. It’d take him three days of his usual turf war battling to make that amount!

“Sorry if that isn’t enough.” She added.

Hiro simply stared at the money in his hands. Buddy was staring, too. The two quickly stated their goodbyes and hopped into a nearby sewer drain. While navigating back to Splatsville, Hiro thought that this job might be worth it after all.

“Hiro! Where the hell have you been?!”

Hiro trudged into the apartment, ignoring his roommate’s questioning. Well, the roommate that made it their goal to get on his nerves as much as possible: the infamous AnemoneNo1. Though, their name was just Ane. They were currently slouching on the couch eating beef-flavored instant ramen.

Buddy hopped out of Hiro’s backpack and went to their shared bedroom. Four broke people living in the same small place led to that. Ane gawked at the sudden appearance of the small salmonid.

“And you brought Bud with you? In that clown suit? No way!”

“It’s not a clown suit.” Hiro retorted.

“Nah, I’m not judging you for it,” Ane snickered, “just feelin’ bad for your wallet. It didn’t even come with shoes!”

Hiro glanced at his feet and started to panic internally. How did he not notice that?? He tried to cover his panic with a smirk, realizing he still had a chance to fight back.

“Oh yeah? Guess you don’t want any of this then.”

Hiro (lightly) placed the money he had earned on the living room’s coffee table. Ane glanced at it quickly before giving him an unamused look.

“Lemme guess, all 1s? Why dontcha just get coins at that point–”

“They’re 100s, and it’s worth more than what you made at MakoMart over the weekend.”

Ane snorted. “Oh, you’re lying–”

Ane picked up the wad of cash mid-sentence and paused once they actually started counting it. They counted through it at an alarming speed, becoming more and more distraught as they got closer to the end of the stack.

Ane hesitantly looked up at Hiro. “Who did you steal this from…??”

“I earned it at my new job.” Hiro said with pride.

Ane stared at him, completely bewildered. They tried to connect the dots in their head.

“...Who did you kill?”

Hiro blinked a couple times. “What? I didn’t kill anyone!” As far as he knew, anyway.

“You have to be some sort of assassin to make this kind of cash!”

Hiro squinted. “I can’t just kill someone! You know that.”

Ane giggled. “Ah yeah, you're a coward. Almost forgot. But would you kill for that amount of cash? Cuz I would.”

Hiro was starting to get really sick of the assassin claim.

“No, I’m a secret agent, stupid!”

Ane raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

Hiro paused for a moment before slamming his hands over his mouth. Though inaudible, he mumbled “It hasn’t even been a day and I already blew my cover…” out loud.

Then, Ane suddenly burst into laughter. They had to lean over and hold their abdomen from how hard they were laughing.

“Th-That’s a good one, cod!”

Hiro watched them almost fall off the couch before they calmed themselves down.

“Hah… you… a secret agent? Where would a secret agency be? Up in rich-kid land Inkopolis? And what would they even do– Save the world? Hope you like being an assassin or whatever.”

Hiro felt too relieved they didn’t believe it to be angry about it. He would argue about being good enough for the job (he hoped he was, anyway) and that the job was real, but he knew better to take this chance to keep his cover than to mess it up again. After quickly changing into more comfortable clothes in the bathroom, he slunk over to their shared bedroom and laid on his bed– a tiny bed shoved into the right corner of the room. A bunk bed was in the other corner, with a dresser in between. Since he begged for the single bed, he was cursed with taking the bottom drawer to keep personal belongings in. Bending over to reach its contents killed his back every time.

He struggled to pull it open from his current position (as well as the fact he had his face buried in his pillow), but he managed. He pulled out his beloved headphones and put them on, noting that he should probably tell his agent coworkers he had no idea where the loaned agent headset was. He pulled out his phone and ignored all of the notifications to put on Splatify.

Just before he could put on his favorite playlist, someone walked in. Expecting it to be Ane, he attempted to ignore it. However, the voice surprised him.

“Heya, Hiro!”

Hiro immediately sat up and looked at who just entered.

“Ron–?”

“Hiro!” Veronika replied, tackling their friend into a hug, pushing both of them down onto the bed. They grinned at him, not realizing they had accidentally shuffled his playlist from the impact. A song he found and absentmindedly added to his general playlist started playing– he remembered it might be called Bomb Rush Blush. Despite the notable Inkadian accent making it a bit hard to understand the quickly sung lyrics, he knew it could be a love song of some kind.

A bit awkward to play right now, to say the least.

Hiro froze, stuttering out a bunch of unintelligible phrases as he processed the situation. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Buddy on the bottom bunk squinting at him. Hiro tried to ignore it as he finally returned the surprise-hug, awkwardly wrapping his arms around Veronika. She left the hug, letting him recover. He shifted to a sitting position and she promptly sat next to him.

“So,” Veronika started, “didja get a cool job?”

Hiro turned his music down. “Uh. I guess you could say it sounds cool, but is a bit, uh…”

He glanced at Buddy, who was now knocked out on Veronika’s bunk, snoring loudly. He remembered everything that had happened during the day and tensed up.

“...Hectic?”

“Hmm.” Veronika hummed. They thought for a moment before replying, “So, something dangerous?”

Hiro hesitantly nodded. Veronika gave him a soft smile that made Hiro smile, too.

“Well, at least the assassin job pays well!” Veronika teased, lightly punching Hiro in the shoulder.

The both of them laughed about it. Though, Veronika quickly dragged the conversation back to something serious, as she usually did.

“You look tired. You doing OK?”

Hiro looked away, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Uhh… okay enough.”

Veronika studied him for a moment before changing the subject again.

“Good! Gotta be ready for karaoke night tomorrow.”

Hiro felt a sense of dread wash over him. It drowned out all of his other senses, with the music appropriately shifting to Now or Never! As the realization hit him.

“...I forgot about karaoke night.” Hiro mumbled guiltily.

“How?? You said you were so excited about the theme–”

“I at least remember that. Forgotten human music, right?” One of those types of tracks came on– a calming piano theme. Though he didn’t remember the name, just that it was really old, even compared to other tracks.

Veronika nodded. “Yeppers! You’re going first!”

Hiro blinked. “I… agreed to that?”

“Woww, you must be super tired if you forgot that, too!”

“I guess so…”

Hiro looked back up at Veronika; Their eyes were still a shining marigold. What Hiro hadn’t noticed before now was that they had a nearly invisible orange ring around them. Despite how small of a touch it was, it just made them even better to stare at.

Wait, stare? Hiro spaced out looking at her. Realizing that he did made him blush a tad.

“Well, see ya later, man. Gotta go out for snacks!” Veronika said with a grin plastered on their face.

Veronika got up from their spot and patted the other’s head before walking out of the room. It was quite the odd gesture– enough to keep Hiro up at night the first time she did it. Those weirder parts of her actions and personality were what people usually tried to ignore, but Hiro adored them, sort of. He could relate, in a way. So could Ane, apparently.

That was probably why they were so tight-knit.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Hiro’s mind. He shoved his phone in his pocket and ran out the room, and soon out of their apartment.

“Veronika! Wait–!”

They turned to face him quickly. “What?”

Hiro hesitated for a moment. Was this a good moment to bring it up? The evening rays started to dim, a sunset covering the sky. It had to be now, or he’d never get the chance to say it.

“Can you get me some onigiri?”

Veronika looked at him with a poker-face expression before chuckling. “Okay, silly!”

Hiro let out a sigh of relief before walking back into the apartment, shutting the door behind him. He glanced over at Ane and saw that they looked unamused.

“You’re so dramatic.”

“You’re so judgy.”

Ane scoffed. “I’m not the one with the obvious crush on my roommate.”

Hiro froze in place. He tried to bump his music up to max volume and tried to ignore the fact his face was now a deep crimson hue from embarrassment. Them knowing made their whole teasing-rivalry thing so much worse.

Ane smirked. “So you know I’m right, huh?”

All Hiro could do was choke up a reply. “Y-You acted similar before you dated Tako–”

“WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT THAT.”

Hiro tried to stifle his laughter. Ane groaned and slouched even further back into the couch.

“Whatever… You know I invited her and my sis to karaoke, right?”

Hiro looked at them. “Wait… you did?”

Ane shrugged. “Yeah. Why not?”

Hiro felt his hearts sink in his chest. The song he wanted to sing was… embarrassing in front of a group. Ane must’ve noticed that he was thinking of that, because their smug look came back again.

“Ohhhh, you’re gonna sing for ‘rika, huh?”

“No.” Hiro lied.

Ane shifted their position, placing their hands behind their head and crossing their legs.

“Mmm… If you say so– liar.”

Hiro went through with maxing out his music volume and went straight back to his bed. Face first into a pillow, all he could think about was how he had to juggle this with a secret agent job of all things. All he could wonder about was why his life couldn’t be simpler…