Squidbeak Splatoon: The Inner Agent

The Final Memory

Kazuki, the Octoling known to a few as Agent 8, slumped in the somewhat comfy seat. Finally, he had done it. After so long, he had finally obtained every single Mem Cake in the Deepsea Metro. And in doing so, he had recovered any piece of memory that may have been missing.

And yet...for some reason, he felt like this wasn't the end of his time in the depths.

Was there still something missing?

He checked his CQ-80. Yep, all the Mem Cakes had been gathered.

This only puzzled him.

Hm...

Perhaps, he thought, this had nothing to do with the little cakes of physical memory. At least, not directly.

He glanced at the walkie talkie that the good Cap'n Cuttlefish had let him borrow when he told him he was taking a trip down here. He pondered over contacting Pearl and Marina to get some advice. But what would they know about memory...?

He knew there was no way his friends could help him with this. Terrance and Juniper were the coolest Inklings he knew, but coolness doesn't solve mysteries.

He sighed. He'd have to sleep on this.

The train came to a stop at the main station. Kazuki got off the train and onto the platform. He took a few moments to look at the remains of the blender that had nearly turned him and Cap'n into a smoothie. He looked away after some time. He looked toward the other end of the platform where a row of lockers and a vending machine resided and headed in that direction. He noticed something strange upon reaching his destination: one of the lockers was open, the one with the number eight on the door.

Now he was really confused. Wasn't that locker closed before? Who could've opened it? No one was here except himself and the bizarre train passengers. Did another cephalopod fall down here by accident? He hoped not.

He stared at the locker for awhile. He didn't take any notice of the way his hand was gravitating toward it. He was about to retract his hand but it was too late. He had already touched the open locker.

Everything went black.

***

The Octoling opened his eyes to find himself in a square arena of some sort. He felt some sort of weapon in his hold. An Octoshot, he guessed. He glanced down to see that he was right.

It was quiet. Not a sound could be heard aside from his own breathing.

He decided to take a look at his new surroundings. There were giant speakers and roaming beams of light that reminded him of stage lights. But this square shaped place didn't look like a stage at all. What in the name of cod was going on?

"You made it."

Kazuki jumped a little in surprise. He couldn't believe there was someone else here with him. Slowly, he turned to look at the owner of the voice.

It was an Inkling boy. His ink color was orange. He was approaching Kazuki at a moderate pace. The closer he got, the more he noticed just how much he resembled Terrance. He was wearing the Agent 3 uniform, cape included. And his eyes were a deep orange, just like Terrance's. He even had a Hero Shot!

Why did this boy look like a clone of his best friend?

"Took you long enough," the boy added.

Kazuki questioned him. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"I'm Terrance," he stated, as if he thought that the Octoling already knew that. "Also known as Agent 3."

"You may look like him, but you're not Terrance," Kazuki said whilst slightly narrowing his eyes at the look-alike.

"Of course I am," 'Terrance' responded. "But I'm not the Terrance you know. Not exactly."

Kazuki tilted his head slightly.

"Allow me to elaborate." 'Terrance' was in front of Kazuki now. "I'm a version of Terrance constructed of your memories. One memory in particular is the catalyst for my being here. Do you remember?"

"Remember wh-"

The agent cut himself short as another memory resurfaced, making him close his eyes. Suddenly he saw himself at what he thought was a concert. But in reality, it was a huge battle between DJ Octavio and a male Inkling he didn't know at the time. All he could hear were the sounds of battle and a melody that seemed to resonate within his soul.

"Everything changed that day..." Kazuki muttered as he opened his eyes.

'Terrance' nodded.

Neither of them spoke for a minute or two.

"So..." Kazuki finally piped up. "What is this place anyway?"

"An arena," 'Terrance' answered.

"I can see that. But seriously, where are we?"

"In the deepest recesses of your mind." The look-alike gestured to the whole area around them. "Because you remembered that fateful day, this place came into existence."

Kazuki didn't really understand how an arena could be forged from remembering something but he nodded anyway. "And you're here because...?"

"...I am the final memory. The last piece of the puzzle that is you. And in order to secure this memory like you secured the Mem Cakes-" He turned to face the Octoling directly. "-you must defeat me in battle."

Kazuki didn't respond right away. He thought about all of this in silence.

"I...I think I understand why we need to fight."

The orange tentacled boy nodded before super jumping onto the only floating platform in the entire space, his Hero Shot at the ready.

"I am Inner Agent 3!" he proclaimed. His voice seemed to echo throughout the entire area. "Kazuki, prepare yourself! For this will be the toughest battle you will ever face!"

With that, the battle began.