Emmie: A Splat Force Story; Chapter 1

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad! I hope you all are doing well! Today is the premier of the newest installment in the Splat Force Saga: Emmie: A Splat Force Story!

Planning this story has been so much. One of the best things about writing it is that I got to make a stronger connection between me and the protagonist, since a lot of problems present in her come from me, which made it more personal, to me at least. Still, I hope you all enjoy this one!

When compared to the depressing Splat Force III: Bolton's Reign, and the downright crazy Redemption: A Splat Force Story, both from last year, this story is going to be more light-hearted and more down-to-earth than I think most of the Splat Force stories that I've done up until now.

One important thing to note is that this story can be enjoyed with or without prior Splat Force knowledge. So, if any new readers want to in on the fun without having to go through six previous stories, welcome aboard!

So without further ado, let's get into this!

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(Chapter Hub)

C H A P T E R  1 : A N I G H T A T T H E G A L A

A P R I L 1 6 T H 2 0 0 2

"Ritchie, how long until that mechanic comes?!"

"Give him a minute, Barbara, have you seen the traffic outside?!"

Ritchie Fisk asked, pacing back and forth outside his boss's office door.

"Besides, Vince is probably busy with other things at the moment. My brother is a busy man."

"And so I've heard..."

Barbara replied with a scoff, looking out of the window.

The Inkopolis Union Centre was one of the proud beacons of Inkopolis City. It was there that the interest of employees at Inkopolis City was looked after. It was a place filled with hope for the proud workers and best of all, the view that came from the windows was astonishing. Everyone could see the whole city from the windows, some can even see their own houses.

Within the walls of the fifteenth floor was a gathering of office computers, four stationed at each table with one employee at each corner. There were three rows of six tables, and each computer had the same hardware, and the same setup, meaning the same problems could arise. Luckily, help wasn't too far ahead.

D I N G ! ! !

The elevator doors opened following the dinging sound. An Inkling with slit-back, light-brown hair walked in. He wore a white shirt with a black tie and grey tros. He was holding a toolbox. Now that he was inside and on the right floor, he took off his sunglasses. All employees looked at him.

"Hello! I am looking for Ritchie?"

"Vince, hey!"

Ritchie greeted, approaching his older brother quickly before engulfing him with a warm hug.

"Hey Rich!"

Vincent Fisk greeted back, patting his brother's long brown hair. Business resumed after the brother's quick hug.

"So what's the problem?"

"Follow me!"

Ritchie guided Vincent through the rows of desks and took him to Barbara's office at the back of the room.

"Ah, help did arrive after all! I was beginning to think I would be stuck on this screen for the rest of my life!"

Barbara remarked, tieing her dark red hair into a bun and biting her lower lip.

"Sorry for the late entry, I had another client just down the road. But I'm here now, that's all that matters!"

"The ends don't always justify the means, Mr. Fisk. But you're right, you may proceed!"

Barbara stepped aside and ed Ritchie at the front door. The two business workers watched as Vincent tried to solve the problem, the problem in question being a frozen screen. At first, he tried the basics, such as holding down the power button and turning the monitor on and off... nothing. He then took a look at the PC. It was warm, a bit too warm. Using a handy screwdriver from his box, he opened up the PC to have a look at the U.

"Ah, I see the problem here. The U is damaged."

"What?! How did this happen?!"

Barbara asked, her tanned skin began going slightly pale.

"It happens for a multitude of reasons, whether that being overuse of it, which could lead to it overheating. Or maybe something went wrong with the electricity. But regardless, you may need a new U. Luckily, I got you covered!"

Vincent said before reaching back into his toolbox to find a U replacement.

"How convenient! You have a spare!"

Barbara exclaimed in surprise.

"I have many spares!"

Vincent replied whilst installing the new U onto the motherboard.

"When it comes to working a job like this, and I'm talking my job here, it's always best to have many spares so that way when one dies, you always have a backup."

Vincent fitted the motherboard back into the PC and started to put everything back together.

"Mr. Fisk, your brother is right, you really are the smartest man alive!"

"If you think that because I came prepared and you didn't, then you may not have the highest standards in the world, then again most Inklings do not."

He replied sarcastically, getting a chuckle from both her and Ritchie.

"You should've seen me during high school. One time, I unlocked the door to the science lab using a loose brush from a toothbrush. Thirteen years ago, I built a fully operating metal arm using scraps from a busted car when I was fourteen."

"You must really be into engineering, huh?"

"Just ask Rich, I'm sure he's happy to tell you loads of different stories!"

Vincent replied before picking up his toolbox.

"I will do after he finishes his paperwork!"

Barbara said, turning to him and raising an eyebrow. Ritchie let out a light chuckle and slipped out of the room. Now that it was just them. Barbara locked the door and closed the blinds. She slowly walked to Vincent and took off her glasses before unbuttoning her shirt. She then spoke in a suggestive tone of voice.

"Now, may I present my award?"

Barbara bit down her lip again as she flashed her cleavage to Vincent, who stared down and gulped.

"Oh boy..."

He whispered. Barbara then dragged him into a kiss, which started a chain of events.

5 M I N U T E S L A T E R . . .

Vincent walked out of Barbara's unlocked office door. Before closing, he looked back at her.

"Sorry for the quick exit, but that's all the time I've got. I've gotta get back to other important work business."

He said calmly before shutting the door with his open right hand.

"Vince! I guess Barbara is finally done with you, what was that about?"

"She... just wanted to talk about how bad computers were, and I told her to find better hardware for them instead of the local rubbish you can get down the road."

"Ah, that makes sense. She and her husband have been getting horrid computer lag. Maybe give her a visit sometime?"

Ritchie suggested, unknowingly frightening his brother.

"Husband..."

"Anyway, you look thirsty, I'll go get you a coffee, you earned it!"

Ritchie said.

"Look at you taking care of me!"

Vincent remarked. Behind that snarky smirk was a smile of pride for his brother.

"Well I have to pay you back for looking after me during my teen years!"

"Someone had to look after you when Dad went away!"

He chuckled. His brother waved at him for a brief goodbye as he went to fetch him some coffee. All Vincent can do was look at him and smile. All seemed great in his life, a bit too great...

"Guys, look out the window!"

"The ground just opened! How?!"

"What's happening?!"

Hearing the worried, spreading words of the other employees, Vincent rushed to the window and saw police cars stopped in their tracks as an Inkling with a dark gray buzz-cut and mustache wearing a suit jumped out of the crack. His eyes had white pupils.

"His eyes! He must be one of them gifted people?!"

"Gifted? You mean the people with those strange powers?!"

People started to dash to both the elevator and the stairs to try and escape the building whilst the rest stayed and watched, frozen in confusion and fear. From across the room, Ritchie noticed the strange activity after finishing his brother's coffee.

He speed-walked to his brother, making it halfway across the room before calling his name.

"Vince?"

Vincent jolted around to his brother then turned back. The gifted Inkling raised his right foot before stomping on the ground, causing a heavy earthquake. The whole room began to shake, everyone hung onto a desk or a wall. Ritchie fell, spilling the coffee.

"Rich!"

Vincent yelled. The moment he ran to help his brother, the building began to fall sideways. Desks crashed against the windows, breaking them. In a fit of panic, Vincent left his brother and went into his swim form and super jumped out the window.

What Vincent failed to see as he jumped out was the speed of the falling building. Debris from the building hit him in the back, knocking him down and covering him from the rest of the collapsing building. Thousands of innocent screams went quiet.

After minutes, Vincent woke up, still in his swim form. Emergency services were all over the place and the gifted Inkling was gone. He swam out of the rubble and went back into his Inkling form, immediately screaming from the pain done to his back.

As the pain eased, his mind switched to the next thing.

"Rich!"

He screamed as he began to scan the rubble, lifting destroyed desks, walls, and doors, finding other dead bodies, but still no Ritchie. Now wasn't the time to lose hope.

"RICH!"

He looked around for hours trying to find his brother, even enlisting the help of Emergency services, but to no luck. Finally, he found him... only it wasn't the miracle that he had hoped it be.

"Rich! Rich!"

He yelled as he helped his brother's body out of the rubble. It was too late... Ritchie was dead.

"Rich! Wake up, Rich! PLEASE WAKE UP!"

All the cuddling and the crying weren't going to change anything. Ritchie was dead, and nothing Vincent can do could bring him back. Despite being as smart as he was, some things cost more than intelligence.

"R-Rich..."

Vincent whimpered as he cried into his brother's ash-covered brown blazer.

J U L Y 1 6 T H 2 0 2 6

Now collaborating with the Royal Army of Inkopolis City, or the R.A.I.C for short, Vincent Fisk had used his intelligence to save lives over at the Coraldia, preventing a war between the Acid Squids and the Shark Kingdom. He was in the back of a black van with a young Octoling girl with a strange condition.

The Octoling girl had light green skin, deep blue hair with green highlights, and dark eyes.

"How much longer, Mr. Fisk?"

She asked as night had now broke.

"Not that far now. In the meantime, do you mind if you kneel in front of me for a second? I need to get that bomb out of your head. You won't be needing it anymore."

He asked. Smiling, the Octoling girl kneeled, facing away from Mr. Fisk as he injects a needle into the back of her neck and took out a tiny explosive, putting it to the side.

"How are you feeling, Shauna?"

As Shauna May-Deacon sat back in her seat, she was instantly taken aback by Mr. Fisk calling her by her real name.

"Y-You said my name..."

"Yeah! I figured since the mission is over, and the R.A.I.C wouldn't need you anymore, you wouldn't need to go by Bright-Light anymore. You are okay with that?"

"Yeah, o-of course! And also, can I ask a question?"

She asked to which Mr. Fisk nodded.

"Are you really gonna cure my condition?"

Mr. Fisk set out a small sigh as he leaned forward, even though he didn't know the full answer.

"I'm gonna be honest, kid, I don't know if I can fully heal you. At best, you might still have batches of this skin. At worst, you might die, sorry for the scare, but that's a very real possibility."

He answered. Shauna went quiet and pale as the black van stopped moving.

"Looks like we're here. Come on, kid."

Both Mr. Fisk and Shauna stepped out of the vehicle. Outside was a large grey dome surrounded by trees. The dome was on a platform surrounded by the sea. Mr. Fisk's men escorted both him and Shauna into the building. As they walked in, he spoke with one of them.

"Is the machine ready?"

"It is, we followed each of your instructions carefully, Mr. Fisk! We managed to fix and rewire the blender. It took a while to find it."

One of the workers with light blue hair, wearing glasses and a white lab coat answered.

"If a while is only a couple of hours then you have the lowest standards, Newton."

Mr. Fisk said sarcastically.

"R-Right."

Doctor Albert Newton, one of Mr. Fisk's right-hand men replied.

"Is it in the testing chamber?"

Mr. Fisk asked.

"Yes! Right this way, Mr. Fisk!"

The Doctor answered as he, alongside other men took both Mr. Fisk and Shauna to the chambers, going down a few metal-plated hallways. Eventually, they reached a dark room.

On the sides of the room were small windows that shielded Fisk's men if something went wrong, such as an explosion. In the middle of the room was a large blender. A few feet in front of it was a small control . Doctor Newton and Mr. Fisk went to the .

Upon seeing the blender, Shauna began feeling overwhelmed with emotion. Last time she was in one, she became who she was at that moment and her life came crashing down because of it. She had to be forced into the blender, refusing to enter and crying hysterically.

"NOT AGAIN! PLEASE NOT AGAIN!"

"This machine has been rewired to reverse your condition. The outcome will be like I said in the van!"

"No! I don't want to die! P-PL-PLEASE!"

Other workers all looked at their boss feeling nervous. Had the boss finally gone too far? Was the plan even going to work? All they could do was watch.

"Look kid, the sooner this is over, the better. It shouldn't take too long, maybe ten or twenty seconds at most. It'll only hurt for a second. It's like getting a jab!"

Mr. Fisk assured, trying to calm down the hyperventilating girl.

"Just breathe, Shauna, breathe."

Shauna slowly breathed in and out, feeling her nerves go drastically down. As soon as she was calm enough, Mr. Fisk turned to his assistant.

"You may begin."

Doctor Newton flipped a switch and pressed a button, causing the Blender to activate. The propellers spun around at supersonic speeds. Shauna was quick to notice, but before she could notice it, she was engulfed in a mixture of pale green and pink ink. After twelve seconds, the machine was off and the room was silent.

"Shauna?"

Mr. Fisk called out. After about a minute of no activity, movement was detected.

Shauna emerged slowly, covered in a mixture of different colored ink. As the ink dried off, Shauna was revealed. It was just as Mr. Fisk had predicted. Her tan skin, her bright pink hair, her yellow eyes, all back. However, there were patches of sanitized skin left all over her body. Her left eye was still dark but she could still see from it. Her hair was no different.

Shauna was taken out of the blender and given a tower to cover herself. It was when she wrapped it around her that she saw herself for the first time. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough for her, at least better than what it was before.

"Th-Thank you! Thank you!"

She cried out in tears of happiness. For the first time in years, she felt alive, she felt free.

"You're welcome..."

Mr. Fisk replied in a downer tone of voice. The shift in behavior concerned the newly healed Shauna.

"Is everything okay, Mr. Fisk?"

She asked. Mr. Fisk locked eyes with two of his men and nodded at them. They nodded back before approaching Shauna and grabbing her by the shoulders tightly.

"Hey! Let go! Mr. Fisk, help me!"

"I'm sorry, kid, I really am. But to secure peace on this planet, the gifted shall fall!"

Mr. Fisk said coldly as Shauna was dragged out of the room, screaming. Seeing the true colors of the man who saved her.

J U L Y 2 0 T H 2 0 2 8

Emily Rogue, a troubled Inkling girl with shoulder-length white hair, awoke in her bed yawning and stretching. She looked over to the clock next to her bed and was in shock to see that it was now the afternoon.

"Motherfu-"

("Dear Diary: my life is a mess")

Emily rushed out of bed, put on her work clothes, consisting of a black cap, yellow shirt, and red leggings, and leaped downstairs to get a quick cereal bar.

"Are you running late again, Emmie dear?"

"YES MUM, I'M RUNNIN' LATE!"

She yelled back before devouring her cereal bar whole.

("I mean, almost every day consists of me wakin' up, late most times, and rushin' out of my bed and a nice pep talk from mother dearest!")

"Emily, will you ever not be lazy? You need to sort that out!"

("Yeah thank you, Mum!")

Her work life wasn't as exciting as how it sounded. A worker at the local arcade sounded fun, in concept. All she did was sit at the sides on her phone until some assistance was needed by the time she would've stood up to help out the person in need, someone else would've done it.

"Bullocks..."

She would constantly whisper.

("It's not like I'd be missin' out on anythin' anyway! And besides, it's not like I have any friends to see, because I have none, well none outside of Magnus.")

Emily would always sit back in her seat and always refresh her and Magnus Lang's direct messages to see if he was out of lessons yet. Almost all the time, she would get no response, which made her die inside.

("Even then he's occupied with engineering class, which by the way, when the hell did he become so interested in engineering? Like, I've known him for like four years and he only got that interest a year ago after watching some squity commercial. Well in today's case, he's most likely doing coursework at home because it's the weekend and squit. Regardless, I'm on my own, again! So thanks, Magnus! Love you really!")

At night she would attend to her second job, working as a barwoman at The Horsefish, a club for the late-night ravers. She would always go around across the bar table giving Inkopolis citizens their daily fix on heavy drinks.

("Well at least I have something to do at night. Cod, drunk people can be so fascinating!")

"And then after that scene, I wrote the most tragic bit in the whole story!"

A drunk Octoling writer told Emily, who was barely listening to the conversation as it was.

"Her death scene!"

"Oh... how wonderful!"

Emily muttered, acting as if she cared, though the word choice said otherwise.

("And if I'm not talkin' to drunk people, I'm in the kitchen being very productive!")

Emily was sitting in the kitchen crying. The sound and the stress of talking to people were becoming too much for her. She needed to shut down for a moment after all the sensory overload that she had put herself through. After wiping the tears off her face, she checked the time. She realized that she had spent the last hour of her shift crying in the kitchen.

"Great! It's over!"

She exclaimed.

("Now when the shifts end, you expect me to just go home and sleep, right? WRONG! This is where the fun begins!")

Emily spent some of her hard-earned money on drinks and got wasted, throwing it down on the dance floor. However, her being drunk meant her having less focus on her bodily functions, specifically her bowls, causing her to make a mess.

"OH FU-"

("Well, fun until my ass blows up, all thanks to the amazing benefits of sensitive bowls. Thanks lactose intolerance! Well, there is just one benefit of getting destroyed like that.")

"I hope this little arrangement doesn't mean I have to wipe you clean again."

Magnus Lang said. His light-gray eyes were getting watery from the stench. Magnus wore a dark green jacket and navy blue shorts. He had a red mohawk and a large, visible scar across his right cheek.

"Hahahaha! You're hilarious, Gus!"

"Okay, one: please don't call me Gus, everyone at Uni keeps callin' me that and I hate it there too. And two: I'm not jokin', cleaning your poop is just disgusting and it makes me wanna throw up!"

Magnus replied, briefly turning back to see a er-by out from the stench.

"It seems I'm not the only one who thinks this."

Magnus continued to carry Emily as he treaded up a small tree tunnel and arrived at a rocky road on a near-empty street outside of Inkopolis. The town felt tropical with the leaves from the trees hanging down like melted ice cream, there were no cars parked, and all the roads were too slim for them. Most of the houses were abandoned and unusable, all except one.

On the outside, the house was made out of dark wood. The four square windows each had a dark tint, making it hard for anyone to see inside them. The triangular roof was made out of pure wood. At the front was a pair of steps that lead to an oak platform. On the left-hand side of the door was a bench. Magnus placed Emily on the bench as he went to open up the front door for them. Once opened, he picked her back up and the two entered the living room.

Despite the tinted windows, the room was very well-lit up, only the corners were dark. The walls and roof were peach and smooth. The floor was a navy blue carpet. The whole first floor was squared and split in half. The left-hand side of the lower half had a two-seat black-leather sofa that faced the TV that stood on a desk on a rectangular wooden drawer with two square drawers to the left and right side and an electric fireplace in the middle.

On the far left-hand side wall were bookcases that held both DVDs and books, both fiction and non-fiction books were sorted into their row, the former getting the top row and the latter getting the top-middle row. On the right-hand side wall was a small spiral staircase that led to the second floor. Next to it was a closet that was shut.

Straight ahead was a bar-like table with stools against a wall. To the left of the table was the entrance to the kitchen. On the right side of the back wall was a door that led into a single bathroom with only a toilet and a sink.

"Is she out again?"

Her mother asked.

"Yeah, Kyle, she is."

Magnus answered.

"I'm hoping she ain't like this after the Fisk Gala tomorrow."

"Me too. Thank you for bringing her home regardless. I owe you a great deal. She would be way easier to manage if Oscar was still around..."

Kyle Moray sighed before laying back on the couch.

"At least she would have his place to stay at, and at least she would listen to someone."

"I hope she comes around one day."

Magnus said before heading for the stairs after feeling her pat his back and fidget with his color.

"She most likely wants me to clean and tuck her in. So I'll go do that now."

Magnus took Emily upstairs. He was greeted with a small, narrow hallway with three doors. The right door led to a bigger bathroom with a bathtub and a shower, alongside a toilet and sink, the door straight ahead was her mother's room and the door to the left was her room. The walls and floors were the same as downstairs.

Magnus took Emily to the bathroom, got her out of her dirty clothes, took her to the bathtub at the end of the room after emptying the last of what was in her bowls in the toilet, and cleaned her with the shower.

"You know, I think you've seen me naked more than anyone else!"

Emily randomly pointed out. She began stuttering with laughter.

"W-Which is even funnier because y-you're-"

"Yup."

He said, finishing his sentence with a light chuckle.

"I've seen you naked more times than I've seen Denis shirtless."

"Denis? Isn't Denis you're new boyfriend?"

"Eight months doesn't really make him new anymore, but yeah."

"Isn't he that guy who was into Chemistry?"

"No, that was Bryan. We broke up over a year ago."

"Oh... was he the one with daddy issues?"

"That was Drift, who is... dead."

"Oh... sorry, I forgot."

"It's fine. Being with Denis has been a gift and I feel like I've moved on from my past a bit."

"I'm proud! I wish I had a special someone to help guide me out of my sorrow..."

"I'm sure you'll find someone soon!"

The conversation died down after Emily was fully clean. Magnus dumped her dirty underwear into the bin and took her into her bedroom.

Her room was a small square room with a bed placed against the middle of the left wall. Next to the bed was a drawer with a lamp on top. The walls were white instead of peach, although the carpet color stayed the same. Opposite the bed was a large drawer full of clothes with a small TV on top. To the left of the TV was a rectangular wooden wardrobe for any clothes that needed hanging up. To the left of the door was a bookcase full of movies and video games. Opposite the bookcase and between the two windows was a small keyboard with a stool for Emily to sit on. On all of the walls were a bunch of drawings that Emily had made in her spare time, from small portraits of people she knows, or herself, mostly herself but also pictures of landscapes and video game or movie characters.

Emily was tucked into her bed, still not wearing any clothes, but her body was covered by her sheets at least.

"Do make sure you're up early so you can prepare for the Gala. Are you lookin' forward?"

"Yes..."

Emily said with a massive yawn.

"Yeah, me too!"

Magnus replied.

"Hopefully, you'll be in better shape by then. For your mother's sake, I suggest not getting as wasted. She worries about you sometimes."

"Oh she does?"

Emily asked, immediately taking it back after hearing Magnus sigh.

"Okay, okay! It's probably easier for you to ask me than her because your family life is so much better than mine."

Magnus' smile dipped.

"It's actually still a bit complicated after they found out about my real job. We're on speaking , but it just hasn't been the same since Bolton's reign started."

"But we killed Bolton, shouldn't things-"

"Well, it was actually Commander Allen who killed him... and also Commander Frida, and Led... and the rest of us, so good point. Regardless, some wombs just can't be healed."

Magnus sighed before standing up.

"Have a good night, and-"

"Wait! Don't leave yet!"

Emily begged, sitting up.

"Emily, I have other stuff to be doing right now."

"Like?"

"Coursework, Splat Force patrols, trying to maintain a healthy sleep schedule, and much other stuff, the last of which you really need to get!"

Magnus answered.

Emily remained quiet for a minute, giving him puppy eyes as she asked a question.

"Can you tell me a bedtime story?"

"Wh- how old are you?!"

"Twenty-two."

"You're twenty-two and you want me, who is also twenty-two, to tell you a bedtime story?"

"And?"

Magnus let out a confused sigh before going back onto his knees, trying to think off the top of his head.

"Once upon a time, there was this... Inkling with white hair. She was a girl who didn't have many friends, except this Octoling boy. She desired a special someone more than anyone else. One day, whilst minding her own business, she-"

Emily had already fallen asleep. Her snoring interrupted Magnus' story. Magnus looked down at her and smiled. He grabbed a soft teddy bear from across her bed and tucked it in next to her. He then left her room as Emily had wild adventures in her dreams.

("It's weird to think that Magnus was once my worst enemy, now he's like a little brother, who acts like a big brother. But he's right, maybe I might have a partner of my own one day. But for now, all I can do is just sleep, sleep, and sleep some more. Sincerely, E.R.")

T H E N E X T M O R N I N G . . .

B E E P , B E E P , B E E P ! ! !

Emily smashed her hand against her alarm. Before laying back in bed. It was seven in the morning and she felt dead. Instead of getting up, she laid in bed staring at the ceiling, not noticing how much time she's been ing.

She then looked at her clock to see that three and a half hours had ed.

"Oh come on!"

She exclaimed before finally getting the motivation to get out of her bed. She was quick to put on some long clothes, including a blue dressing gown over a white crop top and black underwear.

The next thing in her morning routine was to do her business in the bathroom. Alone she sat for minutes on end, the only sounds being made were the water splashing every few seconds. Emily scrolled through her phone to see what was new. There was nothing new, other than Off The Hook announcing a new album. She then began to spam Magnus with messages:

'Magnusssssssss'

'u up? xxx'

'call meeeeeeee xxx'

'Magnus'

'Magnus'

'Don't make me call you Gus'

'Gus'

'Guuuuuussssss'

After an hour on the toilet, she finally stood up, flushed the toilet, and went to brush her teeth, not even thinking about the fact that she was getting her teeth dirty not even a minute after brushing by having breakfast.

She ate porridge for breakfast as she caught up with some of her favorite shows. Emily was in the middle of watching an action show when her mother woke up and went downstairs.

"Oh! You're up early."

"I am, yeah!"

"How are you?"

"I'm good."

"I'm glad you are!"

Kyle said before finding a topic to hopefully start a conversation on.

"Are you excited for tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Good! Is Magnus excited?"

"Yeah, he is."

"Who's taking you?"

"His boyfriend."

"Oh right, okay. Didn't know he had one."

Kyle said, wishing that Emily could be a more active speaker, though it wasn't in her nature it seemed.

"Do stay safe though, you know Inkopolis is these days. You can't just walk around without some lunatic causing havoc."

"Yeah, I know."

Kyle took the answer as a sign that it was probably better to leave the conversation as it is and leave Emily alone on the couch to continue with her show. Of course, she knew about Emily's alternate life in the Splat Force with Magnus, but she still worried about her, not just for her safety but also for how she was with other people.

M E A N W H I L E E L S E W H E R E . . .

B A N G , B A N G ! ! !

"Up you get, freak!"

A bellowing voice yelled from the other side of the steel door. A skinny, near-emotionless Shauna climbed out of bed in a flash, shaken from the banging.

The door opened and two of Fisk's men entered the room, grabbing her by the shoulders and the color of her grey buttoned shirt, not giving her enough time to tie her blue and pink hair into a ponytail, her fault for not being up on time.

She, alongside other prisoners, was escorted down a steal wall hallway and taken into a large cafeteria. The middle of the room had two rows of three six-seated tables. The back of the room had a large table full of gross, liquid food which stood in front of the kitchen door. Everywhere else? Nothing. Not even a single window with the room only being lit up by a dim yellow light.

Each of the prisoners waited patiently in silence as they each got their liquid food one by one. They knew the consequences of speaking out. At last, Shauna got her liquid food. She cringed from the foul smell before taking her tray to one of the tables.

The taste of the soup made her want to vomit. Her skin began going pale. Whilst eating, she overheard a small conversation going on between two guards.

"That young man in the top right corner, him, he's been throwing up for the past week."

"Is Mr. Fisk aware?"

"Yes. He alerted him to Doctor Newton. He couldn't find anything too bad within him. Mr. Fisk said that if it continued, we'd have to give him to Project ZM."

Just then, the young man in the corner threw up all over his soup. The two guards looked at each other and nodded before approaching the sick man.

"Project ZM requires your assistance!"

One of the guards told him. The two guards left the room with the young man, who would never see the dim cafeteria light again.

This event caused Shauna to hold in her vomit for as long as possible until after lunch ended, when she finally returned to her cell, only to throw it all up in her toilet. After a small coughing fit, she slowly laid back on her bed and tried to catch up on sleep...

B O O M ! ! !

B A N G , B A N G , B A N G ! ! !

An enormous explosion was heard coming from the hallway followed by gunfire and guards screaming. Panicking for her life, Shauna cowered in the corner, hiding under her bedsheets.

B O O M ! ! !

B O O M ! ! !

Every three to five seconds, a new explosion was heard, with these being smaller than the huge one from before. However, the explosions kept getting closer and closer until eventually...

B O O M ! ! !

Shauna's door was blown away, leaving behind a fog of dust until one of the intruders wearing black robes and a ski mask entered, ing Shauna another pair of black robes and a ski mask.

"You want freedom, right? Put it on!"

He said before leaving Shauna alone. Feeling like she had no choice, and with thousands of different thoughts circling her head, Shauna gave in and compiled.

B A C K W I T H E M I L Y . . .

Emily was sitting in her bedroom watching a horrific romance movie. She was at the scene in which the couple finally confessed their feelings.

"The truth is, I'm in love with you, you complete my heart!"

One of the characters said ionately.

"W-Wow, I can't believe you feel the same as me. Your light brights me up like the Great Zapfish!"

"Pffft- Hahaha!"

Emily exclaimed, bursting into hysterical laughter at the horrible writing and the bad acting from both ends. However, her behavior shifted the moment that the characters kissed.

She watched the screen blankly, wishing that she had at least someone to watch these bad movies with, someone to hold her lovingly, someone to kiss lovingly and not during one-night stands.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. It was a message from Magnus:

'Are you ready for the Gala tonight?'

"Oh squit!"

Emily exclaimed, pausing the movie and turning off the TV to get ready.

Emily rushed into her wardrobe and picked out a long-sleeved black shirt, black leggings, and a black skirt. She then equipped herself with dark-grey trainers and her favorite black beanie. She took a photo of herself in the mirror and sent it to him.

After a minute, Magnus sent a reply:

"You look way neater than normal! Are you wearing gear underneath? Always gotta be prepared!"

Emily looked at the message blankly and dropped her phone.

"Oh for fu-"

L A T E R T H A T N I G H T . . .

Magnus and Emily arrived at the Gala at the very top of Inkopolis City, being dropped off in Denis' car. Contrasting to Emily's last-minute costume, Magnus wore a white shirt, charcoal tros, a black blazer, and a red dickie bow. The scar on his face was hidden in coats of makeup.

"Alright, you have reached your desired destination!"

Denis told the pair.

"Do have fun! And text me if anything happens!"

Magnus gently stroked Denis' gealed, slit-back black hair and then rubbed his sideburns gently whilst assuring his safety.

"Believe me, babe, if trouble does go down, me and Emily will be there to help out!"

"That's good to know.

"Denis replied, establishing to Emily that he knew about them being Splat Force .

"I love you!"

"I love you too!"

Magnus said, leaning over to kiss his boyfriend before exiting the car, with Emily exiting as well from the back.

"Magnus, are you seriously wearin' a dickie bow?"

"Yeah, why? You not like it?"

"I- Uh... I guess it looks good."

Suddenly, the duo was approached by party-goers, who were more interested in the Octoling.

"Magnus Lang! It's an honor to meet you!"

The gentleman wearing the top hat greeted, shaking his hand. He barely took any notice of Emily, it was like she wasn't even there.

"It's amazing to see the next generation of heroes rise to the occasion."

"Thanks, I'm happy to help! Oh, this is Emi-"

"Might I ask you a question?"

The not-so-gentlemen asked, interrupting Magnus.

"How did you save that poor family from the library fire last year?"

"I- uh..."

Magnus muttered, feeling taken aback by the sudden question but quickly got back on his feet.

"All I did was rush in head first and get them out. Not much to it."

"Oh, how heroic! Now, might I ask you about-"

Feeling irrelevant, Emily walked away from Magnus, leaving him in the care of the strangers and walking inside the large castle-like mention at the top of the hill.

Inside the ballroom, a singer was performing rock music for the guests. The guests either sat at their tables, walked around, drank, or danced in front of the stage.

Emily's clothing choice made her stand out like a sore thumb, giving her judging stares from everyone. This wasn't like the club in which everyone partied like wild animals, no, this was a professional place of honor and she didn't fit in, which her nervous.

"Hey, you're a member of the Splat Force, right?"

A middle-aged Inkling woman asked to which Emily slowly nodded. She was not expecting any woman to talk to her about Splat Force business. As far as she was concerned, that was all Magnus' area.

"Well, thank you for your service! You saved our butts during Bolton's reign a few years back. We wouldn't be here without you!"

"Well thank you! I'm glad that you are-"

Emily began replying until all of a sudden, more and more people took notice of her.

"Oh! You're a member of the Splat Force! Tell me, what was Frederick Evans like?"

"I-I- he was dead long before I ed the team, so I can't really say."

"Have you ever associated with King Nanaue II?"

Another party-goer asked.

"W-Who?"

Emily replied. More and more random questions were thrown at her.

"What are your thoughts on Rex Allen potentially rebuilding Baxter Village?"

"He's doing what to where?!"

"Whatever happened to that Splat Force member who burnt that girl with fire gifts?"

"I- where are you guys gettin' this from? I never heard that story!"

"Did they ever find that kid trapped in the Once Great Symbol rubble?"

That last question sent her on a downward spiral. She had a personal, tragic attraction to what happened then.

"I-I-I..."

"You're father was a member at one point, right, what happened? Did he retire?"

That last question was the final straw. Emily began barging her way past the crowd.

"Sorry, no more questions!"

She yelled before speed-walking to the balcony.

Emily felt her heart bashing against her chest as her breathing became heavier and faster. Her legs were being turned to jelly. The moment she got outside, she sat down against the wall, curled herself into a ball, and began hyperventilating non-stop. She was overwhelmed with emotion, her body was shivering as if she was cold. She couldn't think straight, couldn't speak to save her life. Emily felt closed in like she couldn't breathe. She thought she was going to die.

It went on for about a minute until someone noticed and came to her need.

"Hey? Are you okay?"

A seemingly caring man in a business suit asked but got no response.

"Do you mind if I touch you?"

Emily struggled to nod at him, but the man got the signal. He kneeled and began rubbing Emily's back.

"Shhh... it's okay. Just breathe."

The man's words slowly calmed Emily down as her breathing became slower and slower, as did her heartbeat until eventually, she was back to normal.

"Th-Thank you..."

She whispered. Unknown to Emily, she was talking to Vincent Fisk himself.

"No problem. I have to go now, I have to be on stage. Feel free to watch if you want to, or if you need more time, stay out here and get some air."

Mr. Fisk replied before walking back in through the doors. Emily decided not to follow, feeling as though she needed more room to herself.

Inside the golden ballroom, everyone was now sitting on their white tables as the bearded singer made his exit.

"Thank you for having me tonight! I would now like to introduce you all to tonight's main event. Please give a warm welcome to Vincent Fisk!"

The singer said. The whole room began clapping for Mr. Fisk as he made his entrance onto the stage. Behind him, the tech crew was setting up a monitor above him. Mr. Fisk walked to the microphone and began talking.

"Hello everybody! My name is Vincent Fisk, but you all knew that already otherwise why are you here?"

He greeted, already making the engaged audience laugh.

"I'm messing, you could also be here for the amazing performance that James just gave you all, can have another round of applause?"

Whilst the crowd began clapping again, Emily noticed something outside. Whilst looking down from the balcony, she noticed a pick-up truck arrive, and out came a large group of ski mask-wearing people with black robes. She knew there was trouble coming.

"Now, where do I begin? I would first like to thank every citizen across Inkadia for helping fix our amazing country after the devastation that was Bolton's reign. Yes, I indeed made the cure, but my efforts would be in vain if not for the brave heroes who pushed us on to a great future. Let's give another round of applause!"

He said, making the audience clap again. Back outside, one of the masked intruders was shivering in fear as she followed their leader through the ventilation, putting Emily on edge.

"Now, Fisk Industries are excited to present you all with this fabulous presentation, featuring yours truly, about the future of the country in this post-gifted world!"

Mr. Fisk stepped off stage as the lights dimmed. The monitor switched on. The Fisk Industries logo played with harmonic music playing. The video then cross-faded into Mr. Fisk.

"Hello! My name is Vincent Fisk. Me, alongside all of us at Fisk Industries, am excited to share with you all the grand plan for the future of not just Inkopolis, and not just Inkadia, but the world as a whole. As we know, with the gifted now being cured worldwide, many of the cured have been thrown out onto the streets and rejected by our society, even after peace was made with them. We are not happy about letting these innocent young men and women live in these harsh conditions and today, I'm happy to present my answer to this."

Video Mr. Fisk said to the crowd. The video then showed photos and small clips of the cured being taken care of in bright, colorful homes. It looked like a paradise with everyone having a happy smile, though some smiles looked a bit too happy.

"Fisk Industries have made it their mission to give out shelter for the cured, or anyone else infected. If you have a family member, whether that be a parent, a child, or even just you, in this harsh situation, please call one of the many numbers listed here. That's all the time we have, , if you're in this situation right now, don't take a risk, better call Fisk!"

As the room lit back up, the crowd erupted into cheers and claps from everyone, except Emily who was outside and on edge.

"Thank you, everyone! I'm really looking forward to-"

B O O M ! ! !

The ballroom front door exploded, and came through the ski-masked group, all of them. The vent outside lead to within the walls. The citizens started screaming. Magnus looked around to find Emily. Upon seeing her outside, he rushed to her to get prepared. Mr. Fisk was left on stage.

"THIS MAN IS A LIAR! A FAKE!"

The leader of the masked group yelled.

"HE KEPT US AS PRISONERS AND DISPOSED OF US LIKE TRASH!"

"Call emergency services, now!"

Mr. Fisk yelled to his agent, who ran off.

"THIS MAN ONLY WANTS YOUR TRUST SO HE CAN MURDER AS US WITHOUT YOU KNOWING. HE'S A FAKE, A CROOKED MAN WITH NO SOUL! HE'S-"

B O O M , B O O M ! ! !

Two Splat Bombs were thrown in their direction and detonated, blinding the group with fog-like dust. As the dust settled, Magnus and Emily now stood before them, wearing their Splat Force gear. They both wore Kelvar materially suits with padding on the arms and legs. Both suits matched their hair color. Magnus' suit was purely red in the chest, stomach, and back area, whilst the rest was black. Emily had white on the top of her chest, with black stripes going up and down on each breast. Both of them had a golden badge with a squid logo on it on their left breast.

"Splat Force..."

The gang leader grunted under his breath.

"Emily, make sure the people are safe!"

Magnus exclaimed before rushing forward to fight the gang, leaving a frustrated Emily on her own.

"Help the people, Emily! Don't fight the bad guys, Emily!"

She groaned to herself before helping some of the people to the exit. After helping four people, out of a large forty, she saw Magnus in action taking down bad guy after bad guy.

"Ugh! Screw it!"

B A N G , B A N G , B A N G ! ! !

The gang fired at Magnus, who was too quick for them. His skills had grown massively since his last big adventure, and he wasn't planning on slowing down anytime. However, just after taking down one of the enemies, he turned his head around to see a gang member ready to pull the trigger, until...

S L A M ! ! !

Emily leaped in with a kick to his forehead, knocking him out before punching the face of another masked man.

"Emily, I said go help the citizens!"

"Oh thanks for savin' my life, Emily! I'd be dead without you, Emily!"

She yelled sarcastically.

"They're all capable of runnin' to the exit! Besides, you've already taken care of some of them. Let me take over!"

"Emily! Listen I- ugh!"

Magnus groaned before rushing over to the citizens to help them out, leaving Emily to fight.

"Bring it on, assholes!"

She yelled with a cocky smirk. Unlike Magnus, who held back, Emily was willing to use any weapon in her arsenal, though she held back from being lethal.

"Out this way, don't panic, everything is under control!"

Magnus reassured the citizens before looking back at Emily, who was throwing Splat Bombs like crazy. His eyes widened and he sighed.

"Oh Emily..."

B O O M , B O O M , B O O M ! ! !

B O O M , B O O M , B O O M ! ! !

Emily threw Splat Bombs all around the room, accidentally causing dents in the walls and parts of the ceiling the fall down, with tiny pieces of rubble hitting escaping citizens. Pillers began to fall and catch some of the gang. Once the last of the citizens escaped, Magnus left Emily to it, seeing as though she was capable of fighting and non-lethal, but still worried about her recklessness.

In the midst of of the chaos, Shauna was at the back of the gang quivering in fear. When Emily took notice of her, she bolted out of the room.

"Hey!"

Emily yelled, but Shauna was already gone. Out of her sight.

Emily settled down and noticed the damage that she had caused. More of the collateral damage was caused by her than by the gang. Her body posture and jaw dropped.

"Oh..."

She whispered. The sounds of sirens became louder and loud footsteps were heard from the hallway. At last, emergency services arrived and detained the gang.

"Well, you certainly gave clean-up a couple month-long job!"

An officer told her.

"I'm sorry about the mess, but I took down the bad guys for you, so there's that!"

"Yeah, whilst also costing us a couple thousand in repairs!"

"I-Is there anything else I can do?"

Emily asked, hoping for some way to make it up to them.

"No kid, I think you've done enough!"

The officer said before walking away from an upset Emily.

Because of her actions that night, people were hurt and property was damaged to an insane degree. She felt bad, more than bad, horrible. She rushed out to the balcony to super jump away.

After a long super jump, Emily landed on the streets of Inkopolis and began running, with ersby glancing at her with concern. Whilst running, she stumbled ed multiple news reports and newspapers, such as Rex Allen getting involved with Baxter Village again, or the R.A.I.C stopping a war in the Splat Lands, or the Stewart Sisters diner closing its doors, or someone reporting on a documentary series based around Bolton's reign. Everywhere she looked she was surrounded by this life, a life that took a toll on her. She super jumped again, and again, and again.

After minutes of long super jumping, she arrived back at her home. She grabbed the stair rail outside her front door to try and catch her breath. Another thought then came to mind, her clothes.

"Squit!"

She exclaimed, realizing that she left her clothes at the Gala and had to go inside in her Splat Force gear.

Slowly and steadily, she opened the front door. There was her mother, fast asleep on the sofa whilst watching her comedy shows. Emily let out a sigh of relief before tip-toeing upstairs and into her bedroom. She threw off her gear, now only in a bra and underwear.

Emily turned on the TV. The first thing she saw was Magnus being interviewed. Emily turned up the volume.

"Luckily, Mr. Fisk and the residents were safe thanks to us and the emergency services. We managed to stop the gang from killin' anyone, though unfortunately there was some damage caused. Sadly, that's just how this job goes, unfortunately, no one is at fault for any of it."

Magnus told the reporter. Emily switched off the news, knowing full well that Magnus was backing her up, knowing that she was the one who caused the damage, not the gang, her.

Emily fell back in her bed and stared at the ceiling. She sighed to herself. It was a long night for her, and she had so many negative thoughts circling her mind. But luckily, she now had her bed. She hoped that everything would be better the next day. It had to be, right?

T O  B E  C O N T I N U E D . . .

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T H X  F O R  R E A D I N G ! ! !

Thx for reading the first Chapter of Emmie: A Splat Force Story! I hope at least some of you have connected with Emily's crazy lifestyle, or at least had fun reading it! I don't have much to say in this outro, though when do I ever, so all I really say is be prepared to see more of her life in the next Chapter, so stay tuned for that! Until next time, stay safe out there! ^^

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