Splat Force IV: Radicalism; Chapter 20

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad! I hope you are all having an amazing day! If not, I'm gonna brighten your day as I am now giving you the final Chapter of Splat Force IV: Radicalism!

Working on this story has been a treat for me because of how drained and mentally scarred I was from last year. I was dreading doing this because I wasn't sure if I was even gonna last the whole thing, but I did, and I am so proud of myself for it!

Enough about me, this finale will see the Splat Force clash with Project ZM Cyrus' forces in one final showdown and will bring the Fisk Industries arc to a (hopefully) satisfying close.

The last Chapter ended with Project ZM and Cyrus' henchmen carrying out their plan and attacking the Inkopolis Stadium, keeping many audience as hostages to bring the team to them. Will things end well for the Splat Force? Find out now.

So without further ado, I hope you enjoy this epic finale!

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(Chapter Hub)

C H A P T E R  2 0 :  T I L L  T H E  V E R Y  E N D

News of what had just happened at the Inkopolis Stadium was quick to spread all across the news and social media. Of course, it didn't take long for it to reach the Splat Force, all of whom were spread out.

Samantha laid in her bed on her phone as she saw the news posts hit all over social media, alerting her of the attack. She looked to her left over to her mother, who was sitting on Ami's old bed. Caroline gave her daughter a reassuring nod, giving her the signal to go and do her job.

Meanwhile, Magnus watched the news break at his family home, with young Mary fast asleep in his arms as he sat on the carpet. He had an anxious look on his face as he looked down at his sleeping daughter and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

In addition, the news had also hit both Emily and Shauna, the former of the pair already in her Splat Force gear. Upon seeing the news on TV, the couple got up from their couch and stood face-to-face. They held their hands together gently, with Shauna gently stroking the back of her girlfriend's head as their foreheads embraced the other, eyes closed.

Eventually, the whole team assembled at the front of the Splat Force base where both Rex and Platinum were. Everyone was geared up and ready for battle. Parked outside by the road was a truck borrowed from the R.A.I.C.

Rex stood in front of them with his daughter to his right and gave a small speech.

"You know the mission. Get in, save the hostages, expose Cyrus' men, and take any threat down upon any needs necessary."

He told them before looking at Emily.

"Even the ones that you don't want to make..."

Emily frowned and stared into space for a moment as his last sentence flew around her mind. Rex looked to the rest of the team before making a move.

"Let's move."

He ordered as he began leading the team down to the truck below the base. Magnus and Platinum exchanged quick, worried glances with Emily, who was too distracted to even take notice of it.

Both Rex and Platinum got in the front, with Rex at the wheel. Magnus, Emily, and Samantha all got in the back, with Emily sitting opposite them, staring at the floor of the vehicle, not acknowledging either of their concern as the vehicle started moving.

Emily was too focused on what her personal mission was. Whilst everyone was focused on stopping the bad guys and saving lives, she was focused on what could be the final confrontation with her cousin. She knew that unless there was another way through to him, she would have to make the hardest call of her entire life. But, did she have it in her to do it?

A T  T H E  S T A D I U M . . .

Cyrus' men already had the whole stadium covered from top to bottom. From the main reception down to the changing rooms.  The hostages trapped, both regular and cured, were terrified. They knew why they were there. They knew that they were bait and that at any given moment, they could be dead.

Men were standing by every door leading to the backroom, most of the security covering the front entrance as that was where the team would be most likely to make an appearance.

At last, the team arrived outside of the Stadium. The truck was parked several feet away from the dome building. The team all got out of the vehicle and began their long walk towards the dome. Rex and Platinum were at front, followed by Samantha, then Magnus, and Emily at the back.

They all felt as if they were being watched, Emily especially, who glanced at the big circular structure above the center of the dome, the projector room. Inside, looking down at them from above was Project ZM, who glared down at them, both fists clenched.

After catching a glimpse of him, Emily stared at him for a moment before slowly looking down, tears forming in her eyes. She wiped her eyes with her left arm.

The team all had their eyes locked at the front door of the stadium, all knowing that it was filled with henchmen, not that they bothered them, all they cared about was making sure the hostages were safe, or at least that was the case for most of them. Nevertheless, they all marched slowly towards the dome, ready to face imminent danger.

The moment they arrived at the front door, the team each got by one side of the door, Rex and Platinum on the right, and Magnus, Emily, and Samantha on the left. Grabbing a flash bomb from his utility belt, Rex activated it and rushed to the door, opening it and throwing it through.

B A N G ! ! !

"NOW!"

He screamed before the whole team barged through the front door, entering the building with their weapons in hand.

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

All weapons in the room were firing, with gunfire coming from all directions. Left, right, and above. The team all ran and jumped around quickly as they shot back at Cyrus' men.

B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

Platinum dodge-rolled the enemy fire as she began shooting shots of her own, hitting her targets, and taking them down. She then jumped over and slid across a pool table towards an enemy who was out of ammunition. Seeing the chance, she reached the end of the table, grabbed his head, and slammed it against the edge of the table, knocking him out.

Meanwhile, Samantha grabbed two Suction Bombs from her utility belt and threw them towards places that were the most occupied, both being the far right side and the balcony above.

B O O M ,  B O O M ! ! !

The blast respectively took down their respective henchmen, with the ones on the balcony falling off and landing on the ground floor, and the ones on the far right side being blasted against the pale blue wall.

Rex ran out of ammunition on his N-Zap and instantly resorted to hand-to-hand combat. Rushing forward, he jumped at one of the goons and slammed his fist right into his nose, knocking him out instantly.

S L A M ! ! !

Once that goon went down, his attention was turned to another. Seeing as the man had already loaded his weapon and aimed at him, Rex saw no other option than to grab his empty N-Zap and lunge it at him, hitting him in the head and knocking him out.

As the area became increasingly, but not fully, clear, Rex called to the others.

"One of us has to get to the projector room, right now!"

Magnus, after kicking a goon in the face offered himself to do it.

"I'll go-"

"No!'

Emily quickly interrupted him, standing opposite the Octoling. She knew who was standing on guard there. She knew that if anyone was going, it was her.

"He's up there, Magnus! It has to be me!"

Magnus was taken aback by how desperate Emily sounded but was quickly snapped back to reality upon having his bulletproof gear shot at. He quickly ducked for cover and gave her the nod of approval.

"Just be safe!"

Magnus said to her. After getting the approval sign, she instantly ran past the main reception. Magnus called out to her one last time.

"Do what you have to do!"

After rushing her way through the building, Emily reached the main bowl stadium. She walked through the entrance doors and was greeted by three henchmen. Before they could fire their weapons, Emily super jumped over them and, whilst mid-air, activated and dropped a Splat Bomb in the middle of them.

B O O M ! ! !

All three men were sent flying to the stone wall and were knocked out. The Inkling girl ran past the entrance and made a hard left and ran up the stairs. Once she was halfway up, she super jumped to the top of the stadium's roof.

Her sight was set on one of the six railings that held the projector room up. She looked up at the window ahead of her and saw that her cousin was nowhere to be found. She was safe on this side, best make a move on now while she still can.

After taking a deep breath and mentally preparing herself, she super-jumped forward and landed a third of the way across before running on the railing, refusing to look down. As she got higher and higher, more of Cyrus' henchmen began taking notice of her stunt and began firing at her in hopes of hitting her and knocking her down.

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

Not only did all of the shots miss their target, but they also alerted her, only making her speed up, encouraging her to super jump forward again, bringing her towards the end of the railing. She was now high, really high, only slip would mean the end. Thankfully, that wasn't going to happen today.

S M A S H ! ! !

The Inkling woman barged into the window, smashing the glass and allowing her through. She needed a minute, however, that whole thing was too much for her to process at one time. She rolled onto her back, panting for air as she tapped into her comms.

"I'm in."

She informed before coughing a couple of times.

"H-How is everythin' goin' down there?"

Meanwhile, the rest of the team had made it to the entrance to the backroom. The only thing standing between them and the hostages was more of Cyrus' goons. The further they got into the building, the more grey and dark it got. They couldn't begin to imagine how those poor souls were feeling.

Magnus ran to hide behind a pillar so he could answer his friend.

"Everythin' is goin' smoothly! We're outside the hostage room as we speak!"

He informed before grabbing a Splat Bomb from his utility belt and throwing it towards the firing goons.

B O O M ! ! !

The explosion cleared the path for him and the others.

"LET'S MOVE!"

He told his teammates before bolting to the backroom door. Everything seemed to be going well, too well...

As they all entered the backroom, they froze in place. All who remained of Cyrus' men were inside the room, all lined up and ready to fire upon the hostages that took up the entire right side of the room. The room was dark with the only light source coming from the windows at the top of the left wall.

Sneaking up from the corner and stepping behind them, Cyrus' assistant pointed two squelchers at them, ready to fire if they tried anything.

"We've been expecting you, Splat Force."

Austin told them with a light smirk on his face. It appeared that his deceased boss' personality had started to rub off on him.

The team knew that if they tried anything, then either they would be killed, the hostages would be killed, or, in the most likely scenario, both would be killed. They all dropped their weapons and placed their hands on their heads.

"Against the wall, now."

Austin ordered. The team had no choice but to comply. Magnus, Samantha, Rex, and Platinum were all lined up against the wall opposite the hostages, who could only stand or sit there in silence and watch as their heroes were beaten.

"Once you're dead, these hostages follow. And then, it's fair game from here!"

With a snap of Austin's fingers, all men began targeting the Splat Force as the crowd of hostages began crying. In what could be their final moments, the team all glanced at each other, giving each other a reassuring look as if they were saying that everything was going to be okay. Once they were done, they closed their eyes...

S M A S H ! ! !

General Luke Bishop crashed through the window and landed on top of Austin, pinning him to the ground and knocking him out upon impact. Very quickly, the room was invaded by R.A.I.C soldiers coming from both the window and the main entrances.

In a matter of seconds, there were more of them than there were of Cyrus' henchmen, making them cower and drop their weapons before putting their hands on their heads and falling onto their knees. The hostages all began cheering and clapping for their heroes.

"Sorry we're late!"

General Bishop greeted.

Magnus smirked.

"Oh no, you came just at the right time."

He said before becoming curious.

"How did you know we were here?"

"We watched from CCTV on the way here."

He answered as he walked to pick up their weapons before walking back and returning them to their rightful owners, even refilling their ammunition.

"You might need these. There are more men incoming."

The moment he said that more of Cyrus' men barged into the room, abruptly ending the cheering. Both Magnus and Rex pointed their weapons towards the right and left door respectively before firing.

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

Once the armed men were down, Magnus rushed to the right door and gave everyone in the room a command.

"Follow me! We need to get you all out of here!"

He told the hostages before running back out of the room, leading both teams and the hostages out to freedom.

It was a struggle to get through the door. Platinum, Samantha, and R.A.I.C soldiers were behind the crowd, standing on the left and right side of the door, allowing them through before them, whilst Magnus, Rex, and General Bishop led the charge, clearing the hallway from any threats as they made their way to the exit, followed by the crowd of hostages.

Meanwhile, Emily ran around the circular projector room, trying to find out where it was that she needed to go. She felt as if she was going in circles, although she was only halfway through.

The floor was see-through, making her able to see the platform below her surrounded by the glass dome. Through the glass was the pitch below, making her feel a little sick.

At last, Emily found the counsel against the wall. It was built into the wall with a mini touch screen.

"Yay!"

She whispered to herself as she rushed to the screen. She tapped it twice to switch it on.

Upon switching it on, she was met with a single file. It appeared that the hacker they had been working with had already done their job. Now, all she had to do was open the file and begin the broadcast. She tapped the screen twice, but before she could begin the broadcast...

S L A M ! ! !

Emily was sent flying back, hitting the fence.

"Argh!"

She groaned to herself as she pulled herself back up.

Standing before her now was Project ZM. He glared at her emotionlessly, waiting for her to strike. Emily slowly got back up and raised her hands, trying to defuse the situation.

"Zane... it's me, it's Emily!"

Project ZM's emotionless stare turned into a frustrated glare.

"I don't know you!"

He hissed before marching over to her. Emily ran at her, jumping at him with her left fist tightly closed before being grabbed by the assassin and thrown off of the edge of the fence, falling onto the platform below, the back of her head hitting the glass dome carrying the platform.

Although her vision was blurry for a moment, she quickly regained consciousness as Project ZM jumped down at her, unleashing his blade from his wrist.

S K I T ! ! !

S L A M ! ! !

S M A S H ! ! !

Emily managed to move her head out of the way just in time, with the blade instead hitting the glass and shattering it. Emily quickly grabbed onto his metal arm with both of her hands and tried pushing the blade away from her whilst the assassin pinned her to the ground as he tried pulling it closer to her throat in an attempt to decapitate her.

She tried harder and harder to push the blade away, but Project ZM was too strong. The moment she felt the blade touch her skin, she knew she had to try something else or else she would be dead in seconds. Using her feet, she pulled them up against the assassin's back and pushed him off of her, sending him flying back towards the broken glass, though it wasn't enough to stop him as he grabbed the railing holding the platform.

Seeing him pull himself up, Emily quickly used this window of opportunity to look back up at the platform above, getting into her swim form and super jumping up. However, Project ZM still had one free hand, using it to grab his N-Zap from its holster and aiming it at her.

B A N G ! ! !

His aim was careful and precise, hitting her directly in her back. She was forced out of her swim form and was sent off trail, sending her flying forward to the other side of the glass dome. Thankfully, her Splat Force gear managed to protect her from damage, though the impact of her landing stunned her for a moment.

This gave Project ZM enough time to climb back onto the platform, giving him a more safe shot as Emily stood back up.

B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

Two extra shots were fired into her back, pinning her back to the ground. All Emily could do was roll onto her back, looking up at the assassin, who was now standing over her, N-Zap pointed directly at her head. Though Emily put on a hopeless persona, she snuggled a Splat Bomb out of her utility belt and activated it. Seeing this, the assassin quickly fell back, not before Emily threw it at him.

B O O M ! ! !

The bomb exploded right behind him, causing him to fall forward to the edge of the platform. His mask fell off of his face and came crashing down to the pitch below. Standing back up, Emily grabbed two Suction Bombs and them towards the platform above.

Knowing she still had only so much time before the blast, she quickly super-jumped onto the platform above, rushed to the tapscreen, and pressed onto the file once again. Finally, she activated the broadcast. Once activated, she quickly got out of the way of the blast.

B O O M ,  B O O M ! ! !

Both Bombs exploded, the the platform began to fall, crashing through the glass and down onto the pitch, with one large chunk completely pinning Project ZM to the platform below, slowly crushing and suffocating him. He couldn't move even if he tried.

A R O U N D  T H E  W O R L D . . .

On every TV around the world, across all of the channels available, the broadcast interrupted whatever program was on. It was a white background with black text slowly crossfading into the middle.

'If you see the following individuals, report to authorities immediately.'

The screen said before the text faded. Shortly afterwards, a follow-up message crossfaded onto the screen.

'These individuals are sleeper associates of Cyrus Zagan and former workers of Vincent Fisk. They are dangerous.'

As the second text faded, it was time for the main show to begin. One by one, the photos and names of associates began being shown on every screen worldwide, causing a huge global reaction.

For starters, those who found employment elsewhere would've seen the broadcast whilst at work, leading to their colleagues looking directly at them before rushing to their nearest phone, resulting in them running away.

Those in the police force, the fire brigade, the R.A.I.C, and other authorities were instantly chased and pinned down by their fellow men, in some cases, they shot several others in an attempt to evade capture.

Also affected were the care homes around the world, including the Bernadette care home. The moment an employee was shown on the TV screen in the cafeteria, William Swannack looked over his neck to his right at the employee and pointed at him.

"There, right there!"

He yelled. All the attention he got from his yelling went straight to the employee, causing him to run away as the others started ringing their local authorities.

Relations like those were happening across the world. In only the first minute, nearly half of former associates were taken down and brought to justice, those who weren't were either too fast to get caught, or committed suicide.

Outside the stadium, almost all of the hostages had managed to escape. The broadcast was also being shown on the large screen above the entrance. Magnus saw it and smiled.

"She did it!"

He called out to the others, alerting them to the broadcast.

The soldiers who were still still began clapping and cheering. The Splat Force all gave each other approving looks. That was it, the main goal of the mission was now complete. Now, all that was left was for Emily to do her part.

However, there was still one more goon approaching the area. He was flying a helicopter and was getting lower and lower.  The helicopter was directly flying towards the small crowd of hostages still in the area, all of whom quickly cleared out, all except a young, clueless Inkling girl.

Seeing this, Rex made the ultimate move and dashed as fast as he could to the girl right as the helicopter was about to crash. He covered her body with his own to shield her. There was no time to get them both out in time. He shut his eyes, preparing for the worst... but nothing happened.

Right as the helicopter was about to crash into them, a sudden barrier covered them, causing the helicopter to blow up on impact. After the explosion, Rex opened his eyes just as the barrier was dropped. He was confused.

"What the...?"

He whispered himself as he let the girl run off back to her parents as he stood there, confused. After a moment of processing what had happened, he reed with the others, who were still celebrating their great victory.

B A C K  W I T H  E M I L Y . . .

After evading the blast, Emily looked back to where the explosions had occurred. Thankfully, the blasts just barely missed the touchscreen. She turned and was about to walk away back to the glass she smashed through earlier when she heard a loud groan from below. She knew who it was.

Emily rushed to see Project ZM struggling to escape what could be his death. He was pinned by the rubble on the platform below, which was becoming increasingly unstable. Now that he was in a vulnerable state, she knew what she had to do.

With a heavy heart, Emily jumped down and landed before her cousin. Tears came to her eyes as she grabbed her Splattershot and slowly stood above Project ZM, who let out painful grunts and groans. He looked deep into Emily's eyes as she aimed her weapon at his head, her finger hovering over the trigger. She had to do it, right now... but she couldn't. It was her cousin, she couldn't do it.

Carelessly, Emily threw her Splattershot to the side. It fell from the sky and landed on the pitch below. With her now free hands, she picked up the rubble that was trapping him and lifted it. She threw it off of the platform, freeing the assassin and offering him her hand. Project ZM stared at her for a moment before confidently taking her hand with his regular hand, but his metal arm...?

S K I T ! ! !

S L A M ! ! !

The assassin's blade went right through Emily's upper stomach, stunning her completely. Project ZM stood back up and towered over her as her feet quaked and her body shivered. Blood began pouring out of her mouth as she slowly walked back to the other hand of the platform.

As they reached the end, Project ZM began moving his blade down, cutting a massive hole into her and moving the blade to the left before pulling out, making Emily squeal and cry in pain before being pushed to the ground.

The Inkling woman struggled to breathe as she looked up at her cousin, who grabbed her chest using his regular hand. Through her struggles and her coughs, she tried to call out his name.

"Z-Z-Z-Za-Zane..."

S L A M ! ! !

Saying that name only gave Emily a metal punch to the face.

"Stop calling me that!"

Project ZM hissed before beginning a series of brutal punches.

S L A M ,  S L A M ,  S L A M ! ! !

S L A M ,  S L A M ,  S L A M ! ! !

S L A M ,  S L A M ,  S L A M ! ! !

"STOP! CALLING! ME! THAT!"

He screamed as he punched and punched until Emily's face was bruised, cut, and covered in blood.

Emily coughed a couple of times. She was in too much pain, she didn't know how many more punches she could take. She knew that she probably wasn't going to survive, not that it mattered, she just wanted to bring her cousin back.

"Z-Zane... it's m-m-me... y-your cousie-buddy... t-till the very end!"

Project ZM was about to go in for one final series of punches until he heard those words. Those words, combined with her weak voice woke something up within him. He looked down at her, confused, frightened. Suddenly, he dropped Emily as he received a violent headache.

Just as he held his head in his hands, the platform became too unstable to hold them both and collapsed the moment another chunk of rubble hit it, causing Emily to fall off and begin plummeting as the assassin held onto the railing above her as his headache worsened.

As she fell, Emily could only look up at Zane and hoped that her final moments were enough to bring him back. Everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion for her as her vision started to become blurry.

Tears escaped her eyes, knowing that it was the end for her. All she could do now was embrace her final few seconds alive. However, the final thing that she saw before losing consciousness was a metal hand reaching out for her just as she was about to hit the ground.

More and more rubble began falling from the projector room, landing on the pitch below. Once it stopped, the entire pitch was left in a dark fog of rubble and scout.

Whilst unconscious, Emily was carried out of the rubble. The man holding her carried her to a safer space with better oxygen, placing her up against the wall of falling debry gently, sitting her up.

Emily slowly managed to regain enough consciousness to open her eyes for a short couple of seconds. It was blurry at first, but eventually, she managed to see the face of the man who rescued her.

It was Zane Miller, not Project ZM. His white eyes and blue pupils were gone, going back to his regular black eyes and black pupils. He looked down at her, making sure that she was okay. Though it wasn't shown on the outside, Zane was paranoid, anxious, and confused. All of them was shown in the seemingly emotionless stare that he gave her before walking away to his right, leaving her behind for the others to find.

The moment Zane disappeared out of her sight, Emily fainted. The last thing that she heard before losing consciousness was the sound of Magnus' voice.

"EMILY!"

He cried out as the sound of his quick footsteps was heard.

"WE NEED MEDICAL ASSISTANCE NOW!"

For the next hour, Emily faded in and out of consciousness. At first, she caught herself being wheeled into the back of an ambulance with Magnus and Platinum by her side, the next glimpse she had was her being wheeled into the Inkfish Rehabilitation building, and the last thing she saw was her being surrounded by doctors in a hospital bed being put to sleep.

1 7  D A Y S  L A T E R . . .

The sound of the radio was slowly echoing as Emily opened her eyes slowly. Her vision was blurry, and her head was spinning. She couldn't open her eyes fully. It took her minutes for her vision to fully come back, but once it did, she noticed that she wasn't alone.

In the room with her was an Octoling with long light-blue hair tied in a knot. They were wearing a long white lab coat with a dark, dusty blue collared shirt under it.

The Octoling was cleaning the table opposite the bed Emily was in, cleaning it. When they heard Emily move about, they turned around and greeted Emily with a warm smile.

"You're awake! You've been out for some time!"

They told her. Still trying to process everything, Emily sat up in her bed as the doctor came over.

"I would advise not moving around too much, you've just woken up from a coma, it'll take time for you to adjust, so be patient!"

"Ugh... coma?"

Emily asked, making the doctor nod.

"Wh-Where am I...? And who are you?"

"I'm Doctor Oliver Knox, sometimes it's Oliva Knox, but everyone just calls me Oli. I was in charge of your recovery over the past seventeen days."

They informed her, fully bringing Emily back to reality. Emily laid there in silence as she tried to wrap her head around the amount of time that she had just lost. Seeing her stress, Oli decided to bring a positive spin on things. They walked around the bed as they began to compliment her.

"You are quite the fighter. I've heard stories about your team, a lot of them, my school once had an entire week dedicated to you guys... well, the version of the team from the gifted wars, at least."

Emily slowly nodded.

"Makes sense..."

"You know, I was a part of a team myself once. I was never really on the field, in fact, I was the medic of the team. It was a smaller team compared to you guys, but we still made a difference in things... although most of it was just saving the Zapfish."

Oli told her before going more in-depth.

"Nearly twelve years ago, three of them were killed by Bolton after a failed mission... only one of them got away."

"Damn..."

Emily replied. She quickly became curious about what Oli said about the survivor.

"Is that survivor still... alive and kickin'?"

"No... a few years back, they were killed by the same guy who put you in here. "

Oli informed, unintentionally hurting Emily on the inside.

"I guess saving you kinda made me feel better since, well... I got to save someone from my friend's killer after all."

"Yeah..."

Emily uttered before yawning.

"Thanks... I don't know how you did it, but-"

"A couple of days after you were stabilised, we were approached by police vans who came from the Humboldt Institution."

They explained as they walked to the bed to Emily's left, pulling back the curtain to reveal Vincent Fisk in the bed next to her. Emily was shocked.

"I'll leave you two."

Wanting to give both patients time to themselves, Oli left the room. Emily immediately got her questions out.

"Okay... what is goin' on? Why are you here? Have I really been out for seve-"

"Emily... it's okay."

Vincent called out to her calmly. He saw that she was panicking. He raised her hand slowly, making her stop speaking and instead focusing on calming herself down.

Once she was stable enough, Vincent began giving her the rundown.

"Your cousin stabbed your liver and cut a hole into your stomach. You were bleeding out, and the rest of the Splat Force struggled to keep you alive until the paramedics came and picked you up."

He explained before getting to the more scarier details.

"You flat-lined many times both on the way here to your first couple of nights. After two days, you were finally stable enough for an operation. Platinum Frida came to me and told me about the situation. It was then that I volunteered to... make a liver donation."

Emily gasped. She couldn't believe what she was now hearing from him. She blinked twice.

"You... gave up your liver... t-to save me?"

Vincent nodded. A small smile came to his face.

"I couldn't let you die, not after all you've done for this world... not after what you've done for me. You didn't deserve a death like that."

She didn't what to say.

"I-I... wow..."

She whispered to herself, falling back in her bed as she tried to process the whole thing. As she tried to thank Vincent, a thought raced into her mind just before she could get her words out.

"Vincent... I-I have to tell you about Z-"

Suddenly, Emily was interrupted by two police officers who entered the room, one of whom had cuffs.

"It's time to go, Fisk."

The officer with the cuffs said to him.

Vincent nodded to the officer before turning back to Emily.

"Tell me when you get out, okay?"

He requested before sitting up and climbing out of his bed. He was wearing the same clothes as her, that being a blue dressing gown and nothing else. He gave her one last smile before being cuffed and escorted out of the room.

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

K N O C K ,  K N O C K ! ! !

Hearing the knocking from her room, Samantha rushed to the front door of the restaurant. Looking through the glass door, she was surprised to see Rex Allen standing outside. She unlocked the door and opened it.

"Hey... what are you doing here?"

"Hey, do you mind if I-"

"Yeah, sure."

Samantha quickly replied before opening the door for her Commander.

"Thanks. You look better, by the way."

Rex said as he entered the shut-down restaurant, complimenting her lost weight. Although she still had a long way to go, she was much fitter now than how she was a month prior.

Samantha's heart was warmed by the compliment. She smiled at him.

"Thank you, I appreciate that."

She said to him before pointing to her bedroom door.

"Do you wanna come back there?"

"Sure, if you don't mind!"

Rex replied before being taken to the bedroom. There, he saw Caroline sitting at the edge of what used to be Ami's bed.

"Hey Carol! Are you doing okay?"

"Much better now that I'm settled in, thank you!"

Caroline replied positively.

"That's great! I'm here because... I want to say something to both of you."

Rex told them. Samantha sat down on her bed and looked up at him. The pair of them waited as Rex prepared to say his words.

"It's no stranger that I've not been the best since... ten years ago, especially with how I handled things. I know I was following a request of yours, Carol, but I still want to make things up to you both."

"Oh yeah?"

Samantha asked, tilting her head curiously.

"What are you planning."

Rex had a small smile on his face as he headed to the bedroom door.

"Come with me."

He requested before leaving the room. Confused, yet curious, both Samantha and Caroline looked at each other before heading to the door.

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

After a long journey, Rex finally arrived at the destination he wanted to bring them to. He parked the truck outside of the very power plant where the final showdown against Bolton took place.

All three of them got out of the truck, with Samantha nodding and humming as she looked at her surroundings.

"I know this place."

She whispered. Caroline looked at her, concerned. Samantha looked to her mother to give her a mini explanation.

"This is where Ami died..."

"Oh..."

Caroline whispered, her face immediately dropping.

Rex took a few steps forward and looked up at the balcony where Ami was.

"I come here a few times each year. For Ami, for Peter, for Alyssa, for everyone who died. Sometimes, I just come here to clear my head now and then."

He explained to them before walking forward towards the building.

Samantha sighed before following her Commander, knowing exactly where he was taking both her and her mother, and she was right. Upon entering the building, they were greeted with a spiral staircase which led to the balcony at the top.

The moment they reached the balcony, Samantha was already holding back tears. Upon seeing the statue that stood at the very end.

"Is that..."

Caroline whispered out loud, not being able to finish her sentence. Rex stepped aside to let both Samantha and Caroline have their moment.

The mother and daughter walked to the statue of their late family member, who had been standing there for over a decade. Next to Ami were dead flowers and an old photo of a younger Samantha and Ami.

"O-Oh m-my baby!"

Caroline whimpered as she wrapped her arms around her deceased daughter, bawling her eyes out as Samantha rubbed her back from behind. Samantha looked to her left at Rex, giving him an approving nod. Rex nodded back, giving Samantha a light smile before ing them.

B A C K  A T  B A S E . . .

With Samantha and Rex at the Splatlands, the only two who remained at the base were Magnus and Platinum, both of whom were in their casual clothes. The news was playing on the small radio on Alyssa's old desk.

"More and more of Vincent Fisk and Cyrus Zagan's old associates have been taken into custody this afternoon in Splatsvile. Royal Army of Inkopolis City General Luke Bishop has confirmed that the search for the associates is nearing its end. It is predicted that the rest of the associates will be brought to justice by this Thursday."

Platinum turned off the radio before sitting on the edge of the desk, gently and slowly moving her legs back and forth as she processed the information. She then looked at Magnus, smiled at him, and gave him a thumbs-up.

"Case closed?"

Magnus smiled and nodded before giving her a thumbs up in return.

"Yup! Case closed!"

He replied, stretching his arms and yawning before ing her on the desk, sitting to her right.

"I'm glad that it's finally over, and for real this time too!"

"Yeah, me too."

Platinum replied just before a thought rushed to her head.

"Although, I'm slightly thankful for it happening."

Curious, Magnus looked at her.

"Really?"

"Yeah! If not for this case, we wouldn't have brought the team back together. Samantha wouldn't have met her Mom again, me and my Dad wouldn't have repaired our relationship and Emily-"

She explained before being interrupted by the front door opening. Emily Rogue entered the building, wearing her father's old jacket over her casual clothes. She carried her damaged gear with her.

"Emily!"

Both Magnus and Platinum rushed to Emily, both embracing her in a mini group hug, though they immediately pulled back the moment she started grunting in pain.

"Good to see you lot too..."

She whispered, taking a couple of steps back to make some distance.

"I suppose you've heard about my condition."

"Coma and liver transplant?"

Platinum answered, to which Emily nodded.

"We all made a few visits here and there. I'm glad you're okay now!"

She nodded again.

"I've only woken up midday, so can you guys just fill me in on some squit, okay?"

"Yeah, of course!"

Magnus said before getting to what was well known.

"Most of Fisk and Cyrus' henchmen are now in custody, and they're assumin' they'll all be taken down by the end of the week. We've still got no sign of Zane, hell, we don't even know if he's still... ya know?"

As Magnus brought up Zane, Emily looked to the floor worryingly. He quickly picked up on it.

"Emily?"

"It's him, Magnus."

She told him.

Both Magnus and Platinum looked at each other, confused before looking back.

"What do you mean?"

He asked.

"I-I brought him back, Magnus. He saved me from fallin' to my death."

Emily confirmed to them.

Neither Magnus nor Platinum knew what to say. Neither of them knew whether or not they could take her word on it. Platinum went on to make a point.

"Are you sure it was Zane? I mean, he beat you senseless, cut open your stomach, and destroyed your liver. For all you know, your vision could've been blurry, or-"

"It's him... it's Zane..."

Emily interrupted as she looked at the pair of them with small nods. She was sure of what she saw. Emily threw her ruined gear to the ground before turning around and walking slowly out of the base, leaving her friends to watch on with concern.

L A T E R  T H A T  N I G H T . . .

As the night came down, Emily was greeted by her beloved partner, who opened the apartment door for her after receiving a text message. Without saying a single word, the couple instantly embraced each other in an emotional hug, with Shauna shedding tears.

It was safe to say that the past month had not been the easiest for the couple. First, it was the reveal of Zane's survival, then Shauna was injured and taken out of action, and now Emily had just woken up from a coma that lasted over half a month.

After settling in, Emily began her usual nightly routine, starting with her using the toilet, followed by a nice, warm shower. After the shower, Emily climbed out of the bathtub and wiped the misty bathroom window, revealing her reflection. She looked tired, drained, and ill. She had a blank expression on her face.

After drying off, she put on black boxers and a black tank top to dry off. Once she was dry enough, she sat on the couch with her laptop on her knees. In her right hand was a USB drive.

She looked at the drive and hesitated before sticking it into the side of her laptop. The content of the drive was then opened up. It was a folder of old family photos. Emily scrolled through them until she eventually found the one that she was looking for.

It was a photo of her and Zane, back when they were both teenagers. Her head was wrapped under his left arm. The pair of them seemed full of life and energetic. The love and care they had for each other was as clear as day.

The sheer sight of the photo was enough to bring Emily to tears. As one tear fell from her right eye, she looked to her left and saw Shauna sitting on the other end of the couch, watching her cry with a frown on her face. After a moment of silence, she moved herself over to her girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her, offering Emily the comfort that she needed.

4  D A Y S  L A T E R . . .

Vincent Fisk was sat by the desk in his prison cell, finishing his latest entry to his diary. After finishing the entry, he closed the book and put both it and the pen to the side.

B E E P ! ! !

Knowing what that sound meant, he stood up and faced the glass wall as his guard came in.

"Fisk, you've got a visitor!"

The guard informed as he got the cuffs from his waist and cuffed Vincent, who knew that the visitor could only be one person, and that person only woke up a few days prior. Once he was secure, he was taken out of his cell and into the hallway.

As always with these trips, the prisoners in the tight cell hallway tried to reach out to grab the man, but they were always out of reach. The mini TVs in each of their rooms were playing the news, the headline read:

'Identity Of Assassin Revealed'

Above the headline were two photos. The photo on the right was Project ZM, and the photo on the left was an old photo of Zane Miller. It was the same photo used thirteen years ago in the news stories surrounding what was thought to be his death.

Vincent arrived at the visitation center and was taken to his usual place. On the other side of the window, of course, was Emily Rogue herself. She was wearing a new version of her Splat Force gear after the previous was torn apart. It still kept the same design.

The two of them sat down and picked up their phones.

"You look well."

Emily lightly nodded.

"I never got to say tha-"

"And you'll never have to."

He told her.

Both went quiet for a moment as Emily struggled to reply. She eventually got to changing the topic.

"I brought him back."

"Zane?"

He asked. Emily nodded, making Vincent smile.

"That's amazing! Have you had the chance to see him yet?"

Emily frowned and shook her head.

"No... I don't even know where he is, a-and if you've seen the news today then you'll know tha-"

"One of Cyrus' men outed him in custody, I know."

Vincent answered, clarifying that he had heard the news.

"Do you know where he could be? Any particular places he'd go to?"

Emily thought for a second and eventually came to one place.

"There is one place, but... I'm not sure."

She answered.

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

After being lost for the past couple of weeks, Zane Miller had returned to the place that he once called home, Bluegill Town. He still wore his suit, not having anything else to change into, though he had a ragged, black cloak over him with the hood down. The front gates had been locked for years. Nobody lived there anymore. The whole town was covered in fog. It had been long abandoned, hey there he was returning after all those years, jumping over the fence and entering the town.

Upon entering the town, he walked to the middle of the road and looked around him, taking in the fresh, nostalgic air as he was taken back to the better days of his life.

After walking onto the pathway, he walked straight forward until he arrived at his old home. He had a minute to process the sight of the home. As expected, it was abandoned. No one lived there anymore.

After entering the empty front porch, Zane immediately pushed the front door open with his metal arm. The force and power of his metal palm forced it open, allowing him access to the empty house. His first priority was to look all around downstairs. The living room and backroom were empty, the kitchen was cleared out, and there were no coats hung up in the hallway.

His next move was walking up the stairs and immediately entering his bedroom directly opposite the stairs. The moment he entered the room, he immediately started having old memories flashing in his mind, a memory of him and Ami together at peace, laughing and having a good time together, back when things were better.

His eyes were immediately drawn to the letter in the middle of the floor where his bed used to be. Zane walked to the middle of the room and picked up the letter before reading it.

The letter had handwriting that he recognised. It was easy for him to read it. He had a near-emotionless look on his face as he read it from top to bottom. Once he was done reading, he folded the letter, putting it in his suit belt before walking out of the room.

Seeing no reason to stay there any longer, Zane left Bluegill. He walked away from the locked gate, heading straight forward down the middle of the road before stopping and turning around to get one final view of the place he once called home.

A wave of sadness washed over Zane's face. He was all alone, he had no home, and he had no one to turn to... all except one person. He had to get to them. Beginning his next journey, Zane finally turned and walked away from the town. Where was he going? What was said in the letter? Only time will tell...

T H E E N D . . . O R I S I T ?

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T H X  F O R  R E A D I N G ! ! !

Thx for reading Splat Force IV: Radicalism! And thus another story has come to , and another Chapter in the Splat Force saga has concluded. As usual, I would like to give a big thanks to anyone who is still reading these stories after all this time (which may be a low number unfortunately because this app is unpopulated now, but I am still thankful regardless). As usual, I will get to the bonus content within the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that! Until next time...

Hold on... it appears that something strange is going on. What could this be...?

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M E A N W H I L E  A T  T H E  B A S E . . .

After a long day, Emily arrived at the Splat Force base, being greeted by both Magnus and Samantha. Magnus was standing in the middle of the room browsing social media whilst Samantha worked out in the corner.

"Hey Emily!"

Magnus said with a smile and a wave. Emily smiled and waved back. She approached Magnus and hugged him.

"Woah, someone's a bit huggy, eh?"

"Oh, stop it!"

Emily exclaimed with a little giggle as she pulled out of the hug.

"Rex and Platinum are outside talkin', I didn't want to bother them at all."

"Yeah, good call."

Magnus replied as Samantha ed them. She was sweating and wore baggy shorts and a crop top. Her belly was visible to see whether or not any changes were happening, thankfully, things seemed to be getting better.

"Nice job, Samantha! You're lookin' better and better with each in' day!"

Samantha smiled.

"Thanks!"

She said before looking at Emily.

"So, I'm guessing you've heard?"

Emily nodded.

"All of the Fisk and Cyrus associates are down! The world is a much safer place now!"

She said before a little frown came to her face.

"I'm just... worried about Zane."

Magnus put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We'll find him, okay?"

He assured. Emily sighed before nodding at him, wanting to not ruin his optimistic mood for once. Magnus knew that too, but he didn't wish to double down further.

"So... what's the plan now?"

Neither Emily nor Samantha knew what the team plan was, but Samantha still had an obvious goal in mind.

"For me, it's to get fit and hopefully help out where I can... assuming this whole Splat Force thing ain't going away."

Magnus chuckled.

"I like to think that we still have some fight left in us."

He answered.

"I don't know about you two, or Rex, Platinum, or Shauna, but I am feelin' prepared for anythin'!"

Suddenly, one of the training dummies began glitching... odd. The glitching quickly caught the attention of the three of them.

"I didn't do anything!"

Samantha said to them as she was the last one using them. Cautiously, she approached the training dummy and tapped it once. Nothing happened for a few seconds, until suddenly, it began glitching again.

"Oh squit!"

In a matter of seconds more and more objects around the base began glitching. The glitches came in three colours: green, orange, and purple.

"WHAT'S HAPPENIN'?!"

Emily cried out as the area all around them began glitching. After a whole minute had ed, the glitching had stopped abruptly. The lighting in the room changed, not that any of them noticed.

"What was that?!"

"I don't know!"

Magnus replied as he and the other two tried to process all of the glitching. None of it was natural, this was something more, something bigger.

Suddenly, both Platinum and Rex came into the building, both looking just as disturbed as the others were.

"Guys... what's going on?!"

Platinum asked. It was clear that what had just happened at the base had also occurred outside.

"The whole city just started... I don't even know what it was doing, and then... the sky just turned purple!"

The three who were indoors looked at Platinum, stunned.

"The sky is WHAT?!"

Emily asked before instinctively running outside... she was right. The orange sunset sky had turned purple.

"What the..."

After staring at it for a long moment, she became too creeped out by it and rushed back indoors. Unknown to Emily, or the Splat Force, or to anyone on the planet, they were now being watched. No one could see him, but in the sky was a silhouette with the colours of galaxies watching over them, a beholder if you will...

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The Splat Force will return...