Splat Force V: Final Frontier; Chapter 1

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad! I hope your day is going great! It is finally here, ladies and gentlemen, it is time for the beginning of the end. It is time for the start of Splat Force V: Final Frontier!

Today is a day that I have been anticipating for years. Every story in this universe whether it be the main series, the spin off stories, or even the One-Shots, has all been leading to this moment.

I know I said that I would say my due thanks in time, and that is definitely still the plan, but I just want to say now how thankful I am for... basically all of this! Every spring for the past 5-6 years, I've had the honor of starting a new story in this universe, stories where I could express my creativity and just have fun. Although this is the last time doing it both with this universe and on this app, I am still going to make the most of it and have as much fun as I always have!

If someone told young 14-15 year old me all those years ago that I'd still be doing this now, when I'm just over a week away from 20, I'd be mind-blown, that's for sure! I cannot believe that I've come this far, and I cannot wait to wrap this series up in the best way I possibly can!

So without further ado, let us begin the end!

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(Chapter Hub)

C H A P T E R  1 :  T H E  E N D  O F  T H E  W O R L D

("The Multiverse... it's a beautiful thing.")

("It is the birth, the life, and the death of an infinite number of realities, each home to their own heroes and their villians.")

("I'm The Beholder, it has been my responsibility to protect the multiverse by any means necessary. I often swore off interfering with any reality's timeline unless it be for the safety of the multiverse, but even then, the stakes have never been higher than they are now.")

("I can feel his power grow, as well as his essence throughout the multiverse. It's coming, the moment that I've spent eons waiting for.")

("The end has finally arrived...")

Outside of reality itself was the bridge between words, an endless pathway with beacons of light on each side, with every beacon being the gateway to a different universe, odd-numbered on the left, and even-numbered on the right.

Surrounding the area were beautiful green lights that resmebled the Aurora Borealis. as well as distant stars of a seemingly endless space, however, there was a faint speck of purple slowly merging it's way through. It was very faint, but still visible to the most observant of eyes.

At the very front of the pathway was a large, blackened citadel. It had the base of a normal castle, but in the center at the very top of it was a giant glass window with complex mystical patterns.

Stood on the otherside of the window was a silhouette of a being beyond a singular universe. It's silhouette had the colors and textures of a galaxy, with the only thing standing out being his glowing white eyes. This was the silhouette of The Beholder.

The silhouette made the shape of a massive man with a large head, wearing a cloak with a large collar. The rest of the body seemed to be hidden under the cloak, though it was hard to tell from the dark silhouette.

Although the rest of his facial expressions remain hidden behind his galaxy silhouette, The Beholder's eyes frowned from seeing the specks of purple, knowing what it meant. He looked over the multiverse through the window of his citdal, taking in as much of the sight as he possibly can knowing that very soon, it could all end in a moment.

Feeling dread, The Beholder lifted his right hand and aimed it towards the window. Moments later, a bright white circle filled up the window, allowing him a window into other realities. He wanted to see just how many were infected by this.

As he looked into various different universes, one thing remained constant, the skies were turning into a Haunting shade of purple, causing confusion and concern throughout each and every universe that was being infected, with the numbers increasing every second.

You could be anywhere in the world and you'd still see it. The Beholder went to different parts of different worlds to see it. From the deep darkness of damp forests and swamps, to the mountain side, to deep under water, and even in a wasteland where godlike beings fought, The Beholder saw it all.

Alas, The Beholder had had enough of seeing it all. It was all too much for the upper being. He stepped away from the window and turned around before heading down the wooden steps, out of the attic and into the Library.

The library contained many bookshelves that went on for hours, each containing eons worth of knowledge about the multiverse, such as the contents of each universe and its heroes and villians. As well as that, the libary also had a small section devoted to the books that The Beholder values the most, such as the book containing the most legendary of heroes as well as the wonders of the multiverse.

Walking to the middle of the room, The Beholder lifted his hand and slowly twisted it sideways, causing a bright orange light to shine from his palms. The reality around him shifted, turning it from a large library to a tiny box of a square room.

At the end of the room was a wooden door, upon opening it, The Beholder walked down a cold stone staircase before arriving at a long stone hallway. There were prison cells on each side, each containing a prisoner or threat to the multiverse. All of the prisoners were either too psyched out to even move or were bashing their hands against the unbreakable bars.

After a quick walk across the hallway, The Beholder reached a cell door at the very end. Turning his hand sideways once again, he unlocked the door and walked through.

The rectangular room was long and dark. Only a few things gave it light, the first being a small circular fountain with clear pink water in the middle of the room, the second was small green orb in the top left corner incased in a glass container, and the third being a reality gateway of a timelime pulled out of the bridge, but what was it doing here?

The moment that the Beholder's presence was felt in the room, the torches on the wall lit it up. The Beholder went straight to the fountain and paused before it, taking a deep breath and closing his glowing white eyes before dipping his face inside of the water. Upon doing so, he was met with images of what was to come, and it was everything that he feared.

The skies were purple, shadow monsters recked havoc everywhere they found themselves, and at the center of it all was a large obsidian structure the size of skyscrapers with a bright light in the center all the way to the bottom with the colors going down from a bright orange to a dark purple. Standing before the structure was an entity with sharp sand-colored skin that wore dark purple-tinted obsidian armour all over his body, with the only skin showing being the gap in the helmet that showed his yellow eyes with the white pupils. The being was holding a long purple-tinted sword that was made from the same material as his armour.

Seeing enough, The Beholder lifted his face out of the water, panting for a second as he tried to catch his breath. This was it, the moment that he had been dreading for eons. It has arrived. With no time to lose, The Beholder quickly hurried out of the room.

Returning back to the attic, The Beholder walked back to the window and stood in front of it. He looked out of the window and at the multiversal bridge outside.

"It's time..."

He whispered to himself. Without further ado, The Beholder lifted up his right arm once again and casted another viewing point into the multiverse, forming the same white circle that took over the whole window.

He was in search of heroes, heroes who would be the one hope for the multiverse's survival. Thankfully, it appears as if The Beholder already had a certain reality in mind...

E A R T H  2 0

Inkopolis City was as hopeful and as colorful as in almost every other reality. Even during the sunset, there were bright neon lights of various different colours, massive flashing screens in the city centers, square, plaza, and even just down the street, and the marine lifeforms that roamed the city came in different shades of colours, whether it be blue, yellow, pink, or even colours like magenta, lime, maroon, or indigo. Everywhere the eye could see in this city, you'd find a new colour.

At the docks was the warehouse base of the Splat Force, a team which really needs no introduction by now. Even after all the years of wars, dictatorships, and even corruptions, the Splat Force have stayed strong and powered through everything.

Sitting outside on the wall to the right of the entrance looking out into the sea was Platinum Frida, the Inktoling young woman with her blue hair wrapped into a ponytail. She was wearing her causal clothes which consisted of a red flannel hoodie, blue jeans, short brown boots, and a black top.

Platinum was on her own, taking some time to enjoy herself as a few other of the team were inside of the base. She observed the beautiful sunset, something which she did very often, it was calming to her and it's bright, vibrant light and warm feeling always sent her back to her childhood.

Eventually, Platinum managed to gain some company. She heard slower, yet slightly louder footsteps coming up from behind. She smiled, instantly knowing who the individual was.

"I'm guessing everyone else is having an early break?"

She asked.

"You're saying that as if you haven't been out here for the past half hour."

The man from behind said with a chuckle.

Platinum giggled.

"That's true, very much true, Dad."

Splat Force Commander Rex Allen ed his daughter, sitting by her side to her left. His long brown hair moved in the breeze a little. He was wearing his smart charcoal tros and black shoes as well as a black vest that would normally be hidden under a white shirt, tie, and a blazer.

He looked to his daughter and smiled.

"Your mother used to love sunsets."

He whispered.

"She'd always go outside and climb onto the roof just to see them if they were really pretty. Even when we were on the run during Bolton's reign, she still found time to ire the beauty of them."

Platinum smiled back at him.

"Mom always loved the pretty things in life."

"Yes, she did. But, do you know what the prettiest thing she has ever laid her eyes on is?"

He asked. Platinum looked at him and shrugged, not knowing the answer until Rex placed on hand on her right cheek.

"You."

This warmed up Platinum a lot on the inside. She leaned her head in further into her father's hand and start giggling. Just then, the pair of them spotted Emily Rogue entering the Splat Force base. She gave them a wave, to Rex responded with a respectful nod.

As Emily went inside, Rex let go of her daughter and folded his arms on top of the wall as he and Platinum looked at the sunset.

"You know, if your mother was here, if she could... see you, I guarantee she'd be so proud of you, especially after everything that went down last month and how you carried yourself out there."

Those words caused her to get a bit misty eyed. She looked away for a second to compose herself before looking back.

"Thank you, I-I hope so too!"

She told him.

"Although I still got nothing on you, though!"

Rex chuckled for a moment, glancing at his daughter.

"You've got the youthful advantage."

He joked before looking back to the sunset.

"I'm old, kiddo."

"You're only fifty-one!"

"Heh, still a hell of a lot older then twenty-five."

Rex said to her with a chuckle.

"I've lived a long life, seen a lot of battle, some triumphant, others... not so much. I've had friends come and go in the blink of an eye. There is a lot that I would go back and change if I could, but I'd never change anything with you. You're the best daughter that I could ask for. I'm proud of what you've done in your short time, and I can't begin to imagine all the things you could accomplish years from now."

Lots of thoughts went through Platinum's head the moment after Rex said all of that. Never in her life did she feel as empowered or as confident as she did in that moment. Although things hadn't always been perfect for the pair of them, the love and approval that they had for each other was powerful, and the words Rex had just said to her almost moved her to tears. She smiled at him, too overwhelmed with emotions to even for a coherent sentence.

All of a sudden, their conversation abruptly came to an end as a big stone on the ground started going through a weird phenomenon. It looked as if it was glitching, like how a video game would, accept this glitching had mini particle effects. It was flashing in secondary colors, green, purple, and orange.

Rex and Platinum looked at the stone confused, not understanding what was going on. After a moment, it stopped. Curious, Platinum walked over to the stone and picked it up, examining it.

"What was that abou-"

All of a sudden, it began glitching again. Freaked out, Platinum dropped it and quickly stepped back to her father's side. More and more objects in the area started glitching as well, the same way that the stone was just moments ago.

Rex and Platinum stayed close together, both completely on edge as the glitching started to spread not just to objects, but eventually city buildings started to glitch as well. The glitches had three colors: green, orange, and purple, all secondary colors.

After almost a minute, the glitching abruptly came to an end. Rex and Platinum, who at this point were just holding onto each other for dear life, let go of each other. They looked around to see that everything was seemingly back to normal... at first glance, that is.

They both let out a sigh of relief as everything calmed down until they noticed something off. The whole area, no, the whole city had a completely different tint to it. It was no longer the orange tint of the sunset. Confused, the father-daughter duo looked to the sky to see that it had just completely changed colors. It had turned purple.

"What in the world?"

Rex whispered outloud. There was no explanation for this whatsoever, at least not one that the Commander could think of in the moment. Needing to notify the others on the matter, the pair of them instantly headed inside.

Inside was a large and open square room, with stairs leading up to a higher platform. There were several target practices on the entire left side of the room, along with training dummies. On the right side of the room, there were tables and chairs for any breaks that were needed during training. The middle of the room had a smooth red carpet with yellow outlines. In the center-right of the room, there were large glass displays of the male and female Splat Force suits Next to them was a weapon stand containing each ' respective weapons. On the wall were photos of the greatest fighters from the Splat Force alongside a long plaque with the names of every single member of the Splat Force both past and present.

Most of the rest of the team, Magnus Lang, Emily Rogue, and Samantha Stewart were inside and talking about what they say, with Shauna May-Deacon not present due to injuries sustained in battle.

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

Platinum asked.

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

All three of them were stunned, with Emily having the biggest vocal reaction.

"The sky is WHAT?!"

She asked before instantly and instinctively running outside, seeing the sky for herself.

"What the..."

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

The team were all stood around a TV screen by the entrance watching the news reports.

"It is unknown what has caused the shift in the skies color. Scientists suggest that this is an effect of the gifted cure radiation from ten years prior, whilst religious extremists claim that what is happening was told in the infamous proph-"

Rex muted the TV and dropped the remote next to it before turning to the team, all of whom looked puzzled.

"This shouldn't be possible. All that the cure should've done was cure everyone, not change the... ugh, I don't know."

Standing in front of Rex from left to right was Samantha, Magnus, Emily, and Platinum, the first of whom scoffed.

"We just can't catch a break, can we?"

Magnus quickly chimed in.

"We don't know what's goin' on yet. Has anythin' like this happened before?"

Rex shook his head.

"No. It hasn't."

He answered from a small shake of his head and a confused sigh.

"Which is why this is so concerning."

Whilst everyone else was focusing purely on the now purple sky, and for a good reason, Platinum's mind was too set on the other  phenomenon that just occurred.

"What about the fact that the everything around is just started... I don't know, buffering? Glitching?"

Rex shook his head and looked away for a second before looking back at his daughter.

"There is nothing in this world that could possibly connect to it. No chemical reaction, no natural reaction, nothing."

"They're sayin' it could be connected to the cure, right?"

Magnus asked before giving his suggestion.

"Maybe nature is just fightin' back against it."

"Yeah, but that doesn't make sense..."

Whilst everyone was talking, Emily, too mentally drained to even voice her opinion of the matter, had her eyes glued to the mute TV Screen. It was a skyline view of Inkopolis, with the main focus being the purple sky. Sky aside, it all seemed normal at first, until all of a sudden, what looked to be explosion appeared on the left corner, coming from one of the streets.

Emily clicked her fingers and pointed at the screen.

"Guys, look!"

She shouted, bringing everyone's attention back to the TV screen, with Rex immediately turning up the volume.

"-for more updates, please stay tuned on our-"

The news reporter told her viewers before abruptly pausing following the explosion. Each member of the team shared the same concerned expression

"We have just received word that riots are unfolding all around Inkopolis City, one of which had caused the explosion as you can see ther-"

Rex paused the TV screen to have a closer look at the explosion. Something felt off.

"This doesn't look right..."

He whispered before putting his fingers on the screen to explain what he was thinking.

"Look at the size and width of this. This isn't a normal explosion shape, especially not one coming from a city street, and trust me I'd know what they should look like."

Magnus moved closer to the screen to examine it. After a brief look, he worryingly began nodding.

"You're right. Somethin' isn't right."

Suddenly, Platinum felt a sudden pulse in both of her arms as well as a headache. She grunted loudly and clenched her fists. Rex immediately picked up on it and approched her.

"Platinum, are you okay?"

"Something feels off about my... h-hands..."

She whispered, grunting again.

"Why? What's going on?"

Rex asked.

As the pain worsens, Platinum steps back a few steps and starts panting. The pressure builds and builds in her fists until she feels a very sharp pain. She yelps, forcing her clenched left fist forward, firing a light-blue energy beam at the wall. After firing for five seconds, everything goes quiet.

All eyes were on Platinum, all were shocked, confused, and anxious, especially Rex, who briefly looked away to the ground.

"That wasn't... surely not..."

B O O M ,  B O O M ,  B O OM ! ! !

W H O O S H ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

The team were all alerted to all of the noises coming from outside of the base, with all but Platinum looking to the front door. After seeing what they just saw happen to Platinum, their anxiety levels tripled.

Needing the conformation, Rex turned back to his daughter, who had now opened her eyes and was looking at her fists, terrified. She looked at him, and thus came the confirmation. Her pupils were white. The gifted had returned...

Across the city, civilians were running around screaming as the gifted rampaged. Fireballs were thrown, lightning was struck, the ground was raised, minds were manipulated, and roads became frozen and slippy. These were just few of the side effects of the riots.

The team all rushed onto the streets, all geared up and ready to fight. Rex led the charge, N-Zap in hand, followed shortly by Magnus and Emily, each holding a Splatterscope and Squalcher respectively, with the two behind them being Samantha and Platinum, using a Splattershot and Duelies respectively.

"Come on!"

Rex yelled back at his team as they headed straight into the danger zone. Attention of the gifted went straight to them.

W H O O S H ,  W H O O S H ! ! !

Immediately, a fireball was lunged at the team from their right, all of them quickly jumped out of the way of the blast. Quickly taking down the attacker, Magnus ready and aimed his Splatterscope to be aiming towards the attacker, before firing at them, hitting them in the stomach.

B A N G ! ! !

Z A P ! ! !

Immediately after doing so, a lightning bolt crackled down at them from the sky, thankfully, the attackers just barely missed, landing only inches from Samantha's right foot, stopping both her and Platinum in their tracks whilst Rex, Emily and Magnus went on forward.

B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

The three Commanders all rushed forward, entering a four-way crossroad, each shooting in different directions, Emily shooting three times to the left, Magnus once to the right, and Rex twice to the front of him before jumping onto the destroyed car and looking around him. Magnus and Emily stayed on the ground and went back-to-back with each other.

B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ! ! !

As they were firing, a big isopod brute came up from the road they ran from, Rex was already occupied with the rioters from the road ahead that he wasn't able to warn them.

S L A M ! ! !

By the time they even realized that the brute was there, the brute had already back-handed Magnus away, sending him flying forward using his enhanced strength, Emily instantly spun around to see Magnus get launched and froze in panic, giving the brute an open opposite to strike.

S L A M ! ! !

The brute smacked Emily right in the stomach, sending her flying back several feet, landing just before a car covered in rubble. She groaned loudly, feeling a sharp pain in her stomach. Her mind instantly thought that it was a stomach cramp or a stomach ache, but the reality of it was worse, so much worse...

After instinctively putting her hand on her stomach, she felt the wetness, widening her eyes. She quickly pulled up her SF gear top to find that not only was her stomach bleeding, but the stab wound there had been opened.

Emily went into a state of shock. She became warm as she started to sweat. Her vision kept getting blurry, making it hard to focus on the brute slowly coming her way. It was then that she stayed to hallucinate. Instead of seeing the raging streets of Inkopolis and the big brute, she instead saw flashes of the fight at Inkopolis Stadium with both her and Project ZM in the glass dome where her injuries took place.

As the brute got closer, Emily's fit worsened. She started to cry in fear, whispering to herself over and over again.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

She hissed. By now, her right hand was covered in blood as it held against her agonising stomach. She had never been this scared before in her entire life.

B A N G ! ! !

Thankfully, just as the brute was arriving, Magnus managed to get a clean shot at the isopod, taking him out. Upon seeing the state of his friend, the red-mohawked Octoling's eyes widened.

"Emily!"

He called out. To get there quicker, Magnus rushed forward, went into this swim form, and then super jumped towards her, landing just by her side to see the bleeding.

"Oh no! Oh no!"

Without hesitation, Magnus reached into his utility belt around his weist and pulled out a thick, long medical bandage, wrapping it around his white-haired Inkling friend multiple times.

"It's okay, Emily! I'm here! It's okay!"

He reassured her as she continued to panic. Magnus kept on wrapping around her stomach until the blood was only half visible. Once done, he pulled down her top and picked her up, holding her in his arms.

"I'll get you back to base, hold on!"

Meanwhile, both Samantha and Platinum were still occupied with the lightning striker from above, each flipping and jumping out of the way of the lightning strikes as they tried to find the source of it.

Z A P ,  Z A P ! ! !

Two more strikes were fired at Platinum, who swiftly jumped back out of the way, but not before noticing the direction the strike came from. She was now able to see where the attacker was.

"Up there!"

She yelled to Samantha who looked up to see a shirtless dark-skinned Inkling with light blue hair standing at the very top of the building, holding onto it's lightning rod with his left hand, and using his open right hand to strike at them.

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

Z A P ! ! !

Both Samantha and Platinum tried their hardest to shoot down the attacker from the ground, but they were too far apart from him and all their shots were missing, leaving the attacker to strike at Platinum, who dodge-rolled out of the way just in time.

It was then that an idea came to her mind. Platinum dropped both of her weapons and clenched her fist. She tried channeling the energy inside of her, trying to put it into his fists. Hearing the crackle of another lightning strike being prepared, she knew she had no more time to charge up. It was now or never!

Platinum thrusted her arm up towards the direction of the attacker. An energy beam blasted out of it as she had hoped, however, she wasn't very good with the aim. Instead of hitting the attacker, she hit the rod, causing it to be blasted off, making the attacker fall.

Platinum kneeled onto the ground panting, looking at the glowing in her fist slowly fade out. Samantha approched her and helped her up.

"We gotta work on that!"

She said. The Inktoling snickered and nodded.

Suddenly, help had finally arrived. Coming in from the skies across the sea, the jets owned by the Royal Army of Inkopolis City began flying into the scene, reigning fire down at the streets below.

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

The shots dealt significant damage to the rioters, causing most of the to get hit and taken out, leaving the rest of hide and cower away. Other jets came to the scene, but these ones were only there to drop off troops, who all jumped into the battle, giving the Splat Force more fire power.

Rex, who was still stood on the ruined car, firing at the rioters charging at him, took notice of a Chopper heading down. The side of the Chopper began firing a Sting Ray at the rioters ahead, taking down out of the fight as well.

It only took minutes for everything to start settling down, but once it was all calm, the Chopper landed. Rex approched the Chopper, with both Platinum and Samantha running to catch up to him.

Coming out of the Chopper was the R.A.I.C General, Luke Bishop, who wore his full gear.

"Glad to see we came on time."

He greeted, approaching the Splat Force Commander and offering his hand.

Rex greeted the General with a hank shake.

"Oh believe me, you couldn't have come at a better time. I have no idea how I would've fought them off."

Just then, Magnus quickly super jumped back into the scene, landing behind the team, all of whom looked at him with concern, especially after seeing the blood stains on his sleeves.

"Magnus? Where's Emily?"

Platinum asked.

"I had to get her back to base. Her wound was opened durin' the fight."

"Oh geez..."

Samantha whispered under her breath, worried.

"Is she okay?"

Magnus nodded.

"Thankfully, yeah. I called in a doctor to help her, so hopefully she'll be back on her feet in no time."

"Good."

Rex replied before turning back to the General, Magnus ed the rest of the team.

"Do you or anyone else know what's going on, General?"

"Not a clue, Commander Allen."

The General replied.

"To be honest, I thought that we've moved past the gifted."

Platinum scoffed.

"Oh, tell me about it."

General Bishop glanced at Platinum and quickly took notice of the white pupils in her eyes.

"I'm guessing you've been infected too?"

"With the gifts that my Mom had that I only used once and have no idea nor experience on how it use? Yeah."

"Right... I feel like this could mean that some of my men might be effected by this as well."

Rex nodded.

"Yes. Every team, every company, every place in the world is effected by this. It can't just be here."

The General looked puzzled, unsure of how to feel about all of this. Magnus stepped forward, placing his right hand on the General's left shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Luke, we'll figure this out."

The General looked back up at Magnus, giving him a half smirk and a nod.

"You better, otherwise your ass is mine!"

He said calmly with sarcasm.

Magnus chuckled.

"Bet!"

Magnus joked back with a light laugh before going back to being more serious.

"Look, this is somethin' that'll be effectin' everywhere, so our teams have to remain in touch until we can get through all of this."

General Bishop nodded.

"Agreed. We'll keep in touch."

"Of course!"

Magnus replied before the pair of them shook hands. Moments later, the General left the team to help out his own men, leaving the team free to go back to their base to regroup.

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

Every single news station around the planet, whether it be Inkadia, Coraldia, or even areas with the smallest population, was reporting what had just gone down. The Gifted were back, and the world was in chaos.

Every government had their army on standby incase a new Terrador or Bolton Vulcan would arrive, which would be imminent at this point, it was only just a matter of time. Meanwhile, scientists and astrologists around the world tried finding the cause of all of it.

The News Broadcasting show, known as What's The Freshest, had just begun their report. Millions were tuning in.

"This is What's The Freshest live from the streets of Inkopolis City. Things have only briefly managed to calm down here after the outburst that just occurred."

The broadcast was being played live in every building across the city, whether it be bars, super markets, restaurants, and in this case, carehomes. Sitting in the front lounge of the Bernadette Care Home and watching the news was all of the elderly residents, among them was the retired R.A.I.C with the severed right arm, William Swannack.

To the old man, this was a nightmare. He lost his arm to them, or more specifically to the worst of them. It was bringing back some stressful memories. He watched and listened to the report in horror.

"By now, I'm sure everyone around the world has been notified of the return of the gifted, the day we all saw coming but never actually thought would so soon."

Meanwhile, all the way at the Humboltd Institution, one of the most safe and secure prisons in Inkadia, Vincent Fisk stood at front of the desk in his cell, looking out of the window.

A concerned look lingered on his face as he listened to the radio that the guard outside of his private cell was listening to.

"The riots caused by the gifted have done serious damage to the city, with close to a hundred being reported injured, and eleven reported dead on the scene."

A light chuckle came out of the guard's mouth before making a spiteful comment towards the prisoner.

"Well I'd be damned, Fisk, looks like you were right all along. The end of the world really is upon us."

Vincent heard the comment but chose to not acknowledge is in the slightest. He instead remained quiet as he starred out of his prison window onto the courtyard below him.

Meanwhile, back the the Splat Force base, Rex, Platinum, and Samantha were all stood around the TV whilst Magnus was stood by Emily on the medical bed as a doctor stiched her wound back up again.

"Thankfully, the efforts of the Splat Force, the Royal Army of Inkopolis City, and the Inkopolis City Police Department were enough to bring the riots to an end for the time being, although government officials have alerted citizens to be on high alert in case of another gifted attack. For more information on this case, please visi-"

As the broadcast came to an end, Rex turned the TV off.

At the medical bed, Emily had just finished getting her wound stiched back up. Once done, the doctor put the equipment into a water-filled jug to clean them.

"All stiched up! I know what happened today wasn't fully on you, but I'd be careful out there. The streets aren't safe right now."

Emily looked at the doctor for a few seconds before nodding.

"Thank you."

Magnus offered the doctor a hand shake.

"Yeah, really, thank you for this, Olly, I owe you."

Olly nodded and shook Magnus' hand.

"No need. I'm happy to help out anytime!"

"Do you need help gettin' back home safely, or-'

"Don't worry, I think I can manage just fine on my own!"

Olly assured, giving Magnus an assuring look before grabbing their equipment and leaving the base.

As Olly left, Shauna May-Deacon managed to squeeze through the door, wearing her Splat Force gear. The gear had a hole in it from when she got stabbed a month prior.

"Emily!'

The Octoling called out before dashing to the very end of the room to meet her girlfriend, embracing her in a tight hug.

"I was so worried about you!"

"I-I'm fine, d-don't worry!"

Emily assured her, trying not to get emotional again as she embraced her partner. She was half right: physically she was feeling better, but mentally it was a whole different story. After pulling out of the hug, Emily noticed the white pupils in Shauna's yellow eyes.

"You too, huh?"

"What?"

Shauna asked before quickly picking up on what Emily was talking about.

"O-Oh, yeah... that."

"Are you okay?"

"It was a bit of a shock, but I think I'm handling it better then I did back when I first had it."

"Had what?"

Rex called out to Shauna after picking up on their conversation.

Shauna quickly turned to the other team before making her way to the darkest corner of the room. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to focus herself until all of a sudden, a bright light started to come from her hands, lighting up the corner. After a moment of showing it off, she settled down, dimming the light and opening up her eyes once more.

The other team looked impressed to see both the gift in action as well as how good Shauna's control was over it.

"I see..."

Rex whispered to himself in response before asking the question on everyone's mind.

"Can you control it well?"

Shauna nodded.

"It was a shook to me at first when they came back out of nowhere, but once I managed to calm myself down, I just did what I used to do down in the metro."

Platinum seemed to be the most interested at that very moment with her wanting to know how to control her gifts.

"What did you do?"

Shauna began to slowly approach Platinum.

"I closed my eyes, took several deep breaths, cleared my mind of everything. Whatever I was feeling at the time, whether it was sadness, anger, fear, or just anything, I'd channel it and then let it out through my gifts."

Platinum didn't really know how to take it, but she knew it was a good place to start.

"Thanks... I'll try that..."

She responded, making Shauna smile.

Carefully, and still holding onto her stomach, Emily climbed out of the medical bed, Shauna heard her and rushed to her side, picking her up over her shoulders.

"Don't worry, I'll take you home!"

"P-Please..."

Emily muttered.

"It's been a long day..."

Emily sounded down, both physically and mentally down. The past month hadn't been easy for her in the slightest, and what happened tonight didn't help either. Rex gave the pair of them an understanding nod.

"Get some rest, and..."

Rex said before pausing to look directly at Emily.

"Take your time. Whatever you're going through, you're not alone, Emily, you have us."

Emily's emotionless and drained face turned into a forced smirk and a wink as she clicked her tongue in sync with it as well as giving the Commander a thumbs up before both she and Shauna left the base, leaving the rest of the team behind.

After watching them leave, Rex turned to the rest of the team.

"That goes for the rest of you as well. Get some rest, we'll try and make sense of all of this in the morning."

"Understood."

Magnus responded, giving Rex a nod.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Rex said as he headed out of the base's front door, closing it behind him.

L A T E R  T H A T  N I G H T . . .

Opening the door to their apartment, Shauna entered with Emily still in her arms. The front of the apartment was the living room, which only had a couch that faced a TV on the wall. Behind the couch was a black shiny dining table in the middle of the kitchen, which was all along the back wall with an oven, sink, microwave, fridge, and freezer. The walls and floors were pure white, and the ceiling was black. To the left of the front door was the door to the bathroom, and in the top right corner of the apartment by the TV was the door to the bedroom.

"There we are! Home, sweet home!"

Shauna said with glee as she carried Emily to the brown leather couch, sitting her down before rushing to close and lock the front door.

"Now we can just rest for the night. You've had a busy day."

"Yeah..."

Emily groaned before painfully listing what she had done.

"Saw Fisk... updated him on everythin'... tried lookin' for you know who... no results... sky went purple... gifted came back... almost died... great day..."

Shauna frowned before sitting down next to Emily, placing her right hand on her left thigh.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't out fighting with you lot..."

"Don't be... you were still recoverin' and you had to also relearn your gifts..."

"No! That's not fair on you, and you know it!"

Shauna exclaimed, squeezing Emily's soft thigh.

"I simply got stabbed and went through a whole recovery! Meanwhile, you had your whole stomach cut open and had to get Fisk to donate his liver to you, and you only woke up a few days ago from a coma! I have no excuse not to fight!"

Shauna stopped speaking for a moment to just look at Emily, who kept staring straight ahead, blinking very slowly every now and then. Shauna saw the sadness and pain in her eyes. She knew Emily was keeping something, she always was a stubborn one.

"What's wrong?"

She asked. The moment she asked that, Emily's eyes began to tear up.

"Emily?"

Emily's lips trembled a little before she finally decided to look her worried partner in the eyes, sniffling as she gave an answer.

"W-When I got injured, an-and that guy was walkin' towards me... I-I just saw him..."

She uttered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I-I c-couldn't stop seein' him..."

"Zane?"

Shauna asked, wanting the confirmation. Emily nodded, confirming her suspicions.

"I get that. When I first moved in with you, I kept seeing Fisk everywhere I went even though he's behind bars. It went on for a year or two until I finally let that part of my past go, and you want to know how?"

Emily sniffled as Shauna wiped a couple of tears from her cheeks.

"H-H-How?"

"You. You helped me. You fixed me. You saved me. You... you shined my light in a world of darkness and helped me through it all."

She told her, coming across as a little bit too cheesy for Emily's liking, but she meant every word.

"Maybe I can help too. Maybe I can be that light."

Just as she said this, Shauna lifted up her left hand, making it glow with light, causing Emily to snort and start giggling.

"Alright, good one!"

She said, making Shauna giggle.

"I must ask... when did you get good at speeches?"

"I didn't. I just said how I felt."

Shauna replied honestly before giving her girlfriend a sly smirk.

"Although I am surrounded by speech givers twenty-four seven, so..."

Emily chuckled again.

"Bloody Magnus and Rex, rubbin' off on ya!"

"Haha! A little!"

Shauna giggled before moving closer to Emily, wrapping her right arm around her, Emily leaned in to Shauna's shoulder and closed her eyes, exhaling softly.

"Today was a long day, but it's over, we can relax now."

"Mmm..."

Emily hummed in response, eyes still closed.

Seeing Emily like this made Shauna happy on the inside. She was glad she managed to make her feel better, for now at least.

"Now we can just relax here at home with nothing else to worry about. Just us."

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

Northeast Inkopolis had managed to clean up after the damage caused by the riots earlier, although there wasn't much to clean up there, which was a surprise seeing as all the big events regarding that area of the city, specifically the Inkopolis Cathedral, all centered around the gifted's big attacks.

Whether it be Terrador at the end of the Gifted Wars, or Bolton Vulcan and his army bursting out of the sewers to begin his reign, this particular area of the city had seen far too much in its time.

Scouting the area, going up and down the road were R.A.I.C troops, all of whom being tasked with looking out for trouble by their general, a smart move on his part as it must've been a strong feeling that at least something would've been happening there.

From the looks of things, everything seemed alright at the moment. It was a great surprise for them, but a welcome one none the less, although it raised the question on how long they could keep the gifted at bay. Another huge riot was imminent.

One of the troops emptied a bag rilled with rubble into the trash next to the The Spicy Noodle restaurant, clapping his hands twice after closing the lid, ready to relax them after his hard work... or so he thought.

Out of nowhere, he heard two trash bins fall over in the shadows ahead of him down the small allyway. Something was there with him, he just couldn’t see it. The troop's natural reaction was to instantly draw his weapon.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!"

He yelled into the darkness, but nothing responded, which only provoked him even more.

"COME OUT! NOW!"

S T O M P , S T O M P . . .

One loud stomp was heard following the troop's shouting, followed by another. The troop began making out a dark, shadowy silhouette that towarded above him. Growling noises were heard coming from it, growling like a wild apex predator, except deeper, so much deeper.

The troop began quaking. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, but he had so stand his ground and fight. He raised his weapon and prepared to fight. What was this creature? What is it capable of? Oh, surely you must've got the hang of things by now, only time will tell...

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 Splat Force V: Final Frontier! And so it begins! I cannot believe that this was my final Splat Force story premier, I'm definitely gonna miss this! Fear not, everyone, for the second Chapter will be out in a couple of hours, so stay tuned for that! Until next time, stay safe out there! ^^

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