■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
W E L C O M E ! ! !
This is Nomad! I hope that all is well! It's Sunday, time for a new Chapter of Splat Force V: Final Frontier!
After last week's calmer fourth Chapter, this Chapter will see our heroes thrown back into the action as they venture to the land that Magnus and General Bishop discussed at the end of the last Chapter.
In addition to what I've just said, this Chapter will also be laying the ground works for future events that are yet to unfold in this story, I ain't sharing them with you all, so get to reading!
So without further ado, let's get into this!
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
C H A P T E R 5 : B A D L A N D S
S N I P , S N I P , S N I P ! ! !
In the back of the Stewart Sisters' Diner behind the counter was the door to Samantha's bedroom. The room was rectangular in shape and was split into two sides, each with a bed, a desk. Samantha was on the left side, and Ami's old side was on the right. The latter of which had remained mostly untouched, minus the creased bed.
In between the two beds on the opposite wall was a mirror that was set up with a small table in front of it as well as an occupied seat. Long brown and grey strands of hair were scattered all over the floor around the seat as a woman with a mixture of blue and purple hair. She wore a warm biege jumper and blue jeans.
The woman in question was Caroline Goldson, the recently found mother of Samantha and Ami Stewart, dishing out one of her famous haircuts. Her patient was sat in a black robe, facing a recently set up mirror as the woman cut his hair using both scissors and a razor. The patient in question? Rex Allen.
Rex sat still, not moving an inch. On the table in front of him was a razor still warm from just being used as well as different types of hair products to help make his hair softer and more tame, which was needed after the cut he was experiencing.
S N I P , S N I P , S N I P ! ! !
After the final cuts, Caroline had finally wrapped things up, grabbing her hair product of choice, a conditioner sponsored by Shiver from Deep Cut, and squinted it onto her hands, rubbing it together before rubbing it gently into Rex's hair.
"And just like that..."
Caroline whispered as she finished up his now mushcut hair.
"We're done!"
Grabbing a smaller mirror, Caroline showed Rex how the back of his hair looked like whilst Rex got a good look and feel of the front. It was his old hairstyle from his old life. The side and back were trimmed short whilst the top was still long and had a fringe. Of course, his hair was a lighter brown with bits of grey, something that came with age. In addition, his beard also had a small tidy up. It was still present, but more cleaner.
"I gotta say, Carol, you still do the best haircuts in the city."
Rex said before standing up and taking off his robe, revealing the black buttoned shirt that he wore underneath it. He offered her a handshake.
"Thank you for this, really!"
"Of course!"
Caroline said with glee as she shook his hand.
"Anything for an old friend of Jamie."
After the handshake, Rex decided that now was a good time to do a little check up.
"How are you coping with all of this?"
"Hmm? Oh, you mean with the end of the world and all of that?"
She asked. Rex gave a light chuckle and nodded.
"Samantha told me what that Beholder guy had to say, and yeah, it's a bit nuts what's going on. I hope you guys are able to fix it all!"
"I hope so too. The last thing I want is for Platinum to not have a future."
"Me too... although, in my case it's mainly Samantha, but yeah I agree with the Platinum part too."
She replied. The two of them laughed a little before heading to the bedroom door.
Upon opening the door, Rex walked out of the room first, showing off his hairstyle to both Platinum and Samantha, who were sitting at one of the old, unused tables, both in their casual clothes. The pair of them had spent the time together cleaning up the place, dusting the tables, getting rid of old stains, and overall making the place look more lovely and clean.
The diner had the standard black and white checkered floor with two rows of three small tables of six spread across the room. On the walls were small drawings of fires, rolls, meat, fruit and vegetables, and a beautiful photo of one of the deserts that were to lust for, though in recent years the drawings have become more faded. In the back of the room was a counter where people could order food. Behind the counter was a small kitchen that consisted of ovens, microwaves, grills, and sinks. On the right-hand side, there was a storage door in the corner. On the left-hand side was a backroom door which led to the bedroom. To the left of the counter was the entrance to the bathrooms.
The two girls walked up to their respective parents as they got out from behind the counter, Platinum having a wide smile on her face.
"I this look! It's a classic!"
Platinum complimented, making her father smile she then pointed to the lower part of her face.
"I see you kept the beard, though."
Rex chuckled.
"Yeah, figured I'd embrace the old whilst keeping some of the new."
Samantha nodded a few times before giving her verdict.
"Yeah, it looks good!"
She complimented before turning to her mother.
"You did a good job!"
Caroline placed her left hand on her heart and smiled.
"Aww, thank you sweetheart! It's nice knowing this old girl still got it!"
"You do, indeed!"
Rex said, turning to her.
Caroline glanced at Rex, smiling at him.
"You got any plans for after all of this, Rex?"
"Umm... assuming I live to tell the tale... I don't know."
Rex replied.
"Why? Have you got plans?"
"Not much, but I'm thinking about sticking around for a while. I've just got back into Samantha's life, I don't want to leave it anytime soon."
"Yeah, that's a good point. Same for me with Platinum."
The two adults smiled at each other.
"We should totally catch up sometime. You gotta tell me about all your adventures."
Caroline offered.
"Plus, I'd be nice to catch up with an old friend."
"Yeah, it would, yeah."
Rex replied. As they spoke, Samantha gave Platinum a cheeky nudge and a smirk, causing Platinum to roll her eyes and flip her off, all whilst still smirking.
B Z Z Z Z Z Z T ! ! !
Just then, Rex felt his phone vibrating. He took it out quickly and saw who was calling him.
"It's Magnus."
He told them all before answering the phone, putting it on speaker.
"Hello?"
"Hey, where are you right now?"
He asked.
"I'm with Platinum and Samantha with Samantha's mom. Why?"
"Are you three able to head to the base as soon as possible? Me and Luke think we've found somethin'."
Rex looked up at Platinum and Samantha, both of whom gave the Commander a confident nod. He then looked down at his phone.
"Yes. We'll head over."
L A T E R T H A T E V E N I N G . . .
At the base, Magnus and General Bishop were at the back stood in front of the old desk. Emily stood with Shauna by the clothes stand. Around the room were a few of the brave soldiers from the R.A.I.C that volunteered to go on this mission.
It wasn't long until Rex, Platinum, and Samantha walked through the front door. All eyes were on Rex. Upon seeing Rex's haircut, Emily smirked.
"The world is endin' and you're gettin' a haircut?"
Rex smirked back at her.
"Well, if it really is gonna end, I might as well look better then I have been."
He joked, making Emily giggle to herself before looking at Magnus, who gave him a nod.
"So, what have you two found?"
"Luke called me over to the R.A.I.C base today because he found an island that recked of radiation."
Magnus answered before looking to his left at General Bishop.
The General took the glance as a sign to talk.
He took a step forward, hands behind his back as he approched Rex.
"After the sky went purple, I had a few of my insiders over at the Squid Research Lab look for any phenomenons happening around the world. Everywhere else seemed normal except for this one singular island."
He told him as his left hand reached into his pocket, taking out and unfolding a piece of paper that contained a map. There was a red circle drawn around the map. Rex held the map, looking at the small island as the General continued giving his insight.
"It's a small island down south that extremists would often call Kalki. My insiders told me that the area is covered in radiation more than any other place on the planet since the sky turned purple. We're thinking it could be connected."
Rex looked up from the map at the General.
"Similar radiation to-"
"No."
He answered, already knowing what Rex was going to ask.
"And it ain't cancerous or even lethal either. This is something else entirely, and if there's even a one percent chance that it's related to all that's going on, we need to take it and investigate it."
Rex glanced back down on the island on the map for a moment before looking back up at The General before handing him back the map.
"What time are we leaving?"
"As soon as we're all ready, and by all I also mean some of my other finest. They are still preparing, but we should be off in around fifteen minutes."
The General answered before walking back to Magnus.
"It's a bit of a long ride, so make sure to do what you must before hand!"
2 H O U R S L A T E R . . .
After a long flight, the General's helicopter, alongside two fully occupied fighter jets arrived at Kalki. They landed by a small grass hill next to the trees close to where their point of interest was at. Coming out of the General's helicopter was every member of the Splat Force, all of whom got off and stuck together.
Upon looking around at first glance, they were surprised to see so much natural life, Shauna especially.
"It looks kinda pretty here."
Overhearing her, the General gave what he thought was the explanation.
"This island was only discovered around a hundred or so years ago. No one lives here. There is no sign of life anywhere."
"Odd..."
Emily replied.
Upon looking through the gaps between the trees, Rex spotted what he thought could be the place of interest. He pointed to it.
"What's that through there?"
Looking in the direction that Rex was pointing, General Bishop was able to give a quick answer.
"That might as well be our P.O.I."
He answered before giving the wheel to the Splat Force Commander.
"Want to investigate?"
Rex nodded before looking back in the direction of interest before calling out to his allies.
"Come on! Let's move!"
He commanded before walking forward. Of course, everyone else there followed as expected.
After a minute, they all walked through the trees and reached the other side. It was a wasteland. The ground was made from colorless shiny rock and the landscape went on for ages. It could take one singular person an entire hour just to walk from one end to another. On the otherside from where both teams were was the sea.
Everyone had now stepped foot onto the land, with Rex Allen walking the farthest, looking out into the distance.
"I can't see the end of it!"
He called back to the others, trying his hardest to find the end of the land, but he couldn't.
"How long does this go on for?!"
"We haven't worked it out yet!"
The General called back.
"Well, we should get to it then!"
Rex called back, the General giving him a thumbs up in response.
And with that, both teams started to move out. They all felt the weight of each step that they took. To them, walking on the rock felt like walking on a glass floor. It felt shallower then what it actually was.
After moving forward for a few minutes, it didn't take long for them to start noticing gaps on the ground. Magnus ran over to one, investigating it. Standing over one and looking down, Magnus saw that below the gap was a dark space. Picking up a pebble, Magnus held it over the gap before dropping it. It took five seconds for it to hit the ground. It was a big fall, giving Magnus an eerie feeling. He chose to step away from it.
After walking forward for minutes on end, the teams suddenly felt each step getting lighter. It was as if they were walking down a hill. This went on for a few seconds before their steps went back to how they were.
Once everyone was at the bottom of that descent, the idea first was to keep moving forward like usual until Emily noticed something strange whilst walking down.
Around the center west of the land, she spotted another gap, this time being one that she could walk through and not jump through. Upon taking a closer look, Emily saw that it wasn't just a gap.
"Is that a cave?"
She asked herself before turning back to the others, who were all spread out and walking forward.
"GUYS! I FOUND A CAVE!"
After hearing Emily shout at them, everyone stopped and looked at her and what was in front of her. All of the Splat Force went to her, with Rex giving the General a hand signal telling him and his men to keep going.
The team all huddled around Emily, looking deep into the cave. Platinum lightly scoffed.
"Well, this explains the lightness."
She said before the team walked further in.
Like any other cave, it was all made of rock with different floor levels. Simply walking far enough forward into it would bring you into a trench, a place to take cover. But that wasn't all. At the very back was another gap, leading further into the cave. It became very clear to the team that they weren't just in a cave.
"This is a tunnel."
Rex said, confused.
Magnus nodded.
"That would explain the gaps in the floor earlier. I'm thinkin' they're connected somehow."
"Yeah, I agree."
Rex replied before turning back.
"Let's get out of here. I don't like the look of this place."
All of the Splat Force were in an agreement. Rex, Magnus, and Emily led the way out, with Platinum, Samantha, and Shauna following closely from behind.
Unknown to the Splat Force, and unknown to anyone who walked across the Badlands, in the sky watching over them was The Beholder. Although the galaxy silhouette hid it, he had a very concerned look on his face.
"What are they doing here?!"
He asked himself. He felt himself getting more and more nervous the further that they went along.
"They're not supposed to be here! Not now! I have to do something!"
C R A C K L E . . .
The distant sounds of a thunderstorm brewing was heard from the ground floor as the Splat Force caught up to the others.
"What did you find?"
General Bishop asked Commander Allen.
"Emily found a cave, but turns out it was connected to a full on tunnel. "
"Wow... do you think we could be on top of another one right now?"
"Potentially."
Rex answered before suddenly feeling a drop of rain lightly irritate his cheek before trickling down to his Splat Force gear. It wasn't long until everyone began feeling rain drops as well.
"Just the rain. Keep moving."
The General nodded before turning to his crew.
"Forward!"
He called out, motivating them to keep going. However, just as they began moving again, they were abruptly stopped by a force that no one but the Splat Force has seen before.
"No!"
The Beholder called out as he made himself known to everyone. His massive figure standing in front of everyone, making them all look up at him.
"You have to leave now! It isn't safe for any of you!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"
General Bishop cried out before grabbing his weapon and giving his men the signal. He ran out to the middle of the land before giving his team the command.
"OPEN FIRE!"
"No! Don't!"
Rex tried calling out before his voice got lost in the gunfire.
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 ! ! !
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 ! ! !
To their surprise, the bullets did nothing. In fact, they went right through them as if he was never there. As all of the R.A.I.C stopped to reload, Rex quickly grabbed his N-Zap and pointed it to the sky.
B A N G , B A N G , B A N G ! ! !
All eyes went to Rex.
"Hold your fire! He is on OUR SIDE!"
"Your side?!"
General Bishop called back. Wanting clarification, he turned back to Magnus.
"Is this that weird space man you told me about?"
"Yup! That's him, alright!"
Magnus confirmed.
General Bishop panted, trying to catch his breath for a moment before turning back and looking up at The Beholder.
"If you're really on our side, then what is this about?! What do you mean that we're not safe?!"
C R A S H ! ! !
All of a sudden, something broke out of ground from way ahead of them. All eyes went past The Beholder, who turned around also, to see what it was. It was a Shadow Creature, but not the one that attack the city. The Beholder quickly faded, needing to reserve his power.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!"
General Bishop shouted out as more of them started to emerge from the ground.
"OPEN FIRE!"
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 ! ! !
B A N G , B A N G , B A N G ! ! !
The gunpower was as useful as it was back in Inkopolis City, with each bullet wound causing the skin to smudge together to heal the wound. The Splat Force all became worried as they recognised a few of the Shadow Creature as Steel Eals and Cohawks, with the latter quickly making it's way towards them on all fours, and the former slowly flying towards them.
S L A M ! ! !
One Cohawk jumped really high into the air before slamming both fists onto the ground, causing the ground below three of the R.A.I.C's shoulders to crumble, leading to them falling down below, all whilst a Steel Eal flew down onto two firing soldiers.
B A N G , B A N G , B A N G ! ! !
B A N G , B A N G , B A N G ! ! !
S L A M ! ! !
Very quickly, The General realized that they were out of their depth. He was horrified. He turned to Magnus and then Rex for guidance, both of whom giving him the same knowing look. The General nodded before running backwards.
"RETREAT! EVERYONE RETREAT! THAT IS AN ORDER!"
The General shouted as he super jumped back further into the battlefield, but closer enough that he was still with his crew.
"YOU HEARD YOUR GENERAL, RETREAT!"
Rex shouted loudly at those who kept firing, thankfully, they listened, and retreated.
Very quickly, everyone began super jumping away from the raging army, getting closer and closer back to the jets and helicopters that they flew in on. The closer they got back to the forest area, the quicker they the growing army of Shadow Creatures became.
Right as she landed just before the grass, Emily felt a quick but sharp pain around her stomach area, causing her to clutch onto it. Being the two closest to her in the moment, both Shauna and Samantha quickly took notice and picked her up.
"We've got you!"
Samantha said to her as Emily's right arm went around her neck, with her left arm going around Shauna.
Magnus and Platinum were helping some of the R.A.I.C soldiers, as well as the General through the forest and towards the jets and helicopter.
"A little further, come on!"
Platinum said whilst giving a light push to the troops running past, encouraging them to carry on.
"You're all doing great!"
As the last of the wave of troops came by, both Magnus and Platinum saw Emily, Shauna, and Samantha in the distance and rushed over to help them.
"We're here, don't worry!"
Magnus reassured Emily as he and the others quickly made their way to the helicopter.
Meanwhile, Rex was still out at the Badlands saving the last of the troops. Thankfully, they all managed to reach the forest.
"Keep running! Tell the General to start flying! I'll catch up!"
Rex commanded to one of the troops before all of them ran to safety. Once all of them were gone, Rex faced the wild untamed army ahead of him, N-Zap in hand.
Using his free hand, he grabbed a Splat Bomb from his utility belt and got into a fighting stance. He waited in place, waiting to hold them off until all the others had escaped. He glared at the army, showing no fear as they got closer and closer.
All of a sudden, just as they were about to reach the Commander, The Beholder reappeared from behind Rex, holding all of the army in place with a barrier.
It took Rex a few moments until he realized that The Beholder was behind him. By now, he was beginning to lose track of all the times he had been saved by him already. He gave The Beholder a nod.
"Thank you!"
"The helicopter should be ing any second now! Quickly, go now! I... I can't hold them for very long!"
The Beholder ordered, sounding strained.
Just then, the jets and the helicopter flew over them. Platinum swung the helicopter door open.
"DAD!"
She called out to him. Rex ran forward for a few seconds, jumping twice to build momentum. On the third jump, he went into his swim form and performed a super jumping, landing straight into the helicopter, allowing him, and all of the others to escape.
The Beholder kept the barrier up for a few more seconds, making sure that both teams had enough time to get out of there safely. Once they were far enough, The Beholder looked back at the Shadow Creatures before dropping the barrier and quickly fading away. It was a close call, but thankfully, most of them managed to escape with their lives.
T O B E C O N T I N U E D . . .
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
T H X F O R R E A D I N G ! ! !
Thx for reading the fifth Chapter of Splat Force V: Final Frontier. This Chapter ending also marks a very special occasion, that being the end of the first quarter, which usually I'd be like "Oh, that's cool." but with this being the final SF story and all that, it really makes me feel so many different things at once. This Chapter also marks the end of the set up part. Now, we know the threat, the battle ground, and the stakes, now it's time for it all to move forward, so stay tuned for that! Until next time, stay safe out there! ^^
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
![Splat Force V: Final Frontier; Chapter 5-[BC]■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■
[BUIC]W E L C O M E ! ! !
[IC]This is Nomad! I hope t](https://image.staticox.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpm1.aminoapps.vertvonline.info%2F9333%2Fde897da4c0cf360f0e9933ddc6aa367a1e4ac4a0r1-1620-1080v2_hq.jpg)
Comment