Splat Force V: Final Frontier; Chapter 8

(Thank you for the feature! It's been a while since the last one! ^^)

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad! I hope all is alright for you! It's Sunday, I think you know where this is going by now. It is time for the next Chapter of Splat Force V: Final Frontier!

The previous Chapter was, what I think to be, a fairly emotional one where we got to catch up with Zane Miller after his intense final battle in Splat Force IV: Radicalism. We got to see him not only reunite with his mother, but also with Emily, who then went on to ask him for help.

In this Chapter, Zane's storyline crosses over with the main storyline as the Splat Force continue to prepare for the imminent battle ahead of them. Let's just say that Zane won't have a very good time considering whom he'd be working with...

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

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(Previous Chapter)(Chapter Hub)

C H A P T E R  8 :  U N S E T T L E D  D I S P U T E S

It was the first full day of construction. With the blueprints made the previous evening, it was time for them to get started. A few hours of work had already gone by. In the middle of the Splat Force base was a large steal circular platform. The base of it had been build, but the entire middle was open and unfinished. The weapon stationary, as well as all furniture that was normally in the middle of the room was put to the side. Rock 'n Roll music was playing on the small radio close to Vincent.

Holding a heavy tray of tools in her right hand, Samantha carefully approched the hard working Vincent Fisk, who's back was lying on a spare skateboard underneath the platform with a screwdriver in hand.

"Found these tools down in the bunker. These might come in handy."

She told him before placing the tray down. Samantha had to stretch her fingers out a little after barely managing to lower it safely.

Vincent rolled out from under the platform to look at the tray before giving her a quick nod.

"Yup, that'll be good, thanks."

He replied before rolling back under the platform to continue working.

As Vincent got back to work, Samantha walked away from him, disapproving look on her face. She still wasn't fully comfortable with him around, but for the mission at hand, she tolerated it.

Samantha approched, Shauna, who was practicing her combat with a training dummy. The Octoling saw Samantha come over to her and stopped what she was doing to speak with her.

"You alright?"

"Any word from Emily? She left kinda abruptly last night."

Samantha asked, feeling a little bit worried for her.

"Oh, she's fine! She told me that something came up with her Aunt."

She answered.

"Granted, I have no idea what said thing was, so I'm hoping to get an answer soon."

"Wait, you don't even know?"

Samantha asked, to which Shauna surprisingly nodded and hummed.

"Damn, that's weird..."

Speaking of the devil, Emily arrived at the Splat Force base. She was greeted by Magnus, who was stood by the front door, inspecting what Vincent had made when she came in.

"Hey, Emily! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine."

She replied. Her entrance caught the attention of everyone, all of whom were concerned following her abrupt exit the night before. Vincent turned off the radio and got out from underneath the platform.

"Was everything alright last night?"

Rex asked as the team began to gather around, keeping some distance in case she got nervous.

"I need to talk to you about this because... well, there is no easy way of explainin' it without showin' him to you."

Emily said with a sigh before stepping to her right and looking at the front door.

"You can come in now."

Moments later, in came Zane Miller. Of course, he was wearing almost the exact same thing he had been wearing for the past three weeks. The ragged cloak helped keep himself low profile.

As expected, there were very mixed reactions going around the room, with Shauna and Platinum both taking a nervous step back. Rex, Magnus, and Samantha all remained in their places, ready to protect then incase something where to happen.

"Zane..."

Vincent called out from across the room before slowly making his approach.

Zane locked eyes with Vincent. Seconds later, everything started to come back to him in his mind. The memories of the manipulation, the torture, and the blood forever on his hands. Almost all of it went back to the man who was now approaching him.

"No, no, no..."

Zane quietly whispered to himself, shutting his eyes and pointing his head to the ground, breathing slowly and heavily.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Zane, not again."

Vincent assured him as he made a brave step closer. Now, he was only a step away from being right in his face.

The team all watched this interaction closely and intensely, feeling as if something was about to happen. Vincent then reached out and tried holding Zane's left robotic shoulder with his right hand. That was it. Zane felt his consciousness slip as the other guy emerged from within. He opened his eyes quickly, both white with blue pupils. Project ZM had taken over.

S L A M ! ! !

The second his eyes were open, Project ZM let out a wild roar as he punched Vincent to the ground. Before the team had the time to process this sudden outburst, Project ZM was already kneeling above Vincent. He strangled his throat with his regular hand and began bashing Vincent's face with his metal fist.

S L A M ,  S L A M ,  S L A M ! ! !

Before any serious damage could be done outside of a nose bleed, bruises and temporary dizziness, both Emily and Samantha rushed in to subdue him, both grabbing onto both of his arms. Emily whispered into his ear.

"Zane! It's me, it's Emily! You're cousie-buddy till the very end! You're gonna be okay! Come back to me!"

Emily's words seemed to have an affect on her cousin, who's breathing slows down. Project ZM shut his eyes as it was no he who lost consciousness. After a few seconds, Zane Miller opened his eyes once again and loosened his grip on Vincent, allowing both Rex and Magnus to swiftly pull him out of there.

Magnus helped Vincent back onto his feet in front of the platform. He struggled to keep balance at first, but with from Rex, who held him into place, he was able to become steady again.

"I don't get it."

Platinum commented, standing away from the whole scene with Shauna next to them, both of whom unsure if Zane's state could pit them at risk or not.

"I thought we freed him, well, I thought Emily freed him."

Wiping the blood pouring out of his nose, Vincent gave his theory.

"Zane was in that state for years on end under the control of Cyrus Zagan. His mind would've collapsed ten times over. Even when freed now, they'll always a bit of Project ZM still inside."

Zane was helped up by both Emily and Samantha but quickly forced his way out of their grip.

"Yeah, and I wouldn't have this curse if it wasn't for YOU!"

He exclaimed, pointing directly at him. He then dropped his hand and sighed.

"I can't with this team. First, I thirteen years ago and get trapped under a burning building and becoming Bolton's prisoner, and now I have to work with the man who weaponized me?!"

Rex raised a hand, trying to stay calm and reasonable with him.

"I understand how you feel, Zane, but this is only a temporary alliance. He is the only one on the planet who has the knowledge and craft that could save us."

Zane glared at Rex, taking in his answer. He bowed his head.

"I understand... I don't accept whatsoever, but I get it..."

He said before lifting his head up again and turning to face Emily at his right.

"The only reason I'm still here now is because you said you needed my help. But after this, I'm done. I'm done with all of it."

Emily nodded, accepting her cousin's stance on the whole thing.

"There's a bunker at the back of the room by the desk. You can go down there if you want."

Zane peeped his head around the platform and saw the open door to the bunker. Without saying another word, he walked past everyone to the door. Once throw, he closed it securely, leaving himself alone.

B Z Z Z Z Z Z T ! ! !

Rex felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He took it out and saw an alert.

"Squit..."

"What's wrong?"

Platinum asked.

"A job center on the high street was set on fire during a police pursuit with a young gifted man. Most workers got out, but some are still inside."

Rex informed, reading out the alert. One done, he immediately headed towards the pile where his gear was at.

"I'll handle this."

Platinum followed him, going to her gear.

"I'll come with you."

Rex stopped and turned his attention to his determined daughter.

"Are you sure?"

He asked. Platinum gave him a confident nod, making Rex smirk.

"Well in that case, suit up!"

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

It was just as bad as what was said on the alert. The top half of the building was on fire. The lower half was barely in the clear, although the smoke from the fire certainly didn't help. Thankfully, just as the alert had mentioned, most of the workers had managed to make their way out of the building, however, there were some that were still inside.

Both now wearing their Splat Force gear, both Rex and Platinum arrived at the scene. The pair of them assessed the situation at hand, quickly learning from the screaming at the top floor and the nervous looks on the workers' faces that not everyone was outside. The pair of them glanced at each other, with Rex giving Platinum a reassuring nod, before heading straight into the building.

They ran to the top half of the building, doing summersaults and flips in their swim forms to avade the raging fires. They kept climbing up the building until they reached the floor where the screams were coming from.

Rex tried opening the door, but it was locked. He tried bashing against it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Damn it!"

Rex exclaimed in frustration.

"Stand aside!"

Platinum instructed, an idea racing around in her head. As Rex stood to the side, Platinum channeled her enegery, focusing it to be on her left hand. She clenched her hand, and within a couple of seconds, threw her arm towards the door and blasted an energy beam, sending the locked door flying back into the room.

"Nice one!"

Rex exclaimed with a thumbs up before the pair of the entered the room.

Inside were four Inklings, three adults and one young child. Platinum went for the child, picking her up and holding her around her shoulders.

"Hang on, little gal!"

She told her calmly.

Meanwhile, Rex had gathered two of the three adults, one of whom being a client who was a mother.

"Hold onto me!"

He instructed her, who held onto his right shoulder, the other worker held onto his shoulder.

Rex tried to go for the third and final adult, only for part of the ceiling to collapse between them. He tried to pick up the rubble, but it was too hot for him to handle.

"GO! GET THEM OUT OF HERE"

The last worker called out to them, knowing that his fate was sealed.

"I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT YOU, SIR!"

Rex exclaimed. Suddenly, more of the ceiling began to collapse, making the other worker, the mother, and the child scream.

"GO! JUST GO!"

"Damn it!"

Rex exclaimed to himself before facing the entrance.

"Follow me!"

On his command, everyone followed Rex out of the room as more of the ceiling collapsed. Once out, Platinum reached into her utility belt and grabbed a Splat Bomb, throwing it at the wall.

B O O M ! ! !

The explosion blew away the wall, giving them a much quicker exit. Platinum rushed forward and went into her swim form before jumping down onto the street below. Whilst in the air, she went back into her Inktoling form and grabbed the child before landing on the ground. Rex and the other two adults closely followed by.

"Good thinking!"

Rex told her, complementing her decision to use the Splat Bomb. However, Platinum was too focused on the building, knowing full well that the other worker was still inside. The fire brigade was trying their best, but the fires wouldn't settle.

"Platinum?"

After contemplating for a couple of seconds, Platinum ran forward and super jumped back into the building, landing on the floor that they were on.

"Platinum!"

Rex called out before super jumping after her.

Platinum ran back into the room they were in, rushing over to the top right corner where the last worker was.

"HELLO?!"

He called out, unable to see Platinum through the smoke and fire.

Channeling her energy into her hands, Platinum kneeled by the collapsed rubble and readied herself. She pulled both her hands back before lunging them at the rubble, sending it flying across the room.

The worker looked at the rubble across the room in shock. As rubble from the ceiling fell onto his stained white buttoned shirt, he turned back to Platinum, who's hands had slowly stopped glowing.

"Th-Thank you!"

Platinum smiled at him before offering her hand.

"Let's get you out of here!"

The worker took Platinum's hand and was helped up. He put his left arm around to Inktoling to maintain balance. She carried him towards the front entrance, there stood an impressed Rex who saw everything.

Once they were out of the room, more of the ceiling collapsed. Platinum led the worker to the blown out wall.

"Can you super jump?"

She asked to which the worker nodded.

"Good! I'll be on your sixth!"

Both Platinum and Rex stood behind the worker so if anything would happen, they'd get the hit and not him. Surely enough, the worker went into his swim form and super jumped down to the streets below. The father and daughter duo ed him down below.

"Building has been cleared!"

Rex informed the fire brigade.

The Captain gave Rex a thumbs up and a smile.

"Thank you, Splat Force!"

He exclaimed before getting back to the fire fight.

"We'll take it from here!"

Both Rex and Platinum watched as more fire fighters arrived at the scene. It was their cue to leave them to it. As the pair of them walked down the road, Rex gave Platinum a gentle nudge to her left shoulder.

"That was amazing!"

"Heh, thanks. I don't know what got into me but I just couldn't let him die, you know?"

Rex bowed his head for a moment, keeping the smile as he looked back at her.

"I couldn't have been able to save that man without you. You and your gifts."

He complimented. However, it was the next comment that got Platinum smiling.

"You're becoming more and more like your mother every day!"

The comment flattered her. He was right, and she knew it. Platinum giggled to herself.

"So... what should we do now?"

"Honestly, after how hot it was in there, I think I need a good drink."

Rex said with a light chuckle as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead.

"I'm not really a drinker, but I'd happily hang wirh you."

She replied, accepting the offer.

"Got anywhere in mind?"

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

Both Rex and Platinum sat on the top floor of a restaurant that was near and dear to Rex's heart: Calamari Confit, a restaurant next to the docks over at West Inkopolis. The place with red and orange carpets, colors that had unfortunately faded with time. The floors and ceiling were made from nice-smelling dark wood and the walls were smooth and dark red.

They were both on the second floor sat at the table opposite the stairs next to the window and in the middle of two more occupied tables. Rex was sat on the left side with Platinum on the right side. A slow alternative rock song was playing on the speakers.

The waiter for the evening approched the table with a pint of cold beer in hand. Rex greeted the waiter with a nod.

"Thank you."

"Of course!"

The waiter replied, smiling eagerly as he recognised the gear that the pair of them were wearing.

"Big fan, by the way!"

The pair of them smiled at the waiter before they were left to themselves. Platinum looked at the drink and smirked.

"Treating yourself this early, eh?"

Rex chuckled.

"Never too early for a cold one I'd say."

He said before taking a sip, taking in the sweet cool taste before putting the pint down to continue speaking.

"You should've seen Fred: it used to take ten of these to take him out!"

Platinum snickered.

"Oh yeah? How many to take you out then?"

Rex hummed lightly, still keeping that smile.

"My highest is not exactly, the greatest. Are you sure?"

He asked jokingly, knowing what his daughter's answer was going to be.

"Come on, Dad, spill it out!"

Rex chuckled over Platinum's interest. He took a quick sip of the beer before giving her the answer.

"About three, four on a good night."

Platinum's eyes widened.

"Really?!"

"Yeah, really! Why, you don't believe me?"

"Oh no, I just thought it was..."

"It was...?"

Platinum snickered before whispering.

"Ya know... lower."

Sarcastically, Rex put his free left hand over his chest, giving her a look that said he was offended without actually being offended.

"Wow! Such little faith in your old man!"

"I'm sorry!!!"

Platinum playfully exclaimed.

"Besides, I'd probably suck when it comes to this."

"Normally, you'd probably be right, but right now, with your Gifted immune system, you could probably handle a lot. Your mother certainly did."

Rex said before taking another sip.

"She and I used to come here almost every Christmas before you were born. She'd get through about eight of these before being done. All the lads there used to be on my ass for not keeping up with her."

Platinum laughed with her father at the story.

"Didn't know Mom had a wild side."

Rex snickered, taking another sip whilst holding his finger out and humming shortly to show that he had a point to make.

"It's more of a fun side, she never really considered herself to be truly wild."

Rex said with a smile. After a few seconds of thinking about her, Rex's smile very slowly began fading.

"I loved her so much, kiddo..."

"Yeah..."

Platinum said with a sigh as her smile faded too. A question came to her mind just then, but she was unsure about how he'd react to it. In the end, she took the chance.

"Hey, I know this is a weird question, and you don't have to answer it... but have you ever thought about throwing yourself back out there?"

Rex squinted his eyes, giving Platinum a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"As in... tried going on a date again."

"Oh..."

Rex replied. He took another sip of his beer as he thought of how to answer the question.

"To be honest, I had offers, and there were times where I was tempted, but I never did go in the end... so, that would be a no."

Platinum slowly nodded.

"Yeah, I expected that, I won't lie."

She replied. After a couple of seconds, an individual came to mind.

"What about Samantha's mom? You two seem to know each other."

Rex chuckled.

"Caroline?"

He asked to which Platinum nodded with a playfull smile.

"She's an old friend of mine. I've never really thought of her in that kind of context before."

"When you two were speaking after your haircut, Samantha gave me this little nudge, if you know what I mean?"

Rex chuckled once again.

"Yeah, I get you!"

He said before taking another sip. His mood changed a little as he developed his answer.

"I wouldn't mind seeing her every now and then, but to commit to something like that, especially with her would be... tough. I'd be looking into the eyes of the woman who lost both her husband and her youngest daughter, both of whom died on my watch, hell, one of them even died saving me."

Platinum nodded again, understanding where her father came from. Now, it was Rex who wanted to ask something.

"If you don't mind answering, why exactly are you asking me this?"

"I, umm... I guess I just want you to be happy."

Platinum answered truthfully. Rex tilted his head slightly as he tried to make sense of it.

"You've been through so much in your life, especially in the past ten years. You deserve to be happy."

Hearing Platinum's reasoning actually warmed Rex's heart. He gave her a small smile before taking another quick sip. Once done, he gave the best possible response that his mind thought of at that moment.

"I've lost so many people in my life: your mother, Fred, Ami, Drift, Jamie, Oscar, basically everyone from the gifted wars. I never really had luck in the parent department either with my mother being a druggie and my father being a theif. I had to live with my Uncle Larry for most of my childhood."

Rex said to her before moving on to his main point.

"When I became a father, I wanted to make sure above everything else that you were both ready for the world, and that you were happy. If I get to live my final few minutes knowing that you were going to be fine, then to me, that's the happiest ending I could get."

Now, Platinum was the one with the warmed heart. She smiled at her father, eyes barely watering, but not quite noticeable from where Rex was sat.

"This conversation just went into a very melancholy direction!"

She said. The pair of them started chuckling for a moment. Once the chuckling died down, she continued.

"How about we continue this talk after we save the world, eh?"

Rex smirked.

"Sounds good to me!"

He replied before downing what was left of his drink. Once done, he let out a satisfied sigh before placing the glass on the table.

"We both just need to survive, first!"

B A C K  A T  T H E  B A S E . . .

Rolling under the platform on a skateboard, Vincent held a screwdriver in hand as he inspected the machine for any screws to fix. Unfortunately he couldn't see a thing. Fortunately, there was someone in that room who would.

"Hey Shauna, a little help over here?"

"Oh, of course!"

Shauna called back before running over to where Vincent was before lying on his back and moving herself next to him. She then reached out her left hand and lit it up using her gifts, giving Vincent a great light source to see what he was doing.

"Thanks."

Vincent said to her with a nod before screwing a loose screw he missed out on earlier. Shauna stayed under the platform with him so he could see better.

Emily was sat on the desk scrolling through social media. Samantha was sat on the seat behind the desk close by. Emily saw the news that Rex and Platinum's mission was successful.

"Oh, both Rex and Platinum saved everyone, by the way."

She informed Samantha, showing her the news on her phone.

"Heh, nice!"

Samantha said with a smirk. In times like this, she was glad to be able to celebrate something like that.

"Any idea where they are now?"

"Probably off doin' their own thing to be honest, not that I blame them."

Seconds later, the Bunker door opened, and out came a rather dizzy Zane. Emily greeted him with a smile, but took it back when she saw how sweaty he looked. Samantha picked up on it too, folding her arms before calling out to him.

"Hey man, are you okay?"

Zane turned to his left and saw the two woman looking at him with concern.

"Have I been given drugs within the past couple of hours?"

Puzzled, both Emily and Samantha looked at each other, both shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders before looking back.

"No...?"

Emily answered.

"Okay... I'm asking because this big, and when I say big, I mean big man just showed up out of nowhere. He called himself The Beholder."

"Ohh!"

Emily exclaimed. Both she and Samantha let out a quick sigh of relief.

"Yeah, he's an ally... I think. Lemme guess, he showed you that one battle from eons ago?"

"Yeah... he kinda filled me in on everything going on. I don't know if I believe any of it, but I guess I'm rolling with it now."

Zane replied before looking around the room.

"Where's everyone else?"

Samantha got up from the seat and took a couple of steps closer.

"Rex and Platinum have gone to sort out a fire situation in the city."

She answered before pointing to the platform.

"Shauna is helping Fisk with that platform thing. I really ire her bravery working with him."

Emily snickered.

"Yeah, that's my gal! No offensive to Fisk, though."

She commented quietly.

"What about that Octoling?"

Zane asked.

Emily turned to him, confused.

"Which one? There's two of them... well, two and a half, but you get my point."

"The one with the mohawk."

"Oh! Magnus went to his parent's house to see his kid. He's not been able to see her much as of late."

Emily answered.

Zane nodded slowly.

"Right, okay."

He said to them before leaning in closer.

"You two are basically the only people on this team that I know, well apart from... you know who over there."

Samantha frowned.

"Yeah... I know that the world around you is a lot to take in, especially considering... you know."

She said to them, referencing Zane's past relationship with her deceased sister.

"If you ever wish to reach out to anyone else, then I can happily help you through things."

After letting Samantha's offer flow around in his head for a minute, Zane faked a smirk.

"How've you been?"

"Been through some really bad days over the past decade, but I like to think I'm through the worst of it."

She answered before looking down at her stomach.

"Those morning jogs I've been going on have been really good for my fitness."

"That's good."

Zane replied, giving her a reassuring nod. He then looked at the platform, tilted his head in confusion.

"So, what exactly is this...?"

Vincent rolled out from under the platform to answer.

"This is going to a particle accelerator. It's what will be containing The Beholder's power which would allow us to travel the-"

"Please don't say another goddamn word!"

Zane exclaimed, rolling his eyes and clenching his fists. Even just the sound of his mouth was another to drive him crazy.

"Zane."

Emily called out calmly. She stood up and walked to the front of him. She took a deep breath before asking him a question.

"Do you wanna go home for the day? I can take you back now if you want."

It took a few seconds for Zane to look into Emily's eyes, but when he did, he gave her a slow nod.

"Sure."

"Let's go."

He whispered to him. The pair of them began walking to the front door of the base.

"I'll only be half an hour!"

"Okay!"

Shauna called out from underneath the platform. Once Emily and Zane had left, she crawled out and ed both Samantha and Vincent, standing next to the former.

"So, what's the plan? We only have like... less then three days."

"Tomorrow we'll only have two days. The particle accelerator should be finished by tomorrow evening. I'll then have to modify the suits. I'll need you guys to reach out to the R.A.I.C for them. They should still have those nano technology suits somewhere."

He explained to him.

"But for now, we just have to work our asses off and just hope that this works out."

The three of them all came to an agreement, even Samantha, who despite having issues with him, was still willing to put up with him for the sake of the world. So, with a plan in mind, the three of them got back to work.

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 eighth Chapter of Splat Force V: Final Frontier! I know this was a shorter one, especially since last week was pretty much the big filler Chapter, but I can safely assure you that the next couple of Chapters will massively further the plot, so stay tuned for that! Until next time, stay safe out there! ^^

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