Splat Force III: Bolton's Reign; Chapter 19

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad! Today is the premier of the penultimate Chapter of Splat Force III: Bolton's Reign!

Before we begin, I just want to quickly point out how crazy it is that I'm already at this point in the story. Time really flies by, huh?

This Chapter will start with the conclusion of the fight for Inkopolis City. After, we'll enter a moment of serenity as the surviving heroes regroup.

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

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(Previous Chapter)(Chapter Hub)

C H A P T E R 1 9 : A M O M E N T O F S E R E N I T Y

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

The tanks were slowly losing their ammo as the roaring crowds began to double in size, slowly overwhelming the R.A.I.C. General Swannack led the charge, firing at the crowd using his Splattershot, but it was no use. At last, they had run out of ammo, all seemed lost for them, that was until all of a sudden...

S M A S H ! ! !

An Inkling-sized statue plummeted to the ground before them, confusing both parties. Curious, General Swannack stepped closer to the rubble to have a better look. The textures, the shape it all looked familiar. The General looked up to the top of a skyscraper and saw an Inkling with light brown locks and grey eyes who wore a black pullover coat.

General Swannack gasped upon realizing who it was. He looked back to his troops.

"Stand down!"

The General shouted, raising his right arm into the air. Confused, but needing to follow orders, all of the troops lowered their weapons. The General looked back to the Inkling and nodded. Under his breath, he whispered:

"Go on, Harlow!"

Harlow nodded. He opened his left palm before raising his left arm. In sync with him, a large stone pillar drilled through the ground on the left side of the gifted army, taking out everyone on that side. He lowered his left arm, only to do the exact same with his right, taking out the right side and only leaving the middle.

Harlow clenched his right fist before leaping off the building. From the ground, very few troops managed to see Harlow fall from the sky. Those who did see him pointed at him and whispered, causing others to notice and do the same. As he grew closer, more and more began to notice until eventually, everyone did. As soon as everyone had their eyes on him...

S L A M ! ! !

Harlow came crashing down to the floor like a meteorite, slamming his fist into the ground before the gifted army, causing devasting earthquakes that took out what remained of the gifted army.

Once the dust settled, Harlow turned to the R.A.I.C and approached the General.

"Welcome back, Harlow! It's good to see you again!"

He said as he offered a handshake.

"Thank you, sir!"

Harlow replied before grabbing ahold of his hand and shaking it.

"It's good to see you too!"

M E A N W H I L E W I T H M E L I S S A A N D B R U C E . . .

After one final leap, Bruce landed in the middle of a destroyed park. The green fences that used to hold the football pitch were broken and scattered across the park. The wooden climbing frame had been torn apart and scattered around on the grass like sharp shards of glass.

Bruce walked over to the broken swings. He placed the sleeping Melissa onto the soil. Slowly, he rolled one of the seats towards her. Gently, he moved Melissa's head onto the seat, giving her a rough, but comfortable pillow.

The peaceful moment was interrupted by stomping coming from behind. Bruce looked behind and saw the same green-skinned Octoling stomping toward him. He had a large, purple mark on his chest from Led's lightning bolt. It appeared that he had been following the Shark.

Bruce glanced back at Melissa, who still laid fast asleep. She was helpless, she wouldn't stand a chance in her state. Needing to protect her, Bruce looked back to the Octoling and letting out a powerful, mighty roar before the two titans ran to each other.

S L A M , S L A M ! ! !

S L A S H , S L A S H ! ! !

The two powerhouses traded blows, with the beefed-up Octoling landed two punches to Bruce's face, managing to get one or two grunts out of him. In return, Bruce returned the favour by slashing the Octoling's chest two times, once with each fin.

The Octoling fell back and yelped in pain, holding onto his bleeding chest. Bruce stared him down as he spat a tooth out. Feeling angry and lusting for revenge, the Octoling jumped back onto his feet and barged into the Shark.

Unfortunately for him, Bruce was faster and caught him in his arms, pushing him back. The force of the two of them was so tough that neither of them moved back nor forward. However, Bruce had another trick up his sleeve, one that the Octoling lacked. As Bruce licked his chops, the Octoling's eyes widened and his teeth clenched in fear. It was already too late for him...

C H O M P ! ! !

M E A N W H I L E A T T H E C I T Y O U T S K I R T S . . .

The West outskirts were overflown with civilians running away. Some had managed to escape both the city and the crowd, whilst others either got lost within the crowd or trampled all over. Within the crowd were two Sea Urchins who desperately looked around for their child.

Emerging from the city, a trio consisting of three Octolings, all with a purple hair curl, black leather jackets, black masks and water gifts, all began to create a massive bubble together, combining their gifts, causing the whole crowd to scream in fear over the thought of losing their lives to the water.

Thankfully for them, help had arrived.

"Hey!"

Ami screamed from behind them, drawing their attention to both her and Samantha. As the three of them faced her, she handed the Sea Urchin child to her sister.

"Get her to safety. I'll take care of them!"

For the first time, Samantha showed no fear or stress over Ami getting hurt.

"I will. Good luck!"

Samantha said before taking the child and running around the distracted trio.

Too stubborn to notice Samantha run around them, the trio began to circle the young Inkling girl with frowning faces and deep grunting. In return, Ami smirked, holding both dualies down the side of her legs. Needless to say, she was ready for some action.

Forming a long, liquid, whip-like tentacle using his left hand, the middle of the trio swung directly at Ami like a cowboy. Unfortunately for him, Ami wasn't going to let him hit her that easily. She dodge rolled out the way of the whip in an instant, still maintaining that cheesy smirk. The middle triplet looked at both brothers and nodded slowly before they too did the same.

All three of them swung at Ami, who managed to keep up with a consistently fast pace with her dodge rolls, tiring not just the trio, but also herself. Knowing she had to stop soon to maintain her energy, Ami began rolling to the middle of the trio slowly in an unsuspecting pattern, rolling left, left again, forward, right three times, back twice, left before finally in line with the middle triplet. Ami rolled forward three times.

S L A M ! ! !

Ami jumped out from the roll and kicked the triplet in the stomach, the built-up force knocked him back towards the crowd. The damage wasn't too great, but it was enough to leave him groaning in agony.

Turning to her left, Ami saw the left triplet prepare his whip. She ran forward at him, briefly jumping into her Squid Form to swiftly dodge the whip before going back into her Inkling Form for her to rush in and attack.

S L A M ! ! !

Using her right fist, Ami landed a critical right hook to the triplet's nose, knocking him out. Unfortunately, all the dodging and Form changing had exhausted the young girl, allowing the third and final twin to make his move.

W H I P ! ! !

Ami yelped as she felt the sharp pain in her back from the whip. She fell forward, landing on her face. Sadly, the pain wasn't going to end for her just yet as the twin executed his next move.

W H I P ! ! !

From the crowd, Samantha heard Ami scream for help. She quickly put down the Sea Urchin child, gently placing her onto the ground before running over to help her sister.

Ami had a glanced at the triplet who was about to land yet another blow at her. She tried to roll away but the pain was too sharp for her to do anything. All she could do was watch him wave the tentacle around like a cowboy. Fortunately, she wasn't going to experience the pain again as Samantha intervened, pushing the triplet to the ground.

The tentacle vaporised as he lost control. Seconds later, the triplet looked up to see Samantha running up to him like a sports player.

S L A M ! ! !

One direct kick to the nose and he was knocked out cold, leaving behind a nose bleed and a bruise. Samantha rushed over to Ami and pressed her back.

"Are you okay, Ami?!"

She asked, panicking.

"Y-Yeah, I'll be okay!"

Ami answered as she was helped back onto her feet.

"Do you think you can walk?"

Samantha asked, letting go of Ami.

"Yeah, yeah, I can!"

She assured as Ami now stood still by herself. She kneeled to grab her Sporty Bobble Hat, which had fallen off her head and put it back on.

The two sisters glanced at the crowd and saw that everyone was circling the child. They both walked to the circle and saw that she had reunited with both of her parents.

After hugging her child, both parents stood up and looked at the sisters, as did the child.

"Thank you so much for your bravery! Our beloved Rosella would've been lost without you!"

The father cried out as he rapidly shook both of Samantha's hands.

"The pleasure is all ours."

Samantha replied before turning to Ami as if she were presenting her to the crowd.

"But the real hero here is my sister, Ami Stewart. She was the one who found your daughter and without her, I doubt that she would've found you. Ami's got the biggest heart out of everyone that I know, anyone else would've let your child go off on her own, but not Ami, she isn't like that, never has been!"

Ami got misty-eyed just hearing her sister's words. What followed was what really set off the tears of pride and joy as the crowd erupted into applause for Ami. Never before had any member of the Splat Force, outside of the Commanders, receive a standing ovation.

"Yeah! Go Ami!"

"You're our hero, Ami!"

"We're grateful for you, Ami!"

"We love you, Ami!"

"Keep fighting the good fight, Ami!"

The amount of love that Ami had received at that moment overwhelmed her. She had the largest smile on her face, a smile larger than any that she had ever had before. All of it was a dream come true. She knew that those she lost on the way were by her side at that moment, Drift, Zane, her father, everyone was with her, and she knew that they were all proud.

B A C K W I T H M E L I S S A A N D B R U C E . . .

As Melissa started to regain consciousness, she began to feel dizzy. As the darkness faded upon opening up her eyes, she was greeted with a very mild headache. She held onto her head and groaned. It took almost a minute for her to fully regain consciousness.

Melissa looked straight at Bruce, who was eating the remains of the Octoling, devouring him as fast as possible. Melissa thought that what Bruce was doing was overkill as the Octoling was already dead and eating his body wouldn't hurt him any further.

Slowly, the Telepathic Inkling rose onto her stumbling feet, finding her balance after a couple of seconds.

"Bruce! Bruce stop!"

Melissa called out as she slowly marched to the Hammerhead Shark.

The Shark bolted around, thinking that it was another enemy ready to strike. Upon seeing that it was Melissa, Bruce calmed down. Melissa reached out her left hand. Seeing the open hand before him, Bruce slowly stepped towards the Inkling.

Bruce went down onto his right knee, trying to lower himself to Melissa's height. Melissa pressed her soft palm against Bruce's forehead.

"Shhhh!"

She whispered softly as she calmed him down.

"It's okay. It's all over now!"

Whilst Bruce gently exhaled, Melissa felt another presence to her left, it was Led, he had found them both. However, before Melissa could say anything, he had already turned around and walked away into the city.

Melissa knew that Led just wanted to see if she was okay, she could sense it. In addition, she could also sense mild angst within him, after all, Bolton was still out there and he wasn't going to settle down until he was no more.

1 H O U R L A T E R . . .

Alyssa barged open the warehouse door and carried Rex inside. Rex was still in shock from the supersonic screech and his deafness wasn't getting better. Alyssa placed Rex on the medical chair. She ran to her desk and opened the drawer, taking out a sheet of paper and a pen and wrote:

'STAY CALM!'

Once written, she showed the sheet to Rex. He wasn't paying attention, his eyes were closed. Alyssa nudged him, regaining his focus. Rex saw the words vaguely and tried his hardest to calm down through deep breathing.

Just then, of the team started to come back in. Magnus, Emily, Blue and Peter entered, all of which looked and felt exhausted. Alyssa rushed over to them, huddling them together.

"You are you lot okay?!"

"We had a run-in with Bolton, well me, Blue, Emily and Bobby did, I don't know about Magnus. He took us all down but Bobby saved us."

Peter explained, feeling worried.

"I don't know where he is, I don't even know if he's still...You know."

"Oh...O-Okay then!"

She said, panicky.

"Once we're all recovered, we'll go and look for him, okay?"

"Sounds good to me!"

Peter replied as he and Blue walked past her to the target range to wait for the others to return.

Alyssa turned her attention to Magnus.

"I take you that you went and found them?"

"Yeah, they were all the same place that we were surrounded at. They looked overwhelmed so I helped them out."

Magnus answered with a prideful smile.

"That's true, he saved my booty out there!"

Emily vouched. She slightly jabbed Magnus' left shoulder playfully.

Alyssa looked at the pair of them, feeling excitement over the pair now working together as a team. They both looked back at her in curiosity, wondering what Alyssa had left to say.

"I'm so proud of the pair of you. I never would've thought I'd see you two getting along and fighting side by side."

She pridefully praised. She went down on her knees and opened her arms.

"Come here, you two!"

Alyssa, Emily and Magnus all engaged in a group hug, with Emily lightly giggling. The hug was cosy and soft as if they were cuddling a warm pillow. Once they all pulled out of the hug, they each stared at each other and giggled before Magnus and Emily ran off to the training dummies and began to spar with them.

Ami and Samantha walked into the base, their faces lit up upon seeing everyone alive. Alyssa approached them, giving the overwhelmed Samantha a hug.

"I am so sorry for the scare out there, we were focused on the battle and couldn't reach out to you at that time."

She told her after pulling out of the hug.

"I-It's okay. We have been occupied ourselves."

Samantha said as she smiled through her tears before pointing down to Ami.

"You should've seen Ami out there, she saved an entire crowd of people and returned someone's lost child. She got applause and people screamed her name, it was amazing!"

Alyssa looked at Ami with the largest smile known to Inkind.

"Wow! Is all this true?"

"Yup! Although I did get some help from Samantha along the way."

She answered.

Alyssa felt delighted. She got back down on her knees and hugged Ami tightly, kissing her on the forehead like a mother to their child.

"I'm so proud of you, Ami! I really am!"

She exclaimed in pride as the two hugged once more.

"Excuse me, what happened to Rex?"

Samantha asked, interrupting to hug upon seeing Rex in the medical chair.

Alyssa stood up and the three of them walked to him whilst Alyssa gave them an explanation.

"When the Watchtower went down, he was directly hit by a supersonic scream. He's gone deaf, I'm afraid it might be permanent."

She said as her happy mood turned sour upon seeing her hurt husband.

"I gave General Swannack a call on the way here. He said that he was gonna go and find some hearing aids. Hopefully, he should pick up soon."

As the team all looked at the injured Commander, hearing what Alyssa had told the sisters, the final two allies arrived, Melissa and Bruce. Alyssa looked at the pair of them, confused as to where Led was.

"Led's gone off somewhere, I have an idea where he might be but I'm not certain.."

Melissa told the team.

"Okay, that's good to know! We're just waiting on Bobby now."

Alyssa responded. Unlike Melissa, she was unaware of what had happened to him.

"I tried looking for his consciousness, I found everyone else's, but not his. I did find him, but it was in spirit."

She announced to the team, all of which were in shock, except Rex who wasn't able to hear anything.

"I-I'm sorry but your friend is gone..."

The entire room went silent. Everyone's emotions were mixed, some felt reasonably upset over his death, and others felt pure anger towards Bolton for taking another hero's life. By the target range, Peter looked to the ground, he didn't know how to feel. Bobby died for him, he died for Blue, he died a hero. Although he still had his issues with him from what happened the day prior, Peter knew he had to honour him for his selfless actions that day.

2 0 M I N U T E S L A T E R . . .

General Swannack arrived at the base with Harlow by his side. He was greeted by a worried Alyssa, who had been pacing back and forth none stop. The General held up a pair of charcoal-coloured hearing aids.

"I managed to find some at the base. I'm not too sure if these would last too long but they should be able to last long enough for replacements if they are necessary."

"Thank cod! Thank you so much for this, I owe you big time!"

Alyssa exclaimed before turning to Harlow, who stood behind the General to his left.

"You must be Harlow, right?"

The pair of them shook hands.

"Yeah, I am! And you're Mrs Frida, right?"

"Alyssa is just fine with me!"

She told him before looking back to the General.

"Shall we get started?"

"Of course, Mrs Frida!"

He said as the pair of them walked to Rex. Harlow ed the rest of the team between the target range and the dummies.

General Swannack stood behind Rex and placed the hearing aid at the top of both of his ears quickly. The sudden feeling behind his ears irritated him. As he guided the dome into the ears, Rex began to resist, causing him to lose balance.

"Hold still, Mr Allen!"

He said aggressively, not taking the elephant in the room into , that being his new disability. Rex's ongoing resistance caused General Swannack to become more annoyed and Alyssa to become stressed.

"Mr Allen, hold still!"

"GENERAL, HE CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

She screamed. Her voice echoed around the room. All eyes were on the three of them.

Realizing his lapse in judgement, General Swannack stood back and allowed Alyssa to take over. She started with his left ear, holding onto it with her right hand as she slowly guided the dome into Rex's eye canal gently, not wanting to cause more irritation. Afterwards, she put the anchor into the bowl of his left ear. Once his left ear was done, she moved onto his right and she did the exact same, except she held the ear with her left hand and took care of the dome and anchor with her right. During all of it, Alyssa mouthed to Rex that it was going to be okay and that he was safe and she paused whenever Rex's body shivered.

At last, the operation was done and his hearing began to kick in again.

"A-Alyssa?"

Rex whispered as his hearing slowly returned.

Alyssa lightly laughed in relief, happy that it had worked.

"Hey."

She responded, smiling. Both Commanders smiled at each other lovingly. Alyssa held onto Rex's right hand and stroked it with her thumb.

"You should get some rest."

The soothing feeling of Alyssa's thumb put Rex at ease, and eventually put him to sleep. Once Rex was asleep, she looked up at the General, who looked mildly guilty over his roughness. No words were spoken from his mouth but Alyssa knew what he meant to say through his look. She nodded gently at him with a small smile. Tensions had eased now that the situation was over.

Across the room, Harlow was sitting on the floor in the middle of a half circle with Blue, Emily, Ami, Samantha and Magnus all sitting before him from left to right. Peter leaned against the wall to his left with his arms crossed as he supervised them.

"So what exactly is it that you do?"

Emily asked.

"Well like my asshole father, I can control the very earth you step on. I mostly just create houses or pillars to hold up things, I very rarely use them for fights. I only get involved in fights when it's necessary but for the most part, I want to live peacefully, you know?"

He said before moving on to his side gift.

"Because I had a gifted Mom, as well as a gifted father, the gifts both got fused together into this mixture gift in which if powered up enough, I can turn anything into stone."

"Like that one mythical story?"

Ami asked.

"Kind of. The time it takes to turn to stone can vary. If it's a living thing then it depends on where I hit it. If I hit the chest, they turn to stone in seconds, the head, minutes. The arms and legs take about fifteen the thirty minutes. If I hit the tip of someone's finger or toe then it could take up to sixty to ninety minutes."

He explained.

"I'm gonna be honest, I didn't even know Terrador had a kid."

Peter said, baffled that Terrador of all people got down and busy with someone.

"They kept it under wraps from the public eye. My mother died so I had no parents to raise me, no family at all...I was taken in by Bohan Village and I spent my life there."

He said as his voice gradually grew sombre.

"Hey, I know that feeling. Samantha does too. Our father died during the Gifted Wars and our mother ran away."

Ami said sorrowfully, connecting to Harlow well through life experience.

"I would love more than anything to be in the shoes of those with parents. That way we could be looked out for, sheltered and loved growing up. I've envied so many for it."

Magnus frowned as he thought of his parents. He thought of how worried his parents had been and all he had done in return was tell lies. He thought back to what Melissa told him the day before about the truth needing to come out. At last, he was ready.

"I-I have to go!"

He abruptly said, jumping onto his feet and waking to the front door only to be stopped by Samantha.

"Are you okay, Magnus?"

She asked. As the Octoling boy turned around, Samantha held onto his left shoulder to comfort him.

"Yeah. It's just something I need to get off my chest with someone, that's all?"

He answered.

Not a surprise to Magnus, Samantha knew what he was on about.

"Is it your-"

"Yeah!"

He replied with a loud, nervous voice.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

She asked, knowing that this task wouldn't be easy for the young Octoling, especially after hiding the truth for over a year.

"No, I'll be okay! Thank you!"

He answered before speed-walking out of the warehouse, determined.

Back by the medical chair, Alyssa sat next to Rex, still stroking his hand whilst she and General Swannack spoke of the next course of action.

"I've sent some of our finest around the world to help out in the fight in several key locations. We're hoping to stabilise the gifted."

He told her.

"I should also let you know that Mr Allen's Jet has been returned to its parking spot."

"That's good to know! I'm sure Rex will be pleased to hear that. He does value that Jet very much."

Alyssa replied.

"Of course."

He said as he moved on to the next, more important topic as he walked to the warehouse entrance. Alyssa stood up and followed.

"Vincent Fisk has created Rainmaker Tanks for us to use in battle, combining the strength of both the Rainmaker and a Tank. However, it does have limited ammo, only being able to fire three shots per tank. So we have to use them wisely."

"That's a good idea. Only use them as a last-minute resort."

Alyssa added on.

"That's the plan."

The General said. He quickly looked around the room and saw that nobody was paying any attention to him as the Rookies, Watsons, Samantha and Harlow were still talking and Melissa and Bruce were standing outside. He looked back at Alyssa.

"Before I go, can I make one final offer?"

Alyssa nodded, curious as to what he would want from her. The General reached into his pocket and out came a syringe, inside of it was a sample of the cure. Alyssa gasped, taking a step back in shock.

"N-No! I can't do that!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs Frida, but if in the event that everything goes south, you need to be the one who answers the call. You're the only one who could end the gifted once and for all."

He told her. Deep down, even he didn't want Alyssa to do it. However, he was a man of choice and sacrifice and was ready to make the hardest decision.

"B-But Rex will be on his own! I-I can't do that!"

She exclaimed quietly to not alert anyone to the conversation.

"I know. But if my thirty-eight year experience on the battlefield has taught me anything, it's that sometimes, to do what's right you have to make the hardest decisions and sacrifice the things you want the most, even your dreams."

He said with a frown, speaking from experience.

"I'm truly sorry, Mrs Frida. That's just how the world works..."

He put the cure into Alyssa's grasp before walking away, whistling to Harlow to get his attention. Harlow stood up and ran to the General's side as the two left the base. Alyssa didn't know how to feel, or what to think. Her entire world had come crumbling down on her.

Alyssa walked to her desk at the back of the room and put the syringe inside of a drawer, shutting it. She facepalmed with both hands before holding down against the table surface, stressed out as his words bounced around in her mind.

2 H O U R S L A T E R . . .

Rex slowly opened his eyes for the first time in what felt like years. The rest he had benefited him well as not only was he hearing better again, but he felt good, he was able to move his arms and legs again, and he could move his head around. He looked down to his right and saw Alyssa sitting by him. He looked to the entrance door and saw Melissa meditating by it.

Hearing his movement, Alyssa looked up with a wide smile.

"Rex, you're awake!"

Alyssa exclaimed with excitement.

Rex looked back at Alyssa and felt comforted by her warm, smiling face.

"Hey Alyssa."

He muttered. Without a second thought, Alyssa stood up from her seat and kissed him on the lips.

Unfortunately, their moment of intimacy was interrupted by Emily dashing through the open bunker door, running in on the two Commanders kissing, not that it bothered her as she had something else on her mind. The two of them looked at Emily with curiosity.

"Was that really you performin' in that onstage musical?"

She asked, holding back the urge to laugh.

Rex's eyes widened as Alyssa snorted.

"What?!"

Just then, Peter entered the main room from the bunker door, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry, Commander Allen, I showed them the musical promotional video that you and Commander Evans did. I tried not to but they all begged so hard."

To the surprise of everyone in the room, including Melissa who was secretly listening in on the conversation, Rex burst into laughter.

"Fred would be fuming at you right now."

"Oh he is, don't worry!"

Melissa assured them all from across the room.

"Oh, that's assuring!"

Peter said sarcastically with an intimated look on his face.

"The amount of editin' I can do to that video is unreal!"

Emily yelled with excitement before running past Peter, climbing down the ladder.

Peter looked back at both Commanders and instantly knew what they were doing before Emily's abrupt entry.

"I'll just leave you two to have your moment."

He said before he too climbed down the stairs whilst Alyssa waved at him.

Alyssa looked back at Rex with a smirk.

"Rookies, am I right?"

She said in a joking manner, to which Rex chuckled. Suddenly, an idea popped into Alyssa's head, one that she knew that the pair of them would like.

"Say, are you able to move about?"

Rex looked down at his legs and kicked them up and down like he was in a paddling pool.

"I can do, yeah. Why?"

He asked as he wondered what Alyssa had in store for him.

Alyssa grabbed her phone out of her pocket and opened a music streaming app. She played a soft piano song with a female singer. The singer's soothing voice sang about dreams. After gently placing her phone on the desk, Alyssa walked back to her husband and offered her hand.

"Care for a dance? I'll make it quick for ya!"

Rex lightly chuckled.

"I would love that!"

He answered. Rex was helped onto his feet. The couple walked to the desk at the back of the room. Together, they both began dancing a slow waltz around the desk

"If I'm correct, this is the exact same song that was played when we danced for the first time in Bohan Village. Am I right?"

Alyssa nodded and smiled, thinking back to the positive memories that the pair of them shared together.

"I it snowing. The air was freezing, but you were there to warm me up."

She told him as they both ed the desk seat.

"I being at my lowest self-esteem during the Gifted Wars. I was alone until you found me. You saved me, Rex Allen, I could never be thankful for anything more!"

Rex blushed from Alyssa's words, taking pride in her.

"It's ironic you say that because I think we've swapped positions now. This past year has been my lowest but I wake every day feeling safe by your side. You saved me multiple times, whether it be from crooks, Bolton, or even myself."

The Octoling got misty-eyed just hearing him say those words.

"I guess we both saved each other than, huh?"

She responded. The two of them laughed for a moment before Alyssa switched the topic.

"So, what do you want to do now that it's over?"

"It's not over yet, Alyssa, he's still out there. Knowing him, he's most likely plotting his next move right as we speak. The mission ends once Bolton's dead."

Rex replied. He hated being the downer but both he and Alyssa knew that he was right. To lighten things up, Rex decided to answer the question.

"To be honest, I see myself retiring, for good this time now that there aren't any more loose ends after Bolton. Besides, the world will still have the Splat Force protecting them. I can see Peter, Samantha and Magnus taking charge of a new generation of heroes. Emily would most likely quit and Ami could go anywhere, the girl's amazing."

"I agree. It's always nice to know that some will continue the fight for us."

Alyssa said, feeling warmth from the possible future.

Rex nodded before moving on to themselves.

"As for us, I can see us settling down with Platinum. Maybe you can teach her some of your energy tricks, all whilst I try and do a barbecue in the garden."

He said, making Alyssa giggle with the last comment.

"Who knows? Maybe we could try for a new kid."

"Rex, we're in our forties, I'm not sure if we're able to."

Alyssa said with a curious look on her face.

"Well I think it's possible, you never know!"

Rex replied optimistically. The two stopped their waltz as the song came to an end.

"All I know is that I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. Whatever that may be, whatever challenges we might face on the way, I know that we'll be getting through it together, you and I. I love you, Alyssa Frida, that'll never change!"

The two lovingly smiled at each other before kissing one another for half a minute. Once they pulled out of the kiss, they hugged each other. As much as Rex's returning optimism made her happy, Alyssa felt worried about the future, especially with General Swannack's offer plaguing her mind. She chose not to talk about it with Rex as she wanted him to remain happy and hopeful.

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

At the outskirts of the Splatlands was a massive wasteland. There was no life whatsoever, no plants or trees or leaves, nothing, not even water. There was nothing but soil.

Far into the wastelands was an abandoned Power Plant. It was small, with only one large tube to its name. The rest of the Power Plant was a large, open, square building that was used for the cure production. Next to it, to its left, was a slim, cylinder building which led to a small, square balcony.

Watching from above was a gifted Inkling woman with large silver wings. She looked down below and saw workers carrying large test tubes of the cure and snarled. She tapped onto her wristwatch and called the former Watchtower messenger.

"Now is not a good time, Jessica!"

He exclaimed, sounding exhausted and stressed as the sound of the wind blasting through the watch, overlapping with his voice.

"Trust me, you're gonna wanna hear this!"

She exclaimed.

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

Bolton stood alone by the old Baxter Village fountain. As he looked around the ruined village, the memories of his old life came back to him, memories of a poor, yet happy man living happily with his family. The memories quickly flashed into dark, grim ones with flashes of his deceased wife and son.

Bolton began panting heavily as he thought about his life-long goal, a goal that had been ruined, a goal that was never meant to be. It crushed him. Now that his reign had ended, the gifted were back to being the underdogs. Bolton was back to being the underdog.

He held onto his blade with both hands, holding it tightly in his grip. His teeth clenched and his body shivered. Everything that he had ever done in his life had all been for nothing. The sheer thought that he had wasted his life was enough to break him.

One look at his blade was all it took for him to lose it further as he saw the damage that Peter had done to it using a well-aimed Section Bomb. The blade had been cracked and was now fragile once again. He raised his blade into the air, putting all his power into it until he finally let all of his rage out...

S L A M ! ! !

B O O M ! ! !

Bolton slammed his blade into the centre of the fountain. The sheer power resulted in an explosion of flames, it's power was enough to match a gifted sea critter going supernova. Not only did the explosion incinerated the moss and the trees and leaves, but also the rubble of the houses that once stood.

As the dust settled and the fires dimmed, what remained of Baxter Village had been decimated. All that was left now was a pathway layout and Bolton himself.

The scars on Bolton had spread, covering the entire bottom half of both cheeks. His bloodshot eyes were now a mix between both white and red as the scars spread to his eyes. The sleeves were burnt away, alongside the skin on both of his hands.

His blade was now back to its broken self, just like he was. Bolton was truly at his new lowest. Not only had he failed, but he now had nobody left in his life. The only thing of us to him was a broken, fragile blade. Bolton was back at square one.

Suddenly, he felt buzzing coming from his arm. He looked to see that his ruined wristwatch was being called. He knew he had to act quickly otherwise it would break on him. He answered the call.

"What do you want?"

"M-My Lord, I don't have too long. My wristwatch still works but I'm being chased by the R.A.I.C and I-"

The messenger said before getting cut off.

"Stop wasting my time and get to the point now!"

Bolton exclaimed, not in the mood for waffling.

"Yes, my lord! That spy of ours, you know the one that we sent to look into the cure. She found where it's getting manufactured."

He informed as the wind blasted through his watch.

"Where is it?!"

Bolton asked strictly, demanding to know at once.

"That deserted Power Plant on the outskirts of the Splatlands. That's where it's getting made!"

He said before stopping for an uncomfortable amount of seconds.

"Oh no. No, no, NO-"

The call ended abruptly. Luckily, Bolton had all the answers that he needed. He ripped the wristwatch off his wrist and slashed at it with his blade. At last, Bolton had found a reason to keep going. He knew that he had to redeem himself and that this opportunity was his final chance...

B A C K  A T  T H E  P O W E R  P L A N T . . .

Out at the Power Plant, workers talked and took notes down before getting sent back to work by their manager. The open space of the building was a large open room with tables and drawers on the left and right walls. Each of them had flasks and test tubes on them with small spoons, face masks and syringes lying next to them.

Gathered in the centre of the room were pilled cyan boxes full of doses of the cure. So far, they had managed to fill out four boxes, with only sixteen left to fill out before making the cure available for use.

To help cool them down from the warm working environment, the front door of the building remained open, allowing anyone to look into the Power Plant building to see what they were up to. Unfortunately, the one who watched from afar was not who they were expecting, nor were they wanting as little did the workers know that watching them from the soil hill ahead of them was none other than Bolton Vulcan. He had found them at last.

He gritted his teeth and gripped his broken blade. Nothing was gonna stop him from intervening with an act like that. That cure, the very idea of that cure went against everything that he had stood for. To him, it objected the gifted's right to have their own power as he predicted that they would be forced into having it. Needless to say, he was having none of it.

"Ten more minutes then we'll have a short break!"

The manager announced to the crew. Afterwards, she looked at the hill from the centre of the room. She saw the silhouette of Bolton. She rubbed her eyes quickly and looked again, the silhouette had gone. Maybe she was having weird hallucinations. She let out a sigh of relief and turned around, looking at the crew...

S L A M ! ! !

Unfortunately, the manager failed to pay attention to Bolton emerging from a flame ring right behind her, which ended with her suffering a fatal stab womb to the chest. She fell forward to the ground, dead.

The workers looked at Bolton in horror, all of them shaking in their boots and staining their white lab coats with their own sweat.

"This is your first and final warning, shut down this...Science project, or else I'll shut it down myself!"

He yelled. Everyone went pale, all paralysed with fear. If they moved one inch, Bolton would be turned to them.

Bolton was waiting for the exact moment at which someone went out of line. He waited for someone to make the second move. He looked into the eyes of everyone, carefully going from left to right, lingering on the odd two. At last, he locked eyes with a young, dark-skinned Octoling with slit-back hair who stood at the back of the room.

The Octoling in question had a nervous stare down against the gifted dictator. Sweat drooled down his face and his right arm twitched as he steadily tried to reach into his back pocket, ever so slightly shifting his body around so Bolton wouldn't notice, or at least he hoped. Then, in the blink of an eye, the Octoling grabbed the N-Zap from out of his pocket.

B A N G ! ! !

The Octoling flinched upon aiming it at Bolton and delayed his attack by two short seconds, allowing Bolton to analyse the situation fast enough for him to block the attack by deflecting the bullet with his blade. The workers' one chance of survival had been thrown away in the blink of an eye. As the workers each cried, accepting their fates, Bolton growled before charging forward, swinging his blade.

S L I C E ! ! !

B A C K  A T  T H E  B A S E . . .

Both of the Commanders sat on top of the desk, each holding hands. At that moment, everything seemed calm, almost too calm, Suddenly, the sound of fast climbing could be heard from the bunker door.

"Commander Allen!"

Peter screamed as he reached the top of the ladder and leapt through the bunker door, into the main room. Peter dashed to the Commanders and handed Rex the bunker phone.

"It's the General, it's important!"

Rex took the phone from Peter and held it against his right ear.

"General Swannack, is everything alright?"

"Bolton has been sighted, but you're gonna like where at, Mr Allen."

He said. In a flash, Rex activated speaker mode so that he, Alyssa and Peter could hear.

"Where is he?"

Rex asked. His question was followed by a loud, frustrated sigh from the General.

"At the Power Plant that Vincent Fisk and his workers are based at."

He answered. Everyone in the room went into shock, all knowing what that could've possibly meant.

"Mr Fisk is alright, he wasn't at the base when it happened. Unfortunately, all the research and effort put into the cure has all gone to waste..."

Rex's right hand began to shiver as he frowned. Next to him, Alyssa looked troubled, a different kind of troubled than what Rex and Peter felt. She glanced at the drawer, followed by her closing her eyes and taking a cold deep breath

"General, where are you now?"

Rex asked, hoping to get a location for an assist.

"We're approaching the Power Plant. We'll be there in roughly five to seven minutes."

He answered.

"I have gathered hundreds of our finest men from the Splatsvile riots, though Sargent Gunn is staying there to fight. However, we did run into the Squidbeak Splatoon, or at least what's left of it."

"Okay, just stay safe out there! Me and the Splat Force will come to aid you asap."

Rex replied.

"Thank you. Good luck, Mr Allen."

General Swannack said before ending the call.

Trying to process the news as quickly as possible, Rex lowered the phone and handed it to Peter.

"Get the team together."

He ordered. The time had come, the final showdown between the Splat Force and Bolton was finally about to commence...

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 penultimate Chapter of Splat Force III: Bolton's Reign! I can't believe I'm about to say this but with only one Chapter left in this story, we're in the endgame now! Next week's finale not only seals the fates of our heroes, but it will change the status quo in the Splat Force universe forever, so stay tuned for that! Until next time, stay safe out there! ^^

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