Splat Force: The Gifted; Chapter 13

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad! Back with this week's chapter of, you guessed it, Splat Force: The Gifted!

The two stories from both Chapter 11 and Chapter 12 will merge into this chapter.

In the last Chapter, we saw our heroes train for a potential showdown, however, will they see what is coming to them?

Find out now, as the show must go on!

(This Chapter has been Remastered)

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(Previous Chapter) (Chapter Hub)

C H A P T E R  1 3 :  E N C O U N T E R

"Alright, so I have one last cover for you all tonight. It's one that you should hopefully be familiar with. It is called Ebb & Flow"

The performer announced out to the crowd, walking to the other side of a stage in the showroom of the Inkopolis Mall. The Performer was wearing a navy blue blazer over his bright white shirt and black bow tie. He took his seat on a round, soft stool and adjusted it to be facing a piano. He adjusted his position to fit the tightness of his black tros. He moved his hand and touched the first key and pressed it down.

His arms remained relaxed as he was playing. He sat up, back straight, eyes focused on his fingers, making sure that he didn't make a simple slip-up, he was a perfectionist after all, so he had to make sure the audience knew that. Just as he wished, he never missed a single key and performed at the perfect pace. He wrapped up the performance by sliding his fingers across the piano, like a penguin on ice.

The audience cheered for him, he stood up and walked to the center of the stage and smiled at them all, bowing and blowing kisses to them.

"Thank you very much! I hope you all have a great afternoon!"

The performer called out. He then turned his body around and walked off backstage.

He walked into an empty room, closing the door behind him. The room was long and rectangular with three mirrors against the left wall. At the back of the room was a doorway leading to a room with three sinks and a shower. At the back of that room was a bathroom door.

Looking into the mirror and smiling at himself, his face started to slowly change, his teeth started looking more disordered, his cheeks grew thicker and his black hair grew longer. The performer sighed.

"At least tomorrow's Friday..."

He groaned to himself as he looked at his unflattering appearance.

Unknown to the performer, two figures were lurking in the dark backrooms.

"We were expecting you."

A voice called out, making the performer scream and stand up.

The performer looked directly at the backrooms and steadily raised his right hand to try and reason with the dark figures.

"W-Who are you?!"

The figure emerged into the light, revealing none other than Bolton Vulcan. The performer trembled in fear and fell onto his backside against the door.

"I'm not here to hurt you if that's what you're worried about."

Bolton assured him. Led followed him into the room raising his head upwards slightly, greeting the performer.

Feeling more relaxed, the performer got back on his feet.

"T-Then what do you want?"

"Your gifts are fascinating to me. To be able to turn your body into anyone or anything is astounding. It can come in handy for my great mission."

"W-What mission?!"

The performer asked before backtracking on what Bolton said to him.

"A-And how do you k-know about my gifts?!"

"I've been attending your shows regularly here at the mall, you are talented, you know, but your talent isn't why I watch."

Bolton began to explain.

"After every show, you leave through the fire exit at the back of the building to avoid any encounter with your viewers, and each time you do, you appear different. You appear as you do now."

Led decided to add on one point that Bolton wouldn't say.

"That, and we watched you transform before our eyes."

The performer was speechless. It had hit him that he had been stalked by the very man all over the news. Nevertheless, he tried to hear him out.

"Y-You said something about a mission, r-right? W-What is that mission."

Bolton slowly paced around the room, looking at all the photos, props, and rich furniture whilst answering.

"I want to bring peace and salvation to the gifted. To do that, I will first need to take down Commander Frederick Evans of-"

"Of the Splat Force?!"

The performer asked, confused as to what he had to do with any of it.

"He took something from us, from me. He needs to pay for his crimes."

Bolton answered, giving more vague answers.

"To do that, we need to find out where he is at."

"H-How do we do that?!"

"Simple, we take advantage of your gifts."

Bolton answered, putting a confused look on the performer's face.

"Henry Spence's home is still a crime scene after his murder, and he must've gotten those files he used against me from somewhere. You will shapeshift into one of the dispatched officers and look through his place."

The performer was left stunned. It became clear to Bolton that he wasn't comfortable with it.

"I-I don't know how to feel about this..."

"You must. All of the gifted depends on this mission."

Bolton said calmly.

"Imagine a world where you don't have to hide, a world where people will love you for who you are and who you desire to be. No more hiding, no more masking, just you. It's a paradise, that world, and it has been my dream to achieve that perfect world. Don't you want it?"

"I-I-I do... I-I..."

The performer answered with hesitation.

"W-When do we begin?"

"Tomorrow."

Bolton said before grabbing his blade, making the young performer flinch. Bolton formed another flame circle to the Once Great Symbol.

"What's your name?"

"J-Jason... Jason Renner."

"Come, Jason."

Bolton said before walking through the gateway and into the Once Great Symbol. Led followed behind him and looked back at Jason, who was as hesitant as Led was when he first made the jump. After taking a deep breath, Jason stepped through, and the gateway closed.

T H E  N E X T  D A Y . . .

Jason arrived at the scene of the crime, he wore a white vest and navy blue shorts. He quickly hid behind one of the police vans as he saw two officers approach the vehicle. He looked up at a building in the distance and saw Bolton watching from the rooftop, making sure things didn't go wrong.

"Okay... here goes nothing!"

He whispered to himself. After one of the officers went into the van, Jason snuck up from behind the second officer and put him into a chokehold. He moved the officer to behind the van and suffocated him until he ed out.

"I'm so sorry!"

Once the officer was out, Jason quickly took off his and the officer's clothes and swapped them around. Now, he was the one in the uniform. After having a deep look at the officer's appearance, Jason began to transform. His long, slit-back hair turned into a ginger bowl cut, his cheeks became thicker and his eyes went from navy blue to lime. His body had also gained weight.

Jason hated how his body looked, though he had to cooperate with it. He walked to the front of the van and waited for the other officer.

"Officer Martinez, is every alright?"

The other officer asked.

"Y-Yeah! I-I was just about to go back inside and search for... clues!"

"What clue...?"

Jason paused for a moment. He didn't think the whole thing through.

"Clues... as to where Bolton could've gone. He came in, didn't he? He must've gotten out somehow!"

"Huh, interesting... as long as you don't tamper with anything-"

"Yeah, I know!"

Jason said before walking towards the apartment block. Once out of view, he sped up the stairs, whispering the apartment number to himself over and over again.

At last, he reached the apartment he was looking for. The floor was protected with police tape all around. Jason approached the door of Henry Spence and crawled under the tape over the door. Once inside, he began looking around. All of the furniture had been moved to the side and the bedroom was sealed off. The file were still at the desk at the back.

Jason picked up the file and read through it. Unfortunately, it had no information as to where it came from. Jason was bummed until an idea came to his mind. He rushed to the bin and began looking through it.

Back outside, the other officer got suspicious of the amount of time he was taking in the apartment. Something didn't feel right to him. The wrong feelings urged him to look around outside. He walked around the van and noticed the real officer lying on the floor.

"Officer Martinez!"

He exclaimed, reaching down to check his pulse. Thankfully, he was still alive. He looked to the apartment block and back at the lying officer. If Officer Martinez was out cold, who did he speak to earlier? Observing from afar, Bolton grabbed his blade.

Jason managed to find a bus ticket dating back to the day of his death. The ticket had the name of the Town he visited.

"Bluegill... that's the town?!"

Jason exclaimed out loud. Just like the average Inkopolis citizen, he was not familiar with Bluegill Town. He folded up the paper and placed it in his pocket.

He was just about to head for the front door before being confronted by the other officer, who had a gun aimed at his head.

"I see it in your eyes, you're gifted. You're not Officer Martinez."

The officer said after looking at Jason's white pupils.

"L-Look m-man! I-I-"

S L A M ! ! !

The guard was impaled through his chest and lifted into the air, going into shock as he dropped his weapon. Bolton pulled his blade out of the officer and allowed him to drop to the ground. Jason was started from the stabbing.

"Did you find anything?"

Bolton asked. Jason handed Bolton the sheet of paper showing the town's name. He slowly tilted his head upwards after reading the paper. He scrunched it up and threw it away before looking back at Jason.

"Find his Splat Force gear. You'll be needing it."

1 W E E K  L A T E R . . .

It was now the end of their first full week of training. Overall, today was their fifth day of training as they took both Tuesdays and Thursdays off. The three Inklings had just finished their jog outside. They were now taken back indoors. Drift went to practice combat training with Frederick, whilst Zane and Ami went with Cosmo to the target practice.

As she handed over their weapons, Cosmo also handed them small cylinder containers containing Ink.

"Cosmo, what are these?"

Zane asked.

"These are Ink tanks. You simply load them into your weapon and they'll fire out bullets. They last longer than the Ink your Ink Sacs contain for Turf Wars and are more effective. It's why we, alongside the army use them. When they run around, add a new container. You should have at least five containers in your utility belt."

Cosmo explained. Zane and Ami reached for their utility belts and took out their containers and placed them inside of their weapons.

Zane turned to face the target, as to be expected it was a training dummy, a thicker one. He walked over to the line, which was the boundary, and started to what Frederick was saying to Drift early, the words echoing in his head. He readied himself, getting into a position, his left leg behind his right, hand on the handle of the Splattershot, the other holding the bottom of the weapon. He adjusted his weapon's direction to face the dummy, eyes focused on the center of it.

B A N G,  B A N G,  B A N G ! ! !

He pulled the trigger And held onto it. Bullets started to rapidly fire at the target.

"Great job there, Zane!"

Cosmo cheered. She and Ami clapped their hands as Zane walked to the side.

"Thanks! Probably just beginner luck to be honest."

Zane said, assuming that he wouldn't be that great on the battlefield.

"Don't doubt yourself! Everyone struggles with their first weapon!"

Cosmo assured, patting his head and smiling. She turned her attention to the young girl next to her and started to whisper in her ear.

"Alright since you have duellies you are free to perform a trick that will make the others jealous."

"Rolling?"

Ami whispered back, smiling cheekily.

"Yes! Can you do it?"

"I'm not that good at it, but I'll give it a try!"

Ami replied before coming fourth.

She jumped up in the air, shot at the targets, and went for a roll. Unfortunately, her lack of experience did her dirty, as she ended up missing shots and hitting the wall behind the target. She got back up and rushed back to the starting line. After preparing herself, she was off again. Although she managed to successfully roll, she ended up falling flat on her face.

"Are you okay daring?"

Cosmo asked whilst giggling a little. She walked over to Ami and helped her up.

"Uhh... Yeah, I am!"

Ami replied, clearly feeling dizzy as her head started spinning round and round.

"Well, you did manage to roll but it went all downhill from there. So, you can do it, but you should probably try and tame yourself a little bit and not rush the roll. But overall, not a bad first attempt."

Cosmo approved, winking at her. She walked her over to the line.

"Try again, but this time just shoot the target, don't worry about trying to roll."

Ami pointed the duellies at the dummy once more, aiming at the middle for a bigger impact. Bullets rapidly flew out of the weapon, hitting the center of the target.

"Awesome!"

Cosmo congratulated, raising her hand in the air for a high five. Ami gave her a high five.

"Okay, you two seem to know what you are doing, so keep doing that whilst I check up on Drift."

Cosmo walked over to Drift and Frederick, they seemed to be getting along just fine.

"Alright son, that your fists aren't the only thing you can use to attack someone, there is also your leg for a good kick or a head for a headbutt."

Frederick educated. His goal was to make sure that Drift was prepared and ready for any encounter. He wanted to make sure that Drift didn't always rely on weapons but also his skills.

"Got it, Dad!"

Drift replied. Pulling back his arms and slamming his fists into his father's palm then immediately afterward used his leg to kick his father in the knee.

"Argh! Good one! It's always useful to be unpredictable, otherwise, the opponent will inevitably get the upper hand. That small kick was a good start."

Frederick praised. He was certainly pleased that his son actually had some sense of skill. He noticed Cosmo watching them and nodded at her, symbolizing her to help in some way. Cosmo nodded back and sneakily tip toes behind him and put her arm around Drift's neck but not tight enough to choke him. Drift was stunned by this.

"If she wasn't a mentor,  and I wasn't your father, and you were out in the wild and she had a weapon, you would've been done for."

Cosmo removed her arm from his neck. Drift turned around to see her, she smiled at him.

"That is what your next lesson will be about. Your senses."

The two mentors looked at each other and without saying words, they synced with each other and knew they were thinking the same thing.

"Alright kids, we'll call that break! Feel free to get yourself some food. We'll continue at two."

Frederick called out. He then looked at Cosmo and informed her of what he would be doing.

"I'll just be outside. Come get me if you need anything."

M E A N W H I L E  O U T S I D E  T H E  T O W N . . .

Both Barry and Oliver saw two figures approaching the town. The two of them approached the gate and saw Led being taken into the town... by Frederick Evans.

"Wait... did we see him leave earlier?"

"No, Barry. That's odd... and who is that with him? And why is he in cuffs? Commander Evans never used them before."

Oliver replied. The two of them held their judgment until meeting their Commander up close.

"Commander Evans, I thought you were at the shed?"

"Shed...?"

The Commander asked, confused, making the guards confused. Very quickly, his posture and voice volume shifted.

"Oh yeah, the shed, of course! My mistake, guys!"

Barry and Oliver looked at each other, and then back at their Commander. They knew from his behavior that something was up. It is then they also noticed that he was staring at the ground, not looking up. Led stood still, not saying a word.

"Uhh... Commander Evans? Are you-"

Barry asked before pausing as the Commander looked up, revealing his eyes, which had white pupils.

Barry and Oliver knew what white pupils meant and instantly sprung into action.

"HANDS IN THE AIR, NOW!"

Oliver yelled, pointing his Splattershot at them.

Z A P ,  Z A P ! ! !

Led struck at the two guards, sending them back, flying. Thankfully, their gear helped them survive. The shapeshifter dropped his disguise, revealing Jason. He and Led dashed forward and turned a corner. Very quickly, however, Barry and Oliver caught up to them.

"Take one more step and you're goners!"

Barry yelled, leaning his head towards Oliver.

"I wish it was my turn with the Splattershot!"

"You'll get your turn next time, Barry!"

Oliver remarked with a grin. Both of their eyes remained stuck on Led and Jason, leaving them open from behind.

A loud shank was heard to the left of Oliver, followed by the sound of Barry gasping for air. Oliver looked and freaked upon seeing that Bolton's blade had been thrown through Barry's chest from behind. The blade flew out of Barry's chest and into Bolton's grasp.

"BARRY! NO!"

Oliver cried out as he tended to his friend.

"Ha... ha... n-never thought I'd d-die on this job, h-huh...?"

Barry uttered, growing weaker.

"No, no, no!"

Oliver whimpered as Barry ed away, his lifeless eyes stared up at the blue sky.

Oliver began sobbing uncontrollably for his deceased friend. Bolton looked down at him.

"I pity you... I know what it's like to lose the ones you love just like that."

He said with a snap of his fingers.

"I'll give you one chance, stay down and you'll be spared."

Hyperventilating aggressively as he looked at Bolton, Oliver let out a loud growl before aiming his Splattershot at Bolton.

"BURN, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

M E A N W H I L E  W I T H  F R E D E R I C K . . .

Frederick walked down the road of a nearly empty town. Ironically, it was the lack of life that Frederick thought gave the town its identity. He enjoyed the quietness of the place followed by the chill breeze. Getting the chance to walk around took his mind off of the training. It was nice... until he heard the cries of Oliver Amell echo throughout the town.

"Ollie?!"

Frederick called out. He got out his N-Zap and ran towards the screaming. After running down driveways and past houses, and after turning corners he was now opposite the entrance that he walked through... there he was.

"Squit!"

Frederick rolled back out of Bolton's sight, now leaning against a brick wall as he got out his phone to call Cosmo.

"Hello?"

She answered.

"Bolton is here!"

Frederick said, panicking.

"What?!"

Cosmo replied in horror.

"How did he find us?!"

"I don’t know! Get the kids to safety, NOW!"

Frederick commanded as he hung up. He knew that there was no reality that the kids would ever survive an encounter with Bolton, not at the skill level that they were at.

Back at the base, Cosmo rushed over to the young trio, who were all in the middle of their lunch break.

"What's wrong, Cosmo? You look worried."

Ami asked.

"I have no time to explain, but we need to get out of here!"

Cosmo announced before running to the elevator.

"W-Wait... what's going on?"

Zane asked worryingly as the trio each got out of their seats.

Cosmo let out a short sigh as she looked up to the roof, stressed.

"I don't know how it's happened, but... Bolton found us!"

"What?!"

Drift and Zane exclaimed in unison.

"Oh no..."

Ami uttered.

The elevator door opened. Cosmo stood aside as the kids ran in before her. She quickly ed them just as the door started to close.

"Once you get outside, you three will need to super jump to Inkopolis. You know how to do that, yes?"

"Yeah, we do it in Turf Wars!"

Drift answered, putting a smile on Cosmo's face.

"Good! It may take a few jumps to get there, but once you're there, wait outside the mall, okay?"

"Got it!"

Drift replied.

The moment the door opened, Cosmo ran out first to make sure it was safe. Once she saw that the coast was clear, she signaled to them to run out. The three kids got into a line just next to the shed.

However, before super jumping, Ami looked at Cosmo with concern.

"Aren't you coming?"

"I have to stay and fight. Commander Evans needs my help!"

Cosmo said as she ran forward. She stopped running after reaching the pathway and turned around to see the kids still there.

"GO!"

The three kids turned around and took a deep breath before going into the swim forms. They pushed their bodies against the ground at full force before taking off into the air. As the kids super jumped away, Alyssa ran away from the shed to find Frederick.

Meanwhile, Frederick was still lined up against the brick wall, taking the occasional peep around the corner to see how close Bolton was. Eventually, Bolton was right around the corner. Both Led and Jason were behind him.

Knowing he had to act quickly, Frederick went into his utility belt and grabbed a Splat Bomb. Upon activating it, he ran out of his hiding spot and lunged it at the three of them. Seeing the attack coming, Bolton made a barrier using his gifts.

B O O M ! ! !

As the dust settled, Frederick was crushed to see that his attack did no damage. He and Bolton were now standing face to face. Bolton's stare was almost enough to paralyze the Commander. Fortunately, he snapped out of it and ran away.

"Bring him to me. I want him alive!"

Bolton ordered. Led charged around the corner, followed by Jason. Bolton slowly followed behind him.

Z A P ! ! !

Led charged a lightning strike and lunged it at Frederick, who jumped forward and rolled out of the way.

"It's because of you people that I was feared and thrown away!"

He shouted as Frederick got back onto his feet, now facing Led.

"You deserve to pay for everything!"

Right as Led prepared to charge up another lightning strike, Cosmo landed in between them from a super jump and blasted an energy beam at Led, sending him flying back.

"Led!"

Jason yelled, running towards him and kneeling by him.

"I'll be fine!"

Led shouted.

"Go get him!"

Cosmo walked to Frederick with a small smirk on her face.

"You're welcome!"

"I had it under control!"

Frederick replied to her. Cosmo looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Frederick sighed.

"Thank you."

The pair of them were approached by Jason. He changed from his natural look into his onstage look as he shouted at them.

"You know, there are some people who benefit from their gifts. Like me!"

"Then get out of this battle whilst you still can!"

Frederick yelled back. He easily saw through Jason and knew that he just wanted to live a normal life.

Jason paused for a moment and looked by to Bolton. He continued to speak to them.

"I may not know this guy well enough, but what he's promising sounds good! I finally have the chance to show my true self to the world without fear of rejection, and I won't let you take it!"

He yelled before charging at him, fists clenched. He tried to punch Frederick in the face. However, he was unsuccessful.

S L A M ! ! !

Frederick slammed his fists into Jason's stomach. Jason groaned in pain and fell.

"Stand down while you still can. You were never built for this life."

Frederick said. He looked up and saw the last one standing, Bolton himself.

Bolton approached the pair of them, both of whom were ready for the fight. He glared at Cosmo.

"You're a disgrace to our kind. Siding with the men who stood on us!"

Without warning, Cosmo blasted an energy beam at Bolton, who deflected it with his blade. She and Frederick charged at Bolton, who threw his blade towards Frederick before it was blasted away by another energy beam.

Cosmo leaped into the air to get a strong punch on him from above. However, Bolton grabbed her arm and chucked her against a wall. Frederick ran up to Bolton and attempted to knee him in the face, but he was stopped by a strong punch to the chest.

S L A M ! ! !

Frederick was sent flying back. He groaned in pain as he held his chest. It was a strong punch, one of the strongest punches that he had ever felt. The sheer power combined with the heat of it was a lot for him to bear.

Bolton stood over the Commander and reached out his right hand. As the blade flew into his grasp, he raised it into the air, prepared to deal the final blow. Just as he was about to strike, however, Cosmo blasted an energy beam at him, knocking him off-guard, and giving Frederick enough time to get up and run back. However, standing before Frederick and Cosmo was a recharged Led.

Z A P ,  Z A P ! ! !

Led aimed his strikes at Frederick, who quickly dolled out of the way and dodged every one of them. After the second strike, Frederick threw a Splat Bomb at Led. Cosmo quickly jumped behind the bomb and blasted it with a beam, sending it flying forward faster.

B O O M ! ! !

Just as it was only a couple of feet away, the bomb went off, sending Led flying back into the wall of an empty house. They both turned their focus back to Bolton. The moment they turned around, they saw his blade flying at them. They both dodged out of the way, with Frederick barely getting hit in the side of his right shoulder.

Frederick groaned as he held his warm cut. Cosmo blasted a long energy beam at Bolton, who easily blocked it as he slowly walked forward.

"We can't beat him!"

Cosmo yelled.

"We have to get out of here!"

"Where are the kids?!"

Frederick asked, sounding more concerned for them than himself.

"They're safe!"

Cosmo said as she ceased fire. She looked at Frederick before running away.

"Come on!"

As Frederick and Cosmo ran, Frederick looked behind him to see Bolton slowly starting to speed up. Wanting to slow him down as much as he could, Frederick got out his N-Zap and began to fire at him.

B A N G ,  B A N G , B A N G ! ! !

Of course, his attacks did nothing, but it was enough to slow Bolton down as he and Cosmo made their way back to the shed. They stood to the side of the shed, lining themselves up. They turned around one more time to see Bolton on the other side of the road. They had to leave, now.

"Let's go!"

Cosmo said to him before the pair of them went into the swim forms and super jumped out of there.

Bolton stood still and watched them jump into the distance emotionlessly. He quickly put together that they were going to Inkopolis. He could've followed them, but he didn't. Instead, he turned around and began to walk back to his allies.

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 this week's chapter of Splat Force: The Gifted. What an intense ending! Next week will have double the action, so stay tuned for that! Stay fresh! ^^

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