Splat Force II: Allegiance; Chapter 7

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad! Today I bring to you Chapter 7 of Splat Force II: Allegiance!

I'm very amazed by the positive response to the previous chapter, and I have you all to thank for that!

As said last week, this chapter will focus on Drift and Magnus. We'll see their friendship start to grow.

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

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(Previous Chapter)(Chapter Hub)

C H A P T E R 7 : R O M A N T I C L O V E R

One hour has ed since Magnus had arrived at Drift's apartment and things were looking better for him, even if he still had that grusome image in his head.

"You better watch your next move, hot stuff!"

He exclaimed as he was on the verge of winning the video game match.

"Hot stuff?!"

Drift said with confusion until he realized what he was on about.

"Oh it's on!"

The two of them were playing a combat-based game in which two players had to fight each other, in-game, in order to claim victory for themself. Neither Drift nor Magnus was holding back. The Octoling proved to be even better than what Drift anticipated.

With thirty seconds left in the match, Drift did all that he could to gain the upper hand but things seemed unlucky for him today, as per usual. Magnus had come out on top.

"Darn it!"

Drift exclaimed playfully before offering his hand.

"Good game!"

Magnus shook hands with Drift, accepting his victory over him.

"I guess gaming is the one thing I can say I'm better at than ya! You're better at Turf War, any other athletic games, you get better grades than me and all that but I'm better at you at video games!"

"I suppose so!"

The Inkling replied as he smiled at Magnus' rambling. He gave his friend a high five.

"Well, do you want another game?"

"I think I'm good."

He replied.

"I was actually wondering if you wanna go out with me...not in that way, as in just a small hang out."

Drift excused Magnus' poor choice of words and gave him a small chuckle.

"That sounds good...but I'm worried that people would recognise me."

"Well, you could wear different clothes to what you wore. Which by the way, what were you even wearing? The camera only got your back and your face, nothing else."

Magnus asked as he thought back to seeing the footage for the first time. Drift paused and took seconds to get an answer. He couldn't just outright it that he was wearing his fathers old Splat Force gear.

"I've heard people say it was Splat Force gear, is that true?"

"Well...Yeah. I was just wearing it to...honour him."

He lied, sounding incredibly stupid.

"It's not like I'm a Splat Force member or anything because that would just be...awkward."

The mohawked Octoling easily saw through Drift's lies. It almost made him laugh due to how awful he was at lying.

"Sure, let's go with that for now."

He replied. As soon as Drift turned away from him, Magnus gave him a small wink behind his back.

Drift put a black hoodie over his grey shirt. He pulled the hood up which mostly covered his hair, which was just what he needed.

"Do you have anywhere in mind, Magnus?"

"Anywhere away from the Cuttlefish Library would be great for me."

He answered as he put his trooper power stripes shoes and his navy green jacket back on him.

"That's understandable."

Drift replied. The two of them were now fully ready to go out.

The two headed out the door and heading down the spiral staircase and walked out of the buildings front door and into the outside world of Inkopolis. The two turned left from the building and headed down the streets. Drift had his hands in his pockets.

"So Drift...Do you like music?"

Magnus randomly asked in an attempt to spark a conversation.

"I do. I mostly like old flip hop music, mainly the calm ones: it helps me get in the right mood, you know?"

Drift answered.

"What are you into?"

"I'm mostly into alternative rock or classic pop. It's a huge shame that Sparrow ed last year, she was really talented!"

Magnus answered, feeling bad at the death of one of his favourite artists.

"Yeah...I had a friend who liked her. He's gone now too so who knows, maybe he's watching one of her concerts right now."

Drift sighed.

"That's a nice way of thinking about it!"

Magnus said as he gave him a pat on the back.

The two of them continued to walk and talk until they ed the Cuttlefish Library, a place that was surrounded by police cars. It was a sight in which Magnus hated for obvious reasons.

"Oh cod..."

He whispered as he turned away from the sight.

Drift sensed the discomfort in Magnus and he wanted to help him get through it.

"We should probably go away from here."

The two young men made a left turn and got themselves away from the Library. The two went forward before making a left turn, they went forward again and then a right turn, arriving at the Inkopolis Subway Station.

The two walked into the subway and approached the counter. They both got out their College .

"Enjoy your day, young men!"

The man at the counter said with a smile. He didn't think much of them using their es at this time, he just thought that they were going in for a late session.

The pair of them got onto the train, there were a few people inside; none of them took notice of Drift due to his change of hoodie. They both took their seats near the corner and waited for the train to start moving.

"It must feel weird going out in a public area with your..."

Magnus said before turning to face the other engers to see if they were paying attention before turning back to Drift and whispered in his left ear.

"Gifts."

"Well that's one shell of a way to put it mate."

Drift sighed.

"It feels as if I'm an outsider and that I don't belong here..."

"But you do belong here! You know you do!"

Magnus assured him as he placed his right hand on Drift's shoulder. Drift turned to face his companion, giving him eye .

"Even with you being you know what, you're still a part of our society, Drift. That's not going to change for a long time!"

"I know but to be honest, I think that I'm only one bad day away from ruining my father's legacy with a violent outburst like what happened with the thugs and Ami?"

He asked with concern.

"I know that I can't relate to you in having a tough legacy of a family member or having gifts or becoming viral because of said gifts or having to live with hurting your fri-"

Magnus rambled. He paused after Drift gave him a small spare as if he wanted him to be quiet.

"Sorry, rambling bad habit of mine, you saw it back at the apartment. Anyways, I know I can't relate to all of that and I can't say it gets better because the thing is I really don't know if it does or not. But what I can say is that if things look down just lookup. That's what my grandad said to me when I was only five, he always had a positive outlook on life...Was I rambling again?"

Drift chuckled at Magnus' rambling.

"A little bit, it's fine I like it when you ramble, haha!"

He giggled.

"But thanks. Who knew that we were both experts at giving each other advice."

"I guess it's because your father was a Splat Force Commander whilst my grandad was a sensei who taught martial arts whilst giving some really good life advice which probably shows that we inherit things from people we are around...Was I rambling again?"

Magnus asked as Drift started to chuckle once more.

1 0 M I N U T E S L A T E R . . .

"NOW ARRIVING AT MIKA ROAD"

The announcer alerted through the speaker.

"Wait, that's where Todarodes College is, right?"

Magnus asked as he and Drift stood up and walked over to the door.

"Yeah but we're not going in. Besides it would be the end of the day by now so there isn't any reason to go in."

Drift replied at the train stopped. The door opened up and many started to walk in and out of the train.

Drift and Magnus walked up the brick stairs and entered the outside world once more. Drift straight forward from the stairs which was the right-hand side of the College building.

"So Drift, do you have a place in mind?"

" that park I was at yesterday?"

He responded as he walked with his hands in his pockets and his hood was still up.

"A-Are you sure about that?"

Magnus asked with concern.

"That was the place where those jerks showed up and tried to hurt us but you went POW and they were out-"

"They wouldn't want to deal with us again, not after what happened."

Drift said as he abruptly interrupted another one of Magnus' rambling sessions.

"Oh...right."

Magnus mumbled as they both continued to walk down the streets of Inkopolis.

1 0 M I N U T E S L A T E R . . .

The two young men arrived at the Jelly Moon Park, a place that was incredibly nostalgic for Drift.

"You know, without all the bullies this is a pretty nice looking park!"

Magnus said.

"Yeah I agree. Then again I used to come here many times when I was just a young boy. So I guess I have lots of memories attached to this place. Mainly with my mother and Ami. My father didn't take me out that often, for obvious reasons."

Drift said as he reminisced on old times that have come to past.

"I've never really had an attachment to anything in Inkopolis. Then again I grew up in Octopod City, an Inkopolis for Octolings which is northwest of the Splatlands. It's a chill place, to be honest. I recommend it if you ever go abroad."

Magnus said as he went into another rambling session.

"Maybe one day I might give that place a shot!"

Drift said as he looked back at Magnus and smiled at his rambling.

"You don't seem to mind my ramblings, do ya?"

Magnus asked. He sounded a little bit worried if he was annoying or not. Drift shook his head.

"Oh thank cod! You see the doctors said I had this condition a couple of years back, I can't the name. I would often talk excessively or fidget with stuff a lot and I used to blurt out answers before questions were fully spoken. I used to have lots of from tutors about it, which is probably why I'm doing better now than I was back then. I was afraid that people outside my family would judge me. I'm glad that there are people like you to prove me wrong!"

"Well I'm always available for speaking if you ever need to get words out of your head properly."

Drift said with a thumbs up.

Drift felt a buzz coming from his phone. He took it out from his pocket and saw that it was a text message from Alyssa which read:

'Are you able to do some training today?'

"Magnus. My tutor has messaged me asking if...I could sort out some personal matters...Would you be okay if I say yes?"

Drift asked him.

"Do what's best for ya!"

Magnus quickly replied.

Drift gave Magnus another smile before turning back to his phone.

'Can do! I'm at the Jelly Moon Park if I need picking up.'

'Oh wow, I'm literally a couple of minutes away. I'll see you soon!'

Alyssa replied.

After almost three minutes, Alyssa arrived at the Jelly Moon Park.

"Drift!"

She called out, grabbing the attention of both Drift and Magnus.

Drift walked over to Alyssa with Magnus. The two stood a few feet in front of her.

"It was fun being with you today, thanks for giving me that much-needed comfort!"

Magnus said calmly as he played with the curl that was attached to his mohawk. His body was swayed back.

"It's all good mate! And thanks for giving some of your grandfathers ed down wisdom!"

Drift replied before giving Magnus a high five. The two of them went their own ways, Drift going forwards to Alyssa and Magnus going in the opposite direction.

Alyssa looked down at Drift and gave him an amused look.

"Looks like someone has a small crush on you!"

She teased quietly.

"Wait who...Magnus?"

Drift responded quickly.

"No, I'm pretty sure we are just pals!"

"Drift, I'm in my late thirties; I've seen all the signs. The posture, the voice, playing with hair."

She explained, making Drift go a little red.

"That boy clearly has a crush on you."

Drift didn't know how to respond to what Alyssa had just said to him. His face was turning a bright red. He knew that the best course of action was to change the topic.

"So...How's your day!"

Alyssa chuckled as they both started to walk away from the park.

"It's been alright! Ami's had her first therapy appointment which went well! How's yours been?"

"Mine's been good. I've had to cheer up Magnus since he was at Cuttlefish Library last night and he saw first hand what happened."

He explained as Alyssa looked at him with a worried expression.

"It was Bolton and his little gang of followers."

"Oh my...Did he tell you what Bolton was even doing there?"

She asked, hoping to find some dots to connect.

"Unfortunately not. I think he was in shock. I managed to calm him down but I didn't want to bring up the topic again just in case he'd enter another panic attack."

He answered with misfortune in his voice.

"That's a sensible thing to do. Sometimes bringing up bad moments isn't ideal in making someone better, even if it's for the greater good."

She said. The two of them walked towards a grey car in the small car park and got inside.

1 0 M I N U T E S L A T E R . . .

They arrived near the Splat Force base at west Inkopolis. The car was parked by the small stone wall that was laid between the docks and the pathway. Alyssa and Drift got out of the car and headed into the docks. They walked towards the Splat Force base and entered.

"Alright, the reason I called you in is that I need your gifts to be tested. I need to see the ups and downs of it."

Alyssa explained.

Drift let out a loud sigh which showed his discomfort.

"I don't know, Cosmo, I mean Alyssa...I don't think it's a good idea: what if I hurt you like I hurt Ami? I don't want to go through all that again."

"Hey! You couldn't hurt me even if you tried to!"

She assured him with a smile and wink. Drift slowly smiled back at her.

"There we go! Now hit me!"

Drift's smile disappeared the second it came. Alyssa's request came very abruptly but he was assured that she would be alright no matter what. Drift clenched his fist until it lit up with flames. He aimed his fist towards Alyssa before firing at her.

B O O M ! ! !

The blast knocked her across the room and into her desk.

"Gah!"

She yelped as she made with her desk.

"Cos-Alyssa! Are you okay?!"

Drift called out in an immense amount of worry.

"Ugh...I'm alright!"

She assured Drift as he helped her up.

"You're already so powerful. There is only one other blast I've ever felt that feels that strong..."

Drift didn't want to finish her sentence as he already knew what name was going to follow. He turned around and slowly walked out of the base. Upon exiting, he turned to his left and walked over to a small stone wall and looked out into the ocean.

It wasn't long later until Alyssa ed him, wanting to give him comfort.

"Are you doing alright buddy?"

"I've got him on my mind again...This whole thing is just too much to take in. A week ago I was just this normal person who was making a living by keeping his father's complicated legacy alive. Now I have all of this to worry about, these gifts: I was kicked out of college because of them, people think I'm a freak because of them...I just want to live a normal life, is that hard to ask?"

Drift said softly, not looking at Alyssa but instead the deep blue ocean.

"How do you do? How do you live like a normal Octoling?"

Alyssa felt the pain and mild jealousy in his voice. Not that he blamed him, he was still young even if he was eighteen.

"I didn't just walk out of the Gifted Wars and have everyone except me immediately. Not only was I gifted but as you are very much aware, I'm an Octoling. Back then they weren't as accepting as they are now. If I wanted their trust I had to earn it. It was Rex who taught me to be more social around others."

"That must've been tricky for you."

Drift said as he turned to face Alyssa.

"It was until I adapted to his positive environment. Personality-wise I became more like him: more upbeat and calm. He even taught me how to not use my gifts to solve all problems."

She mentioned.

"It was difficult to adapt to as combat training and weaponry training wasn't the easiest thing to learn. I the first training session like it was yesterday."

1 7 Y E A R S A G O . . .

A younger Rex Allen opened up the door that was against the staircase. Behind the door were stairs that lead down to his basement.

"Alyssa, follow me."

He said to a younger Alyssa Frida, who looked a little frightened by the darkness of the stairs. Nevertheless, she went with him.

"W-Where are you taking me?"

Alyssa asked as she gently held onto Rex's arm as they made their way down into the basement.

"Down here is where I used to train for the Splat Force."

Rex answered as he opened the door at the bottom of the stairs and turned on the lights, revealing a large grey room with target practices and weaponry and boxing gloves.

"Woah..."

She whispered as she looked around and saw it all.

"But doesn't the shed have all the equipment."

"It does. The shed's equipment was mainly used by Rookies and some Majors. Me and Fred used to spar down here every other week. It was always like a friendly competition of sorts to see who was more skilled."

He explained as Alyssa was still gazing at the room in awe.

A burning question had suddenly entered Alyssa's mind.

"Wait, why did you take me down here?"

"To do a little testing."

He answered as he opened his arms out.

Hit me!"

"W-What?!"

Alyssa asked in confusion.

"Hit me! I need to see what your first instinct is when approaching conflict."

Rex repeated.

"And no I don't mean a conflict you can talk your way out of. It would be great but let's be real, if there was another being like Terrador then cod knows what would happen if we just do nothing but talk. You know what, imagine I'm Terrador about to attack. What would you do? Don't worry, you can never really hurt me even if you tried!"

Alyssa looked at Rex and raised an eyebrow before raising her right fist. She looked back at Rex who started nodding. She then looked back at her fist before clenching it and knocking him back against the wall.

S L A M ! ! !

"Oh my cod, are you alright Rex?!"

She asked in a panicky tone as she tried to help him up.

"Argh...You hit like a boulder. I know because I've been hit by one."

Rex complimented as she helped him up.

"Now, onto the lesson. If you want to live like a normal civilian then you can't use your gifts to solve problems. If you get into a fight then using your gifts would only help for so long. You're gonna need combat and weaponry training, Alyssa."

Rex walked over to a chair at the right-hand side of the room and picked up a boxing glove and placed it on his hand and held it up.

"Try again and hit the palm of my hand. But this time, don't use your gifts."

Alyssa looked at Rex's palm and then back at Rex who gave her a comforting wink. She then looked back at Rex before clenching her fist and lunging it forward, hitting the palm of the glove. She looked back at Rex who gave her the nod that told her to do another one. She punched again, and again, and again. Until she punched so hard that Rex was sent flying against the wall. Alyssa gasped as she began to quickly walk over to Rex. However, he had a trick up his sleeve.

"Think fast!"

He yelled as he threw a fake Splat Bomb at her. Thinking that it was real, Alyssa screamed and quickly formed a small light blue energy shield. Rex stood up and walked closer to her.

"Nice quick shield! However, there are multiple ways of getting out of the situation without your gifts. You can either give yourself space from it by running away or do the more risky move of kicking the bomb away...Speaking of kicking..."

Whilst Alyssa was distracted, Rex low sweeps her legs, causing her to fall back on the ground. Rex knees on top of her, both knees between each of her hips.

"The low sweep. You get hit and the enemy's on top and you're on the bottom. You must always have your focus up otherwise who knows what would happen."

He instructed as he helped her up. They continued to go over the important steps that Rex had told her about.

P R E S E N T D A Y . . .

"So you got pretty much most of your skills from Rex?"

Drift asked.

"That's a good way of putting it. He continued to train me throughout the year, same steps, same methods. Our bond grew stronger with every session. Until one day, something was lit that never went out."

Alyssa said as she thought back to one of the happiest moments of her life.

1 6 Y E A R S A G O . . .

Alyssa walked into the basement once more and was greeted by Rex who was tidying everything away.

"Back for more? We already trained earlier?"

"I know but, I kinda had fun earlier so I was wondering if we could do more?"

Alyssa asked in a hopeful tone.

Rex smiled back at her as he readied himself.

"Hit me!"

He said in a very upbeat tone as he raised his palms, not wearing boxing gloves. Alyssa smiled back at Rex before she jabbed at both of his palms. She started gentle but over time got progressively harder and harder.

"Stop of a minute! You aren't pulling punches. That was the first time you've made me withdraw. I'm impressed!"

The two smiled at each other for seconds, no words were ed at each other. That was until Alyssa blasted Rex against the wall with a light blue energy beam from her hands.

S L A M ! ! !

Alyssa started to giggle at Rex. In return, after taking in the small pain, Rex ed in with the laughing as he stood back up.

"To be fair, we were both off guard. Haha!"

He chuckled before throwing a fake Splat Bomb at Alyssa. Knowing that it was a fake, she kicked the bomb back at Rex. He gave her a small round of applause. As he walked back over to Alyssa. He took in a deep breath as if he was about to confess something, which he was about to do.

"I guess Fred was right about me and you...I do like you Alyssa."

Alyssa had a confused look on her face.

"Wait, what do you mean by like?"

"As in crush. As in I have a crush on y-"

Rex tried to answer but was quickly interrupted by Alyssa giving him a sudden low sweep. He fell back to the ground. Alyssa was now on top.

"Guess who's on top now!"

She quipped as the two started to laugh. After the small laugh the two stared at each other's eyes as Alyssa slowly leaned forward and gave Rex a sudden yet small kiss. Rex was stunned and had no words to even describe what had just gone down.

"Me too!"

She whispered before giving him a longer kiss, one that they both embraced.

P R E S E N T D A Y . . .

"A day later, we became boyfriend and girlfriend. Around two to three months later, he proposed to me and I said yes. We had a private wedding in our garden, very few showed up but that's what we wanted really. The ones that showed up were most of Rex's family and Frederick, who was acting like the priest, which was pretty charming to watch."

She said with a smile as she thought back to the old, simple times.

"Dad did once have a thing for religious studies. Me and Mom never really understood it but we just dealt with it until he grew out of the phase."

Drift said with a smile, feeling much better.

"So to put all that in short, the best way to live like a normal person is to just live how I've always lived and adapt to new changes."

"That's a good way to look at it!"

She replied.

Drift hugged Alyssa.

"Thank you, Alyssa!"

"Anytime!"

She replied as she embraced him in her arms.

"I'm glad that I've got to help you in some way!"

After half a minute, they pulled out of the hug. Alyssa walked back into the base and left Drift on his own to stare out into the ocean.

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 Chapter 7 of Splat Force II: Allegiance! The next chapter will be advancing the plot as we turn our attention to our antagonists'. So stay tuned for that. Until next time, stay safe out there! ^^

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