Splat Force IV: Radicalism; Chapter 14

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad! I hope you are all doing well! You get the deal by now: it's Sunday (or Monday, depending on the time zone), so it's time for a new Chapter of Splat Force IV: Radicalism!

Before I say anything relating to today's Chapter, I just want to quickly share with you all just how hectic the past couple of weeks have been. Two weeks ago (Ch 11 + 12) I had a lot of due college assessments to hand in on the day of those two Chapters (which I SOMEHOW pulled off) along with the family coming around for Eurovision weekend. Last week (Ch 13) was mainly spent packing up for the big move that happened last Wednesday, which I SOMEHOW managed a new Chapter with. And now, this weekend I'm doing this Chapter with no Internet (mobile data go brrrrr). So yeah, pretty hectic past couple of weeks, but to me, this saga comes first!

Anyway, this Chapter is going to be a relatively shorter one. It'll probably be the last of the shorter Chapters for this story as the rest of the story I have great ideas for each remaining Chapter.

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 4 :  T O O  F A R  G O N E ?

Neary Village, a once peaceful town of the cured, was the newest target of Project ZM. The villagers screamed and ran away as both the assassin and Cyrus' henchmen either barged into their homes, gunned them down, dragged them to the town centre, stabbed them to death, or blew up their homes.

The village was once founded for peace and to use as a home for the cured. But now? It was soon to be the site of a massacre. Cyrus stood in the middle of the village as his henchmen brought some of the survivors into the centre.

"Come on, the lot of you! None of you are getting paid to do this slow performance! Pick up the pace!"

He screamed, motivating his men to move quicker. After only a couple of minutes since his yelling, all the villagers left in the village were rounded up in the middle of the burning town and were put into a huddle. They all looked up in horror at their attacks, who were all standing in a line. Cyrus took a few steps forward and smiled at them all.

"If I was Terrador, I'd probably give some bullsquit speech about the Gods' great plan leading you here. If I was Bolton, I'd probably monologue about bringing peace or whatever woke trash came out of his mouth before slicing you all done... well, I ain't any of them, I'll tell you that!"

Cyrus looked back to his men, all of whom had their weapons aimed at the villagers. He scoffed and gestured to them to put down their weapons. Once their weapons had been lowered, he turned to his left to Project ZM and nodded.

"Your move, soldier!"

He ordered. Without showing any reaction to his command, Project ZM stepped forward and unleashed his blade.

S K I T ! ! !

The moment the blade was popped out, the villagers all screamed and huddled together. They let out screams and cries as the assassin marched his way towards them. Those who tried to run and escape death's clutches were met with a quick death from Cyrus' henchmen. Unfortunately, there was a large number of attempted escapees...

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

B A N G ,  B A N G ,  B A N G ! ! !

S L I C E ,  S L I C E ! ! !

S L A M ! ! !

Cyrus stood by and took in the sight of the villagers being taken down. It put a wide, satisfied smile on his grizzly face. However, what slipped his mind was that it was not all of the villagers being killed. Although half of the population of the village was massacred, the other half managed to escape.

Out in the forest, the other half of the population ran and ran and ran, refusing to stop and look back in case of an untimely demise. The elderly fell back from the crowd but were helped by the younglings.

After running for a long time, not only were they now in the clear, but they were now at a new village. It was a village that although not populated, was set up as a backup, almost as if the villagers had planned for an occasion like this.

The village had small wooden huts for houses along with stone pathways to get around. In the centre was a wishing well. The main house at the back had a small porch at the front with a wooden roof. Surrounding the houses was uncut grass with a few trees. The pathways cut off at the tree line surrounding the village. If one looked far into the distance, they could see a road.

The villagers quickly sorted themselves into their own homes. The transition to their new homes was quick, and equipment was already inside each house. Unfortunately, half the population meant that only half of the houses were filled up, but they all still stuck with their plan regardless.

One villager in particular, a hooded middle-aged Inkling woman with long pale-purple hair, entered her home and immediately switched on her phone, going onto the camera app and recording a video.

"Splat Force, we need your help!"

The woman said as she recorded her message to the team.

T H E  N E X T  D A Y . . .

Both Emily and Platinum were at the base early, setting up a billboard. The pair spoke to each other as they both carried it into the base through the front door.

"Shauna and Magnus got time off work this mornin' to come in."

Emily told her.

"Samantha has nothin' goin' on in her mornin's, so she has no excuse. What about ya father?"

"Dad's coming in. He said he's still doubtful, but that he's open to whatever information we've found."

She informed.

"I would've thought that the word of mouth from Vincent Fisk would've been enough, but I guess not."

"Ya dad is a very hard man to convince sometimes."

"Oh, believe me, I know that very well!"

Platinum replied with a chuckle as she and Emily placed the builtin board at the back of the room in front of her mother's old desk.

"There! That's the hard bit done!"

"You think THAT'S the hard bit?"

Emily asked with doubt in her voice.

"That is light work compared to actually puttin' the things on it!"

"Good point..."

Platinum said with the snap of her fingers, pacing her head back and forth between Emily and the evidence sitting on the floor by the costumes before settling on the former of the two.

"So... where do we start?"

For the next hours, the pair of them went back and forth between the evidence pile and the builtin board. All of the evidence that they had was stuck onto the board with either tape or multi-coloured pins. The main attractions, such as the Cyrus Zagan file were in the centre, but the smaller pieces of information, including articles about Fisk Industries from the year Fisk went down were placed on the side.

Along the way, the pair of them had to make trips to the local corner store to get more tape and more pins as they kept running out. In total, they made three more whole trips to the corner store.

Eventually, it was finally complete, or at least it was almost complete... everything about Fisk, Zagan, Fisk Industries, and the victims were all on the board. However, there was still one piece of the puzzle missing, a piece that was being saved for last.

Finishing off the board, Emily pinned to it photos of Zane Miller, Project ZM, and the drawn photo of Zane from William Swannack's place. Finishing it off, she also pinned a note that had three words written on it:

'Too far gone?'

It was now only an hour before midday, and the rest of the team showed up and gathered around the board, with Emily and Platinum standing on the left and right side of the board respectively as the team all stopped in the middle and inspected the evidence.

Rex in particular seemed impressed with the effort. A small smirk shot its way onto his face.

"You've both been busy."

He told them.

"This is exactly the type of thing me and Fred would've done back in the day."

Magnus smiled and nodded, agreeing with Rex.

"Yeah, I can definitely see that."

He said before turning to the busy pair.

"You both did really good!"

Shauna nodded in agreement. Now, the only one who hadn't reacted yet was Samantha, who was fixated on the photos of Zane and Project ZM.

"So... it is him, huh?"

"All evidence seems to be leading to him, but I still have some doubts."

Rex replied, making Emily and Platinum's faces drop.

"Maybe I just need to see it to believe it, maybe I am being a fool here, but I just... don't know what to think."

Emily shut her eyes and sighed frustratingly, trying to remain cool about the whole thing.

"Okay..."

She said. It was clear to everyone through both her sigh and her crossed arms that she was holding herself back.

"But... at least we've gotten somewhere, right?"

"Definitely!"

Platinum replied before pointing back to the board.

"Now, if any of us gets new evidence to add to the case, we can just stick it on here!"

"That's true."

Rex agreed before turning to the rest of the team.

"So, keep an eye out for anything.'

"And add onto the board if you get somethin'!"

Magnus added before shifting the topic.

"What are our plans today?"

"The usual."

Samantha answered.

"Got a match tonight, so I best prepare for that."

"You can train right here."

Rex replied, confirming to Magnus that he planned to stay and watch over the team whilst training himself.

"I don't have much going on."

Shauna commented before turning to her girlfriend.

"What about you?"

Emily stared off into space before looking at her partner as the question finally hit her.

"I'm goin' to visit my mum... I kinda need to fill her in on the whole thing."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Shauna asked.

"Yeah, sure."

Emily said as she started walking forward to the front door, Shauna followed.

Magnus nodded to her as she and Shauna walked past him.

"Take all the time you need, Emily!"

He told her.

"Thanks..."

Emily responded as she and Shauna left the building.

L A T E R  T H A T  D A Y . . .

K N O C K ,  K N O C K ! ! !

Both Emily and Shauna stood patiently outside the front door. Even after a decade, Kyle Moray still lived in the same house in the same overgrown street. It's as they say, some things never change.

Kyle opened the door and was surprised to see her daughter standing there.

"Emily!"

She exclaimed in shock before hugging her daughter tightly.

"This is a surprise!"

"Yeah! It's good to see you, Mum!"

Emily replied with a warm smile on her face as she rocked her mother side by side before ending the hug.

Kyle then took notice of Shauna, who had already extended her arms for a hug.

"Hello Shauna! How are you?"

Kyle asked as she accepted the hug.

"I'm doing good, thanks!"

Shauna replied sweetly. After the hug, Kyle welcomed the pair of them into the house.

Inside hadn't changed much other than a change of chairs, a new TV, and the place looking cleaner in general. Emily and Shauna sat next to each other on the couch, with the latter pressing her head into Emily's right shoulder.

Kyle was in the kitchen, sorting them out with mugs of hot chocolate. As she finished up, she started a conversation.

"So... when is the wedding?"

Emily snickered.

"I told you, Mum, we aren't gettin' married!"

"Not yet, you aren't!"

Kyle replied playfully as she ed them, holding the two mugs of hot chocolate and handing them to Emily and Shauna.

"This is dairy-free chocolate, by the way."

"Fine with me."

Emily said before taking a sip.

"So, how's everything been? I know you lot have been busy Splat Forcing around."

Kyle asked. She was still unaware of all the recent revelations.

"Actually, I saw something on the news the other day! You lot were by Moray Towers-"

"Yeah, that's kinda the thing I wanted to talk to you about."

Emily said before diving head first into the topic.

"You know that assassin guy that's been in the news killin' the cured?"

"Yes?"

"We found out who he is... you're not gonna believe a word I say..."

"Why wouldn't I?"

Emily took a small moment to collect herself. Her mother was the first of her family to know other than herself. She didn't know how to get it out. She then felt a reassuring hand on the shoulder from Shauna, who gave her a comforting look.

After a long moment of procrastination, she finally told her mother.

"It's Zane..."

Kyle squinted her eyes as her mouth dropped open.

"What?"

She asked. Emily got nervous from the response and was only able to respond with a small nod.

"That's impossible! Zane died years ago..."

"I thought that he died too, but umm..."

Emily said as she opened her phone. Upon opening her photo gallery, she loaded the photo of the completed builtin board and zoomed in on the main photos of Zane and Project ZM before showing it to her mother.

Seeing the photos made Kyle feel sick to the stomach. She covered her mouth and started shaking.

"C-Could it really be?"

"Vincent Fisk told me himself. It is him."

Emily confirmed.

"I... don't believe it..."

Kyle replied in disbelief, dropping her hands onto her lap as she stared at her daughter's phone. Suddenly, an urgent thought raced into her mind.

"We have to tell your Aunt Selina!"

"No!"

Emily intervened, stunning her mother.

"Why? He's her son!"

"Exactly! How do you think she'd take it upon findin' out that not only was her son alive all this time, but tortured in numerous prisons and radicalised into this... this... cyborg assassin?!"

She exclaimed to her. Kyle was stunned when hearing about the part about being tortured in prisons. She wanted to know, but she couldn't bear to find out about the exact details.

"Aunt Selina already has enough goin' on. She's really sick, barely able to afford gettin' more treatment, and is unable to leave the house on most days. To throw all these revelations at her might be enough to finish her off, I just..."

"It's okay..."

Shauna whispered into Emily's ear as if she were comforting a scared pet upon seeing her stumble.

Emily sighed and leaned her head toward Shauna, giving her a quick smile before looking back to her mother.

"It's just not a good idea..."

"Okay..."

Kyle said as a tear dropped from her left eye.

All of a sudden, Shauna's phone started going off. The ringtone was the Calamari Inktation by the Squid Sisters. Shauna got out her phone and saw that Magnus was calling. She quickly showed Emily.

"Well, answer it!"

Emily encouraged.

Shauna answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi! Is Emily still with you?"

Magnus asked.

"Yeah! She's just got her phone on silent... why?"

"The pair of you need to get to base asap! We've just got something!"

"Okay! We'll be there soon!"

Shauna replied before ending the call. Both Emily and Kyle looked at her curiously.

"We need to be back at base. Magnus sounded serious about it."

"Right... we best get goin' then."

Emily replied.

The three of them headed for the front door. Kyle wrapped her arms around her daughter gently.

"You take care of yourself, okay?"

"I will do."

Emily whispered back.

After their little hug, Kyle then went on to hug Shauna.

"You take good care of her, will you?"

"Absolutely!"

Shauna said cheerfully. As their hug ended, both Emily and Shauna ran down the road and went into their swim form before super jumping away. As they faded into the distance, Kyle turned and walked back inside.

M E A N W H I E  W I T H  T H E  T E A M . . .

"Splat Force, we need your help!"

The surviving villagers from Brookeside said on her video message to the Splat Force. Magnus had the video playing on his phone. Rex, Platinum, and Samantha were all huddled around him in front of the builtin board.

"Bad men have found us! They destroyed our home at Neary Village and killed half of our population! They had that metal-armed killer with them too! I don't know how long it'll be until they find us, but we need your help! We're at Brookside! Please, come save us, you're our only hope!"

The team were stunned.

"Where did you find this?"

Rex asked Magnus.

"Luke sent it to me. He told me he got it from someone in the police."

He answered. Seconds later, both Emily and Shauna arrived at the base. Everyone turned to them.

"Thanks for comin'!"

"What's goin' on?!"

Emily asked as she and her partner rushed to the others.

"Just been sent a distress video by Luke from a villager at Brookside. Cyrus Zagan attacked with his men and Za-"

Magnus said before quickly pausing himself, not wanting to set off a trigger from within his friend.

"I'm sorry, I didn'-"

"It's fine..."

Emily muttered before quickly shifting to the important bit of information.

"Where is this Brookeside?"

"It's close to New Baxter Village."

Rex answered.

"It was abandoned decades ago but was recently set up as a safe space in case an attack were to happen to either my town or Neary Village. Neary Village was attacked, and now they're taking cover at Brookeside. The place is close to the road leading to my town. Most of you most likely ed it to get to me."

"Yeah... I now."

Emily replied.

Rex looked to the rest of the team, giving them all a determined expression as he gave them an important command.

"Everyone, suit up..."

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 fourteenth Chapter of Splat Force IV: Radicalism! I promise you lot that this one is gonna be the last of the short fillerish Chapters. As I said, the remaining Chapters are each gonna be fully story-driven until the end, so stay tuned for that! Until next time, stay safe out there! ^^

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