The Reluctant Hero (Splatoon)

Chapter 11

"Lady Luck shone down on the Inklings, and historians today agree that the Inklings' victory over the Octarians was mostly due to their superior number of limbs."
—Sunken Scrolls 1:14 (3.5)

Monday, 7:19 a.m.
Inkopolis

The agents took the rest of Sunday afternoon to plan, prepare, and review. They spent the night at Sheldon's apartment, a twenty-minute walk from the Square, and reviewed their plans again the next morning.

According to Marie's decrypted documents, three Octolings were aiming to break into two department stores and an indoor bike park sometime between 10 and 11 p.m. They wanted to steal the Zapfish that powered the places' backup generators. Two would meet one coming from the other direction at the corner of 16th Street and 214th Avenue, the heart of The Reef, before they would split up to do their dirty work. Due to ongoing renovations, the whole block was closed to the public. Cole could simply walk in at night when nobody was around to stop him. His job was to lie in wait at the corner of 17th and 214th to cut off escape routes. Marie, on the other hand, planned to climb onto the roof of a store on 17th Street, where she had clear sight lines to all locations of interest. Her job was to initiate the surprise attack.

They would take no chances tonight. If Marie could tag all three from her position, then Cole and Sheldon would round up the tranquilized Octolings, pick up Marie on 212th Avenue, and take everyone out to the shack for a round of interrogations. If Marie missed any, then Cole would simply shoot whoever was still standing. The goal was to keep it quick and quiet.

Marie stood up and stretched. "Let's go get breakfast," she said. "I need a break from all this serious stuff."

Cole glanced at a clock on the wall. "Still early. Should we wait for Sheldon?"

"Oh, Sheldon is already at the shop. He always opens Ammo Knights at dawn."

They exited the apartment, walked to the Square, and sat down at an outdoor cafe. The seating area had several small tables for two, a few already filled with other Inklings chowing down on breakfast pastries. The morning skies were overcast, with the sun peeking through only occasionally.

"Won't anyone recognize you, Agent 2?" asked Cole between sips of coffee. Both agents had traded their black uniforms for street clothes.

"Not a big deal," she answered. "Most people are too busy doing their own thing. And it's been a while since I've written, sung, or performed anything, actually. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody noticed me."

Cole looked at the senior operative across from him. With her ponytail, striped T-shirt, and sweatpants, Marie looked like an ordinary civilian. But after having seen her in action, Cole knew better than that. "You're a pretty crazy pop star," he said. "And I mean that in a good way. You talked about disposing of bodies after interrogations like nothing. You ain't afraid a gettin' your hands dirty. You're tougher than nails. Yet you also do music and go on TV. That's something else."

"It's my job," Marie answered, giving him a smirk. "And being famous is not as hard as you think. Turns out, decent singing ability plus some auto-tune goes a long way. Most of it is just luck, anyhow."

"I could never do it."

"Don't sell yourself short," Marie said. She paused to add a packet of sugar to her cup of coffee. "You've got a steady hand, you're level-headed, and you work on an oyster farm, right? That's pretty cool. Tell me more about that."

"I, uh, there's not much to say. My family raises oysters. They're gentle creatures and they give us meat, shells, and pearls."

"How big is your farm?"