Chapter 33: The Wonderful Power of Music! The Journey Meets Its End

"Gyah ha ha," boasted DJ Octavio, "You heard them! It's time to…D-D-DROP THE SEA BASS!" Roenaldo watched as the megaphone shook in place, building up energy. He closed his eyes, praying to at least be sent to a good place before…silence. No sound came out of the modified Killer Wail. "Hey," shouted the DJ, "Where ma BEATZ?! Is this thing broken?" Suddenly, Roenaldo heard the voice of Agent 1 through the speaker, exclaiming, "This thing is far from broken!" Agent 2 added, "Don't you know that the villain monologuing is always a bad idea? You just gave us enough time to override your machine!" For a brief moment, the hand trapping Roenaldo unclasped, releasing the squid onto the ground. Roenaldo gasped for air, endlessly relieved to be freed from that prison. DJ Octavio tried to recapture the agent, but he struggled to move the metal hands. "Nngh," he grunted, "Who…ARE…you?!" Agent 1 answered, "I'm glad you asked! We are Callie and Marie, proud members of the Squid Sisters!" Roenaldo gasped again, but this time for a different reason. "WHAT?!" he shouted, "You girls are the SQUID SISTERS?!" Agent 2, also known as Marie, responded, "Uhh…yeah? Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't figure it out, yet." Roenaldo laughed in embarrassment; he now realized how obvious this was. "You know," said Callie, "These beats are a little too gloomy for my taste. Hey, Marie, how about we show him OUR music?" Marie responded, "With pleasure." Octavio watched as his turntables started to flash with rainbow colors, a confused and angry look on his face. "Hey," he shouted, "Whose beats are you calling gloomy? What's going on here?" Suddenly, peppy, electronic, J-pop music with the Squid Sisters' vocals began to play. "You hear that, Agent 3?" asked Callie, "It's our most popular song: Calamari Inkantation!" The saucer carrying Cap'n Cuttlefish came flying by, with the captor still being entangled. However, when he heard the wondrous sound, he began hopping in place before breaking the ropes in an unexpected feat of strength. "Well, steam my tentacles," he exclaimed as he danced around, "It's the one and only Squid Sisters! My dear old granddaughters, you never cease to amaze me!"

Roenaldo could hardly process what was going on. "So," he said to himself, "The two agents who were helping me are really the Squid Sisters, they figured out how to hijack this giant machine, and Cap'n Cuttlefish is their GRANDFATHER?! Oh, my head hurts…" Although Roenaldo was very confused, he felt a red-hot, powerful, and positive feeling welling up in him. This was greater than the sensation he felt when using a special, greater still than the power the Rainmaker granted him, and not even comparable to the might of the Kraken. Simply put, he felt heavenly. The groove rocked him down to his very core, and he couldn't help but dance in place. "Woah," he said while swaying his arms, "What is this?" Callie answered, "That's just the power of our music! Do you like it?" Roenaldo grinned and laughed, "I LOVE it!" Callie giggled, "I thought so! Consider this our way of motivating you! DJ Octavio is on the ropes now; surge forward and splat him into oblivion!" Roenaldo raised his fist into the air and ran forward only to realize that there was nothing in his hand. "But wait," he said while frowning slightly, "My Hero Shot was thrown away!" Callie responded, "Not to worry! Remember how I told you that I love Rollers? Well, back when I was on the field, I had my own custom Hero Roller to do missions with! Marie's sending it over right now." At that moment, a carrier drone came over transporting a large box with the letter C on it. Roenaldo opened the container to find…a pink Splat Roller. "Uh," said Roenaldo with a raised eyebrow, "I hate to say this, but…this is a bit girly." Callie retorted, "Hey! Don't be ungrateful! You're getting a weapon, aren't you? Besides, it has the same kit as the regular Splat Roller, so the color's no big deal!" Surprised by Callie's sudden outburst, Roenaldo shut his mouth. Just then, DJ Octavio finally regained control of his Octobot King. "Grah," he growled, "Splat you, Squid Sisters. I may have lost ma beats, but I still have my fists!" He flew over to the final platform, yelling, "Agent 3, or whoever you are, come on and fight me! Unless you're too chicken!" As the Octobot King flew away, Marie asked, "So, how about it, dude? Ready to make this dictator into takoyaki?" Roenaldo nodded and gave a hearty thumbs up. "Yes, ma'am!" he yelled, "This is my best moment! Octavio won't know what hit him!" Roenaldo headed over to another launchpad and leaped away. It was time for this journey to come to an end.

"Okay, you all," boomed Octavio, "It's time to turn this party up to an 11! Octostamps, crush this fool!" The Octobot King spewed out many eggs into the air, causing a squadron of Octostamps to rain down like hail. To handle this, Roenaldo raised the Hero Roller into the air and used it as an umbrella, with the Calamari Inkantation giving him the strength to do so. When a metal fist came to sucker punch him, Roenaldo simply slammed his weapon down, effectively smacking the knuckle back. "Octosnipers," said the DJ, "You've got the range advantage. Snipe this kid into next Thursday!" 3 Octosniper came out of their shells, standing on modified machines that allowed them to fly. They positioned themselves in a triangle position away from Roenaldo, setting their sights on him. The Inkling evaded the incoming fire by dancing around; he slid under an overhead shot, spun away from a quick blast, and did a clapping jump over an attempted snipe. "Hey, you guys," said Roenaldo with a smile, "I bet you think you're all safe floating away from me. Well, think again!" Roenaldo pulled out one of the Roller's Suction Bombs and hurled it at one of the Octosnipers with increased vigor, and the explosive latched onto the Octarian's skin. Once that foe was taken care of, Roenaldo swam in his ink to refuel before doing the same to a ranger on the right. He then repeated the process for the remaining sniper, swimming as fast as he could before the Octosniper could retreat. After taking care of the minor threats, Roenaldo noticed a robot palm attempting to slam him from above. He effortlessly sidestepped the attack, allowing his ink tank to refuel before giving the hand a taste of its own medicine. The DJ growled, "Let's see how you like not being able to move. Octoballs, leave no area unrolled!" Hundreds of capsules were shot onto the ground, releasing an entire sea of Octoballs that all charged Roenaldo. The agent was at first taken a back by the sheer number of octopi, but then an idea started to form in his brain. He gripped the Hero Roller and spun around like a top, knocking away any Octarian that approached. Enraged by this maneuver, Octavio made his machine attempt a double-handed clap on the squid. However, Roenaldo's extreme rotation speed allowed him to reflect both hands at once, causing the Octobot King to be knocked back a good distance. "Listen up," Octavio exclaimed, "This is a special event. The first Octolings to get up and help me wins a front-row seat to my next show! Who wants to participate?!" Immediately, a trio of female Octolings along with one Elite Octoling Super Jumped from their position in the crowd." Roenaldo looked closer at the seaweed-sporting female; she also had her own Splat Roller! "Oh," said Roenaldo while gripping his own weapon, "So you like Roller's too, huh? Time to see which one of us is better at using it!" Roenaldo ran forward to meet the group in battle, his Hero Roller held high. The Inkling and Elite circled around each other, inspecting each other's movements. The other Octolings prepared to provide support fire with their own guns, but something was stopping them. Roenaldo looked at the trio and gasped; the Octolings were dancing! "Hey," said Roenaldo, smiling, "Look at you! You girls aren't too bad. I think I'll spare you!" The more advanced Octolings looked at her brethren in disgust before letting out a battle cry and charging towards Roenaldo. The squid quickly raised his Roller to block the girl's strike, somewhat struggling to fight against the Octarian's strength. "You know," he grunted, "You could learn a thing or two from your friends. You need to chill out!" The Octoling, however, was not hearing it. "Fine," said Roenaldo, "Have it your way." He suddenly transitioned to his squid form, causing the Elite to fall off balance. He then appeared behind the girl with his weapon raised, shouting, "Lights out!" He pushed his Roller along the ground with a great force, crushing and splatting the black-tentacled foe. The other Octolings looked at their ally's remnants before shrugging and jumping away; they didn't seem to care too much.

"NO!" burst DJ Octavio, "You're supposed to be on my side!" He glared at Roenaldo with an intense fury. "That's it," he barked, "You think you can just steal my people?! It's about time I wiped you out for good." He dived into his puddle for the final time, revealing the same cannon from before. This time, however, it ejected a massive, 24-tentacled, dazzling purple missile that flew through the air very slowly. "GYAH HA HA," laughed the dictator, "None of your puny attacks can hurt this bad boy! I'mma make you into fried squid rings with this Octo Asteroid! Say your prayers!" As the Octo Asteroid hurtled towards Roenaldo, Callie exclaimed, "Oh no! If what he's saying is true, how are you going to handle this?!" As Roenaldo stared at the approaching object of doom, he started to experience a burning feeling in his ink sac. As his tentacles started to glow fervently, he grinned and answered, "I'll tell you how!" He shook the Hero Roller, causing it to morph into, as he expected, a Killer Wail! "Yes!" he shouted, "This is perfect!" As he positioned himself on his super weapon, Roenaldo looked towards the Octobot King, saying, "Hey, Octavio, you seemed pretty proud of your title earlier. You feel good being the ruler of the Octarians, right?" He positioned his mouth near the audio receptor, continuing, "Well, how about I tell you who I am? I'm not just Agent 3; I'm a proud member of Inkopolis Plaza! I…am…ROENALDO MARTINE!" The Inkling's final shout set off his Killer Wail, causing it to shoot its beam straight at the incoming projectile. The sheer power of the sound laser sent the Octo Meteor straight back at the Octobot King, causing it to shake extremely violently. DJ Octavio was launched out of his vehicle, flying forward and face-planting on the floor. "Well," chuckled Marie, "Look what we have here. Give him shell, Agent 3!" Roenaldo smiled and looked down at the Octarian, who was starting to feel fear for the first time. "Ready?" asked Roenaldo, "And…FORE!" DJ Octavio muttered a curse in his language before he was knocked away like a golf ball, landing right back in his mech with a mighty thud.

The ruler coughed, his body covered with yellow ink. "Ha," he groaned, "So…I've been defeated. So…sad. Octotroopers…Octolings…all of you…this is the end of the show." The Octobot King started shaking and sputtering as DJ Octavio said his final words, "Cross-fade to black…" With a world-shaking explosion, the Octobot King blew up, covering the entire area in yellow ink