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The elevator lurched, and Agent Eight felt their stomach drop. They were really high up the tower now, higher than they had previously climbed, and they knew that this was a boss floor.
“Okay, Eight! Floor 20, here we come!” Pearl cheered. Her little drone body spun in the air, her tentacles fanning out like wings, and Eight heard Marina giggle to herself.
“You two are doing great!” Marina cheered. “I have a good feeling about this run!”
Eight cocked their head to the side in thought. There was always room to fail, and failure meant getting sent back down and starting from the beginning again. Not that they particularly minded, of course. The virtual atmosphere of the tower meant that death, while scary, wasn’t a real threat. It was mostly an inconvenience and a time waster.
“You should still stay vigilant,” warned Acht, interrupting Eight from their thoughts. “We’ve never gotten this high up, and there’s still a good stretch to go.”
Eight nodded. Pearl rolled her LED eyes.
“We can handle this, no problem! This floor won’t even know what hit it!”
Marina crouched on the floor, typing on her laptop. “Looks like the next floor is… Intensifying-Harmony.Floor.”
“Any useful info on it?” asked Acht, leaning in to catch a glance of the laptop screen.
“Hmm… no developer notes, sorry,” said Marina sheepishly. “You might just have to see for yourself.”
Eight gripped their Dualies tighter. Pearl’s palette was serving them well during their multiple ascensions up the spire, but they were still missing some color chips and Eight hoped that their current collection was up to the task at hand.
The elevator dinged, and slowly the door opened.
“This is your stop,” said Acht. “Good luck, you two.”
“We got this!” yelled Pearl, and she flew out, Eight silently following behind her.
The floor slowly unfolded in front of them, textures stretching themselves across the wireframe geometry of the level. Eight ignored the test dummy and walked straight to the birdcage platform.
“We can’t mess this up. Let’s kick some butt!” sang Pearl. She did a little flip in the air as she spoke, and Eight smiled quietly.
The birdcage slid shut, and Eight tried studying the layout before jumping down. There was a center platform with a single armor upgrade on it, and a few other platforms off to the sides to provide cover and leverage. Ramps and slopes provided some much-needed leverage, and there were also some ink rails to allow a quick getaway. Dash panels also allowed for quick altitude, and Eight made sure to make a mental note to utilize Pearl’s ability to glide.
The birdcage opened and dropped Eight, and Pearl quickly caught them. They directed her to glide toward the center platform, where a single Armor upgrade floated.
“Quickly, Eight!” warned Pearl. “I think they’re starting to spawn in!”
Sure enough, on the other side of the stage there was a birdcage similar to Eight’s, and from that birdcage dropped one of Parallel Canon’s many figures. While Eight inked the stage, they observed the figure moving around; it looked like it was wielding a Brella of some kind, and while it was inking the stage they heard a second birdcage swing into the stage and drop another figure. This second figure immediately used a Triple Splashdown to enter the stage, and this caught Eight’s attention.
“Whoa, Eight! Look out for that one!” whistled Pearl. “Hey, they’ve got little Pearl Drones, too! What gives?!”
Eight rolled their eyes and focused on the second figure’s weapon. It looked like a shooter from where Eight was standing, and the figure looked familiar, but Eight couldn’t think of who it might look like, especially because the mask made it impossible to see their face. They did a test roll with their Dualies to get in the groove.
The figure threw a Splat Bomb and made a beeline for Eight.
“Watch out, it’s coming up the ramp!” yelled Pearl.
Eight gripped their Dualies and baited the figure up the ramp onto the center platform. There were some Jelletons also ascending the ramp; it appeared that the parallel Pearl drones could summon reinforcements. Eight picked off the Jelletons one by one, then zoned in on the Parallel Canon figure. After a few dodge rolls and carefully aimed bullets, the figure exploded into pink ink.
“That’s the ticket!” cheered Pearl. “We still have that Brella to deal with!”
Eight jumped off the platform and hunted for the Brella. They heard an Inkstorm activate, and they turned toward the source of the sound. Sure enough, the inkling was opening its Brella as a shield and meandering toward them. Eight threw a Curling Bomb to bait them into changing their path, then rolled to the side and aimed. The bullets hit their target, and the figure exploded into pink ink.
“Good job,” crackled Acht’s voice over the intercom. “There’s still more, so hang in there.”
Eight inked the stage and looked up to watch two more birdcages slide onto the scene. Two figures dropped down, this time with Dualies and a Slosher, and Eight frowned as they thought of how to deal with them both.
“Check it!” smirked Pearl. “Killer Wail incoming!”
Sure enough, Pearl activated her Killer Wail and aimed it directly at the Slosher as it threw ink up the platform to chase Eight. The octoling took this opportunity to pick it off, and a few moments after it exploded another birdcage slid into view. Eight huffed, but gripped their Dualies tighter in determination.
At this, Eight’s tentacles flared, and they knew their Special was ready. The Dualies they held came with Reefslider, and Eight activated it, slid into the main arena, and exploded. Both figures cried out as they were splatted, and Eight laughed at their feeble attempts to jump away.
One by one, Eight picked off each wave of enemies. They could feel themself starting to slow and get tired, but they knew that they could rest once they were back in that blessed elevator.
“Okay, this is the last of them!” announced Marina, her voice distorted over the intercom. “You’ve both got this!”
“You know we do!” yelled Pearl, twirling as the birdcages dropped their final two figures.
The first figure was a normal enemy, which looked to be wielding a Brush. The second figure was that same familiar enemy from before, with a shooter weapon. Eight dodge rolled backward as the figure activated Triple Splashdown, and as the black ink sprayed around them they came to a powerful realization; Parallel Canon was modeled after Agent Four. They would recognize those short bob tentacles anywhere. But, what was she doing here?
“Eight, focus!”
Pearl’s voice snapped Eight out of their reverie. They immediately hid in the ink and swam toward a dash panel to get some height.
“Let’s do this! Killer Wail time!” Pearl cheered, and she unleashed her own Special, aiming it directly at the Brush.
Eight dove down and landed on top of the Brush, splatting it instantly. Now, all their attention could be focused on the remaining Parallel Canon figure. Agent Four’s doppelgänger was busy inking and inching her way up the center platform.
In swim form, Eight recovered some ink and slowly swam around, trying not to splash too much to alert the figure to their presence. They wanted to pop up where she would least expect it, getting the jump on her. Unfortunately, Pearl made this a little more difficult, but all they needed was a moment to catch her off guard.
Parallel Canon stepped down from the platform, and Eight took their chance. They popped out of the ink, dodge rolled to the left, and aimed.
Two bullets hit, but it wasn’t enough to splat. Parallel Canon dove down into the black ink and Eight growled. It was strange to fight someone who looked so similar to Agent Four, but if they couldn’t get past this fight they’d never make it up the Spire.
Parallel Canon threw a bomb. Eight dodge rolled away, but sustained enough damage for their armor to break. They were both out of the ink now, visual to each other and on the offense. Eight tossed a Curling Bomb and swam closer, but Parallel Canon shot ink on the path and caught them unawares. She even fought like Four! It was uncanny!
“C’mon, Eight! We just need a few more hits!”
Eight took a deep breath and decided to take a chance. They threw another Curling Bomb, and Four started inking its path. But, Eight didn’t follow the bomb. Instead, they took a chance, dodge rolled closer to Four’s lookalike, and aimed true.
It was enough. Parallel Canon exploded into pink ink as she was splatted, and the fight was over.
“YES! That’s game!” cheered Pearl as Eight walked up the center platform to collect their prize. “Let’s get outta here!”
Eight jogged to the elevator, and Pearl twirled and danced straight into Marina’s open arms. Acht, stoic as usual, just gave them a nod of approval as they closed the elevator doors behind them. Marina was gushing with praise for the both of them, but Eight wasn’t listening very closely; instead, they were busy wondering what might be lurking on the 30th floor of the Spire. If Agent Four was here, then whatever was waiting for them at the top would be a formidable foe.
“You’re spacing out, Eight,” said Acht, jolting them out of their thoughts. “Everything okay?”
Eight nodded. Whatever might be waiting for them ahead, they felt nervous, but prepared.