Chapter 1: Table of Contents
Chapter Text
Splatoon Arcs
- Splatoon prequel
- Splatoon 1 Arc
- Rebuilding the Splatoon Arc
- 2016
- Adoption Arc
- Amiibo Arc
- Final Fest Arc
- Marina Origin Arc
- 2017
- Hunt for Octavio Arc
- Splatoon 2 Prequel Arc
- Splatoon 2
- Octo expansion
- Recovery Arc
- 2018
- Kamaboko Investigation Arc
- Refugee Arc
- Surume Family Arc
- Pearlina Arc
- 2019
- Vacation Arc
- Dating Arc
- Chaos vs Order Arc
- Dark Four Arc
- 2020
- PDA Arc
- Lieutenants Exam Arc
- Four Injury Arc (may cut this)
- Salmonid Attack Recovery Arc
- 2021
- Free spot
- Free spot
- Grizzco Investigation
- Proposal Arc
- 2022
- World tour Arc
- Wedding Arc
- Moving Arc
- Splatoon 3
- 2023
- Big Run Arc
- Deep Cut Integration
- Four Beat Down Arc
- Welcome Home Arc
- 2024
- Side Order Arc
- Cover Up Arc
- Grandfest Prequel Arc
- Grandfest Arc
- 2025
- Callie Dating Arc
Chapter 2: Prologue (Callie & Marie)
Chapter Text
“Stay Fresh”
“Stay Fresh”
“And cut! Great work everyone,” the director said, as crew members flooded the stage.
“That was great Marie,” Callie said.
“Yeah sure,” Marie said, stretching her lower back from all the posing she’d done.
The pair thanked the crew as they made their way back to their dressing room. “So what do you plan on doing this weekend?" Callie asked.
“Sleep,” Marie said, reaching for her phone.
“Marie! You can’t be serious, we should do something. I wanna adventure,” Callie said.
Marie’s body went still as she looked over the notification. “Yeah, well looks like luck’s on your side, it seems like someone broke into our apartment.”
“Someone broke into our apartment!” Callie said.
Marie let out a sigh, some fan or whatever must have thought to break into their home for collectables or some squit. “Looks like we’ll be changing our locks and complaining to the super about this.”
Callie let out a groan. “When I said I wanted an adventure this isn’t what I had in mind.”
The green inkling just shrugged, “Next time be more specific.”
“What’cha do’n?” Callie asked Marie as they rode in their private car.
Marie didn’t bother to look up from her phone. “Hacking the security cameras to find whoever broke into our house.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme,” Callie asked.
“Some bottom feeder broke into our house, extreme would be hunting them down and beating them myself instead of calling the cops,” Marie said.
“Well at least you’re putting those hacking lessons to use,” Callie said.
Marie looked up from her phone smiling at her cousin. “Gottem, wanna see what they look like.”
The Squid Sisters huddled together watching the video of their home invader. An inkling in a weird uniform carrying a box walked up to their apartment, picked the look and entered their apartment; not five minutes later the stranger left without the box.
“Mr. Driver, change of plans we need you to drop us off at the back of Decca Tower, please,” Callie said.
“Bomb?”
“Hopefully a wild animal or some kind of prank,” Callie said. “Either way we’re going to need to borrow one of Shelldon’s drones. Did you call the building manager?”
“Yeah,” Marie said.
“You should probably te-
BOOOOOOOM
A loud explosion rang through the air Callie and Marie pulled down their windows to see what had once been their apartment was now a flaming hole in the side of a building.
“Oh my Cod Ms. Pondsworth!!!” Callie yelled.
“Driver, we need to go to Ammo Knights ASAP!” Marie said forcefully.
“Marie, our apartment exploded!” Callie yelled.
“I’m well aware of that Callie. Think about Gramps though,” Marie said.
The ink in Callie turned cold, their grandfather had been begging them to go on patrol, he said the octos were planning something and they ignored him. Callie grabbed Marie’s phone from off the ground and began looking at the delivery person. It was hard to tell, but Callie was able to make out that they had four tentacles not six.
The octos were back.
As soon as the car pulled over the pair rushed to Ammo Knights’ back entrance. A pair of strangers were standing in the back alley. They had the same worker uniform as the one that dropped off the package. Without hesitation Callie leapt into the air and delivered a punch to one of the individuals.
“Two tentacles in the front and two in the back, suckers on the outside,” Marie said, rushing the octoling.
Marie wasn’t amazing at hand to hand, but she knew her stuff. All that didn’t mean much to the octoling as he kept blocking all of her punches.
Callie wasn’t much better. Outside of the one hit she’d gotten on the octo she did her best to keep this an even fight.
Callie’s punch smashed through the wall of the other building, scaring the octoling who’s head had once been there.
“Callie less wide swings you’re telegraphing your attacks,” Marie said.
“I know, sorry I’m a little rusty,” Callie said, switching to jabs and hocks.
Callie and Marie gave as good as they got from the octolings every punch was met with one in retaliation. The fighters were barely able to move in the alleyway as garbage and their partners kept the fighters confined to boxing. They kept swinging at each other trading vicious blow after vicious blow.
Callie was the first to win, grabbing her octoling by the arms. The octo realized her mistake and shouted for her partner’s help, but he was too busy with Marie. The octoling tried to break free of Callie’s grip as the pink inkling used her monstrous strength to pick her up and slam her into the ground.
“Nooo!” her partner yelled as Marie tackled him and wrapped her fingers around his neck.
Once the dead was done Callie and Marie looked at each other. The pair had minor cuts and bruises, but overall thought it was the worst they looked like in years.
“Shelly open up, it’s us,” Callie said. As she slumped against the brick wall. Callie looked at Marie and said the thing they both knew. “They were not good fighters.”
“I know.”
“They were going after someone who couldn’t fight,” Callie said. “Which means they weren’t the best the octos have.”
“I know.”
“Which means we are way out of practice.”
“ I know.”
“Well, do you know how we’re going to fight the Octarians?” Callie asked, crossing her arms.
“Shut up.”
The door to Ammo Knights opened as Shelldon rushed to help the idols to their feet. “You guys look terrible!”
“And this is why you don’t have a girlfriend, Shelldon,” Marie said.
“Thanks Shelly, we know we look bad, we just dealt with two octos who showed up at your backdoor.”
“Wait what? You killed people at my door? Who were they? Why were they here? When did that ha-
“Sheldon, you’re going to need to pack up your stuff and come with us. Callie, go load up, we’re going to need to be armed. If the octos are going after the N.S.S we need to be ready,” Marie said. “First order of business is to make contact with everyone, we need to get our ducks in a row, then we need to train up. We obviously can’t fight like we used to. Once everything is settled we’ll have to take the fight to the octolings.”
The trio moved in silence to get their tasks done. Today was the prelude to what very well could be the first day of the Second Great Turf War.
Chapter 3: Splatoon 1 (Kaori)
Notes:
This story was edited by Bronyficent, all complaints about grammar and spelling should be mailed to, Bronyficent at 420 Bakers street Victoria British Columbia, Po box E0I 7O4
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
One two, one two, one two.
A young inkling said to herself as she kept jogging through the streets of Inkopolis. Inkfish stared at the odd girl moving through the city at a pace rarely seen from the other citizenry. Kaori made her way past the doors of the Turf War lobby, heading straight for the counter. The clerk glanced at her and handed the sign-in card scanner. Some of the inklings around her stared at them. She didn’t say anything. Instead, she pulled out her blaster (hey, it’s not her fault that there wasn’t a place to warm up before matches).
“Solo or team?” The clerk said while adjusting her glasses.
“Solo” Kaori said. On one hand, this old lady probably sees hundreds of squids a day signing up for turf, but on the other hand, a lone inkling cueing up should make it pretty obvious that she’s a solo act.
A few minutes later, she’s placed on a team. Kaori ignored the names, focusing on the gear. Charger, Roller and Aerospray. Charger was going to stay back obviously, Roller would cover whatever spot she didn’t go down and Aerospray would get killed in the first twenty seconds.
Kaori had a plan in mind; turf a path for the Charger to get in position, wait 10 seconds for Aerospray to die, go down the path she did and get whoever killed her. It wasn’t the most well thought out plan, but then again it worked a lot of the time.
When the match started and after the calm of inking the base, Kaori got to work. The battle was a blur. Enemy Roller incoming, just keep moving back a splat from a distance. Charger firing, look for another route and splat that sucker from behind. Splattershot vs Blaster hit them before they hit you. This cycle of fighting continued in an orange onslaught, until the one of the enemy said something, I F****ing hate that demon!
Demon
It was a nickname the regulars were using for her whether friend or foe. Apparently getting an eighty percent win ratio in Turf Wars regularly was enough to get you branded a demon. Then again, beating teams back to their spawn and keeping them there probably didn’t help their case.
The Roller let out one last f-bomb before he was splatted. It didn’t bother her that people could get angry at her during a match, but glaring at her like it was her fault she was better at the game was just stupid.
What’s the point in playing if you can’t handle losing?
The sun set as Kaori made her way out of the building. Kaori smiled with cash in hand, rent was covered and she was finally going to...
“Hey Sango!”
She turned around just in time to see Roller running after her, with Aerospray and Charger following behind him. “Hey, wait up!” An awkward smile met a blank face.
...
...
...
“So Aqua, Deca and I were going to grab some grub, want in? There’s a restaurant nearby,” he said.
“No thank you,” with that conversation swiftly murdered.
“Thanks for the help today, you were awesome, this was the most fun I had,” Roller said as Kaori departed, not really listening.
It wasn’t that she hated others, it’s just that other squids asked questions. Questions that she didn’t want answered. Kaori ordered her usual and sat watching the city.
Crazy Steve was an old squid that kept yelling about the Octarians. The poor old guy was out here day-in-day-out trying to get people to pay attention to him. Judging by the dozens of patches on his clothes and how scrawny he was, it was clear he was either homeless, or cosplaying as such.
Kaori didn’t know much about history, but she knew that the Octarians were just a myth. They were a bunch of radicals during the war that didn’t surrender and were forced underground. Everyone knew that the octolings were sent west to the Splatlands after the Great Turf War.
The Octarians living underground was a stupid story meant to keep hatchlings in line. She still remembered the rumors other kids would say about them. How octoling fingertips are more pointed so they can claw into you, or the reason they have those big rounded ears is to hear children’s pain more clearly.
Kaori shook her head, tired of Crazy Steve’s ramblings. With her meal done, the inkling made her way back to her home, ready to play video games and sleep.
Are you squidding me?
Kaori kept shaking the handle of the door, hoping by some miracle it would open. After her third attempt, the young inkling looked at the red piece of paper on the door.
Turf Wars closed until further notice.
Sorry for your inconvenience.
Turning away from the closed doors, Kaori had to hold back a string of curses. The only good thing was she’d gotten enough to cover her rent for the month. She was ready to call this whole day a wash when she saw Crazy Steve being shoved down an alleyway by two inklings with weird hair.
The young squid knew that this city was garbage, especially for the homeless, but she wasn’t going to let some bottom feeders think messing with the old squid was a good idea.
Kaori rushed after Steve, turning the corner as the two were heading to a van. “Hey you two, let the old man go!”
The women wasted no time opening fire on her. If it hadn’t been for them having to turn around and aim at her, she’d surely be splatted.
The young squid leapt for cover, as she saw the spot where she’d been standing. There were holes in the wall from their attack.
What the shell.
Kaori’s mind was racing. These weren’t thieves. These were… mobsters or assassins or… or some sort of professionals! They were using stronger stuff than her Blaster. Stuff that could actually kill her (really kill her, not that phoney respawn killing)!
Kaori inked the wall trying to use the debris in the alley as cover. One of the inklings kept firing, while the other was closing in. Kaori needed a plan and quick. The old squid was screaming for her to run and forget about him. He yelled at the two that Octavio wanted him and to leave the squid out of it.
Just as one of the women was closing in on her. Crazy Steve leapt onto the back of one of the attackers and shoved her arm in the direction of her partner.
One enemy down and one to go. The woman screamed out for her partner before knocking Steve to the ground. Before she could fire, Kaori took her shot, knocking the woman unconscious.
Kaori’s hearts were racing; she didn’t think things could get crazier until Steve picked up the weapon of the woman and put two headshots into her and her partner.
“You handled yourself alright out there, squido,” Steve said, giving her smile.
Kaori dropped her weapon and put her hands up in the air. “W-woah woah woah, easy there, I don't want any trouble.”
“What in tarnations are you doin’,” Steve said, lowering his weapon. “Look bucko, I need help, and yur the only one I can turn to. You clearly have a big heart and fightin’ spirit. Whadda say, wanna join the New Squidbeak Splatoon?”
Kaori stood there with her mouth open.
“The Great Zapfish that powers Inkopolis has been squidnapped! Nobody believes me, but it's the work of the Octarians! I just know it! They want revenge for the Great Turf War of 100 years ago! I've been keepin' an eye on them this whole time, of course, but they stole the Great Zapfish right out from under my nose! Please! You gotta help me rescue the Great Zapfish!”
“Octarians?” she muttered.
“Yeah, the Octarians. I’ve been yellin’ at the brass for months about them, but nobody listened. If we don’t get the Great Zapfish back, Inkopolis is doomed,” Steve said, waving his arms throughout the whole speech.
Kaori’s mind was racing. She didn’t know what to believe, so she gathered as many facts as possible. The Great Zapfish was gone. Crazy Steve was attacked by inkfish with lethal weapons and unorthodox hairstyling tastes. Finally, there was a city wide black out.
“Why me? W-why not the military?”
“Bah, the military will take too long. What we need is a covert unit to sneak into the domes and rescue the Zapfish,” Steve said.
“And if I say no,” Kaori asked, hoping he’d let her go.
“Then I’m going to have to find someone else.” Steve turned away to leave. “Look, I could use the help, the Zapfish is gone, the government is useless, and I haven’t been able to get in contact with either of mah grandsquids, they…”
...
...
...
“…they might be dead.”
Steve looked like they were going to break down even more at any moment, if that were even possible.
“…I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need you. You’re our only hope of preventing a war.”
Looking into the old man’s sad tired eyes gnawed at Kaori. A part of her knew Crazy Steve wasn’t so crazy after all. Kaori let out a sigh and shook her head. “L-look, I’m sorry, but I’m just a kid. I don’t know if I can give you the kind of help you need.”
Steve looked to be holding back tears, his voice cracking saying, “Fair enough. I can’t ask you for more than you’ve done for me. But if you change your mind, take the service pipe next to Deca Tower to its furthest point. There you will see the truth.”
The orange inkling went home to think about what happened. That old guy killed two fish in front of her. He could very well be wanted for murder, or she could possibly be connected to the murderes if this got out. All throughout the night, she kept wondering what was going to happen and what she should do.
A part of her thought about calling the Police, but the moment the word Police entered her mind, she’d killed the idea faster than Steve killed those two inkfish. Crazy Steve might have killed someone, but she wasn’t a snitch.
In the end, Kaori did what she always did when crazy squit happened around her. She shut off her DS and went to bed, knowing that she’d just act like she’d never seen anything happen.
Kaori glared into her warm fridge as the few scraps of food slowly spoiling greeted her.
What’s the point of this shitty apartment if we keep getting black outs?
Kaori took out a trash bag and began emptying the food. On one hand, losing her fridge was a big downer. On the other hand, it wasn’t a lot of food to begin with.
Kaori took her trash to the bin out back and made her way to Inkopolis Square. Hopefully, she could sign into Turf War and then get a shower (not necessarily in that order).
That hope she had died when she remembered that the Deca Tower was closed.
The orange inkling fiddled around with the radio app on her phone. The annoying bottom feeders they had reading the stage announcements were giving some important news.
“Hold your tentacles,” Callie said.
“It’s Inkopolis News time,” Marie said.
“News Flash! News Flash!” Callie said in a fake overly dramatic way.
“What is it? What is it?” Marie asked as if she didn’t already know.
“The Great Zapfish has a tummy ache!” Callie said, as if it were the end of the world (just give the Zapfish some Tums and be done with it).
“Wait, seriously?”
“Yuh huh, our precious hatchling’s been feeling under the weather. Until he’s back up and running, we won’t be getting as much power as we used to,” Callie said in an annoying baby voice.
“Oh, poor little guy. We’ve been informed that we’ll be having targeted blackouts to reduce the strain on the Great Zapfish. Until then we ask for your patience and understand-
Kaori cut off the broadcast, the Zapfish was sick(?) and the city was going to be under powered.
A normal squid would move on, maybe try to get some gigwork, but a thought entered her mind about what Crazy Steve had said: that the Zapfish was squidnapped. Sure, she’d noticed the giant fish was missing, but that didn’t mean that Steve was right. Just like him getting attacked… those were just some punks. Nothing pointed to Octarians being real.
The fourteen-year-old girl wanted to pretend like the things Steve was saying were crazy, but the more time passed during the day, it became harder to unsee. As she passed Deca Tower, she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d been right. If she went down that pipe, maybe she’d find the truth.
Every cell in her body told her this was all some made up squit from a crazy drug addict like back home, but she knew the difference between a guy high off his bass spouting nonsense and someone begging for help.
Kaori let out a sigh.
One look couldn’t kill me.
Notes:
What's really interesting about this version of the Three is that she's just a normal kid,she doesn't have anything special about her so when an old guy wants to convince her to join hos war obviously she says no, because that's what any sone person would say.
Chapter Text
Cold Cold Cold Cold!
Kaori screamed inside her head as she made her way down the service pipe. The only reason she didn’t pull back is that she’d been pushed down the pipe by the steady flow of water.
Sweet relief came for her as she tumbled out of the pipe and onto the rocky floor beneath her.
“Ouch,” muttered Kaori, rubbing her now injured face.
The young girl had no idea what she was expecting, but a forest in the middle of nowhere wasn’t what she had in mind.
Cod, what am I doing?
Kaori looked around the forest with no real clue as to where she was supposed to go or how she was supposed to find “the truth”. All she knew was that the old squid said there’d be something here and she was dumb enough to believe him. The only reason she didn’t turn back was because he’d been right about the Great Zapfish.
For a squid who grew up in the city, Kaori had little to nothing to draw on for forest survival or how she was supposed to find things in a forest. The closest she’d ever been to the forest is when she thought about running away from home and living in the woods.
Kaori rested her head in her hands trying to calm down. Think this through. The old squid said that this would all be clear if you came here. There has to be something you’re supposed to see!
(If he wasn’t lying to you.)
Kaori pushed that thought out of her head. She needed to stay focused! Looking around she noticed how the ground rose up into the start of a large hill. If she climbed this hill, she might get a good view of things and see whatever she’s supposed to see.
Or I could get lost in the middle of flying fish nowhere.
Kaori looked around for something. She needed a way to mark her path. She picked up the closest stick and started to make a trail. Hopefully, if anything bad happened, she could follow the trail to the pipe and head home.
With nothing left to worry about and the faintest hint of a plan, the inkling pushed herself to start her journey.
A strange nostalgia overtook her as she walked down this path. As twisted as it was getting to live out her childish idea of running away to the woods, it proved kind of nice. The idea of making a tree house or living in a cave had tickled her imagination back in those days. The only reason she hadn’t put those ideas into practice is because she had no idea how to live off the land.
Kaori knew even back then that, if she were to run away, she’d die before anyone even thought of looking for her.
The thought caused her to laugh. “And yet, I’m out here now. How did five-year-old me have more sense?”
The sky was starting to darken, as the shadows of the forest became heavier. It was probably about six in the afternoon. Kaori cursed herself for not coming earlier in the day. The orange inkling looked down at the stick, confirming to herself that the trail was still holding. If she continued, she might be left in the dark, but if she left, she might have to go through the drainpipe again. Kaori let out a sigh… if worse came to worse, she’d sleep outside.
Kaori didn’t really know what she’d be looking for. Was the top of this hill a peak like she’d seen on TV, or was it just a flat plain? In truth, she couldn’t even be certain she was on a hill and not in the bottom of a valley. As the darkness grew closer and the chill of the night became more apparent, Kaori looked to the nearest tree. She needed a sign, just a bit of hope.
The young girl slapped her hands together as she began to climb the tree. Kaori might not have been outdoorsy, but she was good at climbing. All she had to do was put one hand up above the next and keep moving.
When she finally made it to the top of the tree, what greeted her was the most beautiful valley she’d ever seen. Everywhere she looked, there was nothing but trees. The only breaks from the trees were the browns of cliffsides. Off in the distance, there was this beautiful rock formation that looked kind of like a squid with a rounder mantle.
Kaori took out her phone to grab a picture of the valley at sunset.
As the majesty of the moment faded, Kaori remembered the reason she’d climbed up this tree to begin with. Kaori looked around hoping to find something, but there was nothing of note. Besides the squid shaped rock formation, it was just a regular valley.
Karoi let out a sigh as she began making her way down the tree. When her boots hit the floor, the reality of the situation came crashing back down around her. Kaori placed her head against the tree.
What the shell was I thinking? I was going to come to a magical land and find out that I was the chosen one, sent to slay the kraken and rescue the princess. Instead, I listened to a crazy old guy and wasted my time.
Kaori glanced at the photo she’d taken. It wasn’t much, but the view out here was fresh.
The young inkling turned on her phone’s light. She winced at the low battery and prayed to whatever god that was ruining her life if they’d at least let the power be back on when she got home.
Her thoughts about home brought her back to what exactly she was going to do. Rent was covered for at least the next two months, but she still needed food and some sort of a way to make money.
The best solution she could come up with was food delivery. Hopefully, those squids in the middle class will be hit with the blackouts too and they’ll order out. She might make a little coin - heck, if she was really lucky they might even offer a bigger tip for such a cute little girl, hopefully she wouldn’t have to go into anyone’s house, no tip was worth it.
Not even five minutes into her journey, the light on her camera turned off. The thing went into low power mode. Kaori bit back a string of curses. She pointed her phone to the ground and hoped it would last.
As the inkling followed the trail back to where it started, she kept her eyes peeled looking for the service pipe.
She didn’t need to see the service pipe to see the lights flicking through the forest.
A fear overtook her. Somehow, she knew that those lights were dangerous. Kaori leapt into the bushes turning off her phone. She didn’t really know what to do. She doesn’t make enemies usually, she just runs away, but these lights were in her path. If she left, she’d be lost in the woods. If she fought them, she could die.
With no other choice, Kaori sat in her spot. The plan was to wait and hope they’d leave. As hours or minutes passed by and the night began to get cold, every shiver she had was another reminder that she shouldn’t have come here.
These guys aren’t going to leave.
Kaori got onto her hands and knees and began crawling towards the light. She didn’t know who was there, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She crawled, using the bushes as cover, hoping to get a look at the bottom feeders in her way.
When she finally got close enough to the others, the first thing she noticed about the two inklings was that they were right beside her only way home.
Kaori’s hearts began to beat faster when she noticed that they had the same hairdo and even the same armor, as the other inklings in the alley. The orange inkling looked at those odd hairdos. They styled them so the suckers were on the other side and they only had four tentacles on their heads. Or at least, she would say they had been styled this way, if she didn’t already realize the implications that were causing a pit to form in her stomach.
The suckers, the armor, the stuff the old man was saying. She had seen them in history books and horror movies before. They didn’t have fangs sticking out of their beaks and their claws weren’t as long as the movies, but they were clearly octos.
She pulled out her blaster, feeling the weight of the weapon, as her eyes never left the sight of the drainpipe. All she needed to do was sneak up behind them and knock them out.
Kaori held her breath as she slinked through the forest, tree by tree. The pounding of her hearts tore through her as she got closer, each step feeling like a shockwave bursting from her chest. The young girl pulled her back against the tree on the other side, where two trained octolings with weapons that could kill her were located. She didn’t want to hurt them, but she needed to get home.
She tried calming herself down to steady herself and hope she could shove her fear down a pit that it could never return from.
Kaori launched herself off of the tree into the path of the two octolings. She hit them with a blast, knocking both of them to the ground and bolted straight for the exit.
“IKA!” one of them yelled.
Kaori managed to touch the rim of the drainpipe before she was tackled to the ground. Years of being thrown to the ground gave her all the experience she needed to roll onto her back and kick the octoling in the Takoyakis, with him rolling off of her. But the other octoling was blocking her path, while the other was already recovering.
“Kanojo o korosanaide, jinmon no tame ni tsureteiku hitsuyō ga arimasu.”
Kaori had no idea what he said, but she knew it couldn’t be good.
With her one exit blocked and the element of surprise gone, Kaori did the only thing she could do… run into the woods in the hopes of outrunning them.
Shouts were heard as they chased after her. Kaori didn’t bother to turn around. She just kept leaping behind trees, hoping to give her any kind of cover.
A hand grabbed her, slamming her into the ground again. This time, the octoling knew how to follow through pushing her down. She only managed a tiny shriek before a hand was shoved into her mouth.
Notes:
This is a short chapter, mostly connecting the major stuff between chapter one and three.
Chapter Text
The impact on the ground sends a bolt of fear through Kaori. In the dark, she tries to wiggle free of her attacker, but he has her pinned under him.
Kaori tries to hit the octoling in the gut, only to find her free hand is pinned under the octoling. She tries to scream, but the claw over her mouth prevents her from even that. All she can do is wiggle around in the dirt as her stolen screams are sealed away inside her own body for only her to hear.
All the worst nights of her life come rushing back to her, as another gross adult pins her to the ground and lays on top of her.
“Shh. Yur gonna to get us both killed. It’s me, Craig Cuttlefish!”
The warm breath on her neck causes her hearts to explode in her chest. The words don’t reach Kaori, but the voice does. Crazy Steve is the one who pinned her.
Her body goes limp, as Steve lets go of her arm and his hand slips free of her mouth. They lay there in the dirt, as Kaori just breathes, trying to steady herself. Her body felt like Jell-O, as the strength and fear both left her. Her breaths were ragged. She felt conflicted about whether she wanted to yell at Steve, or to thank him.
The sounds of the octolings searching for her were getting louder and closer. Kaori turned over to see the old squid. Even in the dark, there was that same fire in his eyes that he had when he killed those two octolings. He didn’t say a word. He just shifted and superjumped away.
Kaori pulled in on herself, as she shifted into squid form and mimicked his jumps.
They jump three times. By the third time she landed on rocks and dirt, still afraid for her life, the struggle about whether she’d like to thank him for rescuing her or yell at him was finally over.
She was going to kill him.
The young squid would like to do nothing more but to yell at the old geezer for dragging her out here, but she knew this was not the time or place for that, what with the possibility of those octolings finding them, though it was honestly still tempting.
She follows the old squid, as they move through the forest. It’s dark and she nearly trips a few times on hidden tree branches, but she keeps following Steve.
“Where are we going?” whispered Kaori. She knew Steve wasn’t just jerking her around, but it felt like he was leading her in circles.
“We’re make’n false trails, can’t have you lead’n the octos back to base,” Steve said.
Kaori nodded. With what little knowledge pop culture taught her about warfare, false trails seemed like a smart idea.
The young girl didn’t need to ask if they were there when they stopped in front of a large shack. She’d imagined a tent, or some sort of cave Steve would be held up in. Not a well made shack with a porch.
Steve turned around, his face illuminated by the moon. “Welcome to Cuttlefish Cabin.”
The old squid led her inside. It was small, but cozy. There was a large desk with a few computers, the words “Perimeter Breach” on the monitors, as well as a small couch with a mini TV nearby. What was most surprising was the kitchen, with a full family sized table that took up half the cabin.
“Kitchen’s over there, sofa’s over there and bathroom’s behind that door” said Steve, pointing to all the amenities his house had to offer.
Kaori gave a real smile. “It’s nice.” The young squid took a moment to take in the atmosphere of the home. It was clear that this place was loved. There were drawings on the fridge, the sofa sank deep when she sat in it as if it was used a lot, and there were coats & other supplies on a shelf for squids of all shapes & sizes.
Steve sat in a chair opposite of Kaori.
Kaori let out an exhausted sigh trying to calm herself. “What the heck was that? You told me to come here saying the truth would be revealed and then I was stuck in some forest. What was I supposed to find?”
Steve gave her a bashful smile, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry bout that. We’ve got a sensor on the pipe that we use to track movement in the pipes. When I got the alert, I was back in Inkopolis look’n fur young’ns will’n ta join the fight. I came swimm’n as fast as I could, but the octos in the area made it too hard to go search’n. I reckon it would take you a few days to wanna swing by the cabin. I didn’t think yah’d be that keen on comm’n the next day. You’ve got a real fire in yah, hehe.”
Kaori wanted to laugh at Steve saying she had fire in her eyes, but instead she just let out another sigh, this one more frustrated at herself then with Steve. Even Crazy Steve thought she would have more sense then she did.
...
...
...
A long pause filled the room as Kaori didn’t know what to say to him. “I came, because I needed to see if you were lying.” Kaori didn’t look at him. Her excuse was lame and barely even made sense to her. There was just a feeling that she had to see this through, wherever it led.
The old guy let out a sigh. Kaori didn’t need to look at him to know he was probably frowning. When he did speak, his voice was tired and worn, like he’d been saying the same thing over and over. Despite that, there was still a strength and conviction to all he said.
“I understand that it’s a lot to ask for you to believe in. You young’ns weren’t raised to believe in Octarians or to know how the war ended, but I need you to trust me. The Octarians are back and we need to beat them.”
After everything Kaori had seen, the belief that Octarians were myths was hanging on by a thread. “Why are they back? And why is it up to you to stop them?”
“The Octarians have historically had issues with their power supply, so I reck’n they stole the zapfish fur that res’n. But the last time they had a zapfish, they were able to weaponize its great power.” Steve grasped his hands tightly, the knuckles whitened under grasp.
“As for why I’m fight’n the good fight. Mah family fought in the Great Turf War. I was the captain of an elite unit called the Squidbeak Splatoon, our mission being to go behind enemy lines and fight the Octarians on their turf. I made a lot of Octarian enemies. I knew the Octarians wouldn’t be happy with being relocated into the domes. I knew they’d fight us eventually.”
“If you knew that they’d come back, why didn’t others try and stop them? There had to be others who knew?” The girl knew that Steve had to be over a hundred if he fought in the war, but the look he gave her showed all hundred and thirty years.
“I did, I knew better, lots of us old vets knew that the octos would return and we trained our squids & our grandsquids, but over time, you young flock started to act like it was all a fairytale. And when you forget the past, bad things happen. The guys at the top didn’t want ta support a bunch of crazy old guys, so the splatoons became operated by the old families that fought in the war. I’m the last one still here, along with my family, but after years of nothing happen’n, the girls moved on. They went into show business. Now we’ve got no one left.”
A glimmer of hope flashed in Kaori’s eyes. “If your granddaughters are around, maybe we can ask them for help?”
Steve just shook his head, as he seemed to age another hundred years instantly. “They’re dead. My grandsquids’ home was attacked. I haven’t been able to get in contact with either my son or daughter. Shellendorf, Kensaki, Squidbeak, everyone who could stop him and his goons are missing, or too weak ta fight.”
“I’m sorry,” Kaori felt compelled to apologize. She honestly didn’t know what she was sorry for, but she just had to say something to the guy who just lost his entire family.
Steve had this steely determination in his eye, his voice was cold and sharpened with focus. “Thanks, but mourn’n can wait until after. We've got a mission to see through. The politicians are try’n to cover this squit up and pretend that everything is fine, but sooner or later, when the power goes out, they’re gonna have to explain to everyone what we already know and the start of a Great Turf War will begin if the Great Zapfish ain’t recovered.”
The walls felt like they were closing in around her. An ancient evil was returning and all the old families that would protect them were either dead or missing. “So what happens now?”
Steve looked at her and said. “I need you to join the New Squidbeak Splatoon.”
Kaori opened her mouth to speak, but Steve just raised a hand. “I know yur gonna to say you’re just a squid, but a normal squid doesn’t fight to save an old timer like me, a normal squid doesn’t come to Octo Valley on a whim. You only came here because you know something’s wrong and you want to try and make it right.”
The orange inkling just stood there. That old squid called her out so easily. The worst part was that she knew, deep down, that he was right. She’d come all this way because she wanted to believe she could help. As crazy as it was, she still liked helping others.
Kaori let out a sigh. “Fine, I’m in.”
For a squid with the weight of the world on his shoulders the smile he gave was as bright as the sun. “Great! I’ll get you trained up ready to fight octos in no time flat.”
The young teen couldn’t help but chuckle at the enthusiasm. Not even a second into her joining him on this crazy mission and he looked like he had a million ideas in his head.
A nagging thought entered her head causing her cheeks to fill with ink. A question she had to ask if they were ever going to be a team. “Uh, hey what’s your name?”
She’d been calling her Crazy Steve, or Steve for weeks now, but she doubted that awful nickname the squids back home gave him was real.
The old squid straightened puffing out his boney chest speaking with the pride of a great hero. “I’m Craig Cuttlefish, Captain of the New Squidbeak Splatoon.”
He looked at her, giving her a warm smile. “We seemed to have done things out of order, but would you mind tell’n me yur name?”
Kaori straightened up hearing that. It was at this time that she realized that she hadn’t bothered to give her name to him at any point. “I’m Kaori Sango.”
He laughed, patting her on the arm. “That’s a great name, Kaori, though if you are going to be a part of the Splatoon you’re going to need a codename. From this day forward, you will be Agent Three.”
As silly as it was, getting a codename was really fresh. Kaori looked away, but her smile remained. “Yeah, I like Agent Three.”
Craig smiled.
Agent 3 Kaori Sango She/Her
Notes:
Crothaek: ...I feel like Cuttlefish probably should have left a trail himself if he wanted Kaori to follow him...
...Ah, but that would have also led the octolings to him, no?
I guess he probably should have waited for her on the other end of the pipe, then.
Either way, he really should have considered this possibility.
Author: I love these comments.
THOUGTHS
This was a really fun chapter because I got to show Marie and Callie in Craig. Craig is super energetic like Callie, but he's also can put his emotions aside and do a job like Marie. He's got the same eyes as Marie and Callie's smile.
This also is the last Kaori chapter as it's now agent 3, we're four chapters in and I finally gave her her codename.