As Annie stepped of the first set of train rides of, possibly many, she realized how overwhelmingly difficult this mission of hers was. Not because she was hunting for a literal needle in a haystack, no. It was because she only familiarized herself with the inklings and shopkeepers of Inkopolis plaza. Almost to the point where she can casually talk to all of them.

But this, this was different.

Downtown Inkopolis was like a completely different city to her. None of the faces there seemed familiar, and it didn't help her one bit that the one familiar face she knew, was the snarky ass fish that freeloads in her hair.

She stood there taking in the intimidating vista of the downtown station, one foot resting on her longboard. The view made her heart race.

"Yo, Annie." Moe poked his head out from her hair, shaking her from her trance. "Are we going to find this spiky moron or not?"

Annie gulped, pushing the board forward as she gently began cruising out of the station and out on the streets of downtown Inkopolis; darting past strangers left and right, with Moe tightly gripping one the locks of hair that protruded from her head. "Do you have any sort of plan for this?" Moe asked as they swerve past another inkling.

Annie sighed. "We're just going to look for him. Nothing more or nothing less."

"I'm taking that as a no."

"Essentially."

Moe clicked his teeth. "I know I said this already but y-"

"I know, I know. I'm 'fucking' crazy." Annie murmured. "But would there even be a plan of any sorts in the first place Moe? After all we are hunting down someone with no clue as to where they went."

"Well, why don't you ask people where that fool went." Moe rolled his eyes. "After all, you've clearly become more 'bold' with your statements over the years."

Annie suddenly stopped moving, placing a foot on the pavement. "A-about that…"

"About what?"

"I've grown more confident in what I say because… well…" Annie rubbed her arm. "Inkopolis plaza is my home… I know we're in the same city n'all but, all of this is... all so foreign to me."

Moe sighed. "God dammit Annie." He muttered, floating back into her hair.

"H-Hey! I'm sorry!" Annie blushed. "All of the scenery of downtown just has me overwhelmed."

"Ova'whelmed ya say?"

Annie and Moe froze for a moment at the unfamiliar voice, before turning to see that the voice was calling them came from behind a small stand beside them. Annie awkwardly shrugged. "Y-Yeah…"

A jellyfish popped up from behind the counter of the small stand, grinning at the two. "Y'must be from the rural bits of Inkopolis yea?"

"A-actually… I-I'm from the plaza." She picked up her longboard and walked up to the Jellyfish's stand. "Y-You know… Central Inkopolis… where the tower is."

"'eally!? Zat is ze thriving heart of our entire city!" The jellyfish leaned forward, resting one of his tentacles on the counter-top's wooden surface. "You shouldn't be zat intimidated by zis neck of ze woods!"

Annie nervously chuckled. "It's hard to explain really."

"So what brings you to zis neck of ze woods zen?"

Annie sighed. "Well… uhm… I'm looking for someone."

"Aaahhh!" His beady eyes widened. "You meeting up with a… eh… loved one? Like how you zay… a date? Non?"

Annie's face became flushed at that accusation, waving her hands in front of her now cherry red cheeks. "N-no, no!" Annie stuttered. "H-h-He's just a f-friend! I swear!"

The jellyfish laughed. "I am just pulling your leg ma cherie! Zere is no need to fret." He shifted his position so that both of his hands were now resting on his cheeks. "But I would love to help you find him if you don't know zis part of ze city all to well!"

Annie gulped. "Y-You would?"

"Certainly!" The jellyfish nodded his gelatinous head, his eyes smiling as he did so. "Anything for someone from ze heart from zis city of ours! So, what does zis fella of yours look like?"

Annie sighed. "W-Well u-uhm…" She awkwardly stroked the canvas backpack strap that clung to her shoulder. "He's a rather tall… A-and slender sea urchin. And uhm…"

"HE WEARS THIS GOOFY ASS PONCHO WITH KHAKIS." Moe shouted, a rather impatient tone was heard in his voice. Annie quickly grabbed Moe from her hair once more, grunting and whispering scolds at the fish. While she was distracted with the fish, The young stand merchant sifted through the magazines behind the countertop. It didn't take him long to find something that resembled what the two described.

"I zink I found something zat might help you two!" He chirped as he placed the magazine on the wooden countertop, catching the attention of the arguing duo almost immediately. Annie reached up and retrieved the booklet, carefully examining the cover of the glossy paper book. "He's been all ova the media today." The jellyfish piped up as he watched the sea anemone examine the magazine. "All ov my clients can't stop talking about him, zo it's completely obvious that he would be ze headline ov all ov the magazines I sell here."

"Oh my god…" Annie murmured, staring at the cover for another moment before looking back up at the jellyfish. "Did y-you happen to see him walk by… by a-any chance?"

"He probably walked by an hour ago…" The jellyfish stood there in thought for a moment. "Yeah… Yeah! I tried to say hi to him but he just walked by without saying a simple thing to him, If my memory doesn't fail me here… we used to be good friends a while back. Dude must me in a real funk if he can't stop to talk to a old amie from a couple ov years ago. I wonder what happened to Spyke…"

Annie cocked her head to the side. "S-Spyke?"

"Yeah!" The jellyfish smiled. "We used to meet up at Moray Towers with a couple ov other friends a long time ago, he could probably be zere right now if I zink about it… Yeah! Ze ink battles have been postponed within zat area since the area is under construction, Ze workers are slacking off since it's getting rather late, so the solitude zere is something he could possibly need at zis moment…"

"M-Moray Towers?"

The Jellyfish hummed. "I heard zat zey were adding ink rails zere to make ze battling zere more balanced and fair. But I digress." He nodded as he pointed at the magazine that Annie held. "By ze way, zat magazine is on ze house for you. You might need it to help you or something."

Annie blinked, a staring up at him for a moment before nodding. "A-Ah…" She smiled, rolling up the booklet. "Th-thanks for helping me mister…"

"Jaque." The jellyfish smiled. "And you are very welcome, mon amie."

Annie dropped her longboard, proceeding to skate off in the direction of the area that was mentioned, leaving behind the friendly jellyfish that ran that humble stand.

…

Annie stared up at the abandoned towers, coiled up magazine in one hand, and her longboard, firmly tucked beneath her other arm. She gawked at all of the cranes and lifts surrounding the building's main structure.

It was strange, really. The structural plan was never really 'Completed' as most of the iron beams that held the top portion up were still very much exposed. There were planks of wood on certain areas that workers could walk on but really, that was it. They most likely gave up building the corporate towers as soon as it became a hotspot for ink battles.

And now… They're building ink rails.

Nobody really knew where the Idea to add ink rails to certain battle rinks came from, but there were rumors that there was an Inkling who actually worked for the New Squidbeak Splatoon as an agent, who decided to bring a deactivated and detached ink rail from Octo Valley to Sheldon to see if he could reverse engineer the device so it could be used in the inkling's turf battles. But those were just rumors, and Annie usually didn't pay that much heed to them.

"How the hell are we going to get up there?"

Annie hummed at her sudden comrade's comment, ignoring him as her eyes scanned the area in front of her.

Moe leaned over her bangs, glaring at the anemone below him. "Hey!" He grunted. "Are you even listening to me nerd!? I said: 'How the hell are we going to get up th-"

"There." Annie pointed towards an off-white machine, slightly dirtied from the mud below it. "That lift there looks like it has a stepladder we could use to get up to at least the lowest bit of the rooftops."

"Well what are we waiting for! Let's GO already!" Moe moaned. "We've been out here ALL day!"

Annie turned around to see the sun setting over the city horizon, she could barely see Inkopolis tower over the sun's orange beams. "Yeah… I guess it is getting pretty late." She murmured as she turned back around, making her way towards the lift.

The sound of music could be faintly be heard from the top of the towers.