Chapter 9: Second Day in Inkopolis
[TRANSLATOR PRESET LOADED]
The sun was peeking over the horizon, awaking the sleepers in the condo. Kalmar was already up, remembering the ruckus that happened last night. Such was explained by the sight of green ink on Hinode's face that knocked her to sleep. Kalmar decided to close the curtains and leave the room, leaving it dark. "Sweet dreams, you two." He said as he walked down the hall.
After he left, Kamaki woke up.
(Inkopolis Plaza)
Phantom looked with apprehension at the mess that covered Blackbelly Skatepark. "Still haven't recovered that place. I could just go in there and wreak havoc, but the Inklings need to toughen up too." Phantom began. "What must I do? One Inkling isn't enough." But then he looked towards Bluefin Condominiums. "Or, is it?"
Kalmar was sitting alone at a table, munching on Kelp Flakes. He looked around, surrounded by other unfamiliar Inklings still getting their fill. When his bowl was empty, he stood up, turned to leave, and… *SMASH*! Kalmar was knocked to the ground.
"Ah! Kalmar! Oh god, are you ok?" Kamaki gasped, covering her mouth. Kalmar groaned as he got back on his chair, holding his head "I'm fine. What's the rush?" "Well, we just got a letter, it said to read it with you." Kamaki explained, showing the letter in question. "I wonder who it's from?" Kalmar raised an eyebrow, leaning forward as Kamaki pulled out the actual letter.
"Kalmar Achroma, you have been cordially invited to an exclusive interview with the one and only Callie and Marie (AKA, The Squid Sisters). Bring your friends!" Kamaki was overjoyed. "Oh my gosh, we get to actually talk to Callie and Marie!? This is the best day of my life! Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh!"
Kalmar was still uncertain, because of what the rest of the letter said. "PS, Don't ask us how we received your name. PPS, Stay Fresh!" When he looked up again, he saw two Inklings walking into the room. One had quite a build, and the other was tall, slim, and had teal "hair".
"Adrian! You made it!" Kalmar said. "It wasn't too hard, this strange dude in power armor told us where you were." Adrian replied. "Yeah! He, like, swooped in on us and said, 'Kalmar is at Bluefin Condominiums, you should look there!'" Ralph continued.
"Wait, Phantom was there?" Kalmar asked. "That's his name? Spooky." Adrian said. "Wait, is that a letter from the Squid Sisters?!" Ralph said before he snatched the letter from Kalmar's hands. "Oh yes! It is! Oh, man, Imma spew my ink all over them when I find them!" Ralph continued with an unsettling smile on his face.
Long story short, Ralph went through the rest of his day with three lumps on his head.
(Inkopolis Plaza)
Kalmar, Kamaki, Ralph, and Adrian were all walking towards the studio, eager to find out what they were in for. Kamaki was overexcited, knowing that she was going to meet the most famous Pop Stars in all of Inkopolis. Adrian was keeping Ralph under tight surveillance, making sure he doesn't do anything lewd. Kalmar was as cautious as ever, both suspicious about how Callie and Marie got his name, and fear of making a poor first impression.
"You do realize that he needs to be captured, right?" Someone spoke. "Yes, or we'd be running the risk of exposing our secret plan." A famous voice called out. It was Callie, speaking to the ever mysterious Phantom. "Besides, who would run off from working with us anyway?" Marie asked. "We'll find out soon enough." Phantom said before he exited the room, undetected.
Kalmar and his group walked into the studio doors, and Kamaki could barely contain the hype. "OMIGOSH! They're just up the stairs! I can hear them!" She said, still fangirling over this excursion. "Now, Ralph, you get within one foot of either of them, I'll break your rollers and reduce you to barbecued calamari with them." Adrian instructed. "Yes… sir…" Ralph replied, all dirty thoughts erased.
"He's almost too gullible." Adrian thought to himself. But Kalmar couldn't help but dread his possible blunders, especially on LIVE TV.
(Squid Sisters Studio)
When Kalmar and his group walked up the stairs, they were greeted with a dark, empty room. "Strange, looks like no one's home." Adrian said. "I AM!" A loud voice called out from the speakers. "Me too." They were both the most iconic voices in Inkopolis, and Kamaki was almost unable to contain the hype.
"Hold on to your tentacles!" One said. "And hold them tight!" The other said. Their iconic music began to flood the room as the lights were turning on. "Give a round of applause for… The SQUID SISTERS!" They said in unison. The famous pop stars stepped out onto the stage and danced for a bit. But then, something went wrong with the sound system.
"Aww, DJ, you ruined it. YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" Callie shouted. "I'm sorry, let me try to fi-ARGH!" The DJ was suddenly punched by something. "Ugh, there goes our first impression…" Callie said, disappointed. Everyone was ushered to their seats by another orange haired inkling girl, and a blue Inkling boy sat at the opposite seat as the girl.
"Sorry about the tentacle difficulties, our DJ doesn't get everything right." Callie said. "So, Kalmar, you brought friends along with you. Would you care to introduce yourselves?" Callie asked. And Kamaki was the first one up. "I'm Kamaki Fresa! I'm your biggest fan! EEEEEE!" Kamaki said, fangirling. "I get that a lot." Callie replied.
"You're so much more glamourous in person! How do you do it?!" Kamaki asked excitedly. But then, the orange Inkling girl walked over to her. "That, is top secret, and I, am Callie's biggest fan!" She said. Kamaki and the orange Inkling girl looked at each other angrily, sparks starting to fly between their heads. "Rem, take it easy! Everyone thinks they're my biggest fan." Callie said.
"So, anyways, I'd like to know the rest of you." Callie said. "My name is Adr-" He was interrupted by Ralph interjecting. "The name's Ralph! And your little squids one day will look up to me as their father, hot chick!" Ralph said before he winked, but Adrian was furious. He was holding Ralph's Carbon Roller and started bending it.
"Ahh, you ruined it! Now it's useless!" Ralph complained, regarding the bent roller. "I'm Adrian, Ralph and I have lived on the streets for a while, and we decided to enter the sport of Turf War fighting to earn some cash." Kalmar was the last to stand. "H-Hi, I'm Kalmar Achroma. Nothing much to be said about me." He said plaintively.
"Other than the fact that you rocked Turf Wars on your first day?!" Callie said. "C'mon, you gotta feel better about yourself than that!" But then, a black haired male Inkling walked into the room. "Callie, it's now lunch break." "Ugh, I really wanted to ask you some questions about yesterday." She complained. "Let's go over to Fishy Frank's. We can get some grub there." Marie said.
"Well, we can come with you. Either way, you'll get your questions answered." Adrian suggested. "If you want to, then come on!" Callie ushered.
(Fishy Frank's)
"So, we have a few questions for you, Kalmar, and the rest of you." Callie said. "How long has little Ralphie been a little creep?" Marie asked, glaring at Ralph. Adrian smirked and said, "Back in the day, he was your typical flirt. But as puberty went by, he began morphing into the pervy little figure you see here." "HEY!" Ralph complained.
"Also, what was that… thing that appeared in Blackbelly Skatepark the night it was attacked?" Callie asked. "I haven't the foggiest idea. But whoever it was, I ran into it last night. He said his name was… Phantom" Kalmar answered.
"Phantom?" Callie began. "That's a weird name... do you know what he looks like?" "I think he wore some kind of demented power armor, but I couldn't really see it." Kalmar replied. "Well, we oughta keep an eye out for this Phantom character." Marie said. "If we're gonna find this guy, it won't be easy." Adrian began. "He could be anywhere." He continued as Callie's gaze turned towards the Tower.
Phantom was pleased with himself. Not only Kalmar was one step closer to fulfilling his part in his plan, Phantom had also found other Inklings to help out. He stood on top of Inkopolis Tower, still unseen by the Inklings. "My army is almost complete." He said, backing away.
When Kalmar's group was done with the interview, it was lunch time. Kamaki was overjoyed. They were about to have lunch with the Squid Sisters themselves, and she wished she had brought a camera. Ralph was alternating between eating and flirting with Marie, before Adrian tugged on his "hair" to make him shut up.
Kalmar, however, was sitting next to Callie. His suspicions hadn't worn off yet, and he was hoping that he wouldn't make a bad impression of himself. But when he least expected it, "I expect to see you in Octo-Valley at 2:00 PM, don't be late." Callie whispered into Kalmar's ear.
"I think I've had enough to eat." Kalmar said, pushing the plate of smoked krill aside, which was promptly gobbled up by Ralph. Ralph was slapped by Adrian, who said, "I'd let you have a whale of a time eating, but you aren't a whale." Kalmar decided to get up and leave, but Kamaki stood up before he did. "Someone want to go shopping with me?" She said before recieving a collective, "Not I." from everyone but Kalmar.
"Not i-ugh." Kalmar said, assuming that this wasn't a good sign. And then he was dragged along.
(Cooler Heads)
Kalmar's mouth practically hit the floor when he saw who owned the shop. It was Annie, the adorable sea anemone that seemed to have a confidence problem. Kalmar was almost tempted to hug and squeeze the living daylights out of her. He was about ready to do so, but not before he heard a voice. "Hey! What'cha doin', creep?"
"Huh? Who said that?" Kalmar said, looking around wildly. "My eyes are up here, son!" The voice said. Kalmar looked into Annie's pink and green "hair" and saw something orange. "What's crackin' creep?" It was Moe, the dreaded clownfish that haunted Cooler Heads. "Ugh, it's you." Kalmar said.
"Doh! I ran out of cash. Wish I could buy this..." Kamaki said, holding up a Gas Mask. "YER BROKE!" Moe exclaimed. "And as for you," Moe began, looking at Kalmar. "BEAT IT, LOSER!" Annie didn't take kindly to that. She acted out of character by tearing Moe out of her "hair" and stomping into the back room.
"Paying customers are NOT LOSERS!" Annie shouted in the back room. She strode back to the front desk, returning to her old, shy self. "Um, y-you don't need to worry about him." Annie began. "H-He's always like this." "You really should ditch him," Kalmar said. "He's really bad for your buisiness."
"R-Really? I-I didn't really know." Annie replied. "Just look at how many people are deterred by...him." Kalmar trailed off as he saw something going into a man-hole. He left to see what it was. "W-Wait! Where are you going?" Annie said. "Well, at leat that DEAD BEAT is gone." Moe said before Annie took him to the back room again.
Kalmar arrived at the man-hole, suprised to see that no-one was there. While he was pondering, Ralph, Adrian, and Kamaki arrived. "What are you doing over here?" Adrian asked. "Probably to follow some babe into the sewers." Ralph suggested before he was slapped by Kamaki. "I thought I saw someone over here. Maybe he or she went down the hole." Kalmar explained.
"Well, no harm in trying to find out." Adrian said. "You first, Ralph." He continued as he pushed Ralph into the grate. "He-Hey! AAAAAAAHHH!" Ralph shouted as he fell. "I'm going in." Adrian said as he morphed into squid form and hopped into the grate. "Our turn!" Kamaki said as she grabbed Kalmar and pulled him into the hole.
After the crazy ride was over, Kalmar emerged in a strange place. It was a platform suspended over a giant chasm. There was a giant stone statue of an octopus on the edge of the precipice, and three unfamiliar Inklings stood in front of them. One was elderly, and two were somewhere in their 20's.
"Good, you made it." The young one with black "hair" said. "I'm Agent 1" "And I'm Agent 2." The young one with white and green "hair" said. "And I'm Cap'n Cuttlefish." The elderly one said. "Now hold on a moment. What is this all about?" Adrian said. "And why do you look so familiar?" Ralph asked.
"It's all part of the anti-Octarian plan." A voice called out. Everyone looked to where it came from, and they all saw a strange, robotic being with silver armor with glowing blue parts. "I wish to be referred to as Phantom." Phantom said. "And now, I'll tell you everything you need to know.
Kalmar and his team have run into the mysterious Phantom, what does he plan for them? What is the Anti-Octarian plan? And just WHAT is waiting for Kalmar below? Find out on another riveting chapter of Splatoon: The Phantom Agent!
Special thanks to all the writers that joined the Shared Universe. Remember, if your story meets certain criteria, it too can become part of the Shared Universe. Also, I'm still taking scenario ideas, so send your request, if you want to!