In the sinister metropolis of the Octarian City, far from the eyes of Inkopolis and deep within Octo Valley, the feared Octarian leader DJ Octavio lurked within his lair, listening to supervillain music on his record player and humming along with it.
The supervillain song 'Sinister Machinations' by the Octarian rock band Eevel Eels was playing, perfectly setting the mood, perfect for a supervillain like Octavio to dance and sing along to.
For years, he and his Octarians had menaced the Inklings, seeking to dominate over them. The Great Turf War from hundreds of years before was the most notable of all conflicts, not to mention the times Octavio had stolen the Great Zapfish, despite the Squidbeak Splatoon stopping him in the end.
His tentacles wavered and his crown-like helmet bobbed upon his head as Octavio danced on, laughing with villainous glee as he enjoyed the music. At least he wasn't listening to the Squid Sisters' trademark song 'Calamari Inkantation', that song burned into his eardrums and he hated it badly. That song had cost him so many loyal soldiers, he'd lost so many Octolings to the spell of the Inklings' music.
But in a city full of countless Octolings and Octarians, in a whole valley, Octavio had plenty to count on. So many were joining his ranks every day, pledging their allegiance to him.
It was such a shame that Desti girl didn't serve in his army, she and her Octoposse could have been of great service to the Octarians. But no, she had to go off to that island and get impaled by some cheap magical construct brought forth by a lizard with a magic pen.
Even with all of his time plotting in the shadows, often coming up to attack the world, Octavio was never uninformed of what went on in the broader world. He had agents coming to him every day, every week, informing him of what events were taking place in either Inkopolis or the Mushroom Kingdom. Octavio was also tuned into the news, a very reliable source of information as well.
Little did the sinister DJ know, however, that today had quite the surprise for him. He'd noticed a short while ago that his Octobot had gone missing, but there was no security footage showing it had been stolen.
Octavio assumed that some random Octarian was probably going out for a joyride with it, that had happened before and he'd gotten it back sooner. But his prized mech had been missing for a few days now, that really got under the DJ's tentacles and all he could do until someone found it was listen to his evil music. Underneath that good mood, that sinister happiness, was frustration and fury.
Soon as he found out what had happened, that false happy exterior would melt away, revealing the true fury that Octavio had masked for quite a while.
He twirled to the sinister rhythm, outstretching his tentacles for swifter movement, Octavio spun his octopus body like a human-Inkling ballerina and let out a warbled whoop of glee. He never felt so free, he could just forget his worries and dance to so many tunes of anarchy for hours.
"Evil Grows", "Dark Tribunal", "Mighty Tyranny", "Sinister Machinations"; So many evil tunes to listen to, so many tunes to scheme to. In fact, some of the tunes he'd ever listened to were composed and done by him. DJ Octavio was the master of music, not just the feared leader of the Octarians, nobody called him "DJ" for nothing and it was more than just some title or first name.
An electronic buzzing sound cut over the music and red lights blared throughout Octavio's chamber, prompting the octopus to shut off his music player.
"Who dares interrupt my jam time?" He growled.
He pressed a button and the doors swung open, a red Octoling in a bodysuit and armor stepped into the room, accompanied by an Octarian drone holding a disk drive.
"Lord Octavio..." The Octoling said, "Our scouts have just returned from the Mushroom Kingdom and you need to see this, it's really important intelligence for you to see and we were instructed to deliver this footage to you at once."
"And what is that?" Octavio asked, "What is going on in the Mushroom Kingdom?"
The Octoling took the disk drive and plugged it into the nearby computer console. "You're not going to like this, sir..." She said, "But this is very urgent."
"How urgent?" Octavio demanded, "Has someone challenged me, do I have a new rival to worry about, are we having another traitor defecting...?"
"You need to see this footage."
The super computer activated and Octavio moved over, watching the screen light up. Initially, there was only static and garbled noises. Octavio tapped the console to make sure that his computer wasn't going haywire, perhaps he needed a technician to look at it soon, it had been way too long since his computer was last inspected by someone...
Just then, the static vanished and a scene appeared, showing an arena and a pair of individuals. Octavio recognized the orange haired girl; Splatfest champion Meggy Spletzer, holding a Splattershot, and with her was Saiko Bichitaru, Bob Bobowski and Fishy Boopkins along with some random white-haired human with horns on his head.
"Mario's going to do something very illegal..." An Italian voice declared.
The camera shifted from the individuals, showing a man dressed in red and blue, Octavio's eyes narrowed. He knew Mario, he'd seen him before. The camera pulled back as machinery whirring caught Octavio's unseen ears and his eyes widened with outrage at what he saw...
His Octobot mech, floating in the air, with Mario atop the booth. The sight was unbelievable, outrageous, a complete atrocity and a near scandal. Octavio could not believe what he was witnessing, that plumber had stolen his mech and was using it... WITHOUT HIS PERMISSION, WITHOUT EVEN COMING TO HIM FOR HIS CONSENT!
Octavio's mind reeled with anger, replaying what Mario had just said, over and over again.
"Mario's going to do something very illegal."
'Why you insolent human...'
"Mario's going to do something very illegal."
'You'll pay for this insolence...'
"Mario's going to do something very illegal. Mario's going to do something very illegal. Mario's going to do something very illegal. Mario. Illegal. Mario. Illegal. Mario. Illegal. Mario. Something very illegal."
"OH YES, YOU DID, YOU FAT IDIOT!" Octavio's eyes blazed with anger, his temper bubbling madly, his tentacles wavered and he slammed his arm on the computer console, shutting down the footage. The Octoling guard stepped back, trembling in fear, as her master lost his temper and began trashing the room, stomping around and screaming.
"'Mario's going to do something very illegal'!" Octavio ranted, "YES, YOU DID, MARIO! YOU STOLE MY OCTOBOT FROM ME, MAH OCTOBOT, MY PRIZED WAR MACHINE! NOBODY TAKES MY OCTOBOT WITHOUT ASKING, YOU MORON! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY; I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET TAKING MAH PRIZED FLYING MUSIC BOOTH FROM ME!"
"Th-that's not a-a-all of it, sir." The guard said, "Y-Your Octobot was destroyed in the battle!"
"MY OCTOBOT WAS DESTROYED?!" Octavio was beside himself, his temper beyond control, "MY MACHINE WAS STOLEN AND THEN IT WAS DESTROYED?! DID YOU SALVAGE WHAT WAS LEFT OF IT, WHERE IS MY OCTOBOT RIGHT NOW?! I WANT IT BACK! I WANT MY OCTOBOT BACK NOW!"
"O-Our spies managed to salvage it's remains and brought it back to the city; your machine is under repairs as we speak. Security will increase as soon as possible; this will never happen again."
"That Mario...!" Octavio snarled, "He must be punished!"
"What are your orders, sir?"
"GET THAT HUMAN! CAPTURE THAT STUPID FAT ITALIAN PLUMBER AND BRING HIM TO ME! I WANT TO SEE HIM IN PERSON AND I WANT HIM PUNISHED FOR HIS INSOLENCE, PUNISHED FOR STEALING MAH PROPERTY! I WANT MARIO TO FEEL THE SOUNDTRACK OF TERROR FOR HIS CRIMES! SEND OUT OUR FORCES TO THE MUSHROOM KINGDOM AND GET THAT MORON!"
"Right away, sir! I'll call up your attack squad, sir!"
"And make sure he can't escape, do what you must to catch that fool, but do not harm him in any other way, shape or form! But above all else, BRING ME MARIO! I WANT HIM ALIVE!"
"Where do we find him, my lord? The Mushroom Kingdom is a big place and he could be..."
"HUNT HIM DOWN, CAPTURE THAT ITALIAN, BRING HIM TO ME AND DON'T LET HIM ESCAPE! I WILL BE WAITING ON OCTO MOUNTAIN FAR FROM THE SUBURBS OF INKOPOLIS ABOVE THE CITY!"
"Sir, yes, sir!" The Octoling saluted and left the chamber with the Octarian drone at her side. Octavio turned back to his computer and pulled up the picture of Mario in his own Octobot, the octopus' eyes ablaze with rage.
"Once you are in my presence, you fat ape..." Octavio growled menacingly, "We are going to have a very serious discussion about your actions AND I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU SUFFER FOR WHAT YOU DID. BY THE TIME I'M FINISHED WITH YOU, YOU WILL WISH YOUR CAREER NEVER GOT OFF THE GROUND AND YOU MADE YOUR OWN MUSIC BOOTH MACHINE!"
Many miles away, in the lively and colorful metropolis of Mushroom City, Mario was walking down the sidewalks on a stroll and enjoying his day, just being himself as usual. He waved to a couple Toads and hummed some tunes, feeling like his good old upbeat self like he always was every day.
"It's a lovely day to walk down the road and, if I ever stop singing, I will explode..." Mario sang, he was having the time of his life and enjoying the peaceful day, full of optimism and eagerness.
He was thinking about how fun the Meme Games had been and wondered how to make the next Meme Games event more special when he had the time to do it again. Whatever he thought up, whatever was suggested to him by the fans or whatever came up in the trending, Mario was going to make sure the event would be a load of fun just as it was the first time around.
Mario walked across the road, the red light flashing and signaling for cars to slow down, giving the plumber enough time to cross the street without any hazards coming his way.
The fat Italian walked through the park, unaware of what was waiting for him, getting ready to strike. Mario was just waving to a pair of ducks in a pond when someone yelled something in a distinct language and bushes rustled, followed by the sounds of firearms clicking.
In seconds, without warning, Mario was surrounded by a pair of shapely red tentacle-haired humanoid girls in revealing armor with their Splattershots aimed at him, the group glaring at the plumber with serious and furious expressions on their faces. Mario was taken off guard, his eyes wide with shock.
"You can't escape, Italian." An Octoling said fiercely.
"Ha-ha!" Mario chuckled, "I don't think so, mamaf***er!"
Acting quickly, he leaped into the air and pounced on an Octoling. Mario landed on her head and knocked the female enemy to the ground, likely giving her a concussion. Then a couple more Octolings appeared and fired on him, shooting purple ink right at him.
He leaped out of the way, evading the streams of paint heading in his direction and kicked another Octoling in the chest, knocking her out hard.
SPLAT! A shot hit Mario in the back, taking him by surprise as his overalls were splatted. He leaped over an Octoling's head and kicked her in the back, taking her by surprise and causing the fighter to fall over in a stunned daze. An Octoling snuck up on him with a roller, prepared to strike, and Mario didn't notice until it was too late.
KA-BONK! He was knocked over the head by the weapon and stumbled about, seeing stars as he moaned in agony. Mario shook off the dizziness and delved back into the chaos unfolding around him, hoping to keep up the fight even with the Octolings surrounding him.
It was unimaginable, Octolings here in Mushroom City. Sure, Mario had run into Inklings outside of Inkopolis and seen a few Octolings, especially after he and his friends came out victorious in Splatfest, but a group of Octolings attacking him here. Someone must've had it out for the plumber, how did he end up on their radar and what got their attention?
Mario stumbled over a rock, trying to charge an Octoling, and bonked himself on the head against a tree, making his concussion a little worse than ever.
He wheeled around and slugged another enemy, kicking one in the knee and narrowly avoiding an ink shot with a timed leap before a nearby Octoling splatted him in midair. Mario stood on his legs, his knees quivering and he moved around in a near-tired manner, struggling to think of options on how to get out of this. He was so dizzy by this point; Mario could hardly think or fight back or run.
The Octolings swarmed the plumber, firing off more ink and splatting him, overwhelming Mario. Then, he fell over, unable to move anymore and an Octoling bonked him in the face. This was it, Mario passed out and blackness overcame him in a second, his mind no longer operational... for now.
"Hurry up and get him back to base before someone sees us!" An Octoling Commander ordered.
Every humanoid female octopus saluted, understanding their orders. Three Octolings came forward and picked up the unconscious plumber, one checked his heart and breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Mario was still alive.
Without delay, the pair departed the scene with the incapacitated Mario, leaving the park empty. However, there had been witnesses, mostly one person in particular. Mario's friend Meggy Spletzer had been walking by when she heard the commotion and saw the Octolings overpower Mario. Her eyes were lit with horror and worry for her friend, she had to act and she had to help him now.
Meggy drew her trademark Splattershot and hopped into her Inkling Kart, starting up the engines. She drove off through the streets, riding out to find help, to get the cavalry ready for her mission to save Mario from the clutches of the enemy. There was no time to waste...
The End