A Meeting of Generations
If one were to climb to the very top of the steely ramparts of Inkopolis Tower, and set their eyes into the oceans in the far distance, they may see what appears to be an island composed entirely of jagged rocks and sheer cliff faces, with a minimal amount of vegetation growing at the very top.
Not many locals within Inkopolis really acknowledge the existence of the island in question, aside from the fact that it was part of a scenic horizon during many elderly folk's sunset strolls near the water's edge. Indeed, most if not all of the elders seem to have forgotten what the island was named in their heyday, but nowadays when you ask them, their eyes will widen with concern, and they will persuade you to avoid 'Octo Valley' at all costs. Not that it was hard to do so, the cliff faces from all sides made travel by sea an impossibility.
Octo Valley would seem unremarkable from a distance, generally it was as there's only so much one can talk about a bunch of old brown boulders piled up in the distance, so no one really gave the island a second glance nowadays. Viewed from above however, an entirely different story is told.
Hidden behind the sheer cliff faces and the jagged rocks, there lay an entire rock formation that resembled a giant octopus. But the most remarkable display would be the multitudes of seemingly floating islands composed of rock and rusting iron scaffolding and decorated with what appear to be giant kettles, scattered all above a massive sinkhole that lay in the very center of the island. The sinkhole goes extremely far down, to the point that a hypothetical bottom was all but obscured by blackness.
On one of these many islands, a ramshackle pile of corrugated steel and rusty iron panels that can barely be called a house was located, with a billboard situated right in front of it with various pictures of strange creatures composed of nothing but tentacles pinned on it alongside a collection of stray newspaper clippings and crudely drawn maps all connected by strings. A bit further in front of the shack, buried into the hardened ground was a manhole similar in appearance to the one in Inkopolis Plaza.
The manhole cover began to shake violently, increasing in intensity before two squids popped out of the air and transformed back into Cobalt and Katelyn, arms flailing in the air and screaming before they both landed on solid ground barely upright. Chris and Mei-Lin followed suit, unfortunately landing straight on top of the other two and causing all four inklings to collapse into a messy pile.
"Oww…" Katelyn groaned, having the misfortune to be at the bottom of the pile. "Hold on… Salty. Where's Salty?!"
The manhole shuddered one last time, before it made a sound akin to a burping noise and its cover was flung open, ejecting a very dizzy Super Sea Snail who landed on the very top of the pile with a squeak.
"Ah, there you are." Katelyn shifted into squid form, crawled out from underneath the inkling pileup, and changed back into normal before replacing Salty underneath her hat. "Wait…where are we now?"
Cobalt dragged himself from the floor, and dusted himself off as he looked around. "I dunno… wherever we are now, we're definitely not in Inkopolis anymore."
After Chris and Mei-Lin managed to steady themselves as well, the group began to look around, taking in their surroundings. It didn't take long before Mei-Lin noticed that there was someone else besides them in this strange place.
"Look… by that shack. There's someone there!" Mei-Lin said, pointing at the ramshackle structure in question. Standing next to the billboard, there appears to be an elderly inkling dressed in a collection of rags, unbeknownst to them the exact same one that had been spying on them the day before. There was also for some unusual reason what appears to be a beet red octopus with piercing green eyes wearing a samurai helmet and holding two horseradish sticks encased in what looks like a giant snowglobe next to the old man.
The old inkling in question was quivering uncontrollably, his eyes full of inexplicable horror.
"Th…th…the oct…"
Chris stepped forward to greet the old man, though a look of concern was in his expression. "Um… sir. Do you know-"
"THE OCTARIANS ARE COMING!" The old man suddenly cried, causing Chris to recoil.
"Woah woah woah… what the heck?" Chris composed himself as the others stepped forth. "Octarians… why does that term sound so familiar?"
"I think I vaguely recall reading about Octarians in one of my books." Mei-Lin said, "They were who we fought against back in the Great Turf War. But I thought that they've all but vanished…"
"Well, glad to see that we got some educated types over here." The old man replied, "But we must be on high alert! They have not truly disappeared, but rather they've been lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike!"
"Blah blah blah… this old speech again?" the octopus in the snowglobe interrupted.
"Silence, prisoner!" the elderly inkling snapped at the trapped octopus, before turning back to our heroes. "Sorry, I must've forgotten to introduce myself. My name be Captain Cuttlefish, leader of the Squidbeak Splatoon! It is my honor to welcome the four of you as our newest recruits!"
"Wait, we didn't even ask to-" Katelyn began, but Captain Cuttlefish cut her off abruptly.
"From now on, y'all will be Agents 3, 4, 5 and 6!" He announced, pointing at the inklings in random order.
"Those numbers are taken!" A random voice suddenly yelled. Turning round, Cobalt was surprised to see four inklings dressed in what appear to be neon green and black attire.
"Hmm… 7, 8, 9 and 10?" the Captain tried.
"You called?" Another voice announced as four more inklings popped out of a nearby bush.
"Gah! 18? 37? 109? 1078?!"
Captain Cuttlefish began going through every number in random ascending order, and surprisingly each and every one was already taken by the corresponding agents, which appeared out of every nook and cranny. To everyone's bewilderment, soon any manner of surface that can be stood on in the general area was flooded with what appear to be three-quarters of the entire population of Inkopolis's inkling youth.
"Ah bother, bother!" Cuttlefish mumbled, our heroes too stunned to reply. "If numbers are taken, what about letters? Agents A, B, C and D?"
"Hmm? What is it?" Three inklings appeared out of the messy pile, including the orange tentacle inkling that Cobalt spotted earlier.
"Ah, nothing. Just go back to your usual roles, urgh…" the elderly inkling grumbled, as the three inklings slinked off elsewhere. Captain Cuttlefish then turned to the large group of inkling agents and waved his cane irately. "Yer all dismissed, just get back to whatever yer doing, agents! Good luck!" With that, all the inkling agents rumbled off, some jumping back into the manhole the team came out earlier and all the others hopping into the various kettles scattered all over the islands.
"Look, we're not applying to be Agents, whatever that means." Cobalt finally spoke up, after an awkward silence. "Besides, I dunno why you're even asking us when you don't seem to have a shortage of those agents on hand…"
Captain Cuttlefish turned to Cobalt, his eyes darting around hysterically as he scanned every corner for an unseen threat. "Bah, don't underestimate those Octojerks! They are a powerful threat, more than you can ever imagine! They have eyes and ears everywhere, they most certainly know you're here the moment you all set foot within Octo Valley!"
"Yeah, like me." The octopus drawled, yawning.
"Be quiet, you!" the captain snapped at the octopus, before turning to the group. "Anyway, we'll decide on your codenames later!" From seemingly nowhere, Captain Cuttlefish withdrew four sets of the strange neon and black gear the other agents had been wearing, and tossed them to the team. "Put these on! This is your Agent outfit, the Hero suit! It also comes with the Hero Shot, y'all know how to use a gun I assume?"
"Umm…" Mei-Lin began.
"Good!" the captain replied, without letting her finish. "Well I'll just let you all put these on, I'll come back later with assignments! Now wasn't there a shipment of crabby cakes coming along in an hour…" With that, the elderly inkling hobbled around a corner, and disappeared completely.
The inklings were rooted to the spot, not entirely sure how to react after that.
"Well. That just happened." Katelyn finally spoke up. "So what are we gonna do?"
"We already have our hands full with restoring Splatfest though." Chris replied, "Should we be ignoring this Octarian threat, or whatever that old man just said?"
Cobalt scoffed at that remark. "Nah, I'd rather not do what some random old man tells me to do right on a whim, I'm not some silent protagonist that goes along with the flow! Besides, I think that guy might be a few screws loose…"
"Yeah, you got a point. We'll just drop off the equipment and leave before that captain guy comes back." Chris replied, walking up next to the snowglobe and setting down the gear next to the octopus. "Umm… if you see Captain Cuttlefish, tell him we're declining his generous offer. We got an important mission of our own."
The octopus didn't reply, simply staring at Chris with a piercing gaze.
"Huh. Not much of a talker, I see." Chris remarked as he backed away from the snowglobe.
"Yeah, what Chris said." Cobalt added, placing down the gear neatly next to Chris's.
"I'll just…leave this here." Mei-Lin said, doing the same.
Katelyn didn't even bother with walking up to the snowglobe, and simply tossed her batch towards the pile. The Hero Suit landed messily on top of the others, while the Hero Shot bounced off the snowglobe with a loud 'clunk', causing the octopus to flinch.
"Well, that's that." Cobalt said, turning to the manhole. "C'mon, we got a city to save."
The masked inkling began to walk up to the grate along with the others, but then a very loud and fake cough interrupted them. Turning to the source of the sound, Cobalt noticed that the octopus inside the snowglobe was waving at them.
"Yo, did I just hear that right?" the octopus said, staring at them. "Y'all are workin' to save Inkopolis or something?"
"…yeah?" Chris replied, somewhat skeptical. "But why would you care, aren't you like trying to destroy Inkopolis?"
Surprisingly, the octopus laughed. "Me? Destroy Inkopolis? Y'all got me wrong, I'm helping to save it!"
"Wait, what? That's ridiculous!" Katelyn said.
Mei-Lin however was intrigued, and stepped forth with her notepad in hand. "Umm… mister…?"
"DJ Octavio in the house, baby!" the octopus shouted, surprising the inkling. "Now, you were sayin'?"
"Ah… right." Mei-Lin replied meekly. "Octavio, would you care to explain your side of the story? I wish to know what you meant by saving Inkopolis…"
The octopus now known as DJ Octavio nodded. "Sure. But… why not tell me about your little gathering over there? I'd like to hear your lil' tale first."
Mei-Lin contemplated his words for a while, looking at her team before nodding. "I…think we can trust you. Well… it all started a month ago…"
The inklings have now gathered around the snowglobe, DJ Octavio listening intently as everyone recounted the events that led them up to where they are now. From the very beginning when Splatfests stopped, to when Inkopolis fell into depression, their quest from the very beginning up till they met the Spirit of Infrastructure, the team told the aged octopus everything that has happened so far.
"…so while we were thinking of our next step, we saw the entire plaza disappear down here, and Cobalt followed to investigate. We all did the same, and now here we are." Chris finished. "Well, we were supposed to leave and try and work out where the Spirit of Evolution is, but I think we can spare an hour or two."
DJ Octavio stared at the group for a moment, and then unexpectedly he burst into laughter.
"Uh, what's so funny about it?" Katelyn asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Gahahaha, it's nothin'!" Octavio replied, wiping a tear from his eye. "It's jus'… after listening to those Agents bragging on about those battles with my people over and over again or one of them talking their heads off about their Turf War careers, I'm honestly relieved to hear a fresh tune comin' from a bunch of squiddos like yourselves!"
"You must've heard a lot of them, I presume." Chris remarked.
One of Octavio's eyes twitched as he groaned audibly. "You don't know the half of it, man. These Agents are many things, but bein' original is NOT one of them. Hell, the blasted love songs on the radio are more varied than those lil' hipsters!"
Cobalt could not help but snicker from that remark.
"Well, y'all amused me well enough." DJ Octavio said. "Might as well get on with lil' ol' me then. So, Mei-Lin was it?"
"….yes?" the shy inkling replied.
"How much do ya know about our history, may I ask? You seem to know a lot more than your companions, from what I can see from here."
"N-not really, I just read a lot of books." Mei-Lin mumbled under her breath. "Well…from what I remember, the Octarians lost to the Inklings in the Great Turf War, due to one of their powerful superweapons losing power during a crucial moment. After the inkling's victory, they laid claim to the lands where Inkopolis now stood, and the Octarians vanished into obscurity." She looked around sheepishly before saying: "That's…all I remember."
"You were correct, at least until the very last bit." Octavio replied, "Yes, I remember one of our Great Octoweapons suddenly stopping and falling right over just when we were about to win. Can you believe it was because someone accidentally unplugged him? One of Octotroopers in charge claimed that there wasn't enough extension cord to go around, but we all knew he just wanted to recharge his phone! Gahahaha!" The octopus chuckled for a while. "History is easier to remember when you lived through a lot of it yourself."
"So you're a war veteran?" Chris asked, "You seem to know an awful lot about the Great Turf War."
"Well, I guess you can say that." Octavio replied, "Captain Cuttlefish is an old friend of mine, at least until the Great Turf War happened and we were forced to fight each other. It was a shame, really."
"Was the war harsh on you and your kind?" Katelyn asked. "It seemed like it was rather serious."
"Well, hardly. I'd be real with ya, it might as well be one of those recreational Turf Wars y'all seem to enjoy so much, except at a much larger scale. Only slightly more serious as the winning side got to hog all the fertile land while the loser was stuck with the barren rocks. The trouble only started once the war was over."
"So what went wrong?" Cobalt asked, rather more intrigued than usual. "I mean, you guys have these big fancy machines and all, being relegated to barren rocks shouldn't be that much of an issue."
"Yes, I won't deny that Octarians are comparatively techier than Inklings. We made the most we could with the barren rock." DJ Octavio continued. "In fact, all of Octo Valley is built like this thanks to us. Our structures stretch from up here all the way down deep underground. Not to bang on my own drum, but it's friggin' cool as heck. But…"
"But what?"
"Well, that Great Octoweapon fiasco that led us to where we are now might as well be a sign of things to come." DJ Octavio sighed, "We… have a power issue. Machines run on a lotta juice, and it's not like we can procure more easily. Goin' on a slight tangent, you are aware of the incident when the Great Zapfish disappeared for a few days, yeah?"
Chris pondered for a while, and then looked up at Octavio. "I think I remember times when the Great Zapfish isn't around Inkopolis Tower to power it for a few days." He said, "But usually it returns after 3 days at most, and people have spotted it swimming around in Piranha Pit. I just thought that it likes to take a few vacations every so often…"
"I wouldn't know anythin' about the Great Zapfish's vacations." Octavio replied, "But the first time was our fault. By that point our power reserves were running so low our structures were deteriorating and were starting to fall apart. We didn't really think we had much choice on the matter."
"You stole the Great Zapfish?"
"Well if you wanna be up-front about it, yes. We also took a lot of normal zapfish with us but it seemed no one noticed those disappearing except for Cuttlefish." The octopus chuckled again, shaking his head dismissively. "All them years made him rather paranoid we'd come back for revenge. Guess he turned out to be right. Afterwards though our plans were foiled. By Agents 1 and 2."
"There's an Agent 1 and an Agent 2?" Katelyn asked.
"Y'all ask a lot of questions for a bunch of lil' squiddos." DJ Octavio replied. "Yeah there are, why do ya think Cuttlefish started at 3 and onwards? Nothin' really spectacular though, they're just his grandkids he made agents out of the blue, just like the others. But those two managed to beat us, retrieved the Great Zapfish, and all the normal zapfish we've…borrowed."
"Must've been humiliating to have lost to only two people and their grandad." Cobalt remarked.
"Yeah, it was. Too much time underground's completely rusted up our talents. Joke's on 'em though, when they realized that taking the zapfish back meant we'll die from the whole thing collapsing in on our heads, that's one heck of a guilt trip. Gahahaha!"
Chris raised an eyebrow on that remark. "You seem rather nonchalant about possible genocide…"
"Well the past is the past. Back then I had some choice swear words for those slimy lil' hipsters, but they've decided to give us a hand." DJ Octavio eyed the shack in front of the manhole, upon closer examination the shack was jam-packed with an ungodly amount of what looked like stuffed facsimiles of zapfish. "I dunno how, but the stuffed variant works just as well as the real deal when it comes to generating energy, so Cuttlefish allowed us to take a whole bunch to make our homes habitable. I'll have to admit, I owe Cuttlefish and his grandkids a favor."
"All this time you two were still friends, huh…" Mei-Lin said. "But what about all these agents flooding the entire valley?"
"Ah, now that's a funny story!" DJ Octavio laughed. "It all started about two weeks ago. This random inkling kid showed up one day out here. Poor bastard was bawlin' his eyes out! Agents 1 and 2 were around at the time to deliver crabby cakes, so they asked 'im what was wrong. Somethin' about Turf Wars being stopped altogether and Inkopolis Tower shutting down, I don't recall the finer details…"
The inklings immediately looked towards each other, a look of clarity on all of their faces.
"Soon afterwards, Cuttlefish showed up in our humble abode, and asked to finally cash in that favor." Octavio continued. "He then told me 'I'd like ya to give the kids somethin' ta fight for.' Or something along the lines of that, I don't really remember."
"So all these agents…!" Mei-Lin realized.
"Yep. We set up a large-scale relief plan to comfort the inklings over at Inkopolis. They were to become agents, and to fight the 'evil' Octarians from invading Inkopolis. I personally organized my people to act accordingly our role as villains, fighting really is all we know."
"Wait…'your people'?" Chris interrupted. "You're not just any war veteran, are you?"
"Did I leave out that detail? Hmm, I must be getting forgetful." DJ Octavio quipped, rubbing his forehead with a tentacle. "Yes, my fellow Octarians consider me their king. But personally I'm not fond of titles like that, respect is enough. I'd rather be known as an entertainer of the masses, spinnin' spicy wasabi beats really is what I do best." He held up the horseradish sticks in his tentacles as he said so.
"So if you were acting, is Captain Cuttlefish also pretending?" Katelyn wondered.
Octavio looked at the corner around where the elderly inkling wandered off, then back at the group. "Honestly, I'm not entirely certain when it comes to that old sea dog." He replied, "But his grandkids were something else. They're very enthusiastic when it comes to entertainment, reminds me of when I was just about their age, it's rather refreshing."
"Hmm…" Katelyn's eyes narrowed upon that statement, and she started to wander as a thought occurred to her.
"So what role do you play anyway? Just out of curiosity." Cobalt asked.
"It kind of depends on the Agent. Sometimes I'm a generic tyrant that controls my people with music, sometimes I'm a conspirator that plotted my way into a position of power and keeping my people complacent with propaganda, and other times I'm just a misunderstood leader that was forced to bend to circumstances. Playing out those roles was entertaining, but I'll have to admit I'm starting to run a lil' bit low on steam by the time you kids showed up."
Mei-Lin finished jotting down the last of her notes on her notepad, and looked up at Octavio. "So… that's it then. It all sounds rather contrived in my opinion."
DJ Octavio sighed at that remark. "Yes, I suppose it really is, when you put it that way. But it keeps Cuttlefish's Agents happy, and it does seem to be raising the morale of my own people to have something to fight for. Win-win."
Chris nodded, then it hit him.
"Wait, that message! 'Where brothers once stood hand in hand, but now writhe in endless strife. From lands they once shared, their reason to fight now all but forgotten'." He recited. "It's here! The message is referring to Octo Valley!"
"That makes sense!" Cobalt replied, his eyes widening in realization. "If every Agent had different circumstances to fight against the Octarians, then that means they don't remember their original reason of fighting in the first place!"
DJ Octavio guffawed as the inklings were all surprised by their revelation. "Well, ain't that just convenient! Guess y'all would have reason to stick around with lil' ol' me then!"
"Seems like it." Cobalt replied, turning to the octopus. "So would you happen to know anything about where the cross would likely be located?"
Octavio shook his head. "Unfortunately I don't really remember. But I reckon one of my troops should know something. I'll ask Cuttlefish and his Agents to see if they know anything as well. For now, y'all may wanna be better prepared for the job."
"Hmm? Why?"
"Octo Valley is a huge place. Aside from the obvious deal of bringing supplies with you, it would likely take an overnight exploration if the cross happens to be really far into the complex. Contact your family and just make up any old excuse. Oh, and bring your weapons with you. I don't really need to tell you why now, do I?"
Chris nodded, and wandered to the manhole to open it. "No, not really. Thanks for the intel, we really appreciate it. C'mon, guys."
DJ Octavio watched as the inklings turned into squid forms and jumped right back down the manhole, and disappeared from view.
"So. You told 'em everything." A voice remarked. Octavio turned to the source, and saw Captain Cuttlefish hobble towards the snowglobe holding him captive.
"Well, it's just as you predicted." Octavio replied, "It's only a matter of time before they came down here, I might as well just tell them everything that's happened here beforehand. Those kids seem capable enough."
"Yes, yes." Cuttlefish said, noticing the pile of agent equipment set down next to the snowglobe. "Hmm, they don't wanna be agents huh? That's a shame."
"Perhaps they didn't need to. For a bunch of kids, they seem strong enough to not need the support."
There was a brief silence as the two war veterans stared into the distance, as a chilling wind blew through the valley.
"So, any chance you can let me out?" DJ Octavio finally spoke up. "I need to contact my troops."
Captain Cuttlefish's eyelid twitched. "SILENCE, PRISONER! I'm not gonna let you go back and come back with reinforcements! I know all yer lil' tricks!"
The octopus sighed. "Welp. So much for a bonding moment."
AN: Can't help but feel I've gotten slightly redundant with this chapter, in multiple ways. Still, I have to admit I had a lot of fun coming up with this depiction of DJ Octavio, as well as this deconstruction of the singleplayer campaign.
I'm glad to see the reviews have gotten slightly more frequent. Possibly to diffuse any questions on that regard, yes everything has already been structured, even the ending. The actual hard part is to write all this down including the finer details, which I'm not that good at doing.