Chapter 4: Splatsville
"The City of Anarchy."
Nakji was right. The journey to Splatsville was short. Though he was surprised there was a city in the middle of the desert.
Well, surprise wouldn't be the right word to describe how Akikta felt toward the city. It'd be the right word to describe how he felt when he saw Splatsville's inhabitants.
As if the Wild Claws weren't enough to process, now Akikta was seeing jellyfish with actual eyes, fat goldfish who stood upright on their tail fins, and various other sea creatures that skittered about the ground and leaned out open windows.
And somehow, they weren't the oddest-looking residents. Ironically, the things that looked like people were the strangest occupants.
They wore clothes of varying fashion, had different skin tones, and possessed a human appearance. But the way they looked... The way they moved... It was all wrong.
Some resembled Nakji; round ears, with marks around their eyes and suckers on the outside of their smooth hair.
Oh god, the hair. They were all so colorful, not something you'd naturally see on a human.
Then there were some who didn't resemble Nakji.
Their ears were pointed, and a slim black line surrounded their eyes, making it appear like they were wearing eye masks.
Their hair was also smooth like Nakji's, but some had longer hair with suckers on the underside as opposed to the outside.
Akikta finally realized that their hair was actually tentacles.
"Your people are pretty weird looking." He whispered to Nakji, who frowned.
"But the inklings look fine?"
Akikta nearly questioned what she was talking about, but he realized the humanoids with pointed ears must've been the squid people Sal had mentioned.
Realization of how wrong his previous statement sounded hit him. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"It's fine; I know you didn't."
With the misunderstanding cleared up, Akikta returned his attention to the squid and octo people.
Every inkling and octoling he could see was only about five feet tall, so he hovered over them by a foot. Akikta would remind himself to thank the Great Spirit for the clothes and Father Axe for the mask later. Without them, he would've looked more out of place than he already did.
Though, regardless of his appearance, he still felt out of place.
When it was just Nakji aboard the ship, Akikta felt comfort since she was the only one who closely resembled himself. It was the like the two of them were the only human remnants amongst a crew of animals.
Back then, it was the Wild Claws who were out of place, not them.
But now, with so many humanoid cephalopods present, Akikta felt inhuman... like he didn't belong.
He grew uncomfortable.
Just as uneasiness crept onto him, he saw something massive out of the corner of his eyes. When he turned, he nearly jumped. "Whoa!"
A massive black fish with long yellow whiskers was wrapped around a tall building. It looked like a catfish, but it was far too big to be one, not to mention the zaps of electricity that occasionally emitted from the tips of its whiskers.
His words of surprise got Nakji to turn and look at him. When she noticed what caught his attention, she giggled.
"That's the Great Zapfish." She stated.
"The great zap what?"
"The Great Zapfish." She repeated. "It powers all of Splatsville. I heard it went missing once before, but it miraculously reappeared about a month ago." She explained.
Akikta glared at her. "You heard it went missing, or did you and Claws steal it?"
Nakji shook her head and waved her hands. "No, no, no. The captain wouldn't have any need for it. He's only interested in treasure anyway, and besides, we'd have nowhere to put it."
She made a valid point. The ship would've been flattened if they tried to haul that thing onboard.
"Right..." He cleared his throat. "Anyway, are we any closer to your weapon?"
Nakji nodded. "I was thinking about it on the way here, and I think it's better if you just wait for me."
"What? Why?"
"It'd be quicker. The place I hid it would be hard for two people to squeeze through."
Akikta frowned underneath his mask. He became a little skeptical, thinking Nakji planned something nefarious. But he reminded himself that if she wanted to do something to him, she would've done it when she had him on the ground.
"Alright, fine. Just don't take too long, please?"
She smiled. "I won't."
With that, she lightly jogged away.
Akikta hadn't noticed before now, but Nakji moved as if she had no structure. Like all the other octolings and inklings, she was wiggly with her movements. "I bet the scientists would've never predicted this," He murmured.
Akikta still couldn't believe sentient sea animals, who talked and interacted with each other like humans, existed.
The translators allowed Akikta to eavesdrop on various conversations, but all these cephalopods talked about was fashion and an activity called Turf War. That and an upcoming event.
He didn't fully understand what all the hype was about, but from what he could piece together, a festival would be in full swing a few days from now. That would explain all the makeshift floats and decorated t-shirt stands being set up.
Akikta didn't want to be rude and continue to eavesdrop on the conversations, but he also didn't want to stand around like an idiot.
He thought about setting foot into one of the many shops inklings and octolings hung around, but he didn't know what they were for.
Despite being able to hear and speak, Sal completely disregarded the fact that Akikta didn't understand the written language of today's era. The only reason he knew they were shops in the first place was thanks to his eavesdropping.
He sighed and walked up the stairs, thinking admiring the Great Zapfish would be a great way to pass the time.
His eyes drifted upward. It was dusk now. His first time seeing such a colorful and beautiful darkening of the sky came with mixed emotions.
Akikta teared up in both sadness and joy. Their manufactured home did not do the outside world any justice. Like his grandfather said, Alterna's simulated sky could not compare to the real thing. He was happy he got to experience that firsthand.
But at the same time, it was not right. Why was he the only one who got to see the real sky? Why was he the only one to enjoy the fresh, cool breeze? Why...
Why did they leave me alone...
Akikta bumped into something after his last thought. He looked down to see he was at the top of the stairs and had bumped into a blue-haired inkling.
The inkling turned around and looked Akikta up and down. He was about to apologize for walking into the guy, but the inkling responded with a smile and gestured at Akikta with finger guns. "Lookin' fresh big guy!"
Akitka was thankful he had his mask on since he was sure he just gave that inkling the strangest stare imaginable.
Not wanting to make the encounter any weirder, Akikta backed off from the inkling without saying a word, which probably made it weirder anyway.
Lookin' fresh? He repeated, trying to understand what the phrase meant. Judging by their facial expression, it was most likely a compliment. But he didn't feel fresh.
I want to take a shower... Akikta groaned, realizing how icky he felt.
"Listen up! It's going down..." A sudden voice announced from seemingly nowhere, catching Akikta off-guard. "Repping the Splatlands, we are DEEP CUT!"
There it is again... Akikta thought as the same feminine voice spoke. He looked around in search of the voice.
"Anarchy Splatcast! We're live!" A different voice declared, this one slightly higher pitched and more hyper.
"Here we go!" A masculine and deeper-toned voice said excitedly.
Akikta still couldn't tell where these voices were coming from and feared he was going insane.
"You lip-synch, we drip ink..." The first voice continued.
"Shiver, Frye, and Big Man!" The masculine voice said gleefully.
By the time Akikta pinpointed where the voices came from, all three became quieter.
He moved over to where he last heard them, and their voices gradually became clearer. They talked about stages, anarchy battles, and Salmon Runs. Whatever those were.
After following the direction of the voices, Akikta came across a large glass window that gave a view into a studio-like room. Upon peering inside, he saw two of the voices. Or rather, the figures the voices belonged to.
On the far left was a female octoling with pale skin, a broad oval-shaped face, and slender eyes under sharp blue triangular eyebrows. Her blue hair, which had suckers on the outside, covered her left eye, so he couldn't see her face that well. But she didn't appear to have a marking like a normal octoling. Or maybe it was just so thin he could barely see it.
What he could see was her red iris and the light red pupil in the shape of an infinity symbol, mimicking that of a real octopus.
She also wore Japanese-styled clothing, which surprised Akikta since he was told that culture had perished shortly before Alterna was made. She even had a traditional folding fan in her hands, the fingers of which were red, like she had dipped them in a jar of ketchup.
Next to her in the middle of the studio was the second voice from earlier, sitting on a pillow with their legs crossed.
This figure also had a feminine build with a medium brown skin tone, yellow hair, a round face, darker brown lips, and large eyes under yellow triangular eyebrows. Her irises were golden, with yellow pupils in the shape of a plus sign.
Akikta almost wasn't sure what she was, but her exaggerated eye mask indicated she was an inkling. At least, he assumed she was an inkling. Her ears were incredibly long compared to every other inkling and had an orange blush at their tips, the right of which had three piercings.
Not to mention the fivehead she had. Not even his neighbor, who was balding at an early age, had a forehead half as big as hers. Which, honestly, was astounding to see.
Her forehead and long upper canine teeth, which stuck out from her mouth like fangs, reminded Akikta of a vampire squid. Well, mainly just the forehead, since squids don't have those kinds of teeth.
The only unpleasant and uninteresting parts to look at were her fingers. They were all purple, as if they were dead. What was wrong with them?
Discolored fingers and large foreheads aside, the two figures looked familiar. Of course, they looked drastically different from all the other inklings and octolings Akikta's seen, but he was getting hit with major déjà vu. He's seen them before, but how and from where?
More importantly, the two figures did not look like they could produce such a masculine voice, even if they tried. So where was that third voice?
Then, Akikta noticed him.
The TV displayed whatever they were discussing as they went through their announcements. And behind that TV was a wide creature who looked as tall as Akikta. It was some goofy-looking manta ray...
When he laid eyes on that manta ray, he recalled something. The feeling of déjà vu made sense now. Akikta had seen these three figures before, in Alterna's security footage.
They were there in his home a month prior to his awakening from cryo-sleep. But why? And how did they get out? Seriously, how? It took him blood, sweat, and tears to get a functioning exit- minus the blood.
Akikta must've been eyeing them for a long time since they eventually noticed him.
The blue-haired octoling was the first to notice Akikta, giving him a slight wave of her fan and smiling. The other two gave their own unique waves.
After being acknowledged, they resumed their previous conversation.
Akikta was taken aback. He did not expect them to give him even a second of their time. After all, they appeared to be quite popular.
"A?" A voice called out, making Akikta fumble. "A, are you there?" It was Sal.
Akikta calmed down before unhooking the radio. "You really gotta warn me when you start talking, man. I nearly jumped out of my skin."
"Sorry, sorry. It's just... I expected you to be closer to Inkadia when I checked on you. But you're actually further now. So I thought something might've happened."
Akikta chuckled nervously. "Well, actually, something did happen."
"Hm?"
"Long story short, I got attacked by these pirates. Don't worry. I got out in one piece. But anyway, one of them thanked me for separating them from the rest of their crew 'cause, turns out, she didn't enjoy being with them in the first place."
"She?"
"Yea, I met an octoling. I think that's what they're called... Her name's Nakji and she decided to help me. We're just dropping by this place to get something of hers, and then we'll continue to Inkadia."
Sal grumbled on the other end.
"Is something wrong?" Akikta asked, concerned.
Sal remained quiet for a moment before speaking. "Y'know, those octolings are just as dangerous as inklings."
"Well... she did almost kill me. B-but it was a misunderstanding, and we settled that! So I don't think she'll try anything if that's what you're worried about."
It became quiet on the other end.
Akikta was about to say something before the radio crackled with life. "I once trusted an octoling too. But she couldn't see through to my way of thinking." Sal said, reminiscing about something.
Akikta wasn't sure how to respond, so he didn't.
Sal exhaled before obnoxious lip smacks came from the radio. Sal sure eats a lot...or maybe he's only eating when we talk? Akikta noted. Thankfully, Akikta ate earlier; otherwise, this would've been painful to listen to.
"All I'm saying is, be careful who you trust. You never know who really has your back and who is just using you..." Sal warned.
Wise words. Words Akikta would take to heart as he considers how he'll be venturing with Nakji.
Before anything else was said, Sal broke into a coughing fit.
"Sal? Sal, you alright, man?" Akikta asked worriedly.
Sal composed himself before responding. "B-behind you!" He said in surprise.
Akikta whipped his head around, expecting to see someone rushing him. But nothing unusual was there—just inklings and octolings going about their day. "Uh, what am I looking for?"
"You don't see that smallfry?!"
"Smallfry?"
"The thing with the red hair!" Sal exclaimed in a baffled tone.
Akikta scanned through the small crowd of gathered inklings and octolings. A few passed to enter the building the Great Zapfish wrapped around, and that's when he noticed something.
A small legless creature panting like a dog was on top of a pole, watching the inklings and octolings pass by as no one seemed to notice it.
Akikta approached the smallfry; its bulging eyes with red pupils locked onto him as it lightly bounced around.
It had a tuff of smooth red hair and a single tooth on the bottom of its mouth. It had fins for hands, like that Snatcher, and wore green pants. Could the two be related somehow?
"You talking about this?" Akikta pointed the radio at the creature.
"Yes! Poor thing. Must've gotten separated. Don't know how it got all the way over there, though..." Sal said, talking to himself mostly.
Akikta figured this smallfry and the Snatcher were the same species, since Sal seemed to know what it was. He recalled how Sal referred to snatchers as 'basically smallfries.' And the more he looked at the smallfry, the more it looked like a baby snatcher.
"This one looks young. Welp, guess you'll have to do me another favor, if you don't mind."
"Another?"
"Yes. Please, bring back that young one with you, along with the criminal."
"Do I have to?"
"Since you asked, yes."
Akikta exhaled softly. He guessed it wouldn't hurt to have two travel buddies. The guilt would never leave him if he left a baby alone in such a chaotic-looking city anyway.
He hooked the radio onto his belt before picking up the light smallfry. It was no bigger than a foot, and aside from its slick gray skin, easy to hold. It didn't seem to mind being picked up, either.
Akikta stared down at the smallfry. He was also getting déjà vu with this creature, but had he seen it before? And if so, then from wh-
"Hey." A voice called out from behind him. It had an annoyed tone.
He turned to see a tannish-skinned inkling girl with yellow hair staring at him. One of her tentacles was untouched, while the other was braided.
Her shirt was torn slightly, revealing her stomach. She wore black sweatpants, the same as Akikta, and wore the same type of socks as Nakji.
She crossed her arms, both of which were wrapped in a purple and dark greenish cloth-like material that only covered her forearms.
A puffier white version of the cloth wrapped around her neck like a comfortable pillow.
The inkling stared at him with unwelcoming yellowish-green eyes; an orangish rim surrounded her irises.
Compared to everyone else in Splatsville, she looked the most unfriendly.
"Can I help you...?" Akikta asked as politely as he possibly could, a hint of confusion in his tone.
The inkling stopped crossing her arms and placed a hand on her hip, leaving the other to hang at her side. "Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing." She tapped her foot impatiently.
Akikta was about to ignore her, not knowing what game she was playing. Then he abruptly recognized her.
She was also in the security footage with the manta ray, octoling, and the other three inklings.
And this smallfry had been there, following her like a pet. She wore a different outfit then, but he could tell she was the same person.
If Sal was anything to go by, he knew this smallfry didn't belong to her. Not initially.
"Oh, um... well, you see..." Akikta fumbled over his words, unsure how to tell this inkling that this smallfry wasn't hers. She probably felt like it was hers. Who knew how long she had been taking care of this thing?
"What's going on here?" Asked Nakji before Akikta could come up with an excuse.
She finally appeared after retrieving her precious weapon, which was sheathed and strapped to her back. "Who's this, Aki?"
Nakji's question caused the inkling to lower her brows, the left of which was a split eyebrow.
"Name's Metta. Now that we've got the pleasantries out the way, tell your boy over here to get his hands off Lil' Buddy."
Nakji turned to see what Metta was talking about. "What's a salmonid doing here?" She sounded genuinely confused.
Little Buddy? That's a horrible name. Actually, that isn't even a name. Was all Akikta could think about as Metta faced Nakji.
"That's none of your business. Now will you tell your friend to take his hands off my companion, or will I have to make him take his hands off?"
Akikta didn't like the sounds of that.
Nakji narrowed her eyes. She didn't like that either. "You aren't gonna make him do anything."
"Oh yeah?" Metta stepped up to Nakji. Now the two girls were right in each other's faces.
Little Buddy watched quietly as he lightly bounced in Akikta's hands.
Akikta was worried about getting into a fight. Partly because witnesses surrounded them and mainly because he had no idea what inklings were capable of. If they were anything like Nakji, he wanted no part of it.
At the same time, he couldn't give up Little Buddy. He didn't- couldn't let Sal down by taking the cowardly way out.
When it looked like Nakji was about to draw her weapon, Akikta spoke.
"Ok! Ok." He started, causing Metta to turn and face him. "I apologize. I thought Lil' Buddy was alone..."
Metta eyed Akikta for a moment before smiling. She held her hands out for the smallfry. "Glad we didn't have to settle this Splatlands-style."
Akikta slowly extended the hand holding Little Buddy to her. "Yea. Glad we-" He suddenly pushed Metta down the stairs. Metta yelled as she fell down the many steps. The commotion got the attention of a nearby group of inklings and octolings.
"Run!" Akikta shouted, grabbing Nakji by the arm and pulling her along momentarily before hauling ass through the city.
He didn't get far before noticing Nakji was not keeping up half as well as he expected.
"Come on! You can run faster than that, can't you?"
"How can you run that fast?!" Nakji called back as she lagged behind a great deal.
Orca did say Nakji was an evolved descendent of octopuses. Maybe she's better in water than on land? Akikta thought, which could explain why she couldn't keep up even if he jogged.
He figured this would mean the same for Metta, but then they'd never be able to lose her. Well, Nakji wouldn't be able to lose her. But he had already made up his mind about her, so he wouldn't leave her for dead.
He rushed back to Nakji. "Hold this." He hurriedly shoved Little Buddy into her hands before scooping her up by the back of the knees, causing her to yelp in surprise.
He held her bridal style and found she wasn't all that heavy.
Akikta looked ahead, only to see Metta charging at them. The way she ran was almost feral, and she looked pissed. The look in her eyes about scared him.
Fortunately, despite her feral charge, she wasn't much faster than Nakji. Akikta could run laps around her.
A taunting smirk came across his face, one he so dearly wished Metta could've seen. "Hope you like dust, sweetheart!" He said loud enough for Metta to hear before turning and blasting off through the crowds of inklings and octolings with Nakji in tow.
He could almost hear the roar of frustration that Metta let out. It grew further and further away as he continued to speed off through Splatsville.
"Man, that went better than expected."