After one last year of living with her parents after graduating high school, the nineteen year old Inkling known as Tanya Hokai had finally managed to get herself settled in an apartment near Inkopolis Tower. The perfect place to live due to the fact that it wouldn't take that long to get to the tower so she could participate in Turf Wars! Well that was the plan at least, since shortly after she moved into her apartment, the Great Zapfish ended up suddenly disappearing from Inkopolis Tower - along with plenty of normal Zapfish! Something which had never happened in the history of Inkopolis ever since it was founded shortly after the Great Turf War! And while that did mean Turf Wars were going to be put on hold due to the lack of power, most of the Inklings in the city were really concerned about its disappearance - especially not Tanya. Everyone in the city was sure that the Great Zapfish would return, all except for a select few - two of those few who were worried about the Great Zapfish disappearing being the famous Squid Sisters, who were actually cousins despite being called the Squid Sisters: Callie Aori and Marie Hotaru. They were the ones who gave the report about its disappearance a few days ago after all alongside some sort of mysterious UFO with a tentacle sticking out being spotted just outside the city limits around the same time the Great Zapfish disappeared. Were the Great Zapfish's disappearance and the UFO sighting connected to one another? Probably not... But the disappearance of the Great Zapfish was the last thing on Tanya's mind at the moment, since a few short days after the news report of the Great Zapfish being stolen, Tanya decided to finally go get herself a job; something which she should've done even if the Great Zapfish hadn't disappeared. The woman needed a steady cash flow other than what she earns in Turf Wars or Ranked Modes after all! Perhaps one of the shops in Inkopolis Plaza had an opening. Annie was always so nice despite that clownfish in her hair always insulting customers... Maybe she'll need help keeping Moe under control or helping the customers find what customers need!
Then there was Crusty Sean. He was always quite the chill dude, but not always the best when it came to keeping stock and giving customers the shoes that they wanted. Probably due to his large claws sometimes making it a struggle to grab certain types of shoes, especially ones with laces. However, just as she had arrived at Inkopolis Plaza and headed right towards Cooler Heads to try and see if she could get a job there, that was when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. No, not something, it was actually someone. Some sort of old man with a large white beard with raggedy looking clothes and wearing a Cap of Legend partially sticking out of the sewer grate near Inkopolis Tower. And considering the fact that he kept on looking around, it seems like he was looking for something or someone... Tanya could easily choose to ignore the old man and continue on her way to Cooler Heads, but her curiosity had always gotten the best of her for as long as she could remember... So letting her curiosity get the better of her once again, the Inkling started to approach the sewer grate. But when she got close, the old man quickly dived back down into the sewer! Perhaps he got nervous the second he noticed Tanya getting close to the grate? But it was too late was literally right in front of the sewer grate. So letting her curiosity continue to get the better of her, the Inkling turned into her squid form and jumped through the grate; letting her body be taken through the pipes of the sewer until she found herself popping out of another sewer grate... And to some sort of foggy area. It took a couple of moments, but the fog finally dissipated and Tanya would find herself in some sort of area with good chunks of land floating all over the place. Even the very ground she was standing out was floating quite high into the air! How the shell did the sewer grate she went into connect to a floating chunk of land!? Bah, that wasn't important. After taking in her surroundings, she would finally concentrate on what was in front of her.
The first thing she would take in was that there was some sort of old shack with all sorts of news clippings, maps, drawings and these mysterious looking red tentacle creatures plastered all over the shack - one of which was plastered on the center of the door that led into the shack itself. Some sort of insignia that was the exact same one seen on the Cap of Legend: Two Bamboozlers crossed over each other right under the bottom of a symbol of a squid alongside these two wave looking pieces sticking out from the ends of the Bamboozlers seen on the hat. Then she would finally take notice of him. The old man she saw sticking out of the sewer grate back in Inkopolis Plaza wearing the same Cap of Legend and the torn and poorly stitched together rags that were his clothes. Though since she was able to get a better look at him, Tanya would be able to notice that he was actually wearing black shorts similar to what Inklings wore today - thank cod - had four medals stuck near the bottom of the rags that were his clothes, slightly torn up shoes and he was using a Bamboozler as a cane. A very old looking Bamboozler at that, meaning it was more than likely out of commission and wouldn't be firing a single shot any time soon. Though considering how old this Inkling looked, he was more than likely unable to produce enough ink to even fire the thing! Though before Tanya had a chance to question the old man about why he was sticking out of the sewer grate in the plaza in the first place, he started muttering to himself before...
"THE OCTARIANS ARE COMING!" The old man yelled out, causing Tanya to get into a more battle ready stance due to this activating her fight or flight mode - her body obviously choosing to fight. Though it was after this yell where the old man finally took notice of Tanya and nearly caused him to yell once again. Though surprisingly, he managed to keep his cool as he spoke in a much more calm manner. "Ah, sorry about that. I didn't notice you were there and ended up losing my cool once I heard something coming from the sewer grate."
"I could see that." Tanya commented, letting herself relax before continuing. "So who are you? And why were you peeking out of that sewer grate back in the Plaza like some sort of weirdo?"
"I'm glad you asked, young'un! The name's Cap'n Cuttlefish, leader of the Legendary Squidbeak Splatoon!" Captain Cuttlefish introduced himself, catching Tanya's attention IMMEDIATELY. "THE Captain Cuttlefish? You mean the one from the Great Turf War!? I read about you back in high school! Cod, you and your Splatoon were like superheroes considering if it wasn't for you, Inklings probably wouldn't have won the Great Turf War!"
"Really? I'm delighted to hear that!" Captain Cuttlefish replied with a slight laugh, happy that people are still learning about his and his Splatoon's feats during the events of the Great Turf War despite the fact that it's been one hundred years since the war. "As for your second question... That look in your eyes, it's the look I've been lookin' for these last few days! I've been waiting for someone like you!"
"You... Have?" Tanya questioned, Captain Cuttlefish continuing. "Of course! As you know, the Great Zapfish that powers Inkopolis along with many other Zapfish have vanished from Inkopolis, but this isn't an ordinary vanishing. Nobody will believe me, but this is the work of the Octarians! They're out for revenge after losing the Great Turf War one hundred years ago! I've been tryna keep a close eye on them for the last few years after taking notice of Octarian activity here in the valley, but they managed to steal the Great Zapfish from under my watchful eye! I can't save the Zapfish myself, so please! I ask you to help me rescue the Zapfish and save Inkopolis!"
Rescue the Great Zapfish... Save Inkopolis... For the last nine years, Tanya could only imagine being able to do something like this. She always wanted to be a hero for other people to rely on, so there was NO WAY she was missing out on this chance!
"Of course Cap'n! I'll show those Octarians what happens when you mess with Inkopolis!" Tanya eagerly replied, making a bright smile appear on Captain Cuttlefish's face under his beard as he spoke. "Wonderful! Now come inside with me, there's something I need to give you before you head out."
An order that Tanya didn't hesitate to follow, her heading inside the shack alongside Captain Cuttlefish. Upon entering, the Captain walked over to a box on one side of the cabin and shifted through it; eventually pulling out what looked to be a crossing guard's vest along with a pair of large headphones and a pair of sneakers. - all of which he handed to Tanya.
"Put on this Hero Suit and meet me back outside." Captain Cuttlefish spoke as he gave these articles of clothing to Tanya before heading outside so he could let Tanya change into the Hero Suit in peace.
It took her a couple of minutes... But eventually she managed to change out of her day clothes and right into her Hero Suit. The sneakers and the headphones fit just fine, but the vest itself was a little big on Tanya, being big enough on her person to cover up her shorts to about halfway. But that didn't bother her, since she felt she looked rather nice in the new outfit she was dawning.
"Talk about a perfect fit!" Captain Cuttlefish spoke up as soon as Tanya exited the cabin, muttering something under his breath before approaching Tanya and handing her what looked to be a modified version of the Splattershot. "This Hero Shot and Hero Suit you're now wearing should more than protect you from the ink from those nasty Octarians and allow you to take them down with ease! And that allows me to happily dub you as Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon!"
"Agent... 3? Does that mean there's two other agents who are part of your New Squidbeak Splatoon, Captain?" Tanya - now going by Three from here on out - questioned, to which Captain Cuttlefish answered. "Oh I wouldn't worry about the other two agents, I'm sure you'll be meeting them soon enough. For now, let's go get those nasty Octarians! I'm counting on you to save the Great Zapfish, Agent 3!"
And with one last pose with his left hand and Bamboozler, Captain Cuttlefish pointed in the direction Agent 3 needed to head towards in order to start her mission... It was time to save the Zapfish!