Hey, everyone. So, I do wanna apologize real quick for the long gaps between these chapters; I wanted to get this one out a while ago, especially before anymore King Salmonids were introduced in the actual game, but oh well, better late than never. I've ultimately decided to treat this story more as a side project for what is already a hobby, but I'll discuss that a bit more in the bottom AN.
Bit of trivia, especially for anyone who is familiar with my other stories, this one is actually a bit of a callback to NSS:OD's original Salmon Run chapter, which is the first time I ever wrote about the Salmonids. I first wrote that initial chapter way back in 2019, and it was actually among the first of my Splatoon fanfiction, so it's fun to look at the two and see how my writing has changed. ...Well, ok, it hasn't changed too much, but still, it's fun to compare. But enough about that, onto the show.
Salmon Run: Next Wave
"Alright!" Shiver tapped her fan against her table, more than ready to wrap up today's Anarchy Splatcast. "That just about does it for today's announcements. Remember: This city's not a place for cowards, so if you're not a coward, you're doing great." She smiled warmly, eyes closed.
Frye pointed at the camera. "And hey, please stop coming up to us on the street for autographs! That automatically makes us not like you! In fact, you're at risk of getting shot! I mean it!"
"Uh… guys…" Big Man tried to interrupt.
"Anyway, death threats aside, I think that from Splatsville, that's a wrap." Shiver once again tapped her fan down. She and Frye sat up, striking their poses. "Catch ya la-"
"GUYS!" Big Man snapped.
"What, what, what?" Frye groaned as they sat back down. "When did you learn to yell like that?"
"We forgot the Grizzco ad. That prompter guy you guys don't pay attention to looked like he was gonna have a heart attack."
She rubbed her face. "Fuck dammit… that's right… those bozos again… alright, throw it up on the screen."
The Grizzco Industries logo popped up on Big Man's screen.
"Sign up for Grizzco today and you'll… get paid." Shiver said. "Just don't forget to grab your bonuses on your way out. Grizzco Industries is not responsible for any lost property and forgotten items will be thrown out upon notice. Also, don't take eggs outside of the building. Um… ugh… yeah, you guys get it. It's Grizzco."
"Those shady fucks at Grizzco never learn." Frye punched the air. "These constant advertisements seriously get so old."
"But it brings up an interesting topic, though…" Big Man replied. "Where do all the eggs that you collect there end up going? It's a very interesting thing to think about."
"As a power source, duh."
"I heard they get eaten." Shiver replied. "But, Big Man, that's not an interesting topic. Everyone and their grandmas have already discussed it."
"But… doesn't it creep anyone else out that the company has never given any kind of explanation as to where the eggs go?" Big Man continued. "In fact, you're encouraged not to think about it, only to do. Just do. And Mr. Grizz… no one has ever even seen him as anything other than a statue. Is he… even a person? Is… he something else? What is he?"
"...Well, now that you mention it-" The Splatcast feed was then cut off.
It was the usual, chaotic day in Splatsville, the only city in the world where the term 'normal day' simply didn't exist, and was thus never used.
In one particular apartment in one of its many apartment buildings, an Octoling was sick on the couch, curled up in a blanket as she occasionally coughed and wiped her nose. Her schedule for the day had thus been completely thrown off, and her Octoling boyfriend didn't seem too happy about it. In fact, nothing seemed to be going his way today.
He was on the phone nearby, nodding occasionally as he spoke with a calm voice. "Yes… thank you for the news… truly tragic." He hung up.
The girl coughed again. "Cannon…?"
He turned, revealing the goggles he wore along with his Surfcurl hairstyle. "…It seems that dear Della has passed."
"Oh, no…" She forced a frown. "I really liked her… what happened?"
"She was hit by a car. I guess Tony stole my idea on how to deal with her."
"Aww…" She coughed again. "Can you hand me another tissue? I'm too lazy to move my arm."
He slowly walked over and did so, but leaned over her as he did. "Maeve… do you understand what this means?"
"That she's dead?" She blew her nose directly by his face.
He closed his eyes and sighed before he yanked the tissue away from her. "It means that with one member dead and the other sick in bed, my Grizzco team is two members short. Do you know what happens when my Grizzco team is two members short?"
"That you're two members short? Stop it with the questionnaire, that doesn't make you smart…"
He wrapped his hand around her throat, strangling her. "It means that my team is no longer a TEAM! And without my team, my entire day is ruined… How am I supposed to go out and kill all those stupid fishes now, Maeve? Huh? Huh? ANSWER ME!"
She couldn't respond, her oxygen completely cut off. She soon started to turn blue, but he let go of her before she lost consciousness. She wheezed for air and coughed loudly. It took a moment before she could respond, her voice weak. "…Just… play with strangers, Cannon… god…" She groaned slightly. "Look at that, you made my voice all raspy… you get so angsty sometimes, babe… ugh… you're such a dork…" She pulled the blanket over herself more as she turned toward the opposite direction, coughing more as she did.
He sighed, keeping himself composed. "…I resent being called a dork… but I guess you're right. Assembling new teammates is my only option left. You keep lying here like the lazy bum you are, but I'll be back for you soon enough."
"Whatever…" She curled up.
Cannon went over to the nearby mirror, straightening himself and making sure his appearance was perfect before he grabbed his weapon and headed out.
Johnny's Apartment
Syd was eating pretzels and drinking a beer on the couch next to Chase, enjoying her leisurely time at the TV as she browsed through multiple streaming apps, watching multiple movies and starting multiple shows in a row, often skipping from one to another.
Her fun was soon cut short, however, when Sally barged through the door, looking around. "Johnny? Where's Johnny? I really need-" She noticed Chase. "Uh… what the hell is that?"
Syd glanced at him before turning back to her. "That's my Smallfry, you bitch."
"No, I mean… ugh." She yanked the beer that Chase was drinking from his hand. "No drunk Salmonids in this house. I already have enough Salmonids to deal with."
Chase frowned and looked down before he dramatically collapsed, whining.
Sally kept drinking the beer herself, quickly finishing it and groaning as she wiped her mouth. "Now, where's Johnny?"
Johnny came out of the bathroom, still drying his hands. "What's up? What happened?"
"Johnny…" She pulled him aside to talk more privately. "The worst thing has happened… Della's dead and Maeve is sick in bed…" She whispered.
"Della!?" He frowned and rubbed his forehead. "Oh, my god…"
"Shhh! Shh!" She covered his mouth. "Listen… it gets worse because I might be next…"
He brought his own voice down to a whisper. "How are you gonna be next?"
"You know how Cannon gets when things don't go his way… half of our Grizzco team is currently out and now I have to help him fill in the vacancies… before he kills me…"
"Hey… hey…" He rubbed her arm. "He's not gonna kill you… ok? If he tries, I'll kill him."
Syd, who was secretly listening in from nearby, glanced angrily at the way he was rubbing her.
Sally grabbed both of his arms. "That's very noble of you, but I just really, really need you to help fill in for me… please… I need to avoid being on Cannon's bad side."
"...Ok…" He hugged her to help ease her worries. "I'll help you…"
Syd then loudly cleared her throat, revealing herself. "Grizzco, huh? That sounds like fun."
"Sonofa-" Sally immediately broke the hug. "How much of that did you hear?"
"All of it." She downed her drink.
She sarcastically chuckled. "You know my problems aren't yours, right? Go snoop somewhere else."
She shrugged. "My apartment too."
"This isn't your-" She sighed. "How much experience do you have with Grizzco, anyway?"
"Uh, I raise my own pet Smallfry, I think that's plenty."
"Nope, wrong. That's not Grizzco experience. I am an Eggsecutive VP. My team and I deal with only the most ruthless, murderous Salmonids out there. You won't last 5 seconds out there with my team." She hand-waved her off. "Now run along, newbie, the adults and I still have some very important business to talk about."
She threw her can into the trash and crossed her arms. "Oh, so Johnny has more experience working with Salmonids than me?"
"I'm sure he has plenty, yes."
"Nope…" Johnny slowly shook his head.
"What- why would you admit that!?" She hiss-whispered at him.
"Because I've never worked at Grizzco before."
"You dumbass, I'm trying to avoid bringing braid-y here along with us! She's going to find a way to get us all killed!"
"Come on, Sally, you've seen him with Chase. She'll do just fine."
She sighed as she thought about it. They both stared at her, awaiting what she was going to say next.
"...Uuuugh." Sally finally said. "Fine. But if she messes this up for us, I'm going to let Cannon kill her."
Johnny sighed.
"I don't even know who that is." Syd replied.
"Oh, trust me, you'll know." Sally walked up and patted her shoulder. "You'll know." She then walked away.
Syd and Johnny exchanged glances.
Later
Grizzco Industries
When Syd and Johnny followed Syd down into the Grizzco building in the Square, the door shut behind them, slamming them into darkness. Syd looked behind her, the three of them only accompanied by a putrid smell and the ominous sound of a dripping liquid "Ugh… what the hell is that smell? And what happened to the lights?"
Sally sighed. "Fucking motion sensor lights..." She waved her hands around until, one-by-one, the lights switched on.
The lights first revealed the training room to their left, in which the dummy balloons for target practice began moving along their designated lines, then the room they actually stood in, finally unveiling the creepy bear statue before them.
It buzzed to life. "Welcome to Grizzco Industries. My name is Mr. Grizz."
"Heya, Grizzy." Sally replied. "Got some newcomers here. They're here to fill in for Maeve and Della."
"Maeve and Della? Hm. They better have had a good reason to not come in today."
"Well, one of them is sick and the other one kinda… died."
"Hm… Well, I appreciate the backup. Good workers are getting hard enough to come by these days."
"And I can assure you that I brought two of the best. Can't get better workers than this."
"Good, then that'll speed things up. You two. I'm not gonna sugarcoat anything for you. If you have the skills, I'm not gonna bother giving you the tutorial. Your job is to collect as many eggs from the Salmonids as possible, whatever it takes. You will be compensated fairly based on your performance, and if you die, well… just don't die."
As he talked, Syd kept looking around, locating the source of the dripping sound that was in fact a forming puddle of ink, that was leaking from the ceiling above. Her eyes widened a bit. "…I see…"
He ominously chuckled. "I wouldn't let that scare you too much, kid. Your outfit will have a built-in life preserver for if you get splatted. Just don't get yourself anything more than splatted."
"So, no one's gonna explain the… yeah, ok…" She sheepishly rubbed her arm.
Johnny looked at the statue. "I've heard talk about you and all that, but I still can't help but ask… why are you a statue?"
"This statue is just a radio through which I can speak. My true identity and location is classified for the public, even for people who work for me." Mr. Grizz responded.
"C'mon, Johnny." Sally chuckled. "Everyone knows he's just a basement-dwelling pedo who doesn't like to get his hands dirty."
"I AM NOT-" He audibly cleared this throat. "…Whatever. The helicopter will get ready to leave once your full team is assembled. Get ready."
The three of them looked at each other, and Sally shrugged. "Alright, you heard the bear. Let's get this show on the road." She led them to the lockers.
The whirring sound of helicopter blades filled all of their ears as they got situated in the helicopter, taking off from the Grizzco Industries roof and toward the direction of the Salmonid's turf.
The three of them were now joined by Cannon, who sat still as he played with his blaster, constantly cocking it and then uncocking it.
Syd, who was sitting next to him, stared at him, wondering if he was even allowed to be bringing his own weapon along with him. She had definitely heard some interesting things about him… so shouldn't she try to… get on his good side? Hesitating a bit, she reached her hand forward. "Hey… I'm Syd."
He briefly stopped, giving her a glare.
"…You're… Cannon, right?"
He just turned back to his weapon, continuing as he was.
"...I like your weapon…"
He finally nodded a bit. "Everyone does."
"...Heh… yeah, I think it looks sleek…"
Johnny and Sally both gave each other concerned looks as they listened to the both of them.
"...I usually just use a Tri-Stringer. And, uh… my little buddy, Chase, is also often helpful, with, well, a lot of stu-"
He suddenly turned to her. "You have a little buddy?"
"Y-Yeah… he's a Smallfry. A good one, unlike the ones we're about to fight, I guess… but he's very adorable."
He gave her an intense look. "Can I put him into a jar?"
She blinked and looked away. "…No…"
"You must understand. I collect Smallfries."
"...Why…?"
"Because I like to watch them die after struggling through captivity like the poor idiots they are before withering away forever for me to watch."
Ok, now she instead had to make sure this guy just stayed as fucking far away from Chase as he possibly could. "…I see…" She gave up on the conversation and leaned back, sinking down.
"...Have it your way… but I'll capture him eventually." He turned back to his own weapon.
Johnny looked at Sally, who just shrugged. "…Her fault for bringing him up." She whispered.
"We're picking up Salmonid activity at Sockeye Station, so I'm dropping you off there. Hang tight." Mr. Grizz's voice spoke to them in their earpieces.
Sockeye Station
The helicopter circled the island as one-by-one, starting with Cannon, the four of them grabbed their Grizzco-issued weapons and then super-jumped out of the vehicle, landing swiftly on land as they turned back to their humanoid forms.
Sally stretched, cracking her neck. "Alright, you two." She turned to the newcomers. "Start inking the ground. We want as much of this turf as possible when the Salmonids come for us."
"I know about turf control, thanks." Syd gave her a sarcastic smile before she looked down at the cheap Nozzlenose gun she had been given. "…Oh, boy…"
Johnny patted her back. "Here, Syd. You can have-" He was about to trade his superior dualies with her weapon when Mr. Grizz interrupted them.
"No switching." He said.
"Ok…" He stopped. "I meant to say that I'll have your back."
"Whatever…" Syd lazily started spreading some ink around her, taking the opportunity to scout the station as she did. After a moment, she turned to Sally. "So, we gonna discuss strategy? Or do you guys just typically wing this?"
"Be competent and don't die and we won't have a problem." Cannon answered.
"...Got it…"
"He's going to be coming for us… I can smell him…"
"Huh? Smell who?"
"Cohozuna…"
"...Who's Cohozuna?"
"Cohozuna's real?" Johnny lowered his weapon as they turned to face each other. "I thought he was just a myth or some kind of inside joke among Grizzco workers."
"Oh, he's very real." Sally responded. "Most of the deaths in this job are from him alone."
"He feeds off of his own minions to become stronger…" Cannon added. "To become the first known King Salmonid. A powerful creature who rises from the sea with a deafening roar and an endless hunger for these sad, miserable shells we call our flesh and ink."
"...Ok…" Syd sighed. "And how many times have you fought this… Cohozuna?" She rose her hands and gave some dramatic finger quotes.
He looked her in the eye. "24 times and a half."
"Uh-huh…"
"You don't believe me? I'll happily feed you to him." He stepped up toward her. "Or maybe I'll just take you for myself. Your ink, your kidneys… I'll take them all from you. One by one. Bit by bit if I must. You can be my Inkling trophy. You most certainly will not replace my Octoling trophy, but mark my words, I can still use you. Do not think yourself as above me, Inkling. YOU WILL BE AT MY FEET! I WILL STEP ALL OVER YOU UNTIL YOU ARE LESS THAN A CORPSE!"
Syd just stared at him, dumbstruck, as she slowly backed off.
"Yeah… That's what I thought…" He nodded and turned away from her.
"Be ready for when Cohozuna does arrive." Sally responded as she kept inking the ground. "Big fish doesn't screw around. And if you screw up our win, then-"
"Yeah, yeah, you'll feed me to Cannon." Syd hand-waved her off. "I get it." She walked away.
She shrugged and kept working.
Syd aimlessly wandered through the station as they awaited any Salmonid appearances, inking any un-inked ground that she saw as she thought about what kind of huge mistake she made in coming here. She was pretty much on her own when she heard a small splash behind her, and she narrowed her eyes, slowly turning around.
A Smallfry had emerged from the bay and simply stood there by the water's edge, blinking and tilting its head at her.
Syd stared back at it, waiting for it to attack. After a moment, however, both of them had remained silent. "…Hello."
It blinked at her, eyeing her weapon.
She followed its gaze and frowned slightly. "…It's ok… I'm not gonna hurt you." She leaned down and set it aside. "…You're… really not a bad fish, huh?"
It just kept staring at her.
She couldn't help but smile. "I knew you wouldn't be…" She sat down to get closer to his level. "You guys aren't bad… none of you are. You're just defending your waters from those evil Grizzco pricks, huh?" She nodded. "Yeah… I've known ever since I met Chase… Salmonids are just the best. Chase is the bestest friend and ally I could've ever asked for. You're reminding me of him already." She briefly glanced back in the direction of her teammates, before turning back to him. "It's ok… I did come here with some Grizzco pricks, but if we just hang out over here, they won't see us. We can just hang out here… and no one will take your eggs from you. Sound good, little guy?"
He leaned its head toward her.
She giggled slightly. "I think so too." She reached forward to pet it, but just as she was about to touch it, it leaned forward and bit her finger. "Ow!" She immediately pulled her hand back, and she then watched as an entire army of Smallfries emerged from the water in front of her, trying to tackle her.
"EEK!" She scrambled for her gun and rolled to her feet, firing some shots at them as she ran back to her team. "AMBUSH, AMBUSH!"
The three other team members all looked toward them as they heard her voice, and Cannon grinned widely as he gripped his weapon. "Finally… come to daddy."
The next thing they all knew, an army of Salmonids had emerged from the bay, honing in on the different teammates. Syd's eyes widened as she watched, completely shocked by the sheer quantity they presented. The four of them all readied themselves for battle, ready for anything, but to Syd's surprise, they all stopped in front of them, ready to attack with their frying pans.
"Behold!" A tiny, high-pitched voice called out to them. "The might of the Salmonids!"
"Whooo said that?" Syd replied, her voice a bit shaky. She looked down at the little Smallfry that had slid forward. She stared at it. "…Oh…"
"Time and time again, your people have come after our eggs! Time and time again, our eggs have been stolen from us! From our wonderful mothers! But no more! Today, our King grows restless! If you continue on your attack, you risk agitating COHOZUNA!"
"Toldja…" Sally whispered.
Syd rolled her eyes, still unbelieving.
"We present you with your final choice! Flee, or die!" The Smallfry finished.
Johnny looked at the others, but Sally and Cannon were already nonchalantly preparing for battle.
"I choose death…" Cannon smirked. "Death to ALL!" He pushed Syd aside and began unloading his weapon on the Salmonids, screaming as he did.
"ATTAAAAACK!" The Smallfry shouted, head pointed upward, before the Salmonid army marched forth. Multiple horns sounded as they were followed by Salmonid bosses, including a massive Steel Eel that shoved several smaller fishes aside as it began its relentless chase.
It was a long, arduous battle between man and fish. Syd, Johnny, and Sally all focused their efforts on two things: Egg collecting, and survival. The relentless waves of Salmonids that they managed to take down only brought lots of golden eggs into their hands, which they struggled to bring back to Mr. Grizz's basket, tossing them to each other in order to get the job done more efficiently. Cannon, on the other hand, was focused more on murder, taking down as many 'stupid fishes' as his gun could possibly shoot at, screaming often as he did. The four of them were all at multiple points splatted, then revived. They worked together to keep each other in the battle, and to maintain their own sanity. Flesh was bruised, ink was spread, and tears were shed. Syd would truly never look at Smallfries quite the same way after this.
But like all great battles, it eventually came to an end. Multiple waves of Salmonids had been fought back against and defeated, retreating into the bay where they dwelled, leaving the team completely exhausted.
Cannon held up his newly captured Smallfry, which struggled in his hand. He smirked at it as he slipped it into a jar, closing the lid on it. "There you go, little guy… there you go."
Distressed, the Smallfry banged against the glass.
"What's that? I couldn't hear you. Speak up." He shook it. "You little shit. You stupid fish. Look at me." He waited for it to obey, before shaking it more violently. "LOOK AT ME, YOU LITTLE VERMIN! LOOK AT ME!"
As Cannon kept screaming nearby, Syd was still catching her breath, collapsing by a wall in exhaustion.
"Hey…" Johnny came up to her. "You… ok?"
"Perfectly fine…" She panted.
"...You know, you're not a very good liar at all." He leaned next to her.
"...You don't think that Chase will ever turn on me, do you…?"
"Chase? No…" He gripped his weapon. "…Just… if he ever grows up and makes eggs, uh… don't touch them."
"...Whatever…" She wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I'm just glad that's over with…"
But something wasn't right. The sounds that the bay was making could be heard from anywhere on the island, ominously giving off bubbling and wave-like noises as the Salmonids dwelled below.
Sally looked around. "…It's not over yet."
Concerned, Syd and Johnny looked around as well, as Johnny grabbed Syd's arm to help her up. They walked to regroup with the others. "What? What's going on?" She asked.
"He's coming." Cannon replied casually.
"...He, as in… Cohozuna?" She forced a chuckle. "This guy has been all bark and no bite, I've seen no proof that he's actually real."
Sally and Cannon glanced at each other, smirking a bit, as a loud emergency alarm then blared through the station. They all looked around.
"Heads up, you've got a King Salmonid coming in." Mr. Grizz told them.
Sally, Cannon, and Johnny all held their weapons forward while Syd just turned to watch as, just by the shore, a massive, overly obese fish, with large chains around his neck and horrifying white eyes, rose from the sea, splashing water all over the place just by the simple act of moving. Raising his head, he leaned forward, unleashing the loudest ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRRR Syd had ever heard.
Syd desperately covered her ears as the roar vibrated through her body, and the massive Cohozuna slid his way onto land, followed by another wave of ravenous Salmonids that rushed up from behind him.
"You were saying?" Sally said.
Syd just stared up at the monster, completely frightened.
Johnny and Sally began firing at the incoming lesser Salmonids, while Cohozuna kept approaching at his slower pace.
"I WILL GRIND ALL OF YOUR BOOOONES!" Cohozuna roared again.
"Stupid fish!" Cannon shouted back with sadistic glee. "WE DON'T HAVE BOOOOOOOOOOOOONES!" He began firing his Splatling at the creature.
Cohozuna stared down at him, barely even reacting to the ink, before he leapt up into the air.
Cannon kept firing at him until the last second before he dived into his squid form and swam away. Syd screamed and ran away as Cohozuna crashed down, splattering the entire surrounding area with ink. Standing up straight, he then unleashed another roar.
Syd covered her ears, panicking. She looked around to see that Sally and Johnny were still focused on the other Salmonid bosses. When she looked back at Cohozuna, she was met with a fun sight; The monster's eyes were now trained on her, and he was slowly making her way over to her. With no other idea of what to do, she just stood up straight and aimed her weapon, firing all of her ink at him.
The ink barrage did very little as Cohozuna slowly slid over, growling. Syd backed into the wall, emptied her ink, then whimpered as she slowly sat down. She watched as Cohozuna's belly drew closer, until she lied down, whimpering as she curled up.
Just before he could run her over, a bright golden egg suddenly struck his head, and for the first time, he flinched in pain. He turned his attention to Johnny, who was grabbing more eggs to fire, roaring once again.
Syd panted and stood back up to fire at him, but stopped as she heard Sally screaming at her across the map. She looked at her. "W-What!?"
"Fire golden eggs at him, you dumbass!" Sally repeated. "What is this to you, elementary school Turf War!?"
"Fuck you, you bitch! No one has told me how to do this!"
"It was IN THE MANUAL!"
…There was a manual? "…I DIDN'T READ THE FUCKING MANUAL!"
They were interrupted as Cohozuna roared again. "I WILL DROWN THE SEAS WITH ALL OF YOUR IIIIIIIIINK!"
"Stupid fish! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLEEEEEEEE!" Cannon replied yet again as he kept firing his Splatling at him.
"Just grab some fucking golden eggs before you get us all killed, Lachman!" Sally shouted as she rushed to grab more of her own.
Syd stood up straight and held her weapon, looking onward to calmly figure out her strategy. There seemed to be plenty of Salmonid bosses on the field to take some eggs from, but from where she stood, the King Salmonid was between her and all of them. Worse yet, Cohozuna was currently in the process of rearing its head toward her once again, as he again began sliding over.
It was now or never. She had to make her move. "…Come get some, you stupid fish…"
Cohozuna growled as he marched forward, preparing to jump into the air.
Syd screamed as she rushed forward, prepared to make her way around the monster, while Cohozuna leapt into the air, prepared to crush her.
The next thing Syd knew, she slowly opened her eyes. "Owwww…"
The vitals monitor next to her kept beeping at her as Johnny leaned by the side of her hospital bed. "Hey… you're up."
She looked around, very confused and feeling like a sack of shit. "…What happened…? Did Cohozuna crush me…?"
"Aaaactually, you, uh… tripped and fell under that Slamming Lid."
"That slammin' what…?"
"The Slamming Lid. The weird saucer things they were flying around."
She sighed and felt her head. "Ugh, my head huuuurts…"
"Yeah…" He held up Chase, who was bouncing in his hands. "Well, hey, I brought along a little so-"
"Don't touch me, don't touch me!" She suddenly leaned away.
He blinked. "...It's just Chase…"
"...Oh…"
He set the Smallfry on the bed, and he happily bounced onto her, cuddling with her.
She sighed in relief as she pet him, and then started thinking about her situation. Wow… Johnny actually came to see her at the hospital… She blushed a little as she realized this, but decided to try and play it cool. "...So… you guys defeated Cohozuna, huh?"
"Well, we scared him off." He scratched his head. "That Cannon guy, uh… isn't happy."
"...He's going to try and kill me, isn't he…?"
"Well, I didn't say he isn't happy with you. Uh… it all started right after we drove away Cohozuna."
Earlier
The three teammates watched as Cohozuna dived back into the sea, while all of the lesser Salmonids began to run away.
Johnny sighed in relief as he relaxed, while Sally was cheering. "Defeated again, sucka!" She stuck up her middle finger. "You fucking loser!"
As the two of them celebrated, Cannon stood calmly as he watched the sea fall silent once again, rubbing the lid of his jar with the Smallfry inside as if it was a head of hair. "…I'll see you again real soon, Cohozuna. I will always be seeing you. You are my greatest rival, and I am your greatest nigh-" He was interrupted as a Chum suddenly bumped his leg as it ran past him, and he dropped the jar.
The jar shattered across the ground, and the Smallfry inside immediately leapt up in surprise. It barely hesitated before it ran back to the bay, jumping in.
"No!" Cannon ran after it. "No, no, no!" He nearly dived into the water himself, but stopped himself, instead sinking to his knees. "NO! FUUUUUUCK! FUCK YOU! YOU STUPID FISHES!" He punched the ground. "MY DAY! YOU'VE RUINED IT! YOU'VE RUINED MY DAAAAAY!"
Syd stared at Johnny as he explained what happened, shaking her head in confusion. "…Ok?" She leaned her head back.
"Yeah…" He shrugged. "But oh well…"
She looked at Chase. She had a strong feeling that she hadn't seen the last of Cannon, but there was no way he was going to touch her little buddy. "…In either case… I'm never going back to Grizzco again."
He chuckled. "Me neither…"
"I've seen enough Salmonids to last me a lifetime." She held Chase close. "So I'll just stick with this one."
He leaned back and opened his magazine. "Well, let's hope we've really seen the last of them, then."
Later
The Salmonid Zone
Cohozuna sat along the edge of a small, empty metal island, blankly staring out toward the sunset. He barely even blinked as he stared directly into the sun, and all was silent around him, up until another massive King Salmonid rose from the bay aside him. Resembling a giant eel or even a dragon, it curled its body as it began staring at the sun with him.
"The Inklingsss." Horrorboros hissed, its voice partially mechanical-sounding. "They defeated you onccce again?"
"They are little people." Cohozuna growled. "I will crush all of them if they return."
"You keep sssaying that. At thisss rate… they will keep defeating usss. Our forcccesss… we have not tried hard enough. The more eggsss we lossse… the weaker we become."
"Then we are stuck with this way of life forever. We are stuck with humiliation."
At that moment, a Smallfry was emerging from the water, sliding onto land as it relaxed next to the giants. "But what if we invade their cities and destroy everything that they have?" He spoke with an adorable, high-pitched voice. "If we murder every single Inkling and take all of our eggs back, we won't be so weak and pathetic anymore."
Cohozuna looked down at him, and he gave a dumb grin in return. He looked back at the sun. "If we try but lose, we will only be embarrassed once again."
"No. No…" Horrorboros suddenly said. "The child hasss a point… we are weak. We mussst become ssstrong again. It isss the only way." It straightened itself, raising its head high. "Their cccitiesss… we ssshall invade."
Hi again. So, for anyone who cares, I do have some news: I mentioned above that I've ended up treating this story as more of a side project, and the reason for that is because I've actually pulled through on the New Squidbeak Splatoon: Ascension rewrite that I previously announced, which is the main thing I've been working on these past few months. You can expect that one to finally be updated very soon, so keep your eyes peeled. I'll try to keep working on both of these stories, but I'm once again considering the other my priority project, and hoping that writer's block doesn't get in the way again, so be warned. Either way, see you when I see you. *waves*