The time now was 16:00 hours. Meaning that now is usually the time where smart people would be inside with air conditioning. But, hey, then we wouldn't have a plot now would we? So, as usual by now, Deep Cut was still hangin' around in the line yadda yadda blah blah blah then Frye got bored or whatever and did a big cool thing that's it the end.


[Sir? Are you alright? You hardly even looked at the story after the first 2 lines...]

(Bah! I'm fine, but I'm so over this gig! Just reading left and right for almost an hour's driving me crazy! It was fun putting my awesome spin on readin' some chumps story, but I a'int feeling it anymore! And I NEVER do anything my hearts aren't into, that's basic life advice, dudette!)

[I respect that sir, but you should at least finish it before doing something else, people will get upset!]

(WHAT people?! The full story hasn't even been uploaded yet! You know, this whole thing started in AUGEST, 2023, NOW ITS NEXT YEAR!!! I ain't got time for a dumb fanfic updated slower than a 1-legged Octopus! Also, in what world do you think you can tell ME what ta do?!)

[Someone who thinks you're acting like a spoiled brat! Creative burnout is NOT the same as just being bored about reading some loser fanfic that your literally almost done with!]

(YOU'RE NOT MY REAL MOM!!!)

[No duh, double dip! Now you put your old-ass BACK IN THAT SEAT AN-]

Door slam*

"YO, OLD MAN 'TAVIO!!!"

(Wha-wai-Frye?! What-?!)

Onaga nabs the Octopus*

"Hey, I'm gonna borrow this guy, alright."

[Yeah sure, just don't break him]

(YOU Traitooooooooor...)

%W-will he be alright?

[Ah, he'll be fine. Lemme tell you something kid, ain't NOBODY messes with Maude. Ain't NOBODY.]

%Uhhh...OK...But what do we do about the story?

[Don't worry, we're still in the story, some rando 3rd person narrator always comes in as the de facto reader in these things anyway.]

%Ok, no more 4th wall breaks, my head hurts...


Now commencing, Omnipresent 3rd person Narrator (O.T.P.N.)


It was precisely 4:00 in the afternoon, as usual, Deep Cut was still waiting in the line for the rare Shell Man figure while going through character centric chapters that won't have any lasting effects to their personalities due to no small part of this being a fanfiction and not canon in any way. Also as usual, Frye was just sitting around and petting the 2 Eels she brought with her under the giant umbrella and sipping 1 of the cans of non-descriptive fruit juice. For anybody else, it'd be a pretty ideal relaxation time, unless you were the sole heir to the Eel-taming Onaga clan, Frye, who was currently bored out of her mind. Her expression was in a droopy frown, exaggerating how bored she felt with a steady stream of yellow drool coming out of her mouth, and her eyes somehow gaining bags at the bottom despite being awake for a normal amount of time like a regular type of cephalopod. "Uuuuuuuuuuugh...I'm so BORED right now! Voices on high, gimme SOMETHING to do!", Frye cried out in desperation, sitting on her knees with hands toward the skies trying to seemingly grasp the clouds. "Weren't you just screaming about your Eels being dehydrated a couple a' hours ago? I for one think theres been ENOUGH life altering escapades for an afternoon.", replied Shiver dryly, clearly now feeling the effects of her earlier adventure into hell and back. "You've been constantly repeating that damned sentence for an hour now, and I am THIS close to shutting that trap a' yours myself!", continued Shiver, motioning with her hands into fists and bashing each other in a threat display. Frye was not intimidated. "Pffft, yeah, like all this chunk a' muscle is gonna get scared by those itty bitty noodle limbs ya got!" At this, Shiver's arms suddenly do an impossible reverse bend, and immediately droops like a giant wet noodle. This causes Shiver's face to quickly change expressions from anger, to surprise, then right back to being totally pissed off. As Hohojiro started to get up to and try to break some nonexistent bones, Big Man immediately comes in to diffuse the situation. "Alright you two, sizzle out! No need for a 3rd crazy adventure to come out of an argument!" His statement immediately catches the others on hold, not wanting to waste all their energy on hyper-emotional escapades that may or may not lead to a load of crying into each others clothes. "Oh, uh, right...I do NOT want to go back into and airless building again...", Shiver managed to say first, looking awkwardly behind herself. Frye immediately conceded, "Ok, yeah, that WOULD be dumb. I honestly apologize for snapping you like that Shiv...But that still doesn't change the fact that it's my turn for my own character centric escapade anyway!" Big Man could only groan and push his face into his fins exasperated at Frye's hypocrisy. Shiver did the same, but with her hands, cause she didn't have any fins, obviously.

Despite herself, Frye responded to that with, "Oh, don't y'all give me that look! I've seen what the people think of me! I literally got dead last in the stupid BeSt LeAdEr Splatfest, I am LEGALLY the least popular member in this group!", she said with spite and indignation while angrily crossing her arms. Big Man quickly pointed out, "Frye, the Splatfests are for FUN. It is a recreational competition between people around the nation over 3 arbitrary choices while we hang out in floating wooden floats and dance for everybody.", he said in a stern voice that sounded like it had to explain that topic way too much. "Hey, hey, I wouldn't be saying that if I were you, "Mr. Big Man Sweep". Competition is what we Splatlandians LI-I-IVE for, the ultimate feeling of mercilessly crushing your foes into paste, asserting you power over the entire world, ever so SLOWLY changing the very laws of the land into mere PUPPETS-", responded Shiver, getting a little too megalomaniacal and scary, having her mouth covered by Big Man's fin. "Shiver you are NOT helping." Before Shiver could say something else to help her argument, Frye had apparently gotten a great idea, because she quickly interjected with a newly energized look in her eyes by saying, "I got an idea!!!" Her 2 Eels cartoonishly posed in the air as a light bulb behind Frye to help emphasize her statement. "Yo, we're literally celebrities, number 1 music group in the entirety of the Splatlands!" Frye started to say to her band mates, who were motioning for her to continue in dramatic effect. Frye proudly continued, while motioning her arms all over the place while talking. "BECAUSE we're so famous, we can just walk up to the front of the line whenever! We own this town, dudes!" Big Man quickly responded in shock, "WHAT!? N-No! That's a total abuse of our power! The Davey Jones's is frickin' wrong with you?!" Shiver, however, had her eyes metaphorically opened, and she just happened to also have a metaphorical window holder, so she quickly tried to convince Big Man of Frye's idea with a hidden devious smile. "Hold on Big Man, I think Frye's onto some-" Big Man quickly interrupted her reasons, "Oh no, not this time!" He said with an accusatory fin pointed at Shiver. "Today has been more tiring than that time I had to babysit Fryeks siblings, which is saying a lot, as they nearly broke my tail. There's gonna be no more trouble in this story or so help me-" Big Man's complaints soon dissolved into untranslatable angrish as he paced back and forth with a scowl etched onto his face. He was so into his complaining that he failed to notice Frye just up and went to try her plan anyway, leaving Shiver standing next to Big Man stunned.

Strutting to the next person in line, she boldly said in a tough manner "Hey chump! Am-scray, we got places to be, and that shellman figure is gonna be total property of deep cut! Let us through if ya know what's good for ya!" The individual turned around, revealing an absolute giant of a sea creature. He was a Red Lionfish, with an innumerable amount of scars and spines, which flared up after hearing Frye's rude exclamation. He had a fake eyeball made of solid gold, a roughed up leather jacket with equally golden spikes on the shoulders, a blood red shirt with an inked image of a Jolly Roger, and on his comparatively small legs, ripped jeans with a homemade stitch of a heart with the words MOM AND DAD written on on it. Getting a good look at Frye, the hooligan gave a straight-to-the-point rebuttal, learning down of Frye with hate. "Yeah? Whatcha' gonna do iffin' I say, "piss off"?" Frye, with a large bloodthirsty grin, completely undaunted, said "Hehehe...what else would it be around here~? You, me, fish to cephalopod-" She then pointed at the Lionfish with fire in her eyes, "DANCE BATTLE FOR THE SPOT IN LINE!!!" Her Eel's joining her with a defiant hiss. Frye's deceleration of challenge echoed throughout the plaza, reaching every single ear in the vicinity. Immediately, all eyes turned on Frye and the giant Lionfish, a tension already spreading as Frye smugly continued to point at her opponent (Big Man was still ranting, Shiver managed to slip away). The Lionfish, also undaunted, replied with, "Feh, whatcha take me for, ya think I'm from Inkopolis? Yeah, let's do this Splatlands style, loser gets the hell putta the way!" The giant cracked his knuckles and stood full height, with a confident smirk on his face with a fiery aura manifesting between the two as the others in the line backed off and cheered the new rivals, themselves itching to watch the spectacle. It took all the cheering to finally snap Big Man out of his rather uncharacteristic rant, looking a little confused, then right at Frye. Yet somehow, his rage was soon replaced with an understanding look, and a smile showed on his face. He'll apologize for his rant later, but first he had to cheer on his best friend in a dance off for the ages. "YEEEEAAAHHH!!! GO FRYE! GO GO GO!!" he yelled, with Shiver already following up with, "SHOW THAT LOSER WHY YOU DON'T MESS WITH DEEP CUT!!!" Frye quickly flashed a toothy grin and a big thumbs up. Dancing is what she does best, and she was practically begging for action. After having her Eels float by her friends, the fiery aura immediately flared up again, now was the time for the body to do the talking. It's time for a DANCE BATTLE!


Frye!

VS!

Thorns!

FIG-


"Hey wait! What about the music?!", yelled a young by-standing green Octoling, still not having formed up a bigger body , dripping their ink on the ground. Everyone paused as it felt like the world stopped turning, realizing that, "Hey, where DO we get the music?" All the spectators immediately started to look for a music player...but to no luck! Everyone just so happened to NOT bring anything like that while getting in line. Even Thorns looked a little embarrassed, trying to check his tiny pockets for even an Iso-pod, but no dice. Thus, leaving Deep Cut to sort this out. "Uggggggghhhhhhh...I totally forgot the music! HOW DID I !?[)%%/ FORGET THE MUSIC!?!?" screamed Frye as she angrily pounded her head with her own fists in pure rage, having to be held back by Big Man and her 2 Eels. "Don't beat yourself up Frye! We can easily get something to play some music, I'm sure of it!" reassured the Manta Ray. Shiver, already thinking of a plan, tried to remember anything that would help. Until, suddenly she remembered somebody. "You guys! I've, once again, have just the thing to get us out of this mess!" Not wasting any time, she whispered the plan to the others for a dramatic effect, hiding her face with her fan. Frye and Big Man instantly lit up, with Frye going, "Hey yeah! I remember that guy! Dude looked like he had a KILLER DJ set up! He'll get us outta this!" Shiver, with a smug look, said, "Well naturally! A wonderful leader like me would definitely know musical talent when she sees it!" while also fanning herself in pride. "Great job Shiver!", said Big Man, "Though...where would he even be, now that I think about it?" Frye, petting her Eels to calm herself down, suddenly caught notice of a newspaper on the ground, the headline reading, "Helpers Wanted! Folks Who Can Read Fanfics Needed!" With a sly look, she immediately told the rest, "Ya know? I think I just might have an idea! Back in a flash!", she said as she immediately bolted for the nearest sound booth, leaving her friends a bit bewildered.


"WHAT?! Ya'll are a buncha music makin' supastars, and you DON'T BRING YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT WITH YOU?!", shouted a large red Octopus. His skin was a purplish-red color, with 8 huge tentacles, 4 planted on the ground for him to stand on, and 2 currently curled up into angry fists wading in the air, the other 2 in a seemingly permanent arm cross, with a distinctive green X mark on his front crossed tentacle. Suction cups were lined up on each arm and leg facing outwards from his center instead of the real-life inside. His eyes were in an intimidating scowl, being old and tired with noticeable bags under them, glowing a sickly green color, covered by rimless glasses that managed to stay on his face without falling off somehow. Finally, he wore a strange beige colored hat made of metal, vaguely resembling a samurai helmet in shape, with several wires connecting to a headlamp just above the rim of the hat. This, was DJ Octavio, and he takes music very seriously. The rest of the people in the line backed off at the sight of a giant steaming mad Octopus raging at Deep Cut, being intimidated by his mere presence. Shiver, slightly daunted, retorted "We were just planning on getting a damned figurine for some shop! How were WE supposed to know we'd be having a member suddenly challenge some rando to a dance off?!", she said in a pissed off tone, but was quickly shut down by Octavio saying, "You chumps MAKE your own songs!!! You never KNOW when some sudden inspirations gonna strike ya, then almost immediately leave your head, because you didn't write it down so now your bangin' your dumbass head against the wall, trying in vain ta actually get a good idea for once in your li-", Octavio shouted in an increasingly mournful tone, looking like he was about to lose his mind, but Frye quickly interjected his thoughts. "Yeah, yeah old-timer, we get, totally. Now are you gonna play some songs or what?", she said looking more annoyed than anything. "HUH? Oh, yeah I can do that. Lucky for you stooges, I NEVER leave the house without THIS!", Octavio said pridefully as he pulled out a remote with a big purple button and a tiny satellite dish from under his hat and raised it into the air. The crowd, now enamored by the Giant Pacific Octopus, stared in wonder at the remote. They wouldn't even have to wonder what it did, as Octavio (Rather forcefully) pressed the button, and suddenly, the sounds of rockets could be heard, as a ball shaped silhouette came careening from the sky, briefly blocking the sun, before dramatically crashing down onto the street, right behind Octavio, thankfully not squashing anyone, but also causing everyone to tumble a little.

"GYAHAHAHA! Watch and weep barnacle heads! Witness, the GREATEST DJ BOOTH IN ALL THE WORLD OVER! The OCTOBOT KING L3.GS!!!" Octavio shouted in glee and pride. The Octobot King L3.Gs was a towering spherical robot, beige and silver being placed all around its hulking frame. A cockpit housed right in the center with gigantic stalks of wasabi on the side of it, sandwiching and equally giant DJ booth, full of buttons and sliders for almost anything. On its front were 5 prominent speakers, tastefully outlined in silver, able to make sound even in the depths of space. It's back was the home of 4 gigantic rocket thrusters, 2 wider ones rested lower, while the longer boosters resembling propane tanks stretched far out from behind, also bringing notice to 2 almost as long antennas pointed backwards just above the rockets. It had 2 ball-jointed shoulders, the right even having an octopus in a circle tattoo, leading straight to powerful metal fists, which can be launched with their ink-powered boosters, not having to waste time bringing the fist back as the machine simply makes a new fist in its place almost instantly. The most surprising part of the robot were probably its relatively small legs. While, as stated, comparatively tiny, they were stocky and planted firmly on the ground in 2 toed claw feet. "And you'd never believe it, but it gets radio too! I just coast off of whatever suckers watching on TV without having to pay a single cent! Not to mention its radical energy output, and the fact it's even eco-friendly! I'm a total genius! GYAHAHAHA!", spouted Octavio, losing his intimidating aura as he happily, and very un-modestly, described his latest personal invention. Because of the tone shift, the people were looking in awe of the giant machine, some even taking picture to post online. Noticeably, Sheldon, the anthropomorphic Horseshoe Crab owner of the SPLATSVILLE branch of Ammoknights, was excitedly taking notes on the marvel of Octarian engineering before him, his goggles lit up with joy. "GYAHAHAHA! Yeah, I'm a genius! Feel free to me how totally awesome I am!", Octavio said, having completely forgotten what he was forcibly taken for, in favor of getting some praise. Deep Cut, also having lost the plot, decided to get a closer look at the Octobot. Frye and her Eels were excitedly looking at all the flashing buttons placed about, only barely stopping herself from pushing something she probably shouldn't. Shiver, having somehow gotten on top of the robot, was genuinely admiring the giant octopus tattoo on the shoulders, taking a picture so she could get a similar one at a later point. Big Man, also in the cockpit, was happily chowing down the wasabi stalks like a bunch of fries, suddenly getting Octavio's attention. In shock and anger, he yelled, "Wha-wha-HEY!!! GET OFFA MY ROBOT, ITS NOT A DAMN TOY!!!", after saying this he pressed the button on his remote again, causing his robot to shudder violently, before suddenly spinning around its body, taking everyone by surprise and throwing them off into a pile, dizzy. Sheldon, luckily, got all the notes he could get, and promptly exited the narrative, returning to his shop.

"Ugh! You flatlined farce! Dontchu EVER touch my wasabi! They're what gets my immaculate groove goin' dumbass!", shot Octavio towards Big Man, quickly hopping into the cockpit of his creation. Pressing a lower button, Octavio quickly got a resupply of all the missing wasabi. Luckily for him at the moment, Deep Cut was too busy being dizzy to respond to the DJs insult, which definitely would've gotten him a beating from Frye and Shiver, though Shiver DID catch one thing. "Wuuuh...wait, f-flatlined farce? Did I hear that right? What kind of lame insult was that???" "Alliterated insults, ALL big bad boss types have 'em! But, uh, what didja drag me here for again?" This question brought Frye right back to her sense, quickly jumping up into a standing position and looking right at Octavio. "WAIT YEAH!!! We need you to, like, DJ and stuff! Dance battle! Kinda wanna end this quick-like, cool?", she said. Octavio, rather excited, replied, "Oh! Well why didn't ya say so?! I'd be doin' that in the 1st place! Been a LONG while since I played for fun!" Hefinished his affirmation with a thumbs up from his Octobot. "ALRIGHT!!!", shouted an exited Frye, "YO, RED GUY!!! LETS GO!!!" "Oh, we startin'?", replied Thorns, having been taking a water break. "Alright then, don't go on cryin' when ya lose, 5-head." He said as a challenge. The crowd heard all of this, and got back to cheering. Shiver and Big Man where already rooting for Frye with her Eels, giving their cheers to power Frye up. Just as a strange looking pink Anenome could be seen in the distance, the 2 dancers got ready.


Frye!

VS!

Thorns!

FIGHT!!!