It's been... a little while since I last wrote, so I'm going to need to dust off the cobwebs for this one. I hope that I won't keep you all waiting as long for the next one.

The Inkling was sitting in their seat on the train, enjoying the air conditioning and being out of the heat of the desert.

"I'm so excited! A new place with new experiences to be had!" I thought to myself, "They say there's even rockin' idols called "Deep Cut" in Splatsville, and they've got killer music. I don't think I'm going to regret choosing to move all the way out here."

The little pet smallfry accidentally knocks over another person's stuff.

"I'm so sorry!" I say with a nervous laugh as I grab my pet smallfry to keep him out of more trouble. "Me and my big mouth."

Next, I notice we're now inside the city as I look around all of the buildings and chaotic energy of the city. Others might think it was too chaotic by how it looks to be a comfortable place to live, but I was someone who was quite used to plenty of chaos going down all around me anyway, so this felt cozy to me.

Once the train had arrived to let us off, I stepped out into the city streets and took a moment to look at all the buildings and people enjoying their time around in the city. And right in front of the station I noticed the giant screen TV on the Turf War lobby lit up with a news announcement.

"Looks like my presence is news worthy already to start a commotion the moment I step off the train," I said with a chuckle before realizing no one was around to groan at my joke, let alone laugh at it.

"Listen up! It's going down..." spoke the blue-inked Octoling. "Repping the Splatlands, we are DEEP CUT!"

"Anarchy Splatcast! We're live!" the yellow-inked Inkling chimed in.

"Ay! (Here we go!)" spoke the last member of Deep Cut, the large manta ray man.

"You lip-synch, we drip ink..."

"Ay, ay, ay! (Shiver, Frye, and Big Man!)" Big Man finished off after Shiver. "Ay! (Breaking news! Hot off the press!)"

"Oh, you got something, Big Man? Let's hear it!" asked Shiver.

Big Man changed the screen to show a screen of the news that... THE GREAT ZAPFISH WAS MISSING (again?)!

"Uh, this was MY story to break. The Great Zapfish is gone!"

"Wait, if it's breaking news, how was she already planning on doing it?" I asked to myself, not understanding the mysterious inner mechanisms of that woman's mind.

"It basically powers the whole city! We need it back soon, or it's lights out..." Shiver went back to explaining the situation.

"Time to conserve. Turn off the lights, and set the temp to a cool 90 degrees Fahrenheit," Frye informed.

"COOL?!?" I exclaimed out loud without meaning to before returning to my inner monologue, "I haven't even been to my new place so you're telling me I'm going to have to keep enduring this scorching heat in a place that's been soaking in the heat all day already?"

"Ay! (That's 32 degrees Celsius, and it is NOT cool! Call us if you find the Zapfish!)" Big Man recontextualized.

"Well, I'm glad we acknowledged that glaring issue, but it's still a pain," I sulked before pumping a fist to myself. "I will do whatever it takes to fix this heat issue- I mean Great Zapfish issue!"

"And that's it... for now," Shiver spoke again as she prepared for them to end the newscast.

"Ay! (Let's get outta here!)"

"From Splatsville, that's a wrap!" Shiver interjecting a cool goodbye.

"Catch ya later!" they all exclaimed together as the screen cut out back to the idle animation.

"Catch ya later? I thought idols tend to have some special closing ending thing they say, not just some normal 'See ya, I guess'?" I questioned to myself these idols formality. "Wait, I'm not their manager, why am I questioning this? THE GREAT ZAPFISH IS GONE..! Now that I think about this, doesn't this happen all of the time?"

I sat taking it all in and how the three (there are three here?) newscast crew didn't seem too worried, which seemed a little reckless, but they're just the newscast, not much for them to do about it I guess.

"Usually when you think of idols, you think of the uber-cute talents, but these ones almost looked like they'd jump you if you were alone," I thought to myself before feeling a little bad, "I shouldn't judge them based on appearances... the manta ray guy looked like cute and cuddly though if I'm being honest."

I decided it was probably best to check out this central area of the city first before doing anything else, starting with the shops. Best to get myself accustomed to this new setting of mine.

~~~

"Great customer service!" I screamed annoyedly after being thrown out of ALL of the stores for not being "fresh" enough for them I guess. "The little horseshoe crab man could've at least told me that before yapping on with all of that weapon info. I nearly fell asleep before then."

I felt a pair of eyes on me making me feel unsettled to which I noticed where the feeling was coming from. That being an old dude who looked fishy sticking his head out of a manhole nearby. I couldn't quite make the person out but I could definitely tell they were facing right at me.

I took a step closer toward the manhole to see what the old dude wanted, but then he dropped back into the sewer (gross!) with the manhole back down on top of him.

I picked up my little buddy.

"Come on, let's find somewhere less unsettling, huh?"

He just looked up at me with his big smile while looking around at everything.

"You're right, we should definitely check out our new home, little buddy," I said to which he did a happy little jump and spin with his squeal.

~~~

"This one is yours," the land lady said in a flat voice to me as she walked me to the door of my room and handed me the key. "You know when the rent is due already, so don't be late. We allow pets like yours but try not to cause any mess or smell that could affect any of the other tenants."

"Yes, ma'am!" I said giving a salute awkwardly.

"Right," she said without enthusiasm as I put down my hand embarrassedly, and she left.

I opened the door and little buddy rushed in. He was immediately jumping on the bed as I was turning on the lights in the room. The cramped walls looked like a cubicle more than it did a room where someone was meant to live.

"Well, it's small, hot, and a bit-"

Suddenly some noise started pouring in through the walls from neighbors before I continued talking to myself.

"Dinky... but it's all about what you make of it!" I continued as I proceeded to toss my bag o' stuff onto my bed and started getting everything sorted.

~~~

"I don't think it's half bad," I said with my hand on my chin admiring what I had done with the place. "What do you think?"

Little buddy just looked up at me and back at the room back and forth, faster each time, before just giving me a smile.

"Tha's what I'm talking about!" I said picking him up and plopping myself back on the bed. "First night in a new place, with new friends to make..."

I contemplated my last statement for a moment with melancholy before snapping out of it.

"Let's get some rest," I said with a warm (more like scorching in this room's heat) smile to little buddy as he cuddled up next to me and I turned the lights off.

~~~

I woke up to my blanket thrown on the floor and barely wearing anything and yet still feeling like my face was melting in this heat.

"Right, I forgot it wasn't so bad since it was nighttime, but this is trying to cook me alive in this hot box when the sun's up. That Great Zapfish being missing is going to be a big problem."

I figured there was no point staying here in this heat, so I got dressed, and walked out of my place with little buddy trailing behind as I walked downstairs to the entrance of the place to go leave and check out the city center again for something to do.

There were many of the other tenants of the complex down here now complaining about the heat to the management, but they kept telling them that there was nothing they could do until the Great Zapfish was found.

I looked down to my little buddy, "Luckily I've got my Splattershot Jr. so I can go for a little Turf War maybe to help me cool off more, and to make some money too."

~~~

I got back to the city center, back where I was yesterday. I looked at the shops while walking past them, remembering how they wouldn't serve me because I wasn't "fresh" enough for them.

Looking back down at my Splattershot Jr., I thought how I've got to change that as quickly as possible since this Splattershot Jr. sure wasn't going to cut it forever.

When I got to the corner to turn to the Turf War lobby though, I noticed the old guy under the manhole cover once again, still looking right at me.

"Again?!" I thought to myself. "What is this old dude's deal with me?"

I took another step towards him really curious what the big idea was, but he once again retreated back into the sewer. I thought about forgetting it and just going to the lobby like I was planning, but I didn't like the idea of this person just doing this again a third time.

I took a deep breath and thought to myself, "What compels me to chase this thread?"

Then I jumped through the manhole great as a squid, chasing after him, with my little buddy following close behind.

~~~

I was now left standing here in front of the old man I chased after, both of us looking right at each other with blank faces, not saying a word. A tumbleweed even blew by as we stood in awkward silence.

"Th-th-the Oc-Oc-Oct... The Octarians are coming!" he shouted suddenly to break the silence. "AGAINNNNNNNNNNNN! Oh, uh, hi... Did we do this once before? The ol' noggin ain't what it used to be. Anyhow, the name's Cuttlefish. Senior advisor to the New Squidbeak Splatoon, at your service! That look in your eye... It's the look I've been lookin' for! The Great Zapfish that powers Splatsville has been squidnapped!"

A newspaper with an article on the missing Great Zapfish blowing past his face suddenly catches his attention as it lands on the ground.

"It's the Octarians again. You can bet your bottom sand dollar on it! See, the Great Zapfish has gone missing before. Twice, in fact!"

"Yeah, obviously," I thought in my head before letting him continue this monologue of his.

"And those Octojerks were behind it both times. I've been keepin' an eye on 'em even though I'm technically retired. And with eyes like these, there ain't much that escapes me! But they still made off with the Great Zapfish. And now WE'VE got to get it back. Right? So, uh... ... ... ... ... ... ...That was a job offer, kid. The pay is...ᶻᵉʳᵒ...but you might just save the world. You're in, right? RIGHT?! Course you are! Starting today, you are Agent 3 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon!"

I was completely shocked by the situation unfolding in front of me with everything Cuttlefish was laying on me now that I was here. The New Squidbeak Splatoon? Agent 3? The Octarians kidnapping the Great Zapfish again? Before I even found an opportunity to finally speak up to Cuttlefish and give him a piece of my mind on this whole situation, I found myself changed into different gear than what I was wearing before.

"This is your brand-new Hero Suit! It'll help you fight the Octarians. Huh. Is there such a thing as something' GROWING in the wash? It's a little baggy on ya... (Funny, I don't remember ever washin' it... Bah! That last Agent 3 was clean as a catfish!) Now, let's go get those Octoclowns! I'm countin' on you, buck- OH!"

He was startled by the sudden entrance made by my little buddy popping up between us, who was riding in the basket on my back before now. Little buddy then proceeded to start exploring around the area he now found himself in.

"You've already got another agent there with ya, huh? Well, I'm fresh outta Hero Suits, unfortunately... Ah, but it's a salty li'l scamp, ain't it? It'll do fine. Now, where was I... Oh, right! Let's go get those Octojerks! I'm countin' on you, bucko!"

He stood there posing for a moment.

"Uh, sorry, I forgot your name, what was it again?"

I sighed, accepting the situation I now found myself in before answering Cuttlefish.

"I didn't say it. My name is Eva."

THERE WE GO! Two and a half years without an update finally leading to this. I wasn't expecting to actually write this chapter so soon after the previous setup marker for Splatoon 3 chapters, let alone write it the same night. Can you believe I just started writing, and was struggling to write enough in this chapter at first and was almost thinking I was going to have to leave it around 400 words at best? But then once I got through a barrier in my mind, here we are now with a chapter nearly 6 times that length.

Also, as can obviously be noticed, I wrote this chapter in a different style, mostly to try and make it a surprise that, as revealed at the end of the chapter, this wasn't actually (Y/N)'s grand return in this first chapter, but a new character. Don't worry, (Y/N) isn't gone, and the second chapter will be his grand return now. I was planning on this being a one-off with this style, and returning back to the normal style after this chapter, but I also didn't end up hating exactly how this chapter's quality turned out, so I'll let you all decide if I should write it like this in this narrative way or if I should go back to script-like writing of the story. I'm conflicted and not sure which one to choose, so I'll go based on how I feel next time and what kind of responses it gets here.

Also, for anyone who might've noticed, how did you feel about (at least the beginning) of this chapter paying tribute to the original first chapter of this story? I felt it was cute and wanted a nice little callback to it in a fun reversal of expectations. Different character, same experience.

I hope this new chapter was worth the wait and the quality hasn't diminished from the long hiatus. I hope age hasn't slowed me down one bit.

2489 Words

December 16, 2023 - 4:15 A.M.