Splatoon 2: Into the Light

Day 1: Kamabo Corporation

Darkness: a view I knew all too well. I had never seen the sun, never felt its warm glow on my skin. But this appeared to be—not of my surroundings—but of my mind. Voices echoed in the distance, but who were they? Who was I? Where was I? Notes of a familiar tune echoed in my mind, but who was playing it? Was I the one singing?

"Y'all ready~ for this~? We need~ you now~ Give in~ to me~ You need to hear our song~ Give it~ to me~ Eureka, I have you now~ And I'll move, Yeah, I'll rule~ And I'll feel the melody, you better ink~!"

"Ahoy! Octoling!" someone screeched in an old man's voice. I knew what he was saying—it was Inkling language, like the song—but who was he? I slowly opened my eyes to his wrinkly, bearded, bug-eyed face close to mine. If I had any strength I would've screamed, but I couldn't find my voice. "Up and at 'em, ya lazy whiffle-whaffle!" he ordered, "This fight ain't over! Prepare for a royal whoopin'!"

"Nani?" I asked aloud, weakly. My voice was feminine, small and quiet but strong and capable.

"But there's no honor in defeating an unarmed opponent,"—he was right about that—"... and you seem to have lost your weapon somewhere around here." True that too. I knew I had a weapon earlier, but none now. In fact, I didn't even recognize the clothes I was wearing! He too looked around. I could see him clearer now. He was wearing a green tracksuit with several medals adorning it. He wore a cap and glasses, and he had a pair of headphones around his neck. He looked back at me and asked, "And just where is... here... anyway?" I shrugged as I laid on the cold floor. "Last I remember, you were battling my protégé, Agent 3, in Octo Valley... when both of you were suddenly attacked by someone. And somehow, we got marooned here... So uh... hows about we call a temporary truce while we find a way to escape?"

Agent 3... I thought, yes that sounded familiar. And Octo Valley, that was my home. I nodded, still unable to find my Inkling dialect.

"But where are my manners... I haven't even told you my name!" the old man said, "I'm Cap'n Cuttlefish, Leader of the legendary New Squidbeak Splatoon!" That also sounded familiar to me, but why? "And you are?" he asked me.

I mustered my voice and said, "I-I— err... I—nanida kke?—I don't know my name."

Cap'n stared at me in stunned silence for a moment. "By kraken... You lost your memory when you hit the ground?! You can't remember anything about yourself? Anything at all?!"

"Watashi wa oboete imasu... Ikutsu ka no koto... Shikashi... Jibun ga darena no ka wakaranai..." Cap'n seemed to understand me and my broken Inkling and my fluent Octarian.

"Well? Like what?" he asked.

I answered in Inkling, "My eyes are amber, my skin is very pale, I am a female Octoling, I grew up in an affluent family in Octo Valley, and I speak two languages: fluent Octarian and partial Inkling."

"Most interesting," he replied. "I noticed you were humming the Calamari Inkantation right before you came to... Could it be? Has this heavenly melody been etched into your very soul?!"

"Calamari Inkantation...? Sore ga soredeshita..."

"I'll assume that was a YES! I've heard tell of Octarians whose souls were etched by those squidtastic grooves... But that was a couple years back during Agent 3's battle with DJ Octavio. Still... I can't shake the feeling that this is related somehow."

"DJ Octavio? Naze son'nani najimi ga aru yō ni kikoeru nodesu ka?"

"In any case, sorry for siccing Agent 3 on you back there. Any fan of the Squid Sisters is a friend of mine! I mean that with all of my hearts. Now, dust yourself off and find your land-legs. We need to get moving!"