Spicy Calamari

The First Day in Inkopolis Square

 Yo! The name's Blue, I'm what you would call an 'Inkling'. Today marks the day where my life went for a loop and has never been the same since. I once lived in a place called Inkopolis Plaza but due to some 'issues', my mom, brother, and I had to move; So now I'm here. Without further delay, let my story begin.

 I sat in my room on the bed; boxes sit in every corner of the cluttered area. As I prepare to lie down, a knock breaks the silence, "Yo Blue, You up? Mom needs us to stop by the store and pick up a few things." This is my brother, Neon, my twin brother to be exact, he has a good heart but he can be a bit of a nuisance from time to time.

  "Sure, give me a second to get ready, just come in and shut up." I get up from my bed and go behind some stacked boxes; Neon walks in and sits down on my bed, "Whoa, why do you have so many boxes? is this for some strange project or something? I swear you've never had this many things before." From behind the cardboard tower, I throw an empty box at him, "Shut up, most of this crap is from you anyway." He chuckles, "True but you didn't have to take it."

"I didn't! You put this stuff here while I was sleep!" I get dressed and knock down the pillar on to him, "Let's go...The faster we get this done, the faster I can get back to sleep." He gets up from under the boxes and walks out my room into the hallway; I follow, the sandy walls decorated with bootleg paintings from famous artists.

We walk into the living room; a coffee table sits in the middle of the floor with two small boxes on top, behind the coffee table is a burgundy couch, it also has boxes on it, our mom walks out of a nearby room left of the current room and sits on the arm of the couch, she seems to have a note in her hand. "Okay, boys! Here's what I want you to get, it shouldn't take that long so you should be back before night." She hands me the list and some money, I take it and look at the list, it contains mostly food-related items, I look at Neon then at her, she smiles then pulls two yellow envelops from between the couch cushions and hands them to us, "Here, buy yourselves something too," her smile widens as we open the envelops, inside were one hundred dollars each, Neon and I look at each other, shocked, "What's the catch?" Neon questions with a raised eyebrow. "Nothing, nothing, I just wanted to get you two something to show how much I appreciate you both," I raise an eyebrow as well because that just sounded suspicious. "Now hurry up or we miss dinner." She urges us out the door, as we step outside, the door closes behind us.

I look around to see many other Inklings and Octolings chatting and socializing out in the square, I sigh and begin walking, Neon follows next to me but I can't help but feel like someone else is watching me, and then I see them, out of the corner of my eye, an old man peaking at us from inside a manhole, Neon must've seen him as well because he signals me to walk faster, and so I do.

Every few seconds I check to see if the old man is still there and he was; fate must not have been on our side because out of nowhere a gust of wind blows the grocery note out my hand, towards the old man, reluctantly, we go to get it.

"Psst, hey kid, over here!" the old man pesters, he waves the note in the air, we have no choice but to talk to him, "Hello sir, that paper in your hand belongs to us, so if you'd ever so kindly return it, that'd be greatly appreciated." Neon tries to reason, but the old man refuses. "You know how the Great Zap Fish suddenly disappeared from the tower? I know where it is." He states. the Great Zap Fish is a huge fish that powers all of Inkopolis Square, without it, the power has started going out, and without power, civilization will cave in on itself.

"What? Why are you telling us this?" Neon asks, "Because! No one believes me! Plus, I don't want to start a panic." I gaze at the old man, "What makes you think we WON'T tell the authorities?" I grin a little; "you don't want to start a panic now, do ya'?" my grin fades. "Good point, so, how are we supposed to help?" I've already started having second thoughts about this, but I guess if it helps save the world or whatever I'll fall for it, "Down here!" the old man dips down into the manhole and we reluctantly follow him.

For some strange reason, on the other end of the manhole is a valley, in the distance is an octopus-shaped rock. "Um, old man, where are we?" the old guy smiles at me, "Please, call me Captain Cuttlefish, or Captain for short", "Uh, sure captain, but where are we?" Neon asked, clearly confused and a bit worried, "We're in OctoValley." he states, "Octo- what?" I ask next, "OctoValley, the land of the Octarians and the place where the Great ZapFish is being held captive." Neon and I look at him puzzled, "And what are WE to do again?" He laughs, "Get the Great ZapFish back of course!" I stagger a little. "What?! You really expect a couple of kids to get the Great ZapFish back?!" He laughs once more "Yup! I know you can do it!" Neon and I both sigh; this is how the beginning of a new era starts, two kids, destined to get the Great ZapFish back for Inkopolis.