When Tide respawned he found himself back at Inkopolis square. A group of inklings from tryouts who got splatted before him were clustered around a piece of paper tacked onto Inkopolis tower. Descending into squid form Tide slipped through the crowd to see what the poster said.
To all who attended try outs:
Thank you for coming, please check back here in a week. The teams will be revealed.
A week! Tide felt panicked as the butterflies in his stomach skyrocketed. He couldn't wait that long; he had to find out if he made it. Slowly he started the long walk back to the school dorms, but his mind was racing. What had Lime said? Definitely something about potential team leaders being observed during tryouts. Tide wasn't so delusional that he thought he'd be picked after such an embarrassing performance at tryouts. Yet he figured the team leaders would be clued in early about their teams--probably even involved in creating their own team--, and knew exactly who most likely became a leader.
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The next day Tide woke up early and headed straight back to the square. He observed the comings and goings of the crowds of inklings hoping to spot a certain special someone. Squid kids surged in and out of shops, practiced popular dances to post on their flip-flop accounts, and attempted to catch a glimpse of the celebrity pop star duo, the Squid Sisters (the name always confused Tide, weren't they cousins or something). Tide even braved entering the shops in search of the inkling he was looking for, but was promptly thrown out exactly three times. First, by a particularly nasty clown fish, next by a usually voluble crab who took one look at Tide's splattershot jr before becoming absolutely speechless, and lastly a shoe selling shrimp, who informed Tide he was "too dry to buy" and that he most somehow achieve freshness before entering the shoe store again. All in all it was a rather disheartening, confidence crushing morning; until Tide finally spotted squid he was looking for.
The orange tentacle girl was, as Tide predicted, walking towards the lobby located at the ground floor of inkopolis tower and was the point of access to all the turf war stadiums in the city. Inklings flocked to the lobby in order to compete in matchs during off season. There were no pre determined teams, and the matches ran constantly as long as at least eight squids showed up to fight. Tide pushed through the crowds of squid kids hoping to reach her before she entered the tower, but he was too late the girl had already disappeared, but Tide wasn't giving up so easily.
"Excuse me, did a girl come through here. She has long orange tentacles and was probably scowling", Tide asked nearest squid kid once he entered the lobby.
"Yes, an inkling matching your description went to Blackbelly Skatepark for a turf war that's happening"--the squid glanced down at his clipboard--"And theres a spot open for the turf war if you want to join".
Tide took a deep breath.
"Okay, sign me up".
"Great", the inkling directed him to a marked off squid hole labeled 'skatepark',"Just dive in there and you'll reach the park in no time".
"Thanks", before Tide started having second thoughts he turned into a squid and slipped through the grate. After a disorienting swim through a sloped dark tunnel Tide noticed a light up ahead. Suddenly he felt an increase in pressure as his ink and tentacle color changed to yellow to match his teammates. The pressure subsided after Tide emerged from the ink tunnel. Looking around he found himself atop a respawn pad on the edge of Blackbelly Skatepark. Around him a couple inklings--his teammates--stood waiting for enough squids to join so the turf war to start. Tide scrutinized each of their faces until he spotted an impatient looking girl with long tentacles. Despite the color change it was obviously the girl from tryouts, who else could have such a stormy demeanor?
Tide started his approach.
"Hello, weren't you at tryouts yesterday? For Inkopolis Academy?"
The girl turned towards him frowning.
"I remember you", she replied,"You were the guy being mugged by that walking antique".
Tide blushed
"I was NOT being mugged! Anyways I just want to know if you heard back yet from the coaches".
The girl's eyes narrowed with suspicion.
"Yeah I have been talking to the coaches, what's it to you?"
"Well I just wanted to know if"-- a resounding whistle interrupted Tide. The girl immediately hopped off the respawn platform and began spraying ink with her splattershot pro, the turf war had started. "Wait!", called Tide as he hefted his jr into firing position and ran after her, "I need to know if I made a team!".
"What makes you think I can tell you if you made it", retorted the girl while showering the turf around the base in ink.
"Aren't you a team leader?", inquired Tide.
This got the girl interested, she stopped turfing to stare at Tide,"How do you know that? Have you been stalking me?!"
"No, not stalking just I've been waiting for you, I mean I just want to talk to you. Er, you just seemed like a leader candidate", Tide realized he was rambling; time to get to the point,"I need to know if I made a team or not, please tell me I made it".
"What did you say your name was?", the girl asked.
"Ohh, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Tide", replied Tide.
The girl's rigid face slightly softened,"I'm sorry, the coaches didn't say your name when they were assigning teams to us leaders. Maybe after getting in some more practice you can try for a team again next year".
Before the message could sink in one of their other teammates charged pass yelling," Less talking, more turfing!". Immediately all traces of the girl's sympathetic expression disappeared; her a hardened game face took over as she rushed into battle. I couldn't have failed thought Tide in denial, but eventually the girl's words sunk in: he did not make the cut. Blinking back tears Tide looked desperately for a shred of hope to cling too. He had to prove his skill, only then could he be accepted on a team. Tide charged headfirst into the Skatepark, it was time to mark some turf.
Ten turf wars later Tide stumbled back to Inkopolis square. All that turfing had only proven he had no skills, Tide mused dejectedly. He was pretty sure he spent more time respawning and getting splatted than he spent time turfing. By now night had fallen, the shops were closed, and the square was deserted. Tide groaned,"I'm never going to succeed", he was shocked to find the darkness repling back,"Of course you'll succeed. I believe in you!".
"What the shell! Who's there?", Tide shouted into the darkness.
"I'm here, Captain Cuttlefish at your service"
"Wow, the girl was right. I am going to get mugged by an old man".
"No you whippersnapper. I'm here to recruit you for the new Squidbeak Splatoon"
"Recruit who for the what?", Tide asked, puzzled.
"For the Squidbeak Splatoon! The octojerks stole the Great Zapfish by golly don't you youngsters watch the news?", Cuttlefish lectured starting to get worked up.
"Hey, I'm not that ignorant! I know the zapfish went missing, but who even are the octojerks?"
"The octarian menace, that's who. What are you even taught in history class?"
Tide was starting to get defensive, "Octarians were mentioned a little bit in class, weren't they part of the Great Turf War or something", Tide answered, struggling to remember the details. It'd been a century since the turf war happened, and his history books didn't delve into who the Octarians were or what they did. Just that they were involved, but the Tide's answer apparently appeased the captain.
"Now we're getting somewhere; the Octarians want revenge, so they stole the zapfish. You are the only one who can retrieve the fish. The fate of our entire city rests on your tentacles. I will be your guide and I know you are up to the challenge"
Tide blinked, this old man definitely had lost a few marbles, but he needed help and clearly put his faith in Tide. The least he could do was play along for awhile.
"Alright, I accept. Let's go get the great zapfish".
"Superb, now follow me", Cuttle said right before he plunged down the squidhole. This is going to be a long night thought Tide as he grimaced and dived in.
After twisting a turning down the dark, damp tunnel for what felt like forever Tide eventually emerged at the base of a valley on the outskirts of the city. He glanced around and was shocked: there were platforms floating in midair! He turned to ask the Cap'n about the platforms; the old man was rifling through a dingy hut next to a conspiracy board tacked full of pictures of bulging creatures composed of red tentacles. Tide cleared his throat," How are the platforms floating?"
"Standard Octarian tech", Cap'n grunted. Cap'n eventually turned back to Tideband and tossed shoes, sweater, and glowing headset at him.
"Here's your brand new hero armor, try it on", Cap'n said brightly. Tide looked down at the gear it definitely wasn't new, but it was still fresher than anything he owned. He pulled the sweater on over his shirt, it black with a yellow reflective vest. Next came the shoes, which had matching reflective yellow strips on them. Lastly, the glowing headphones. After slipping them on his head Tide winced as the Cap'n loud voice echoed down Tide's ears,"Are they working?!". Tide slipped the headgear around his neck in order to protect his ringing ears, "Yes", he answered.
"Great, now onward! To the Octarians!", commanded Cap'n. Tide sighed, floating platforms notwithstanding, the valley was deserted of any evidence that a violent cephalopod entity resided here. Unless you counted the Cap'n, Tide mused with a grin. "I don't see any Octarians, so mission accomplished I guess", Tide reasoned slowly starting to inch back the the squidhole.
"Of course you can't see them! The Octarians are cunning. To obtain the Great Zapfish you must look underground", Cuttlefish retorted tapping the ground for emphasis with an aged bamboo cane.
"Well how do I go underground ", Tide countered.
"You go underground through the invisible Kettles, obviously"
"Invisble ... kettles...", Tide paused the Cap'n officially reached a new level of crazy. "Righto my good soldier. Now take this weapon" --the Cap'n tossed him a sweet looking splattershot--"and go collect zapfish, they will lead us to the great zapfish. You are now Agent Three of the new Squidbeak Splatoon, and you will lead us to victory". Tide paused, he'd never been the object of such heartfelt praise before; he could at least make a show of searching for the 'kettles' while trying out the amazing weapon the Cap'n lent him. Reluctantly Tide started coating the valley with ink, but he hadn't gone far when the satisfactory splat of ink hitting dirt was replaced with a hollow metal ting as ink bounced off an unassuming patch of turf. Tide stopped, puzzled, he gave the turf a nice hard kick and instantly regretted it.
"Ouch!", he screamed cradling his bruised foot. The dirt felt like a brick wall.
"Looks like you found one, but you might want to work on your deinvisblizing tactics. Try shooting it with ink. After a bit the invisibility should wear off", Cap'n told Tide while walking towards him. Tide grunted in agreement and shot the pesky piece of land with all his might, until poof! A polished kettle with a grate on top appeared without a trace. Tide rubbed his eyes, the kettle definitely wasn't there before.
"Well what are you waiting for? Hop in", instructed Cuttlefish. Tide glanced from the Cap'n to the kettle then back to the Cap'n again. The kettles were real, so were the floating platforms, Tide was in way over his head, but the Cap'n was counting on him. The entire city whether they knew it or not depended on him. He had to at least try to navigate unknown Octarian territory and rescue the great zapfish. Tide turned to Cap'n Cuttlefish and nodded. Then without further hesitation he plunged into the darkness of the kettle.