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Thida's Origins - You Need To Hear Our Song
“Hmmm. Looks like the city’s got the majority of its power back. Save the Great Zapfish, of course.”
“Why do you sound so down about it? That’s supposed to be a good thing, right? We need this power, we’ve been running spawn points on generators for three weeks!”
“I know.”
“We even did a nightly report on them!”
“I know.”
“Remember, after the network got slammed with parents calling in asking if we’d gotten any news on the Zapfish, because if the spawns shut down on their kids in the middle of Turf Wars who knows what could happen to little Inky or Slippy…”
Marie’s grip trembled on her mug of coffee. It just late enough in the evening for the sun to turn the sky as pink as the tips of her cousin’s tentacles, and most of the television crew had left for the day, wishing the two idols a good night. Down in the square, Inklings streamed from Inkopolis Tower, weapons slung over their shoulders and smiles on every one of their faces. Signs and walls around them were tagged with their art and slogans – themed, appropriately, for the upcoming Splatfest. Though she knew nothing of what a dog might be, even after Judd’s explanation, Marie did feel a tinge of pride in how often she saw an Inkling sporting the funny creature on their tee, waving in at the beloved Squid Sisters.
Such sweetness. Such innocent faces.
“If I said I know, you don’t have to keep going,” Marie said at last. Callie’s babble stopped short, and she drooped a little, frowning.
“Gosh, be a salt queen why don’t you,” she said. “You’re not the only one worried about Grandpa, Marie. You don’t gotta be snippy.”
There was an ‘I know’ on the tip of Marie’s tongue, but she bit it back, not wanting to make a fuss. Her cousin might as well have been her sister with how close they were, and with tensions so high, it was pointless to tear each other down. She sighed and took a deep drink of coffee. It was down to the dregs. A shame – only the café downstairs made this caliber of mocha caramel frothaccino, and they were closed this time of day.
“I’m worried about more than just Grandpa. I’m worried about Inkopolis. I’m worried about all the kids.” A pause. She placed the mug down. “I’m worried about Three.”
It’s what Grandpa had called this new Agent of his. None of them knew her real name, but they had spotted her slipping off to Octo Valley some nights, so they could spot her from a distance. Callie drew back at that comment, staring idly out the window.
“She has been working pretty hard out there.”
“It feels like every night she’s getting a Zapfish back.”
“And haven’t you seen her coming out of the Tower a few times? She’s doing Turf matches over and over again every day! Where does she get that energy?”
Marie hummed. She’d seen Three emerge from the Tower more than just a few times – and always alone. “She must be just as worried about Grandpa as we are.”
“And the city.”
“And the city.” The crowd outside was thinning, and Marie could see Three now, sitting on the bike railing near a sleeping Judd, watching the other Inklings leave. Judging by Callie shifting in the corner of her eye, her cousin had spotted her, too. “Is she going for the grate?”
“I don’t see why not,” Callie said. “It really is just the boss kettle left.” She sighed and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. “We should get changed and get going. If Grandpa’s theories are right, she’s going up against the Octobot King.”
“If they managed to rebuild it,” Marie added, standing up as well. She hooked a finger idly in the handle of her mug. Can’t leave it out on the table, after all – how slobbish! “They’d need a lot of engineers with actual hands.”
“Or just one really – ah! Marie, look!”
Marie turned at Callie’s call, and looked down into the plaza at where Callie pointed. There was a brief splash of sky blue ink as Three descended into the grate, but that’s not what her cousin spotted, oh no. A shadow had emerged in the plaza, running brazenly across it – a shadow with curled, red tentacles. Ice might as well have replaced Marie’s ink at the sight.
“Go,” she said, though Callie was already bolting towards the door, and she wasn’t far behind.
The thing about Inklings, especially ones used to battling, was that they were startlingly nimble and versatile. It was common for participants in Turf Wars to run around and get to places in the most unorthodox of ways if it got them from point A to point B faster. The same could definitely be said for both of the Squid Sisters. While the many Jellyfish and more professional Inklings took to stairs and elevators, such things would only get in the way for Callie and Marie, especially in an emergency. They went to the stairwell only for the small window it held, pushed it open, and leapt out in squid form, changing back only when they had landed on the ground with a near-silent plop. They had landed in Spyke’s alley, but he seemed to take no notice of them as they reformed and ran out. Going any other way would have lost them the Octoling, but here they could see here just yards from the grate.
Callie leapt first, tackling the invader with a triumphant yell. Marie winced at the sound, and grit her teeth against the shocked yell of the Octoling, whose face had scraped the pavement hard enough to draw magenta ink. Oh splat, they were going to be found if these two weren’t quiet…
“Alright, Octo-jerk, spill it!” Callie declared this quite triumphantly, perhaps a bit giddy from the sudden action. “What’re you doing on the surface? Take more Zapfish? Huh?”
“Ooooowowowow! Let go! Let go, please, please don’t splat me,” the Octoling begged, “I’m unarmed! I’m unarmed – please, I need to warn Thida! Please!!”
Callie’s grip tightened on the Octoling as if she hadn’t heard what her prisoner had said, but Marie did. It made her brow furrow as she stopped looking around, expecting someone to show up around any corner. “Thida?”
“Please, pleeease, she doesn’t know! She doesn’t know what she’s in for, please, the King’s going to smear her on the pavement! She can’t go after the Great Zapfish, she just-”
Callie immediately turned back to look at Marie, the Octoling’s words clicking as their eyes met. At that moment, the two very different Inklings were of one mind.
~*~
The Octoling was a genius. Frightened beyond belief and completely convinced she’d be splatted once this was all over, but a remarkable genius. Under Callie and Marie’s watchful eyes she fiddled with their Grandpa’s radio equipment, cutting through the interference blasting from the Octarian kettles. It was keeping their only camera on the battle from getting any clear picture, and none of them could tell when Agent Three was in trouble. “She spared me,” the Octoling explained, “And I was ordered to follow her. I – I think she knew I was there, but she still never splatted me. She even left me food a few times! I had no idea Inklings could be nice like that, and I’ve done nothing for her! I just wanted to do one thing…”
“Well, you’re doing something now,” Callie said, her usual grin a bit barbed, “so keep it up! And then you should definitely go back home when you’re done, alright? Scurry back to Mom and Dad and don’t bother Three anymore!”
The Octoling lowered her head. “But I don’t have any of that,” she mumbled, still fiddling with switches and knobs. “Especially after doing this…I’ll never be allowed back in a kettle again.”
“We’d be more inclined to pity if your people weren’t threatening us with war,” Marie said, though she did feel some pity for the poor dear. It had been very clear that this Octoling was helpless compared to her peers, a complete non-threat, but laws were laws. She knew Callie had to feel the same way. “How much longer until we can hijack those speakers of his? I have a special song I’d like them to play.”
~*~
And then…it was back.
The Great Zapfish, namely.
Agent Three had been successful. The Octoling had slipped away into the darkness of Inkopolis. Callie and Marie pretended not to notice, and didn’t tell their Grandpa. He didn’t need any more reason to worry. He was just so happy to be free, and they were so grateful that he was alive and in one piece.
But, Marie noticed, Agent Three…Thida…did not disappear into the crowds. She had not sought recognition or praise, no, but both Squid Sisters still noticed her in the plaza, still battling hard in Turf Wars. Still alone. It was a bit sad.
…Although, when she turned up at the window to the studio with a Splatfest Tee for Dogs, Marie’s smile and wave was nothing short of sincere.
“Why do you sound so down about it? That’s supposed to be a good thing, right? We need this power, we’ve been running spawn points on generators for three weeks!”
“I know.”
“We even did a nightly report on them!”
“I know.”
“Remember, after the network got slammed with parents calling in asking if we’d gotten any news on the Zapfish, because if the spawns shut down on their kids in the middle of Turf Wars who knows what could happen to little Inky or Slippy…”
Marie’s grip trembled on her mug of coffee. It just late enough in the evening for the sun to turn the sky as pink as the tips of her cousin’s tentacles, and most of the television crew had left for the day, wishing the two idols a good night. Down in the square, Inklings streamed from Inkopolis Tower, weapons slung over their shoulders and smiles on every one of their faces. Signs and walls around them were tagged with their art and slogans – themed, appropriately, for the upcoming Splatfest. Though she knew nothing of what a dog might be, even after Judd’s explanation, Marie did feel a tinge of pride in how often she saw an Inkling sporting the funny creature on their tee, waving in at the beloved Squid Sisters.
Such sweetness. Such innocent faces.
“If I said I know, you don’t have to keep going,” Marie said at last. Callie’s babble stopped short, and she drooped a little, frowning.
“Gosh, be a salt queen why don’t you,” she said. “You’re not the only one worried about Grandpa, Marie. You don’t gotta be snippy.”
There was an ‘I know’ on the tip of Marie’s tongue, but she bit it back, not wanting to make a fuss. Her cousin might as well have been her sister with how close they were, and with tensions so high, it was pointless to tear each other down. She sighed and took a deep drink of coffee. It was down to the dregs. A shame – only the café downstairs made this caliber of mocha caramel frothaccino, and they were closed this time of day.
“I’m worried about more than just Grandpa. I’m worried about Inkopolis. I’m worried about all the kids.” A pause. She placed the mug down. “I’m worried about Three.”
It’s what Grandpa had called this new Agent of his. None of them knew her real name, but they had spotted her slipping off to Octo Valley some nights, so they could spot her from a distance. Callie drew back at that comment, staring idly out the window.
“She has been working pretty hard out there.”
“It feels like every night she’s getting a Zapfish back.”
“And haven’t you seen her coming out of the Tower a few times? She’s doing Turf matches over and over again every day! Where does she get that energy?”
Marie hummed. She’d seen Three emerge from the Tower more than just a few times – and always alone. “She must be just as worried about Grandpa as we are.”
“And the city.”
“And the city.” The crowd outside was thinning, and Marie could see Three now, sitting on the bike railing near a sleeping Judd, watching the other Inklings leave. Judging by Callie shifting in the corner of her eye, her cousin had spotted her, too. “Is she going for the grate?”
“I don’t see why not,” Callie said. “It really is just the boss kettle left.” She sighed and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. “We should get changed and get going. If Grandpa’s theories are right, she’s going up against the Octobot King.”
“If they managed to rebuild it,” Marie added, standing up as well. She hooked a finger idly in the handle of her mug. Can’t leave it out on the table, after all – how slobbish! “They’d need a lot of engineers with actual hands.”
“Or just one really – ah! Marie, look!”
Marie turned at Callie’s call, and looked down into the plaza at where Callie pointed. There was a brief splash of sky blue ink as Three descended into the grate, but that’s not what her cousin spotted, oh no. A shadow had emerged in the plaza, running brazenly across it – a shadow with curled, red tentacles. Ice might as well have replaced Marie’s ink at the sight.
“Go,” she said, though Callie was already bolting towards the door, and she wasn’t far behind.
The thing about Inklings, especially ones used to battling, was that they were startlingly nimble and versatile. It was common for participants in Turf Wars to run around and get to places in the most unorthodox of ways if it got them from point A to point B faster. The same could definitely be said for both of the Squid Sisters. While the many Jellyfish and more professional Inklings took to stairs and elevators, such things would only get in the way for Callie and Marie, especially in an emergency. They went to the stairwell only for the small window it held, pushed it open, and leapt out in squid form, changing back only when they had landed on the ground with a near-silent plop. They had landed in Spyke’s alley, but he seemed to take no notice of them as they reformed and ran out. Going any other way would have lost them the Octoling, but here they could see here just yards from the grate.
Callie leapt first, tackling the invader with a triumphant yell. Marie winced at the sound, and grit her teeth against the shocked yell of the Octoling, whose face had scraped the pavement hard enough to draw magenta ink. Oh splat, they were going to be found if these two weren’t quiet…
“Alright, Octo-jerk, spill it!” Callie declared this quite triumphantly, perhaps a bit giddy from the sudden action. “What’re you doing on the surface? Take more Zapfish? Huh?”
“Ooooowowowow! Let go! Let go, please, please don’t splat me,” the Octoling begged, “I’m unarmed! I’m unarmed – please, I need to warn Thida! Please!!”
Callie’s grip tightened on the Octoling as if she hadn’t heard what her prisoner had said, but Marie did. It made her brow furrow as she stopped looking around, expecting someone to show up around any corner. “Thida?”
“Please, pleeease, she doesn’t know! She doesn’t know what she’s in for, please, the King’s going to smear her on the pavement! She can’t go after the Great Zapfish, she just-”
Callie immediately turned back to look at Marie, the Octoling’s words clicking as their eyes met. At that moment, the two very different Inklings were of one mind.
~*~
The Octoling was a genius. Frightened beyond belief and completely convinced she’d be splatted once this was all over, but a remarkable genius. Under Callie and Marie’s watchful eyes she fiddled with their Grandpa’s radio equipment, cutting through the interference blasting from the Octarian kettles. It was keeping their only camera on the battle from getting any clear picture, and none of them could tell when Agent Three was in trouble. “She spared me,” the Octoling explained, “And I was ordered to follow her. I – I think she knew I was there, but she still never splatted me. She even left me food a few times! I had no idea Inklings could be nice like that, and I’ve done nothing for her! I just wanted to do one thing…”
“Well, you’re doing something now,” Callie said, her usual grin a bit barbed, “so keep it up! And then you should definitely go back home when you’re done, alright? Scurry back to Mom and Dad and don’t bother Three anymore!”
The Octoling lowered her head. “But I don’t have any of that,” she mumbled, still fiddling with switches and knobs. “Especially after doing this…I’ll never be allowed back in a kettle again.”
“We’d be more inclined to pity if your people weren’t threatening us with war,” Marie said, though she did feel some pity for the poor dear. It had been very clear that this Octoling was helpless compared to her peers, a complete non-threat, but laws were laws. She knew Callie had to feel the same way. “How much longer until we can hijack those speakers of his? I have a special song I’d like them to play.”
~*~
And then…it was back.
The Great Zapfish, namely.
Agent Three had been successful. The Octoling had slipped away into the darkness of Inkopolis. Callie and Marie pretended not to notice, and didn’t tell their Grandpa. He didn’t need any more reason to worry. He was just so happy to be free, and they were so grateful that he was alive and in one piece.
But, Marie noticed, Agent Three…Thida…did not disappear into the crowds. She had not sought recognition or praise, no, but both Squid Sisters still noticed her in the plaza, still battling hard in Turf Wars. Still alone. It was a bit sad.
…Although, when she turned up at the window to the studio with a Splatfest Tee for Dogs, Marie’s smile and wave was nothing short of sincere.