[heirtothemonado]

Coolshaymin The Neo Bloop Troop Nostalgia

The ruins of Inkopolis. Once a bustling city that was the epicenter for the hippest of squidkid kind, now lay in absolute shambles. Shops that once held all the latest fashion trends now sat empty and either boarded up or broken into. The remains of what was probably a food truck at some point lay abandoned in the middle of the street. The entirety of Inkopolis Square sat empty, dead, and forgotten.

...Actually, not quite. Among the wreckage of the abandoned city square, one presence stood alone, leaning heavily on the his bamboo cane as he looked around him in paranoia. Cap'n Cuttlefish, leader of the New Squidbeak Splatoon, and veteran of the Great Turf War, was waiting by a subway entrance leading underground, glancing around every so often to make sure he was really alone. He'd been sending surveillance reports to the Life Sphere for a good while now, but usually they didn't turn up anything interesting. This time, however, there was something big. Something an old squid like him wouldn't be able to handle on his own. That's why he sent an urgent SOS to the Life Sphere for backup. At least....he hoped he did. Signal wasn't all that great out here for his two-way, but hopefully that message got through. He absentmindedly hummed a few bars from Calamari Inkantation under his breath. Now he just had to wait for people to show up...

[Nostalgia]

It turns out, when you meet a cute girl in an alleyway you don't understand and immediately ask them out, you're left with some questions afterwards. Like: "Wait Squid people are a thing? What's that about" "How do I buy gifts for them when all you do is drink milkshake and play DND?" And "How are they so cute?" Luckily, the two other questions could be answered in a single step thanks to some convenient timing. An official mission into a city that used to be full of squid people? It's a perfect fit to learn a bit more about them and even get some coins to spend. And to get it finished as clean as possible she came fully equipped in her regal jewelry, a diadem on her head, a gemmed necklace around her neck, and an oversized staff slung over her back. What do you mean that isn't jewelry?

And so, under these selfish circumstances Selicy walked out into the ruined city, looking up at the buildings with her hands in her pockets. The state of the city might make learning about inklings a little harder, but not impossible right? Any new information is better than what they did know, being that they had a beak in their mouth, spoke in adorable squid noises, and had tentacle hair. And so she wandered into the city square, straightening up a bit as she caught sight of the inkling. "Hey, you're captain whatever right? The one who sent the SOS?" She called out as she approached.

[smear:82edf1]Selicy: Queen of the North[/smear:1979e6] : 180/180 : 65/65 : 6/10 : 0 : : :

[The Neo Bloop Troop]

((Disclaimer: Because inkling and octoling as languages are very similar, I am treating them a bit like American and British English rather than separate languages, marked more by accents, word choices, and ocassional spelling differences than actually being separate))

What sounded like a gargled battlecry was shouted by an octoling in a school uniform, moments before she slapped a giant paint brush onto the ground and began painting a big trail leading up to Inkopolis. A second octoling swam behind her in octopus form through the ink trail she formed, occasionally lunging into the air and swapping places with the educated octoling to spray ink while the other recovered her reserves. Behind them, an inkling in a beautiful kimono stood cradling a bamboozler in her arms, blinking in languid bemusement at her peers antics. Was she really playing pretend invasion? She almost felt insulted. ...Almost. After a moment of processing this and sharing a glance with Suzhi, she hopped into the ink trail and followed along at a slightly more leisurely pace, not wanting to be the first to encounter whatever enemies they found out there. Suzhi quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind.

...When they got there, the two Octolings lunged out of the ink toward Captain Cuttlefish, yelling incoherently and brandishing their weapons in a battle-ready fashion as they landed no more than 8 feet away. [smear:239431](Language: Octoling) "What's up, old man?!"[/smear:5abd66] the school attired inkling sassily greeted, very much okay with being perceived as intimidating. [smear:c346c9](Language: Octoling) "What're they doing here?"[/smear:ed66f3] the octoling by her side asked in a somewhat accusing tone. The octoling in a school uniform gave her a funny look as she responded. [smear:239431](Language: Octoling) "...I think they live here."[/smear:5abd66] she replied. A couple of seconds later, the first inkling arrived. The girl in the kimono rose from the ink at a cozier 20 feet or so, her gaze briefly trailing to Captain Cuttlefish's weapon with an unspoken interest as she took in the situation. [smear:b62c37](Language: Inkling) "...Hi."[/smear:c95057]

And finally, Suzhi arrived. She moved to join her battle sisters, only to stop as she noticed Selicy. She then discreetly broke off to stand at her side instead, slightly behind her. [smear:8c19e6](Language: No) "Slishly"[/smear:ac70da] she softly greeted in a fond tone, trying her best to remember which noise represented Selicy's name and ... She got it mostly right, with a bit of a deviation or slur into a sound that was less harsh on her tongue. She then greeted Captain Cuttlefish with a pretty smile, the only one not visibly armed--mostly because her Nintendo Zapper was the only weapon in the troop small enough to be concealed.

[smear:b62c37]⥓ロⵎⴽᏲⵎᒪᒪ[/smear:c95057] 120/120 HP 35/35 Shield 100/100 Ink

[smear:c346c9]Ᏺ⩍≡ႽṲ≡ᒪᒪ[/smear:ed66f3] 190/190 HP 70/70 Shield 100/100 Ink

[smear:8c19e6]Suzshi[/smear:ac70da] 110/110 HP 30/30 Shield 100/100 Ink

[smear:239431]↥⥓ႽᥕⵎИИ⩍ꟽ[/smear:5abd66] 130/130 HP 40/40 Shield 100/100 Ink

[Coolshaymin]

Ruby jumped from rooftop to rooftop using her semblance to make up for some of the longer distances. She took a rest on a cornertop from her long trip overlooking the area as she collected herself. So this... ruined city was where that threat was seen? It was hard to believe something was out here but it wasn't an impossibility. She's reminded of one of her first missions in ruins like these... she wondered how the rest of her team was doing right about now.

Just then she noticed a group of four of those octo and squid people. They were traveling together through the wastes. Aw, it was like teamwork for them... Wait, she feels like she knew one of them. Her hair color was different but that was normal and it looked like-... It was! Without a doubt! Ruby eagerly jumped off the building and turned into a barrage of rose petals as she made a red blur of a bee-line through the air right to her target. "Lime~!" she declared after turning back into her human form as she was just about to reach the Octoling... Fully intent on glomping her to the ground if she didn't move.

"Oh, heya! I'm Ruby Rose. I'm here for the mission~!" she declares, picking herself up if she missed her target for whatever reason rather quickly.

[heirtothemonado]

The sound of Selicy's voice broke the silence of the ruined Inkopolis Square, causing the good Captain to grip his cane and whirl it around to point it at the Queen of the North. However, once he realized that Selicy was here to help, he started to calm down a bit. "That's right, Cap'n Cuttlefish is m'name and taking out Octarians is m'game! Looks like my SOS got through okay after all. Excellent! I'll need as many feet on the ground as I-"

Cap'n Cuttlefish interrupted himself as he noticed the two Octolings approaching him, trying to act all intimidating. "OCTOLINGS! Quick, missy, get behind me while I give these rapscallions a royal whoopin'" Cuttlefish instructed Selicy as he brandished his cane toward the approaching Octolings. "Come at me, Octojerks! I've been holding this outpost for this long, I can do it some more!" Despite not being able to produce ink, it looks like the Cap'n still has quite a bit of fight in him. Just before fighting could break out, however, Cuttlefish noticed the Inklings swimming up behind them. You could almost see the cogs turning a bit in the good Captain's head as he processed this new development, before putting down his cane again. "....I see you've already been deemed a non-threat, so I suppose i won't have to splat you. For now." he relented, though his large and slightly-crazed eyes darted back toward the two Octolings every so often to make sure they weren't going to suddenly backstab him.

Which is when his gaze was filled with fluttering rose petals as Ruby suddenly appeared on the scene. Cuttlefish nodded to her as she arrived, scratching his noggin a bit. "Hmm....I wasn't expecting an entire splatoon's worth of new recruits. But I did say I needed as many feet as possible, so who am I to look a gift seahorse in the mouth? Welcome to the New Squidbeak Splatoon, all of you! Before we head out, I need to outfit you with some proper weaponry...well, you two at least" Cuttlefish turned his attention to Selicy and Ruby, before turning on his two-way again. "Sheldon! Prepare the weapon dropoff!" he radioed in.

....aaaand...nothing. Confused, Cuttlefish whacked the radio a couple times with his cane before trying again. "Sheldon? I said prepare the weapon dropoff!" The two-way crackled a bit, before a rather nerdy sounding voice came through from the other end. *Ksssh-* "Sorry, Cap! I haven't had time to get one ready. My assistant up and vanished a few days ago and I've been scrambling to look for them." 

"What?! Why didn't you say so before?"

"I couldn't get a good radio signal until just now. Sorry, Cap'n, but you're on your own."

Well wasn't that just great. "Blast it all. Why would they just- Never mind, I'm getting ahead of myself. You'll just have to make do without. Now, onward! The DeepSea Metro awaits!" With a huff, Cuttlefish leads the way down into the subway tunnel, allowing the rest of the group to follow after him

---

The underground train line didn't seem to be that much better then the surface, most of the rail lines broken or blocked. The station platform was empty, with dirt and debris piling everywhere, with a lone post standing at the other wall, whatever was attached to it broken or stolen long ago. As the group exited the stairwell, they'd pile onto the train platform before Cuttlefish turned around.

"I have a contact down here that's let me know of potential criminal activity down here in the subway. He hasn't told me everything yet, but promised to get me details once I gathered a team of recruits to send in. He should be on the next train." he explained. Welp. Best get comfortable, cause who knows when the next train was due.

[Nostalgia]

Selicy took a bit to inspect the captain, yet another cephalo-person and by the sound of it there were plenty more in the city. He wasn't quite as cute as-- her thoughts were cut off by a slightly familiar sound of that odd speech she'd become familiar with. Selicy turned to the splattering of ink and squiddy yells with a slight reach back to the oversized staff on her back before the captain stepped forwards. Seeing the little grump try and protect her brought a bemused smirk to her face, letting him step forward and challenge the newcomers.

Yup, more squi-ple, though definitely with some unique styles among them. To the point seeing them all working together was almost a bit strange as she looked them over until one of them was a little... With a wide-eyed little jolt Selicy reached up and took her jewelry to try tucking it away before they arrived, a little flush on her face. She managed to compose herself a little before Sushi arrived, giggling lightly at her version of 'Selicy'. "Hey, I didn't expect to see you out here-- N-not that it's a bad thing! Are they your uhh..." Selicy looked at the others a bit. Sisters? No... some of them seemed like a different species, and they didn't even look alike. "Friends?"

Selicy tentatively offered a hand to Sushi and managed to pay attention to the latter half of something about no weapons. A slight disappointed pout crossed her face before she started on her way to follow the weapon-less old captain into the Subway. "As long as the rest of the mission details were right." She mumbles to herself a bit. Gotta get those coins to afford sushi for Sushi.

[smear:82edf1]Selicy: Queen of the North[/smear:1979e6] : 180/180 : 65/65 : 6/10 : 0 : : :