#inkdazzled

*Beep beep beep beep!*

“Mmm... not now babe. A few more... minutes.”

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

“Damnit alright I’m up!”

An inkling grumpily slammed his hand down on an alarm clock next to him, causing the blaring device to go quiet. For a few moments the inkling smothered his face on his pillow in an effort to clear the sleep out of his eyes. Eventually he pulled himself off his bed and clumsily stood up and walked to his bathroom. Looking into the mirror he reached a hand to his cheeks and pulled them down, trying to get his eyes to widen.

Ugh... I knew I shouldn’t have had those drinks last night.

Despite his groggy condition he had to get himself together for his new job. He hastily brushed his beak, took a quick shower (a cold one at that), and went to the kitchen to grab a snack. He glanced to his phone and saw that he was running late to his job; a first for him.

Damn, gonna have to call a guy to get me on time.

Keeping his phone out he taps on the Sc.Uber app and scrolls down the list of drivers. Finally he spots one he knows is reliable.

“Yo how’s it going? Uh I need you to pick me up asap. Yeah I-I know it’s pretty early but I’ll pay you compensation for it. Alright, cool.”

The inkling was about to put his phone away he heard tires screeching in the distance before a sports car pulled up to his house.

“Hey,” the driver yelled as he pulled down his driver side window. “you ready to go?”

“Yeah I am!” The inkling ran down and got into the passenger side before the car revved up and sped off, leaving behind long tire marks on the street.

“Hey, thanks again for picking me up at this hour. The app showed you were the only one available and-”

“Don’t sweat it dude!” The driver bumped his client’s shoulder with a fist and clutched the gear up a notch. “Now where to my good sir?”

The passenger pointed towards Inkopolis Plaza. “That way.”

The driver nodded with a grin and pressed down on the gas, pushing the car’s engine to the max and speeding through the light traffic. The inkling sat back and looked out the window, watching various landmarks pass by like Moray Towers and Urchin Underpass. A few minutes later the car arrived at the square’s parking lot. 

“Alright, here’s your stop.”

“Thanks,” The inkling took out his wallet and gave the inkling a roll of cash. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks Aeto!” The driver gave him a sincere smile and rolled up his window. 

Aeto grinned back and took a bite of his snack. “See you again Akio!” He turned to the inkling social hub and started making his way in, wolfing down his food along the way. He looked around to see that the local shop vendors were just getting their doors opened up and waved to a few. He even saw Crusty Sean pulling in with his food truck.

Hmm, maybe I’ll get one of his Seanwiches during my lunch break.

A few minutes later he reached his destination: the GrizzCo. Industries building. Albeit looked more like a run-down store than a true building it was where Aeto’s latest occupation was located. He walked inside and set down the few possessions he brought with him into a locker before reaching up for his work uniform. In a moment’s notice he donned the company’s signature hat, rubber overalls, and a white jumpsuit before heading for his desk. He took out a pen and clipboard and scanned over the list on top.

Looks like we’ll be getting 3 volunteers for the morning shift. 

Aeto set down the clipboard and tapped the pen on his head. 

But they’re new to the business so that means I’ll have to show ‘em the ropes huh? Oh well, guess that’s why Mr. Grizz gave me that new job as trainer.

He pushed back on his chair and got up to stretch his arms over his head, feeling his back finally getting some much needed attention. He looked to his locker and pulled out a rental Splatterscope and strapped the charger over his shoulder, waiting for the volunteers to arrive.

(One hour later...)

The first of the volunteers arrived as Aeto leaned against the doorway to the building, eyeing the crowds of inklings and jellies that walked to and fro. He glanced down to his clipboard and saw three names scribbled down and tapped on each one.

They should have came in almost 15 minutes ago...

The inkling sat back down behind his desk and kicked his legs up, leaning back on a worn out folding chair as he flipped through the few papers attached to his clipboard. However he didn’t hear a pair of footsteps walking to the building until someone coughed.

“Excuse me, is this where we sign up for Salmon Running?”

Aeto hesitated for a moment before sitting upright and fixing his cap. He looked to the entrance and saw two inklings looking at him quizzically.

“Uh yes this is it,” He stood up and walked towards them before reaching out to shake their hands. “And you two are...?”

“My name’s Hazel, and this is my little brother Filbert!” The inkling girl wrapped her arm around the younger sibling, who shyly smiled back.

“Come on sis, it’s Fil!” He hissed back to her, causing the older sibling to giggle mischievously. 

Aeto nodded and looked to his clipboard, seeing their named printed on the top of the recruit list. He lifted the paper up and saw two pictures of said inklings.

“Alright, please come inside and wait in the lobby while the other two show up.” He motioned with his hand for the pair to take a seat by a set of chairs. As the senior freelancer was about to head to his desk he noticed another inkling standing at the front door waiting.

“Ah, are you here for the morning Salmon Run shift as well?”

The inkling nodded, a stoic silent look stared back at Aeto as he glanced down to the clipboard.

“Brayden, correct?”

He nodded again.

“Okay, please come inside and take a seat by the other recruits.”

He nodded once more and walked in before setting his belongings under his seat. At the same time Aeto took a moment to himself to check off his list.

That’s three present. The last one to arrive is-

“E-excuse me?”

Aeto heard a soft and slightly jittery voice calling from the doorway and looked to see an octoling boy peeking in.

“Ah, hello there. Are you, by any chance, Andy?” He looked back to his list and saw the last name printed.

“Mhmm.” The octoling nodded and peeked in a little more.

“Well, welcome aboard!” Aeto reached to him with an open arm. “Glad you could make it young octo!”

At first Andy recoiled from the sudden loud burst from the senior inkling but felt himself calm down before reaching out to shake his hand. 

“Thanks.”

“Now come in, the others are waiting for you to take a seat. I’ll get with you all in a minute.”

The octoling thanked him again and hurriedly found a seat a row ahead of the others before setting down his own items before sitting down. In a few minutes Aeto approached the four with a projector under his arm.

“Alright recruits! Now, Mr. Grizz has told me to show you this video tape of the basics on how we run things around here,” He then placed the device on a stool and pointed it towards a tarp on an adjacent wall. “But I thought that would be pretty boring so we’re just going to say that you watched it.” He pushed the stool aside and dragged a crate to the front of the room. 

“So... what are we going to do instead then?” Hazel questioned, crossing her arms.

“Glad you asked!” He took out a crowbar and cracked open the container. The lid flew off to the side, revealing a plethora of ink-based firepower to the group. “Because I’m going to show you how to Salmon Run myself!”

All four looked into the crate and reached in to get their hands on some of the weapons inside. Brayden pulled out a Heavy Splatling, looking it over before making a nod of approval. Hazel and Fil picked out a pair of Dapple Dualies and a Splattershot respectively. And finally Andy chose an E-Liter 4K Scoped. He looked through the sights and smiled that they were just right for him.

“Now remember, these are rental weapons so don’t go losing or breaking them. I’d rather I not have to pay for damages,” Aeto joked as he grabbed a large duffel bag from his locker before slamming it shut. “Anyway just follow me to the tram and we’ll get on our way to the work area.” He watched as all of the freelancers readied their rentals and trailed behind the senior trainer through the back of the building and out a back door. There the group approached a large truck and piled in the back as Aeto took seat in the driver’s position, fired up the engines, and drove to Port Mackerel.

(A few hours later...)

“Hey, Mr. Aeto?” Andy called to the trainer. “Are we there yet?”

“We’re a few minutes from reaching the Spawning Grounds Andy. Why?” Aeto looked back from his spot on the boating wheel, the sea-worthy vessel the group was on cruising through green polluted waters.

“Oh... no reason.” He replied back as he held a hand to his mouth.

“Yeah,” Hazel grumbled to them, her face having lost some color since disembarking from Port Mackerel. 

“Oie, if you’re feeling seasick take one of these.” Without looking away from his post he reached for two small paper bags and waved them to the seasick pair. Almost immediately the inkling and octoling grabbed them and hurled their breakfast into it before closing it up.

“Thanks...” The two grimaced before tossing the filled bags into a trash can.

“Just sit back down in the cabin and take it easy,” Aeto motioned to a small room behind him. “I’ll let you know when we’re there.”

The now sickly duo took his advice and found a bunk bed inside and laid down on it. Meanwhile the other two recruits were staring out at the open waters, taking in the not so graceful sights around them.

“Geez, the seas here are gross,” Fil mumbled to Brayden. “There’s piles of trash all over the place.”

“Yeah,” Aeto yelled over the sound of the boat’s motor. “The Salmonids around these parts just let their waste and junk float back up to the surface. They’re not exactly ‘eco-friendly’.” 

“How come they make so much trash then?” Brayden asked out of curiosity.

“Good question but for another time,” Aeto powered down the boat’s motor to a slow drift. “We’re here freelancers.” He then knocked on the cabin door to get Andy’s attention. “C’mon, it’s time to show you how Salmon Running is done.” The octoling, feeling slightly less seasick, walked out and followed the group to the back of the boat.

“Now before we head to that big island you see over there,” He pointed behind them towards a large landmass. “There are a few things you need to know. One: the areas where we freelancers work in are surrounded by an unexplained barrier that prevents us from super jumping at will. So we have this giant satellite dish on this here vessel,” He motioned to them said device. “to temporarily break this barrier in order to send ourselves onto land.”

“So that means we can’t super jump to each other?” Fil cocked his head, a pang of worry in his eyes.

“No, but the islands we’ll be on are pretty small so super jumping is kind of redundant.”

“But what if we get in trouble?” Brayden pointed out.

“I’ll explain that later. Two: Each of you will be carrying Splat Bombs as your secondary weapons. Out of all the explosive subs we tested, Splat Bombs are the most effective when tackling the Salmonids.” 

“Why not something like Burst Bombs or Auto Bombs?” Brayden 

“Long story short, Mr. Grizz finds Splat Bombs to be the best,” Aeto shrugged the question off. “And three: Since this is a training run you won’t have to worry about being overrun by Salmonids. Understand?”

The group nodded in agreement.

“Great. Any more questions?”

“Uh...” Andy was about to raise his hand when Aeto clapped his together.

“Wonderful! Now everyone please stand on this platform behind me.” The senior trainer stepped forward to allow the freelancers some room to get on.

“Uh, Mr. Aeto? Are we going to have a lunch break when we’re done?” Andy tried to ask.

“Ready?” The inkling opened a panel on the satellite.

“W-wait you didn’t answer my question-”

He pressed a few buttons and reached for a lever.

“Mr. Aeto! Are we gonna have a break at all-”

He pulled the lever, which caused the dish to activate and started spinning. A moment later the group watched as the air around them momentarily wavered before it went back to normal. “Everyone, super jump to the island now!”

The four didn’t have time to ask any more questions as they all changed into their squid and octopus forms and flew away towards the isolated landmass. Aeto then reset the lever and reached for a pair of binoculars to see if they landed safely. It took him a moment to find all 4 flying towards the island before they landed on what they guessed was a landing pad. The four took a second to recover from their surprise flight and changed back to their bipedal forms.

“Ugh, my head...” Fil grumbled as he rubbed his temple.

“Ugh, my face...” Brayden groaned as he touched his nose.

“Oooh, my stomach...!” Andy held his gut before running to a trash bin and hurling once more into the container.

“...ome in freelancers! Ca... you hear me?” 

All four heard a static voice coming from around them.

“Did you guys hear that?” Hazel asked as she continued glancing around. Fil and Brayden nodded while Andy recovered from his episode of illness.

“Hold on... a sec.” Another moment passed as they heard more static and inaudible chatter until they heard Aeto clearly. “There, that should do it. Can you four hear my voice clearly now?”

“Yeah, we hear you loud and clear.” Hazel replied, grabbing a Dapple Dualie in one hand.

“Excellent, it looks like you all made it in one piece.”

“...mostly.” Andy mumbled.

“You’ll be alright Andy. Now take a good look around you,” The group did as such and saw that the island around them was more than just a patch of dirt in the sea. They saw several structures built around the landing pad, such as ramps, catwalks, and walls. “You are currently at the Spawning Grounds, one of the first locations where Salmonids go to migrate and... well spawn. You will also notice next to where you all landed a square metal panel.”

“You mean this thing?” The group looked to Brayden who was standing on top of it, a raised eyebrow looking down at it suspiciously.

“Yes Brayden, that square metal panel,” A moment later the panel opened up and a large cylindrical net popped out and launched the Splatling wielder into the air, falling back on the landing pad. “Don’t stand on the egg basket please. I told you that I really don’t want to pay for damaged property of Mr. Grizz.” 

“Ugh... sorry.” He stood back up while rubbing the back of his head. 

“No worries, just stick together and I’ll run you all through the training exercise.” The four heard a horn blow from the boat Aeto was in. “Alright, the first thing you’ll notice is that the egg basket is empty. Look around for a big glowing fish that’s holding a big frying pan.” 

They looked around but didn’t see any such creature. 

“We don’t see it.” Fil said as he glanced around the area.

“You’re gonna have to look for it yourself,” The trainer sighed. “Go check around those catwalks. There should be one hiding out over there.”

The group then headed to where Aeto suggested and, sure enough they saw a large gold-scaled fish wandering around. The late morning sun glimmered off its metallic body, causing the freelancers to stare at it in an almost trance-like state.

“Oie, noobies. Don’t just stare at it. You need to take it down to collect some Golden Eggs!” Aeto radioed to them, causing the group to snap back to reality.

“Uh, sorry.” Andy blinked his eyes until he could see clearly. He then aimed his charger and lined up his sights on the Salmonid. He took a moment to breathe out before releasing the trigger and-

SPLAT!

They watched as the toga-totting fish turned into an ink splotch on the ground as well as 3 glimmering orbs.

“Woah, those must be the Golden Eggs.” Fil muttered to his sister before heading down a ramp to get them.

“Wait, Fil!” Hazel yelled to her younger sibling, racing behind him. Brayden followed suit to grab an egg of his own leaving the octoling charger to watch their back. But as he watched his new squad mates he noticed that small bubbles were forming by the edge of the island next to the eggs. He aimed to them only to see another Salmonid popping out of the water and headed right for the eggs.

“Guys! Watch out!” Andy warned as he took aim at the intruding sea creature. The others stopped dead in their tracks to see it going straight for the eggs instead of them.

“It’s trying to steal the eggs!” Brayden prepped his Splatling while the other two made a mad dash for their objective. In what they felt was a small eternity, Andy lets loose another shot from his E-Liter while Brayden unleashes a torrent of ink shots. At the same time Hazel and Fil changed into their squid forms and grabbed hold of an egg each. The two looked up to see that the overwhelming firepower did more than enough to splat the Salmonid, leaving one last egg for Brayden to simply walk up and take.

“Alright!” Fil leapt up with joy as the others cheered. 

“Good job freelancers. Now get those gold goodies back to the basket and deposit them in.”

The three egg holders regrouped to Andy before heading towards the basket. As they stood by it a slot underneath the container opened up, allowing them to drop their prize in and see the eggs pop up within it. 

“That wasn’t so hard.” Fil chimed as he waved his Splattershot around.

“Trust me kid, this job is a lot tougher than it seems,” Aeto radioed in. “Don’t forget that this is just a training session.”

The four drew silent for a moment before they heard their comms crackle. 

“Now, what you just saw were Salmonids called a Goldie and a Snatcher. Obvious of what the big glowing fish is but the Snatcher will come ashore and try to steal any eggs you might leave out for too long. So be sure to collect as many Golden Eggs as you can.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Brayden calls to the others, his weapon in hand. The others nod with him approvingly.

“Looks like you all are ready for some more action,” they heard. “Now let’s see how you lot handle a wave of them Goldies.” A moment later a foghorn blew from the ship, followed by bubbles forming around the edges of the island. One by one the group watched as the bubbles slowly became Goldie Salmonids, leaving behind a thick, viscous green slime as they made their way inland.

“Let’s take them out!” Hazel rallied to her team as she ran down towards the beach section of the Spawning Grounds and immediately started taking on a pair of Goldies. 

“Well, you heard the lady. Take out those Goldies and get those eggs in freelancers!” The others heard Aeto order through their radios. They readied their ink weapons and joined Hazel, splatting the Goldies as they showed up. For several minutes Aeto watched from the boat as the recruits worked on their egg collecting. Andy stayed on top of a high wall and provided long range support by taking out sneaky Snatchers or lone Goldies that tried to ambush the others. Brayden took it upon himself to keep himself a good distance away from the shorelines, keeping the beach inked in their color. This left Hazel and Fil to the task of luring the Goldies in closer and grabbing eggs as quickly as they could. 

Not bad for a bunch of noobs. Aeto thought to himself, keeping an eye out behind them in case the Goldies attacked from a different angle. As he panned his view towards the docks section he noticed some bubbles forming by the far left pier. He was about to reach for his radio to warn the others when, instead of a Goldie coming up, he saw the all too familiar sight of a gigantic armored Salmonid with pipes protruding from its mouth that led to a launcher on top of its head.

“Freelancers look out behind you!” Aeto warned. The first to look was Andy and when his gaze fell upon the looming Salmonid closing in on him he yelped in horror and started to slowly back away. Brayden glanced back and saw the behemoth and turned his weapon to it, charging his weapon fully before blasting away. But he could only observe as his ink shots splashed harmlessly off the massive fish’s body.

“Uh, guys. What do we do?” Brayden gulped and backed up as well. Hazel and Fil stopped their egg harvesting and gazed in fear at the new Salmonid. 

“S-Sis, what is that?“ Fil stuttered, almost dropping his weapon.

“Everyone! Get back from that Salmonid!” Aeto called to them. “That’s a Steelhead! Attacking its armored body won’t do a thing!”

“Then what do we do?” Andy cried out. Just as he said that the Steelhead stopped moving and began to tremble. The octoling looked up and saw that the monster fish was gurgling green spit in its mouth, causing the charger user to almost vomit a third time. But he also noticed that a plastic sac was beginning to inflate on top of the Steelhead’s face.

“Quick Andy! Splat that inflating bomb before it launches it at you!” 

He reached for his E-Liter and aimed it right at the bomb. The others rushed to his aid and tried to distract the giant but to no avail, as the Salmonid filled the sac up with more slimy drool. Andy took one last moment to aim and let loose a discharge of ink and watched it pierce through the explosive. The Steelhead recoiled from the implosion and ruptured, leaving behind bits of armor and three eggs.

“You did it Andy! Well done!” Aeto sighed with relief, watching as the octoling stand up and pick up and egg.

“Thanks Mr. Aeto.” He chimed back with gratitude.

“Just call me Aeto, freelancers,” He chuckled and saw them deliver the remaining eggs left on the beach. “Good work you lot. Now head back to the launch pad and-”

He couldn’t finish talking as he saw the water around the Spawning Grounds beginning to fizzle and boil.

“What the...?” Aeto looked around and watched in utter shock as Boss Salmonids started to surface. More Steelheads began to approach along with lesser Salmonid Chums from the docks, Fly Fishes and Drizzlers popped up from the catwalk area and took positions by the far corners of the sector, and Scrappers charged their way up the beach, denying the recruits’ chances of an escape.

“W-what’s going on!” Fil quivered in his uniform as Hazel, Brayden, and Andy found themselves surrounded by very angry looking Salmonids.

“Hehehe,” One of the Steelheads approached the group with a sneering, cold-blooded grin. “Looks like the hunters have become the hunted!” The other Bosses laughed maniacally as they watched all four freelancers clump together in fear. “For too long we’ve been slaughtered for our eggs. Well,” It grabbed the nearest recruit, Brayden, by the life saver on his back and glared at him. “No longer will our people have to struggle to preserve our own kind.” The monstrous fish tossed the inkling back onto the ground and moved back with its waiting comrades. “Salmonids! Who wants a taste of some revenge?” The others roared with blood-thirsty cheers.

“Hang on you guys!” Aeto tried to reassure them as he dashed to the boat’s cabin. He reached under the bunk bed and pulled out a metal locker, grabbing hold of his own custom charger: the Splat Bolt Action. Please, just hang on a few more seconds! He rushed outside and, hastily switching on the satellite, super jumped to the landing pad on the island.

“G-guys, I’m scared!” Andy huddled close to his coworkers as the Scrappers boxed them in. The Steelheads then began to inflate their bombs, the Fly Fishes opened up their rocket pods, and the Drizzlers aimed their Ink Storm mortars. But just as the Salmonids were about to unleash their attack, Aeto landed behind them all and whistled to the fishes.

“Hey! You leave them alone you slime-sucking freak shows!” The entire island’s occupants looked towards the source of the shout and saw another inkling gazing towards the confused Salmonids. “Recruits, get down now!” They did as he told and hid in an ink puddle. Aeto aimed his charger and fired away, his shots penetrating the Steelheads’ armored plating and causing them all to get splatted. With each shot he cocked back a bolt on his charger, ejecting a glass tube, and loaded another ink cartridge before resuming his onslaught. He redirected his fire at the Scrappers and blasted them to pieces. Reloading his Bolt Action, he scoped in on the Drizzlers’ mortars and disabled them in seconds, leaving them utterly defenseless before piercing their umbrella-shaped shields and killing them instantly. Finally he saw the remaining Bosses, the Fly Fishes, realize their dire situation and attempted to flee. But the sharpshooter ran towards the now retreating Fly Fishes and annihilated the airborne assailants with swift and deadly accurate shots to the pilots. In less than 60 seconds Aeto had single-handedly wiped out the Boss Salmonids, protecting the recruits and leaving behind dozens of Golden Eggs. The senior freelancer took one more scan of the Spawning Grounds and, satisfied that no more Salmonids were present to harass them, holstered his weapon and met up with the others.

“Hey, you four alright?” He checked each of them for any injuries as they changed back into their bipedal forms.

“Y-yeah....” Andy stared at Aeto, though unsure if it was awe or fear he felt at this point.

“How... how did you take out all of those big scary Salmonids?” Fil repeatedly hopped up and down with excitement. “That was awesome!”

“Don’t worry about that, alright?” He patted the young inkling on the shoulder. “Just collect all the eggs around here and head back to the boat when you’re done. I’ll keep watch to make sure no more Salmonids show up, okay?”

They all nodded and headed off in pairs to gather the eggs. Aeto stood by the basket and kept a close eye on all of them while in deep thought. 

Why did all those Salmonids attack? The training session was only suppose to have Goldies show up... In a few minutes the last of the eggs were harvested and accounted for. Aeto closed up the basket and motioned for them all to head back. But as he was about to super jump back he noticed something peaking out from the ink a few meters away. He walked up to the mysterious object and pulled it out, seeing that it was actually some sort of recording device.