Inkopolis Plaza was bustling with activity. Many young Inklings gathered in the plaza for various reasons, whether they were going to Inkopolis Tower, shopping at Booyah Base, or just hanging out. Just then, one of them heard a loud WHOOSH in the distance. “Look! Up in the sky!” said the Inkling as he pointed skyward. “A newcomer is Super Jumping to the plaza!”
At that moment, Hiro landed in the center of the plaza, his eyes filled with excitement. His Splattershot Jr. had mysteriously disappeared, along with his Ink Tank, but he was too thrilled about being in the plaza to care. “Aw, yeah!” he shouted. “I finally made it to Inkopolis Plaza!” He looked around for a bit, taking a moment to admire his new surroundings. He thought about going shopping at Booyah Base, but since he was only level 1, he knew that the shopkeepers would just turn him away. Instead, he decided to go to Inkopolis Tower, the city’s most famous landmark, and sign up to play Turf War. But then, he saw a girl with orange hair walking around the plaza. She was wearing a White Tee, a pair of Studio Headphones, and a pair of Pink Trainers. Somehow, Hiro recognized the girl as his childhood friend Yuki. She had turned 14 just three days earlier, and was already a skilled Turf War player. When she saw Hiro, she smiled at him and shouted “Woomy!”, then walked up to him. “It’s about time you showed up, Hiro,” she said. “Welcome to Inkopolis Plaza!” “H-h-hi, Yuki,” Hiro said sheepishly. “You look… different.” “So you’ve noticed,” Yuki replied, giggling. Then she looked at her phone and saw the time. “Oh look,” she remarked. “It’s almost 10 AM. Inkopolis News will be on soon. Would you like to watch it with me?” “Sure!” replied Hiro. “Well then,” said Yuki, “let’s watch Inkopolis News together!” Then, all the Inklings in the plaza stopped to look at the big screen on top of the building to the right of Inkopolis Tower. “It’s starting! It’s starting!” Yuki screamed. Sure enough, Inkopolis News was about to begin.
A wave of magenta and lime green appeared on the screen, followed by the Inkopolis News logo. Then, a pair of 17-year-old girls appeared. They wore matching outfits, with a few key differences. The other Inklings recognized them as Callie and Marie, also known as the Squid Sisters, the most famous pop stars in all of Inkopolis. Callie, the one on the left, was the more cheerful of the two. She had long black hair with magenta ends. It fell down to her hips despite being tied back in the shape of a bow. She had gold eyes with cross-shaped pupils, and there was a beauty mark under her left eye. She wore a sequined black dress with a puffy, shorts-like bottom and a corset-like top with three slits in the front, revealing a layer of magenta underneath. She also wore a pair of white gloves, a pair of magenta tights, a pair of black boots with magenta soles and buttons, a pair of round, white earrings, and a magenta hat shaped like a piece of ikayaki. Meanwhile, Marie, the one on the right, was the quieter of the two. She had grayish-white hair with lime green ends. It was also tied back in the shape of a bow, except it was tied off to the side and much shorter than Callie’s. She also had gold eyes like Callie’s, only hers pointed down instead of up, and her beauty mark was under her right eye. She too wore a sequined black dress, although hers was more traditional and had a skirt for the bottom. Under the skirt, Marie wore a pair of shorts with a pair of lime green tights underneath. Her dress also had three slits in the front to reveal a layer of lime green. She also wore a pair of white gloves, a pair of black boots with lime green soles and buttons, a pair of round, white earrings, and a lime green hat shaped like a piece of calamari. Not only were the Squid Sisters famous pop stars, but they were also the hosts of Inkopolis News. The other Inklings watched as the Squid Sisters started the news broadcast.
“Hold on to your tentacles!” said Callie.
“It’s Inkopolis News time!” said Marie.
“Let’s unveil the current Turf War stages!”
“All right!”
They announced the current stages for Turf War, which were Urchin Underpass and Blackbelly Skatepark. They also exchanged some witty banter during the stage announcements. After announcing the stages, however, the Squid Sisters received some shocking news.
“News flash! News flash!” Callie shouted.
“What is it? What is it?!” asked Marie.
“Inkopolis’ Great Zapfish has… vanished!”
“Wait, seriously?”
All the other Inklings gasped when they heard the news. The Great Zapfish was Inkopolis’ main source of power. Normally, it sat on top of Inkopolis Tower, but today, it wasn’t there at all. “This is bad,” said Hiro. “Yeah,” said Yuki. “Without the Great Zapfish, we won’t have any electricity!” Then the Squid Sisters continued their news report.
“If it isn’t recovered soon,” said Callie, “are we going to lose power?”
Marie replied, “Oh, I’m sure it will be fine… probably.”
The other Inklings were baffled by Marie’s lack of concern regarding the Great Zapfish’s disappearance. Nevertheless, they continued watching the report. Then, an image of a UFO in the sky appeared on the monitor behind the Squid Sisters. There was a single red tentacle coming out of the flying saucer.
“I wonder if it has anything to do with that UFO crash!” exclaimed Callie.
“Sounds likely to me!” said Marie.
As perplexed as they were by Marie’s indifference, the Inklings were even more confused by the UFO crash. “A UFO crash?” asked Yuki. “Sounds pretty odd, doesn’t it?” At first, Hiro was confused as well, but then he remembered the crashed UFO in the Training Area. “Wait a minute!” he shouted. “Huh?” said Yuki, startled by Hiro’s sudden increase in volume. “Hiro, is something wrong?”
“There’s a crashed UFO in the Training Area!”
“WHAAAAAT!?”
Hiro told Yuki what happened in the Training Area. He explained how he found the crashed UFO and got stuck in the dark fuchsia ink surrounding it.
“Dark fuchsia?” Yuki asked. “Hiro, that was Octarian ink!”
“Octarian ink?!” exclaimed Hiro. “But that means…”
“Means what?”
“It means the Octarians must have stolen the Great Zapfish!”
“But how? The Octarians disappeared after the Great Turf War!”
“Hard to believe, I know. Anyway, let’s watch the rest of the news broadcast.”
“Okay.”
So they watched the rest of the news broadcast, which was almost over by now. The Squid Sisters signed off at the end of the broadcast. “Well, that’s all for now!” exclaimed Callie. “Until next time…” Finally, the Squid Sisters shouted, at the same time, the following words:
“Staaaay fresh!”
After the news broadcast, the Inklings discussed the situation for a few seconds, then went right back to chilling in the plaza without a care in the world. However, Yuki was still worried about the Ocatrians stealing the Great Zapfish. “Oh, my cod!” she exclaimed. “The Great Zapfish has been stolen by the Octarians, and all of a sudden, nobody cares!” “Calm down,” said Hiro, with his hand on Yuki’s shoulder. “There’s nothing we can do about it.” Yuki sighed. “I guess you’re right, Hiro,” she said.
“Anyway,” said Hiro, “I’m going to Inkopolis Tower. See you later, Yuki!”
“Okay,” replied Yuki. “I’m going to Arowana Mall. Bye, Hiro!”
The two Inklings then parted ways. As Yuki left for Arowana Mall, Hiro ran toward Inkopolis Tower and went inside.