The Suckling

Home Away From Home

It had been five months since the climactic showdown in space against Mr. Grizz.

Five slow and relatively carefree months since the New Squidbeak Splatoon and Deep Cut (with surprise aid from DJ Octavio) had prevented him from saturating the Earth with his fuzzy ooze and ushering in the return of the mammalians.

In the time since everyone has enjoyed a welcomed period of respite in between the usual antics of the people of Splatsville. Turf wars were still being waged, fresh fashion continued to evolve (for better or worse), and the world kept on spinning.

And yet, there was still work to be done.

The Splatlands were a veritable hotbed of ancient discoveries for a craggy sun-baked dust bowl.

Alterna was only one of many underground arcologies built by long extinct humans, and the echoes of the past seemed to have a nasty habit of rearing its ugly head at the worst of times.

Even with DJ Octavio and the threat of the Octarian menace seemingly out of the picture, hopefully for good this time, who was to say that another alien threat similar to that of the misinkthropic artificial intelligence Commander Tartar or the aforementioned Mr. Grizz won't rise from out the ruins of old and threaten all they hold dear once again?

Vigilant as always, the NSS remained in Splatsville to further investigate the remnants of humanity that linger in the depths of Alterna and resolve any possible dangers that may come their way.

And, who knows?

Maybe they'll learn even more about their doomed forerunners along the way.

Hopefully something less... existential in nature.

Unfortunately, even with part-time-bandits-full-time-idols Deep Cut on their side, a boon that has continued to pay off dividends, the NSS were still woefully underprepared for all the strange and cryptic paraphernalia that existed in the underground arcology. Advanced technology bordering on magic, dead languages, hostile security measures and the like. They were going to need some backup if they wanted to continue unraveling more of its mysteries.

And so, they called in the rest of the squad.

Sheldon didn't need much convincing or even an invitation, he had been a part of the splatoon since day one and has continued to faithfully served in whichever capacity he could. And as fortune would have it, he had already relocated to Splatsville to grab himself a slice of that sweet pie, catering to all the hip and fresh turfers looking for some shiny new gear.

Agents 4 and 8 along with Pearl and Marina of Off the Hook fame arrived quickly, they all answered the call the moment it was sounded and have been stationed in Splatsville since. Though it was not without their share of difficulties.

Agents 4 and 8 had at first thought it unwise to leave Inkopolis unguarded, seeing how often the city seems to fall prey to foul machinations. After a brief report by Captain 3 explaining the importance of their new mission, however, they had conceded that the situation in the Splatlands was a priority that required their utmost attention.

Besides, it's not like the Great Zapfish can go missing a third time for the great metropolis... Can it?

For Pearl and Marina, finding a reason to stay in Splatsville took a bit of creativity and smart marketing on their part.

Pearl had come up with a great cover story and an even greater plan in order to make it seem as if they've come to the city of chaos on business, which was technically true. They were already on a world tour and were collaborating with any and all musical artists worth their sea salt, it was only fitting that they'd come to join up with not just Deep Cut, but the Squid Sisters as well, to the surprise of many.