Chapter Text
3 weeks after the whole fuzzy ooze dilemma, Deep Cut has kept in contact with the New Squidbeak Splatoon through their boss Marie. It was mostly normal, a few requests from Marie to do some recon here and there in the Crater and Alterna, giving Frye, Shiver, Big Man the opportunity to find any treasures they came across (for Splatsville of course). The trio was pretty happy they were a part of the Splatoon, but they were also Splatcasters as well; making their lives busier than before. Speaking of Splatcasts, the trio were just about done with their final one of the day. Usually, Deep Cut was the only group to host the Splatcasts, but now that they had the Squidbeak work piled on as well, they needed the time to balance on and off the cameras. They were able to convince their network to let them end early, with the help of the Squid Sisters for good measure, and now C-Side were the ones that did the announcements after Deep Cut was done with their timeframe.
"And that's it... for today"
"Ay! (Let's get out of here!)"
"From Splatsville, that's a wrap."
"Catch ya later!" Deep Cut finished off the broadcast with their signature three-fingered pose. Soon after the cameras were done rolling, they either stretched or fell a bit slump or were checking phones: Shiver being the latter, Big Man looked as if he was about to sleep standing up, and Frye was stretching her legs from sitting criss cross for so long. It was a pretty long day for everyone in the studio, thank cod it was over. Frye and Big Man were having a talk about what to eat, with Shiver paying attention to what they were saying only to be looking back at her phone after some vibrations. The blue octoling sees that she has a couple texts from Boss Marie. Her two companions peaked over her shoulders on either side to see what Marie texted rather than looking at their own phones.
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Squidbeak Splatoon GC
Marie: Frye, Shiver, Big Man. I need you to come to Alterna real quick. I want you three to meet some of your other teammates. Who knows, maybe you might even become good friends afterwards
Callie: Yeah! They're both super cool, especially 4. Saved me countless times back in the day haha. Oh! And 8 has saved Inkopolis from a crazy telephone! <3
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"A telephone? Now that I have to hear more about! C'mon, let's get going!" Pointing towards the exit like a captain leading the charge, Frye's enthusiasm was quite contagious. Getting Big Man awake and alert, and Shiver a bit more excited about the new teammates.
"Ay! (Yes ma'am!)"
Big Man follows his yellow companion out the door, with Shiver trailing behind a bit, thinking about the Splatoon. The one that piqued her. interest the most was this '4' cephalopod; what else did they do besides save Callie, and was it a greater story than saving Inkopolis from some telephone (she never thought she'd asked that type of question in her life)? Callie and Marie didn't go into great detail about the two, which made Shiver think they wanted to keep much of it a surprise for Deep Cut. Well, guess she'll just have to wait and see what type of person they are when her and the others get to Alterna.
After gathering all their stuff, making sure they didn't leave anything in the studio, the trio soon head out to the location of the Crater/Alterna entrance. Along the way, Big Man couldn't contain his excitement, "Ay? Ay! (What do you think they'll be like? Oh I'm so excited!)". Big Man was asking questions Shiver and Frye were unable to answer because the two had no idea who or what these two agents were like which had made the trip feel a lot longer than it should have; finally feeling some relief as they made it to the entrance to Alterna. Hopping into the grate and wishing for the best.
"Ah. You're all here. Good," Marie's tone of voice made it seem as though she wasn't thrilled, but the reality is she's quite happy to see her subordinates. "The Captain says that a good team requires strong relations. I know you three are a tight group, but there will come a time where the missions you take will require different partners. So, with that in mind-"
"Allow us to introduce you to Agent 4 and Agent 8 of the Squidbeak Splatoon!" Callie interrupts her cousin, prompting an annoyed glare from said cousin. Callie giggles and then presents the two agents to Deep Cut. "The inkling is Agent 4. She was recruited back in Inkopolis and also helped Marie save me from brainwashing. Not only that but she also saved the Great Zapfish too. The funny thing is, she didn't know who the Squid Sisters were at the time. Hmm, what else? Oh! Right. She's also flexible with any weapon, so she's handy for lots of missions if you're paired up together."
Once Callie was done, Agent 4 flashed a toothy grin then spoke, " 'Sup. I'm Agent 4, but you can call me 4 or by my name, Faye. Whatever works for you guys. Nice to finally meet y'all. Heard from Marie that you three are a handful, haha."
"And this-"
Now it was Marie's turn to interrupt, "Is Agent 8. She was recruited by our gramps back in Inkopolis somewhere in the underground. Long story short, she had to fight her way to the surface and save Inkopolis at the same time from some crazy telephone that came from when humans were still around." With a smirk aimed at her cousin, it received a pout from Callie.
Agent 8 waved at the three and gave a smile. "Hello. It is a pleasure to meet you. As Miss Marie said, I am Agent 8, and I hope we all become good friends!" Agent 8 was more formal in her introduction than 4. 8 also seemed a bit more shy around everyone else, being closer to the Captain than the others. "Miss Marie and Miss Callie told us all about you, Deep Cut. Thank you so much for helping Agent 3 in saving the world! I am grateful for your help!"
With the introductions out of the way, that entire info dump about their new team members left Deep Cut in shock. Not only were these two agents the savior of Inkopolis twice, but one of them actually did fight a telephone. A telephone wanting to destroy the city? Assistant Callie being brainwashed? The Great Zapfish being stolen again? What in the world was happening in Greater Inkopolis? Frye was the first to ask questions to the agents.
"Wait a sec. How come this '4' told us her name, but not '8'? Does she not have one? Also, what was the telephone like when you met it? Was it humongous, and you had to-"
A quick bonk on the head from Shiver's fan made Frye stop. "Don't overwhelm our new friend with everything all at once. One at a time, Frye." The blue octoling felt like a parent whenever her friend did this, but that was one of Frye's many qualities. She wanted to get to know everyone and be quick friends with them; a social butterfly she was. "Boss Marie wanted us to meet them, so we have all the time in the world right now."
"Exactly. Thank you, Shiver," Marie praised her as she walked to the two agents of the hour. "Since there's two of them and three of you, we'll have one of you go with Agent 4 or Agent 8. So, who wants to go with who?"
Before any of Deep Cut could give an answer, 4 decides to chime in. "Seems like all three of 'em wanna know more about 8. You can have them be with her for the day, and then me for tomorrow, Marie."
"Absolutely not! We are a team, and we'll all learn about each other as a team!" Marie was a bit upset at 4, or at least disappointed that she wanted to skip this team building opportunity. Marie turns towards Deep Cut, "If none of you are going to volunteer, at least, then I'm gonna have to pick at least one of you to go with 4. I'll even pick two if I have to." Boss Marie was adamant about one of them teaming with 4. The trio didn't know about this, but Marie was the one that recruited 4, so they both have a close relationship with each other.
"I'll go with this Agent 4. I apologize for us making it seem like we weren't all that interested in you. My name's Shiver by the way." Shiver steps up towards Agent 4 and greets her, extending her free hand for the inkling. She felt kind of bad for this girl; as much as Shiver wanted to know more about Agent 8, it was not right to neglect the inkling standing in front of her. Plus, she might get to know something new about her before Big Man and Frye do, and then she can rub it in their faces. Getting a better look at the agent, Shiver found she looked quite adorable.
"Nah. Don't worry about it. 8's got more of a story about her adventures than I do; mine's more cut and dry and similar to the Captain's when they started out as an agent, so I'll probably be a bit of a bore, haha." Agent 4 rubs the back of her head sheepishly. 4 kind of felt like she was forcing her new teammate to tag along with whatever is gonna happen today. Marie and Captain did say it was a team building exercise, so probably not too much.
"Good. Now that that's out of the way, what you're going to do is scouting; we know there hasn't been a lot of activity down here, but this facility's system, O.R.C.A, has been inactive since we defeated Mr. Grizz, and we don't know of the consequences that could happen if it's no longer running. Callie and Agent 3 will investigate areas one and two, Shiver and 4 will do areas three and four, and 8, Frye, and Big Man will take five and six. Meanwhile, the Captain and I will find out more information on O.R.C.A to see if we can turn it back on again or if there's any threat from its inactivity. Understood?"
With everyone's resounding 'yes ma'am', they all split into their objectives. Everyone agreed to immediately call in any anomalies in their areas so they could all group up together. Shiver and 4 made their way to area three first; despite there being pipelines that led to each area to make the trips faster, it was still quite a ways away. That's when Shiver decided to do small talk.
"So, Agent 4. What made you decide you wanted to be an agent for the Squidbeak Splatoon?"
Wow, great conversation starter, Shiver. She mentally slapped herself for that one, the most basic question anyone could ask, but it was a good start she supposed. She knew nothing about this inkling and this inkling knew nothing about her. Talk about starting slow.
"Nothing really. Didn't even know about the Squidbeak Splatoon when I was first recruited. Heck, I had no idea who the Squid Sisters were either 'til I joined. I just saw Marie looking around aimlessly in the Square then I followed her to the Underground. Had nothing else better to do, so I thought 'Why not'?"
"Wait a moment. You didn't know the Squid Sisters? Were you living under a rock or something?" That came out a bit more harsh than Shiver had in her head, but she didn't notice, and it seemed like 4 didn't mind it.
"Something like that I guess? I was just too busy with other stuff to watch TV before I moved to the Square. Never had the time. But hey, I know about Off the Hook and I know about Deep Cut. That has to count for something right?"
"Never watched TV? Huh, you don't seem like the type to not watch any. Regardless, couldn't you have listened to the radio? That's a bit easier than a television, or were you also too busy for that as well?" Again, Shiver sounded a bit rude, but this time she caught herself in what she was saying. "Ah! Sorry, that sounded mean."
"It's okay. And to answer your question, yeah basically. I did a lot of extracurricular activities before I moved. It was nice, but also... Uh.... Pretty boring. I just did it to, uh, kill time until I was fourteen." Four's pauses were confusing. It made it seem like she wasn't telling the whole truth. As much as Shiver wanted to pry out more, she would respect her boundaries. She would ask again later when their bond is much stronger.
"It makes sense, I suppose. You gotta do something until you're old enough for Turf War and Splatfests. How old are you anyway if you don't mind me asking?"
"I'm nineteen. Been with the Splatoon for five years coming up soon. I think that was around the same age Captain got recruited? I'm not sure on that, though. Why do you ask?"
This inkling was the same age as her? She looks so young compared to Shiver! "O-oh, no reason. Just curious is all. You seemed so young, so I thought you were a newer recruit like Agent 3. I didn't think you would be the same age as me!" For Shiver, it felt nice to have someone the same age as her other than Frye. Felt like there will be more of a connection now. "Well, why don't tell me a bit more about yourself?"