Triton is a male Octoling, a rare version of the Octoling soldier. Having abandoned his own kind, he now lives in Inkopolis Square. Like every other Inkling, he watches Off The Hook daily. But Triton is more interested in one girl on the show. But...
Come with me?" Triton asked Marina. In Octo Valley, love wasn't a concept. It was forbidden. But Triton didn't want that. Being a male Octoling, one of the rare breeds, free will was often found in them. Which was why Triton was the only one left. The rest had been sent on missions to stop an Inkling called Agent 3 taking Zapfish from them, a year ago. DJ Octavio knew it was suicide. Free will was for him, and him alone. None of them had survived. Marina wasn't like the rest of the Octolings either. Along with Triton, she wanted to make music, but music was another of the Forbidden Things. Calamari Inkantation set Octolings like them free.DJ Octavio was the only one allowed to make music. She shook her head. " Octavio would find us. He won't let us go. I'm sorry." Triton was still for a moment. Then he kissed her . " Goodbye, Marina."
1 year later...
Triton ran from the Inklings. As an Octoling, he got a lot of abuse. Inkopolis Parliament had no laws that protected Octarians or outlined their rights,multiple Inklings would attack Triton. An Octoling like him was still allowed to participate in all normal Inkling activities, like Turf War, Salmon Run and Ranked Battles. But still, everyone mocked him. After 1 year of travelling, Inklings hadn't changed. Mostly."Freak! You don't belong here!" an Inkling yelled, tossing a bottle of Toxic Mist at Triton. The mist stung Triton. Triton lay on the floor outside Inkopolis Square, writhing in pain. The Inkling and his friends snickered at him. "Stop!" a voice yelled. Triton turned and saw an Inkling boy of around 20. "Back off." the Inkling said firmly. "Or what, Chum?" the other Inkling sneered. Chum was what Inklings called short people. It was the name of an unintelligent form of Salmonid, because why insult people on 1 level when you can insult them on 2? "Or this."He flicked what looked like a sound slider on his wrist.
The noise was the worst sound Triton had ever heard. The Inklings had it even worse. They ran off, crying in pain. The boy smiled and helped Triton up. " T-thank you." Triton stuttered. The boy shrugged. "No problem. I'm Ceph, by the way." Triton stood up, and stuck out a hand. "Triton. And that was epic. Although it may have damaged my ears a little." Ceph rolled his eyes. "And just so you know, that's not the only thing I can do." The slider's screen morphed into a keyboard, which played an electronic melody that sounded amazing.He was suprisingly good. " You'd be a good... keyist?. " Ceph smiled. " That's what I want to be. Hey, why don't I take you to the Galleria? My treat." Before Triton could answer, Ceph grabbed his arm and pulled him into the centre of Inkopolis Culture.
Triton was exhausted, but delighted. His shopping spree with Ceph had been good. He had bought some jackets and some other things that he thought looked really good. He struck a jokey pose for Ceph, who burst out laughing.
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Ceph pulled out his phone and took a picture. Triton walked into the weapon store, Ammo Knights with Ceph. Sheldon, the shop owner, smiled. " Ah! An Octoling! I've never had an Octoling in my store, besides her. What weapon would you like for your..." Sheldon looked over Triton. While he did so, Triton wondered who "her" was."First Turf War?" Triton shook his head. "I did Turf War with other Octolings back in Octo Valley. I always used Octo Dualies. Do you have one of those?" Sheldon shook his head. " We do have Splat Dualies. Would that do?" I looked at the weapon. The only difference from the Octo Dualies was the design. "I'll take it!" I answered, handing over some of the money that Ceph gave me. I thanked Sheldon, and walked out. "Hey, Triton! Over here!" Ceph yelled. He seemed to yell a lot. "You heard of Off the Hook? They're, well, Off the Hook!" Triton shook his head a little at the bad pun. "Never heard of them." Ceph pointed up to a TV on Deca Tower. "Watch."
A logo reading Off the Hook in Inkish showed up on the screen. The logo faded away. On one side of the screen was an short Inkling girl with golden eyes and whitish-pink hair. Triton looked at Ceph, who was looking at the girl dreamily. He turned to Triton. "That's Pearl." He quite obviously had a crush on the celebrity. Triton's eyes flicked to the other side of the screen. He gasped. "And that's... Oh no. Not more of this. All of my friends like Marina. So she's cute. Can you see past that?" Triton turned to Ceph slowly. "Ceph, you don't understand. I know Marina. She was my best friend while I was an Octoling soldier. She turned down my offer to escape with me. I thought... I thought I'd never see her again..." Triton's voice cracked. Ceph's eyes widened. "No way. You know the biggest celebrity in Inkopolis. And you were her boyfriend. She's like, famous for turning down every boy that likes her. And believe me, there is a lot of boys that like her." "I wasn't her boyfriend. At least, I don't think so." Ceph rolled his eyes. "You don't think so? That makes no sense." "Well... I did kiss her just before I escaped." Ceph gaped. "There is no way. You could be the reason that she turns everyone else down. She knew you escaped." Triton shook his head. "She's probably forgotten me by now. She made it big. Why would she care about me?" Ceph faced Triton. "Dude. You two would be so cute together. Imma get you together, ok?" That's never going to happen, Triton thought. He forced a smile. "Deal."
Triton's brain was exploding as he walked to the Battle Lobby. How did Marina get here? How did she become a member of Off the Hook? Did she remember him? He pushed those questions out of his mind, waiting for another time. Right now, he had to focus on his first Turf War in Inkopolis. He sat in Deca Tower while the computer found him a game. Pixels enveloped him as he was moved to the Lobby before the game. His team was missing one member. More pixels appeared in front of him.
As he saw who the final team member was, his jaw dropped.
And a cliffhanger, because I can! Also, Pearl is 21, while Marina is 18. That is their in game ages, despite Pearl being so short.Triton is also 18. Peace, Squiddos!
