#blackbelly skatepark is soon

[simp999]

A New Home Ch. 4

Various splatoon manga x Skilled! Isekai'd! Reader

Wc: 1.3k

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‘Shoot.’ 

Assuming that nobody would be out here, you forgot to pay attention to where you were walking. Yet another run-in. So much for hiding your presence.

“Hey hey~, Watch out, cutie!”

You know that tone of voice, it must be…! 

You take a quick glance up, and you only catch a quick blur of pink before rushing off, remembering that you should be avoiding any significant characters as much as possible. Keeping your gaze on the ground, you spot some Gold High-Horses and Green Rain Boots, and man, you’re this close to squealing. 

‘It’s real. My favorite characters are right in front of me! It’s too bad even a little interaction could change the story. Aloha’s supposed to call Army out for being weak or something right about now.’

While looking for a spot to hide away from any important characters, you spot a pair of headphones at Cooler Heads. They should still be functional, right? You go into the store and check them out, seeing if they’re compatible with your phone. Bluetooth, perfect. They have a pretty long-lasting battery, and there are buttons on the side to skip, pause, play, and adjust the volume. Sweet. You continue to walk around Booyah Base since you’ve got nothing better to do, testing out some new gear and practicing in Sheldon’s training area for a bit just for fun. Not like you could carry around any more weapons, but it’s still good to test other ones out and find their weaknesses. You go back to one of the shops when you’re done to go find a mirror to fix yourself up in. You straighten out your gear, hearing a familiar voice.

“Oh! Team Blue will love this helmet!”

‘Oh, not again!’  You swiftly hide behind a pile of boxes in the store, and the clerk putting stuff away looks at you. You completely forgot about how Goggles ripped his clothes in his next battle and needed some new ones. You didn’t think the next battle would be so soon! 

‘Hey, that means Aloha’s up next! He’s not supposed to get hit a single time in this battle, right? I should really go watch him and check out his techniques.’

You attempt to sneak out of the store when Goggles and his team are distracted, hoping to make your way over to the paused battle. But you memory decides that it should betray you once again, and when you’re about to walk out the door, a pink squid stops you.

“Hey~ it’s you from earlier! You ran off pretty quick, y’know, I’m used to people asking for a selfie or an autograph.” You stand there frozen, unsure of what to do. You don’t want to start up a conversation, knowing he’s got somewhere to be. Aloha leans in closer to you,

“Aw, you just a lil’ shy? That’s cute~, ah well, I’ve gotta go, so I’ll be seeing you around, sweetheart!”

He waltzes off, presumably to go kidnap Safari-Kun. You would butt in, but that’s not part of the story. Sorry, dude.

You finally make your way over to Blackbelly Skatepark and it’s a lot less crowded. Guess it makes sense that the S4’s battles have the seats full and regular ones don’t. You make yourself comfortable and place your weapon on the seat to your left, then your bag to the right. You try to watch for Aloha since the manga doesn’t focus on him up until the Inkstrike. Now that you can actually pay attention to him, you see that he’s just kinda holding his weapon as if he should be firing it, and he’s hiding in corners. You snicker at how half-assed his effort is, and wait until you hear the sounds of an Inkstrike to really pay attention. You spot Aloha immediately, recognizing that quick and agile movement right away.

‘Wow, he really is flexible. Maybe I should practice that?’ You pick up your off-brand manual and skip to your page labelled “git gud”, which has a couple of bullet points on what you’d like to practice. So far you’ve got making your footsteps lighter and stretching to make yourself more flexible written down. Even little things can help in battle if you plan on possibly battling the best of the best. The rest of the battle isn't surprising, as always. Though, you're glad you got to see how Aloha battles up close, you can tell there's lots of training behind it. Even if he doesn't admit to training, he definitely had to have gotten some agility and strength training from surfing and dancing.

'Bet he can breakdance pretty well.'

You leave early once again, desperately trying to avoid Aloha. You weren't sure when his and Goggles' battle was going to be, but you assumed the day after since Team Blue had already had two battles today. It was only about two pm, so you decided to work on your training. First, you went over to Sheldon's training area to focus on quieting your footsteps, while still attempting to destroy the targets in record time. You slowly got better at it, noticing your mistakes and improving from there. You were comfortable with how much noise you made on the 23rd round of busting targets, so you figured it's time for turf. The first game went as usual, and you were glad to see the opponent's faces contort with fear and surprise when you'd suddenly appear behind them. 

"Nothin' personal, kid."

But it seems you were enjoying your newly acquired skill too much, and you focused more on splatting your opponents rather than inking. You'd still be sure to ink around when you had time so it wasn't a problem, but your opponents were obviously salty about how they could never get any farther than a third into the map and get splatted immediately, having less and less time between splats. Your teammates loved the easy wins, but your opponents verbally attacked you like an 8-year-old on CoD. Not a big deal, it doesn't affect you. But it was definitely headache-inducing. After the third match of salty opponents you decided you could either play nice, or play dirtier. And so, you threw your headphones on, swapping your headgear for those, and put them at full volume, completely tuning out your opponents. Now this was easy. All was well up until one of the opponents tried to turn the tables and copy your trick. You made some millisecond long calculations and realised that there was an opponent missing from your view. Not missing a beat, you spun on your heel, dodged to the side to avoid the ink flying at you, and splatted your opponent.

'Damn! That felt so cool, go me!'

You walked off and continued to ink the turf around you, bopping your head to the beat coming from your headphones. Hey, wait. You still can't hear anything around you. That means you noticed that opponent while one of your most important senses was completely turned off. 

'Awesome. S'pose I'm getting better. Next comes the blindfold!'

You think jokingly to yourself. Yeah, as if you could battle without being able to see. Wait actually, that might be a good training idea. You'd kinda need real people for that, not targets, but even just being able to pinpoint people's locations from sound alone could be quite useful.

By the end of the day, your opponents now seem to have a proper sense of the game, and are starting to understand their weapons properly. Some even think twice before attacking. Wow, never thought you'd ever see the day. They have their own gear and know where they belong on the battlefield, for the most part. Now it's getting fun. You'd probably guess that your opponents are around level 30 or so. Now your targets aren't just like some deer in headlights when you attack, they actually think to move sometimes. The score at the end of the games don't change much though.

Next Part

apr.8.23

[e-l33ter-4k]

[ace-octo-pix]

undefined

Booyah Bomb’s shield goes down to tenta missles... very easily. So if you wail on it with a brush too....

[hometownrockstar]

Ok by popular demand (aka me wanting to info dump about my main) here is my epic splat brella guide!! follow this guide and you will be a brella pro hopefully! :) remember that you can succeed at anything with a little bit of practice and dedication, and you’ll need that if you wanna use a brella bc it is... a difficult weapon. i will put this under a cut bc i wrote a lot of stuff! but if you check it out then thank you!

The Brella’s Shots: I tend to compare the brella’s shots to a blaster in my mind due to the shape of its shots and that it almost has indirect and direct shots, though it still functions differently. Indirect shots are when you hit the opponent with a fall off shot or with your aim slightly off, making not all of the pellets in your shot land their full damage. This can make a splat either a 2 shot kill (2 directs or 1 direct and a close enough indirect) or a 3-4 or more shot kill based on how close your other shots hit. There’s also a 1 shot kill where you hit the opponent with a direct and hold your brella open right after it and walk into them with it open, splatting them with the brella shield’s 30 damage hit. A very fun and quick way to splat opponents, but pretty situational as its super close range, good for ambushes and flanking though.

Splatting Strategy: The best strategy is to get in close to your opponents, not playing based on your range unless your trying to pick off fleeing opponents as that lowers the damage of your shots, and if you dont land/dont believe you’ll land your second shot then you start to open your brella while your opponents shooting at you, closing it and shooting when you predict they’ll stop shooting, rinse and repeat. its somewhat risky unless you make sure not to let them flank you while your brella’s open, or if they run out of ink, or they happen to miss their shots, or you predict their movements correctly. Getting your shots to land is similar to chargers (and probably blasters) in my experience, in that you have to shoot where you’ll predict your opponent is going to go. if you can master this then you’ll be a brella master! I’d also recommend playing on low sensitivity if you use motion controls as it makes your shots easier to aim, i play at around -2.5!

Weapon Advantages/Disadvantages: Weapons to watch out for are blasters (their shots will usually ignore your brella if they shoot slightly to the side or up. Flank them from the side or the back), sloshers (not the biggest problem unless they shoot at you from above), other brellas (theyre gonna try to predict when your shield is down, try to do the same to them but get the upper hand on them! Getting the first shot on them is crucial) and dualies (their rolls can cause issues when predicting where to shoot. Using the 1 shot/brella kill is recommended for them). Weapons you have an advantage over are rollers (easy to predict when they’ll stop attempting to hit you, allowing you to block and shoot efficiently) chargers and splatlings (you can block their quick-killing shots and hit them while theyre charging, but make sure to time it right) and shooters (watch out for close range and fast firing shooters however as they might splat you before you can even get your shield up.)

Maps And Terrain Advantages: Corners and tight corridors are your friends, and your friends are your friends as well! Shooting at opponents while in a corner or corridor can prevent the enemy from flanking behind you, and backing an opponent into a corner can be an easy 1 shot/brella kill. Some good splat brella maps are Blackbelly Skatepark, Moray Towers, Walleye Warehouse, and Port Mackerel. If you’re being overwhelmed by an opponent or two, try keeping your brella open and let a teammate splat them while theyre shooting at you. This weapon is a major support and assist weapon, its recommended that you dont go out of your way for kills unless theyre retreating or you have an advantage over them. Also be careful about getting into 2v1s, you’re basically certain to get splatted if youre outnumbered and dont have a teammate nearby. If you need to retreat try sending out your brella and superjumping back to base or swimming backwards, otherwise sending out your brella is mostly useless. i’d recommend getting the timing for when your brella automatically sends off so you can maximize how much you can hold it open. 

Game Modes: this weapon excels in splat zones, tower control and turf war the most, it paints very well and is good at charging its special to provide support with ink storm (or splat bomb rush if you use the sorella brella). this may sound obvious but this weapon is a defensive weapon in ranked, youre gonna wanna stay in the zone or on the tower and block any enemies from trying to get in. be sure to move around a lot and have a easy path to retreat in case multiple enemies try to come for you at once, though since tower control and splat zones are restricted to small areas retreating doesnt always have to be an option cause your teammates might be close enough to give you a hand. also always get on the tower! always!!! you can aim upwards and shoot your pellets over the tower to scare off anyone trying to climb on from the other side, and when you get on you can stop them from climbing on with your shield. try to block shots instead of shooting at opponents while the tower is moving, unless they are distracted and within splatting range. enemies swimming towards you and not shooting are very easy to pick off however.

Specials: For specials, i dont have much to say about the sorella brella bc i dont use it, i much prefer the more defensive splat brella kit as it compliments the weapon’s playstyle better imo. Try to throw your ink storm as soon as you get it as you’ll charge it pretty steadily with your sprinkler and with how good the brella is at painting, but if there are no enemies around try to wait till several opponents are in one place or when theyre trying to make a push in ranked and throw it to support your teammates. After your rain has been going on for a while you can look for damaged retreating opponents and catch them off guard with an easy 1 or 2 shot splat.

Tips: A tip regarding superjumping is that you can hold your brella open as you land back into the fray, meaning that chargers can’t splat you as you come in, and it can allow you to either retreat from other spawncampers or try to splat them back instead! 

a fun tip is that bombs blow up automatically on your brella but dont splat you (they can splat your teammates if theyre in front of your brella tho so watch out!), so you can hold your brella open and pop the bomb on it before its supposed to go off, its very good for suction and autobombs and a good way to clear a path in ranked when the opponents are trying to suppress your push. your shield will be destroyed by 2-4 bombs usually. it’ll also break if youre in close proximity to a splashdown or a baller explosion, so if you find yourself in a situation like that just retreat or superjump back to base, cause you wont win without your shield...... unless its a charger, like the kensa charger or goo tuber, in which case you might be able to splat them assuming they dont retreat fast enough!

another tip is with tentamissles, you can sort of block the damage from them if they dont fall directly on top of you and as long as theres not too many, if you find youself backed into a corner bc ur teammates ran past you and the missles surround you try holding your brella up! wont work everytime but its saved me from dumb splats countless times.

EDIT: another tip regarding sprinklers that i forgot to add! you can throw a sprinkler on top of an enemy superjump point and easily splat them with 1 direct or the brella shield as they jump in! sprinkler is really good for bait as well to use to ambush people, as stealth is very important for getting splats with the brella. you can also throw a sprinkler in a certain place where the enemy can come through to keep watch, if you see your sprinkler being destroyed you can alert your team where theyre coming from. i use this technique on the enemy side alley to the right on Ancho-V Games most often!

Gear Abilities: As for gear recommendations, ink main saver is a must due to how many times youre gonna be repeatedly shooting at an opponent, and how you lose ink when you hold your brella open. Special charge up is good for both the splat and sorella brella to allow you to always have a trump card when you need it. Run speed up may be good for strafing while shooting, but i prefer swim speed up to make flanking and chasing retreating opponents easier, as well as retreats. Quick super jump is good as well to allow you to get into the action quickly and to retreat back to spawn fast. Ninja squid is a pretty good ability as well seeing as stealth is your main asset in splatting opponents, but i personally dont run it as i prefer being fast (also i dont have any ninja squid shirt that fit my outfit) Main power up makes your brella come back faster after it’s been destroyed or after letting it go, and with enough you can even regain your brella before your sent-off umbrella has despawned. Though I wouldnt recommend it too much but it might be good for ranked and especially tower control. this is my gear setup, and the only thing i’d recommend is not using a main of quick superjump like me, one or 2 subs would work just as well. i just love quick superjump and those shoes fit my outfit :3c

[pansexualseaanimals]

1. Get Me Out Of My Head

Look Alive, Sunshine

[ Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 ]

(( Just wanted to start this adventure by throwing in the usual disclaimers; Splatoon - and all its components, Inklings, Octolings, Turf War, SquidForce and related brands, et cetera, et cetera - belongs to its creators, and I claim no ownership or responsibility over the Splatoon series/universe/franchise or any of its components, or over any real-world songs, products, et cetera, referenced or alluded to in this work or any related work. Therefore, let it be known (as it should) that the species, locations, et cetera created by Nintendo and such are not owned by myself, but the characters that appear in this work (with the exception of the members of Squid Squad and whatever other canon characters used/referenced, however few or rarely-appearing they may be) are my own original creation and I claim full ownership and responsibility for them. Places such as the diner known as Yellow Submarine, or the nightclub Moonage Daydream, were created by me, and I claim ownership and responsibility for them in terms of area concept, layout, design, et cetera, but do not claim any possession of the names, and use the names only as an homage, tribute, display of endearment, et cetera. The same goes for group names such as The Fabulous Killjoys and The Spiders From Mars; these names are given only as a tribute, homage, et cetera, et cetera, and neither I - the creator - nor the innocent fictional children who "salvaged" such names from relics of a bygone era, mean any harm or disrespect by such choices. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy. ))

1. Get Me Out Of My Head

"Hey guys... You ever think that maybe there's more to life than Turf Wars?"

A collective gasp rose from the rest of the gang, and the three battlers and their two friends stared at Ankyr, who had his back turned to them, leaning on the railing and staring off into the sunset.

"Oh no," Rocky half-whispered.

"He's getting older," Caurel said soberly.

"It can't be time yet," Ecto said.

"More important than Turf Wars?" asked Moises, their Jellyfish friend.

"Yeah," Ankyr said, turning around to give his squad a toothy grin. "Y'know, like Ranked Battles!"

"Phew!" The group let out sighs of relief.

"You scared me there for a second," Caurel said.

"Seriously though." Ankyr's grin relaxed a bit. "I think about it a lot these days. What we're gonna do, y'know?"

"We're not gonna replace you, if that's what you mean," Rocky said.

"No, bro," Caurel shook her head. "I think he's just worried about the 'event horizon'."

"The what?"

"I'm gonna be eighteen soon," Ankyr said, grateful that at least Caurel got it. "I've never seen an Inkling keep interest in battling much longer than that."

"So?" Rocky scoffed. "That won't happen to us. We're totes dedicated to Turf War. And we're one of the best squads! They're gonna build a statue for us if we keep up at this rate."

"Dream on, roller-boy," the Crayfish Caasi said with a short cackle. She was also a fan of the team, but loved to give people a hard time, and Rocky was her favorite victim.

"I prefer Jet-Star."

"I prefer Alpha Centauri, it shines brighter than your dim bulb."

"Look, the Killjoys aren't going anywhere," Rocky said, steering the conversation back onto its topic and ignoring Caasi's sly commentary. "And that includes you." He poked Ankyr's chest with his index finger. "You're not gonna lose your passion that easily, just because you age a few more weeks. Come on, let's get outta here. Your philosophical stuff is making me hungry."

"Everything makes you hungry," Caurel cackled, cleaning her glasses with her purple and white Grape Tee.

"Same," Moises said.

"I third that," Caasi nodded as the teen sea critters climbed up the steps to exit Blackbelly Skatepark. Now that the Turf War was over, the majority of the pink and turquoise ink had vanished, and people of all ages - and species - were enjoying the activities the park was originally intended for. It was only a short walk from either end of the park to the train station.

"But how long do you think we'll keep battling?" Ankyr asked once they were all seated on the train.

"ENOUGH!" Rocky groaned and threw his arms in the air.

"I'm serious. Do you think we'll keep doing this when we're thirty or something? I don't wanna be the 'creepy old guy'."

"Thirty isn't old," Caasi said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You know what I mean."

"Nobody's gonna be the 'creepy old guy'," Rocky said. "Nobody's gonna do anything about anything, and nothing's gonna change. The future doesn't matter. All that matters is now. Now shut up, you're making me hungrier."

"Actually, I have interests outside of Turf War," Ecto finally spoke up.

"UGH!" With one final growl, Rocky got up and walked away, heading into the next car, before slamming the door behind him. This sent Caurel, Moises, and Caasi into a fit of laughter, while Ankyr continued staring solemnly at the passing scenery. Ecto simply shrugged.

"As I was saying, I've always been big into making and repairing things. I've been working on my own custom weapon set."

"That's applicable to Turf War though, Ghoul," Ankyr sighed.

"Yeah, but it's still a skill outside of it," Caurel said sternly. "She can carry it with her when... IF she ever stops battling. We understand you're feeling down, Sunshine, but don't turn into a jerk."

"Yeah... Sorry," Ankyr said.

"We're cool, Sunshine," Ecto said, patting her teammate on the shoulder.

"Do you think there's anything I can bring with me? Like, to use when I get older?"

"Of course," Caurel said. "There's your..." She trailed off and stared into space.

"Well," Ecto picked up, "you've always been very... Hm..." She apparently had to think as well.

"Guys!"

"Ankyr, you're really..." Moises said, pausing for a moment. "Um... You're really nice?"

"Yeah, I got nothin'," Caasi shrugged.

"I can't believe you guys!"

\/\/\/\/\/

Once they got off the train at the downtown residential district that most of the group called home, the six hungry teens made their way to Yellow Submarine, their favorite place to grab eats. The double-doors with circular windows greeted them silently with their familiarity, as did the mingled smells of many tasty foods, mostly fried and baked.

"Heaven," Rocky sighed dreamily, closing his eyes and sniffing the air, letting his nose guide him. "I'm in heaven. Sweet Caroline, I'm so ready."

"This way, bro." Caurel grabbed him by the shoulders and guided him to the corner booth the others had already gravitated toward.

"Can I get you guys anything to drink?" a waiter asked - a young Inkling with their tentacles split and styled in dreadlocks. They held a notepad and pen and wore an eager smile to match their pristine uniform.

"Hi," Caurel said, glancing around the diner for a moment before giving the waiter her full attention. "We need whatever appetizers you can get here in a hurry. My brother's about to pass out." She gestured to Rocky for emphasis, and the male Inkling simply groaned with his head on the table.

"Oh! Sure, I'll be right back." And with that, the waiter zipped away to the kitchen.

"Isn't Penny working today?" Caurel asked once the group was alone again.

"As far as I know." Caasi shrugged all of her shoulders while suddenly staring at her phone.

"Our freshest and finest," the waiter declared as they zoomed back to the table with a tray.

"Wow, that was fast," Rocky said, suddenly able to speak again as a basket of bread, a box of steamed rice, and two bowls each of chips, salsa, and a thick soup-like concoction were placed on the table. He grabbed two handfuls of breadsticks and was planning on tossing them into his mouth, when his sister smacked his wrist.

"Tell-them-thank-you," she emphasized each syllable.

"Th-th-thank you," Rocky said, dropping the food - and his forehead - onto the table. "I'm so sorry. Thank you. You've saved my life! I pledge my life to your cause, whatever it may be!"

"Th... at's not necessary," the waiter awkwardly chuckled.

"Thank you, though," Ecto said, "in all seriousness."

"You're all welcome," the waiter said, bowing. "Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Abbey, and I'll be your waiter today."

"Nice to meet you, Abbey," greeted the entire group, save for Rocky, who had finally started shoving food in his mouth.

"Thank you," Abbey said, bowing again.

"Abbey, do you know if Penny's here?" asked Caurel. "She was supposed to be working today."

"The girl with the daisy chains? I think the boss let her leave early. Something about an interview?"

"Oh my Great Zapfish, she got the interview!" Caurel hopped up and down in her seat. "I'm so proud of her!"

"That explains it," Ankyr said, nodding toward Caasi. "She was probably so excited she rushed off without thinking of texting us."

"Whatever," Caasi said, now furiously tapping away at her phone.

"So now that that mystery is solved," Ankyr said, "I'll take a Baby, You're A Rich Man and a Melonade."

"Oh, are you guys already ready to order?" Abbey asked, jotting down what Ankyr had said.

"We kind of have the menu memorized," Moises said. "I'll just take a small Walk The Plankton and an Algae Pop."

"Those aren't good for you," Ecto said. "There's no algae in it, it's just algae-flavored soda."

"You know what, I didn't come here to be judged," Moises said, folding his menu and whacking Ecto on the head with it. The bespectacled Inkling retaliated by knocking his makeshift weapon out of his grasp with her right tentacle, innocently humming and pretending to be preoccupied with her salsa the entire time. This quickly devolved into a slapping match of arms and tentacles, and Caurel waved Abbey's attention away from the two troublemakers.

"For me and my brother, just tell the chef that Jet-Star and the Kobra Kid are here. He'll know what to do."

"O-okay, sure," Abbey said, jotting down Caurel's instructions with a raised eyebrow. "What can I get for you?" they asked Caasi, who continued to type on her phone with five of the six slender limbs she used as arms, tapping her four feet on the floor impatiently.

"Caasi," Caurel said, waving her hand in front of the Crayfish's face.

"What?" Caasi snapped, before shrinking back in her seat when she realized what was going on. "Oh... Sorry about that. I'll take a salad with just the lettuce. Actually, can I get that in a to-go box?"

"Um... Sure."

"And I'll take the Day Tripper Deluxe," Ecto said, wiping chips and salsa off of herself. "And another round of chips, please." She ended this sentence with a glare at Moises, who was guffawing at his apparent victory in their battle.

"Sure thing," Abbey nodded, writing down this last order. After finishing their notes, they gave the group another low bow. "We'll have that ready as soon as possible," they said before departing once again.

"Okay, I'm out," Caasi said, rising from her seat and placing her phone in her pocket. "Caurel, hold onto my salad for me."

"You're leaving already?" Ecto asked, though she didn't get an answer, as Caasi was already almost to the door.

"Go get her, dude," Moises cheered as their Crayfish friend ran out of the diner.

"I'm so proud of Penny," Caurel said again. "I knew she would get the break she deserves soon."

"She'll be a hit idol before long," Ankyr said, watching Caasi disappear from view. "She and Caasi will have it made. And Ecto will be an award-winning inventor after she graduates, no doubt about it."

"H...Hey, that's not necessarily true, man," Ecto said, holding out her hands.

"And Caurel and Moises are bound to go far as clothing designers. And of course Rocky is already rank A+... He'll be noticed by the big brands before long. Probably join a pro team. And I'll be... just me."

"I am SO tired of hearing you feel sorry for yourself," Rocky said, slamming down his now-empty salsa bowl. Ankyr turned his attention back to the table, to see everyone staring at him - mostly with solemn expressions, but Rocky was fuming.

"Oh... I was thinking out loud again. Sorry."

"It's nice to know you have so much faith in all of us, homie," Moises said. "Really. But..."

"We are just as uncertain about the future as you," Ecto picked up.

"Yeah," Moises nodded. "We just don't torture ourselves about it like you are."

"Seriously, Sunshine," Caurel said. "You can come to us with your feelings any time. You don't have to keep it bottled up."

"Caurel..."

"Hmph! Well I don't wanna hear any of it," Rocky said. "Don't come to me with your whining."

"Shut it, you," Caurel said, shoving a rolled-up breadstick into her brother's mouth.

"Is... this a bad time?" Abbey asked as they approached with a platter in their hands.

"Not at all, Abbey-senpai!" Rocky said once he had dislodged the bread from his maw. His demeanor had changed to all smiles in the presence of their waiter.

"Please don't call me that..."

"Okay! Your wish is my command."

"The cook told me to give this to you two," Abbey said, trying their best to ignore the uncomfortable moment and let it go floating by. They took a large bowl off of the platter and placed it in front of the siblings.

"Beautiful," Rocky said. "Just beautiful."

"He already had it prepared for us," Caurel said, wiping saliva from the corner of her mouth. "I love that old man!"

"The rest of your order will be done as soon as possible," Abbey told the others as they placed another helping of chips and salsa in the middle of the table, and set each person's drink down in front of them. "Please let me know if I can do anything else for you."

"Your eternal love will be enough," Rocky said with a wide grin. His sister slammed her fist down on the top of his head.

"STOP ACTING LIKE A CREEPER!"

\/\/\/\/\/

Approximately one hour later, upstairs of that very same establishment...

"So, miss movie star, do you have any words for the folks watching at home?"

"Shut up!"

"Hey, don't get out of the frame," Caasi chuckled, chasing after her Inkling girlfriend with the camera function of her phone turned on. "Are you camera-shy?"

"If you show this to anyone, I will end you!"

"As if I'd do that. I want you all to myself."

Penny Lane was considered for most of her life to have the worst luck among any of her peers. She was born into a very poor family, in more ways than one, and she didn't have the easiest childhood. By the time she was in high school, she had accepted the fact that she was going to be stepped on or used by one person or another.

Before she had even reached fourteen years of age, she was lucky enough to be adopted into a healthier family, though the pain of her past would never stop haunting her mind. Her blood family didn't seem to care one way or the other, and some made it known that they were glad to be rid of her, which was its own pain in and of itself, but not to compare with what she had already endured. When she turned sixteen she managed to acquire a room for rent in exchange for working at the diner below it, in the hopes of keeping her mind busy - and subconsciously to try to distance herself from those who tried to help.

Even though she started to turn her life around, bad luck followed her for the next two years, and sometimes it seemed nothing ever went right for her. If she bought a box fan to make her Summers more tolerable, someone stole it. If she bought a lock for her door, she would lose the key. If she got an extra job across town, her car would break down. If, by chance, she could afford to take the train, she could never wake up on time, even though she set alarms. There was more than one night when she cried herself to sleep, snapping from the constant buildup of tiny thing after tiny thing.

But...

She had the best friends she could ever hope for - some of which she had formed a squad with to play Turf War. She had wonderful people looking out for her - no matter how many jobs she lost, she always had her gig at the Yellow Submarine. And now, she had finally landed her first role in her dream career! Sure, it was hardly a few lines of dialogue, but it was something. It was the start. It was her start.

And now, she was celebrating her big break with her loving, wonderful, fun, gorgeous girlfriend, who she had somehow - bad luck be damned - managed to keep around for more than a year. As far as Penny was concerned, she was the luckiest squid in the world.

\/\/\/\/\/

Saturday morning, Ankyr decided that he wanted to feel like someone else. Or rather, the culmination of that decision had finally reached its critical point. So he did something that he would never do - he spontaneously took a boat ride.

"Thank you for choosing Ocean Eyes for all your travel needs," a disembodied voice chimed over the dock's PA system. "We are committed to quality service and safety so that you can have the time of your life. For questions and concerns, or to check in, please see our main desk. Please keep in mind..."

Ankyr tuned out the intercom while he walked from the front desk to the loading gate marked LSOD-2005.

'I shouldn't be doing this... Should I? I could be in a Turf War right now. I could be sleeping in. Why am I awake so early, anyway?' He shook his head and marched forward. 'I'm doing this. I'm gonna do this so I... Because...'

"Hi, welcome aboard the KC Accidental," greeted a uniformed Inkling with a wide grin, pulling Ankyr out of his mental trapeze.

"I... Oh, hi, thanks," he said, giving the slightly older woman a short bow before presenting her with his ticket.

"Thank you for joining us today! It's so great to see people my age take an interest in the sea. I'm Marianne, and I'll be your Captain-slash-tour-guide today. Feel free to wander around on-deck to your heart's content. After all, that's what it's all about - exploration!"

"Thanks, Marianne, I-I mean Captain," he said, bowing his head and running on deck.

"Such a polite guy," he heard her say, and a grin swept across his face, his cheeks turning the same turquoise color as his tentacles, as he slowed down his pace.

'Well, I'm here, I might as well enjoy it. What would I do if I... wasn't me?'

He wandered toward the edge of the deck and placed his hands on the railing, staring out at the bay. He was never so close to the ocean, but it was right there - all over the place - to enjoy whenever he wanted.

He had no idea how long he had been staring off into the distance when Marianne's voice floated over the ferry.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlefish, this is your Captain speaking. Please make yourselves comfortable. We'll be departing in about three minutes."

Several other passengers made their way to the railing to enjoy the view, though Ankyr was thankful that none of them approached him to talk. He was already too busy dealing with himself to pay attention to a conversation.

Soon the ferry started moving, and Ankyr's attention shifted continuously between the rippling water down below, the seagulls flying over the water, and the sight of Inkopolis passing by as they moved.

The air smelled so much better out at sea, it tasted better, and everything seemed bigger, brighter, and more full of life. Marianne was stating facts about the ocean over the loudspeaker, but Ankyr was paying more attention to the sounds of the gulls and the ferry.

"This is our first stop, the Delphine Dropoff. The top of this seaside cliff used to be a famous place for dates, until too many accidents happened, and it became off-limits. The bottom here is safe, though, so feel free to explore."

Ankyr rode out the entire trip at the railings. The wind, smells, and sensations of the sea put him into a meditative state that was only broken every now and then when the Captain brought up a fact that interested him.

"You may have noticed that the seagulls aren't following us out very far past the bay. That's because there aren't that many "living spots" in the ocean around here. Scientists suggest that thousands of years ago, the entire ocean was full of living things. Fish, coral, anemones, and many of our other ancestors could be found all over the ocean, all over the world, not just in select spots like Bluefin Bay. But massive, unprecedented changes in the Earth's carbon dioxide and sea level caused the pH levels of the water to shift enough to throw things out of balance. At first only in tiny spots, but eventually this crisis spread all over the world. If you think about it, it's kind of a miracle that our ancestors were able to stay alive long enough to evolve to what we are now."

"Wow," Ankyr breathed, glancing up to the Captain's deck and then back to the distant gulls flying around the city. "I never thought about it that way..."

"The area we're heading into is another of the few living spots in the ocean around Inkopolis," Marianne continued after a few moments of silence. "Many brave fishers make their livings out here. This is our last stop on the ride, so you may get out if you choose, but we recommend caution, as this area is dangerous." They were pulling up to a rocky coastline that rose into a series of high cliffs, at the top of which was a gargantuan rock formation that seemed to be in the shape of an octopus.

"Whoa..."

"Welcome to the boundaries of Octo Valley."

A few passengers disembarked, though they stayed close to the ferry.

"You've been awfully quiet on this trip," Marianne said as she approached Ankyr. "You haven't gotten down at any of the stops. The ocean has really captivated you, hasn't it?"

"I guess so," Ankyr chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head as he turned around to face the Captain. "I have a lot to think about lately. And... I guess the sights and sounds of the sea kind of helped me push it all out of my mind. I know it's still gonna be there for me to deal with when I get back home, but I still feel like I've been healed somehow. Maybe. Just a little."

"I get that," the Captain nodded. "The ocean does that for me, too. No matter how many times I see it, it helps me. It's like I'm in another world where all of that mess doesn't apply."

Ankyr nodded and smiled, letting out a short sigh. He felt like he should continue the conversation to be polite, but was feeling awkward and didn't know what to say.

"Captain, I... I think I will get down and see the sights. Might as well, at least once."

"That's the spirit! Just be careful. We wouldn't want one of our..." She cleared her throat. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to you. To... any of our passengers."

"I will," he giggled nervously, backing away with a bow before turning and walking toward the ramp.

'Glad I'm not the only awkward person around,' he thought as he realized his cheeks had been burning again.

Once he left the ship, he noticed a small dirt trail leading up and between some of the rock formations. Several passengers were walking up and down the path, so he went ahead and did the same. Several signs were posted at the sides of the trail, warning about the dangers, as well as listing interesting facts about the area.

He was thinking about turning around and returning to the ship, when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a group of wildflowers with vivid purple and red petals. There were at least five or six individual flowers with light-green stems, growing out of a tiny crevice in the rock wall, far off the beaten path.

'Whoa... I think that's the endangered plant we were learning about in Biology...'

He took out his phone and snapped a few photos of the flowers, though he wasn't happy with the quality from so far away, so he moved closer, and eventually climbed up the rock wall.

"So beautiful," he thought out loud, reaching out with his phone to get a closer shot. Still not quite satisfied, he continued up to the top of the rock wall to snap a shot from above, but once he reached the top, he froze in place, all breath taken away. There were countless patches of the same wildflower species dotting the stone terrain like a colorful red, green, and violet quilt. Not far off, a higher rock wall rose gradually up, providing shade for the natural flower beds - shade that was retreating more and more as morning crept closer to noon.

'I... I think it'll be safe to take one now,' he said, nodding his head absent-mindedly as if giving himself approval as he walked closer to the shade.

Just as he knelt down to pluck one of the wildflowers, his ears perked up and he froze. It took just the breadth of a second to convince himself that he had not been hearing things: the sound that reached his pointed Inkling ears was a familiar one. A high-pitched, elongated hum, which his mind equated with his friend Ecto. The young tinkerer was well-known for her skill with the Splatterscope and other chargers, and any time Ankyr was near her during an ink battle, he was likely to hear that high-pitched noise, followed soon by a loud BANG and a splatted opponent.

But at this moment, there was no ink battle going on. No fun-filled sport with his friends. He was alone. On the outskirts of Octo Valley. And he was well off the beaten path.

Another second passed. The sound grew louder. He locked his attention above, at the top of the cliff wall, and the source of the sound. A charger-type weapon that was very similar to the one Ecto owned and loved, but also different. Just a bit different. A weapon in the hands of someone who could almost be mistaken for an Inkling. Again, very similar, but just different enough. And the scowl on their face shifted fluidly into a smirk when the charger sounded its ready-for-action alert.

"Say goodnight, sunshine."

\/\/\/\/\/

[ Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 ]

(( Please let me know what you think! And if you liked this chapter enough to read it all the way, why not give it a reblog and see if anyone you know does as well? I know it’s only 4k words and some change, but still... Please feel free to share. 

Second chapter will be posted as soon as I’m done editing it. You can expect the next few chapters soon as well. After that... It depends on how many times I can convince myself not to go back to sleep. XD Catch ya on the flip side~ ))

(( P.S.: You can also find this story at https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13094575/1/Look-Alive-Sunshine ))

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

Splataclysm! - chapter 7

I bet no one expected me to suddenly update the weird Splatoon AU fic from ages ago, did they? Well sometimes the inspiration strikes at like 1am and you just have to, so there. It’s past 3am right now because I have no time management skills or any self-restraint whatsoever.

Also on AO3 where you can read it from the beginning if you want, which would make a lot more sense and especially if you haven’t played Splatoon lol

Aha, the Jet Squelcher. It was Shooter, so Nath wouldn’t have to worry about manual firing, and it had a long range, so at least he could make up for his pitiful aiming skills by scaring people off from a distance. And plus, Splash Wall and Inkstrike? That was a good Sub and Special set.

“Thanks, Tikki,” he said as he paid for it. “I’ve got a feeling I’m actually going to win the next match.”

“But will that be because of you or because of your teammates?”

Ugh, how could she say stuff like that, and still with that sickening tone and expression? As if she hadn’t just put his insecurities out in the open?

“Because of me,” Nath said.

“Mhm. Of course. So what will your tactics for Rainmaker be?”

“Nuh-uh. Not Rainmaker. I’ve sworn off Ranked Battles until I can find a weapon that suits me.”

Tikki shrugged. “Fair enough. But different weapons are suited to different battle modes, so something you find useful for Turf Wars may not work on anything else.”

“I know that. But I’m still not doing Ranked Battles.”

“Alright. Good luck anyway.”

“Thank you.”

He left the shop and headed to the Lobby.

He knew something was up as soon as he had been transported to the base on Ancho-V Games – a video game studio that had fan-propelled platforms everywhere. But it was nothing to do with the battle stage. It was his teammates. He could only see them beside him out of the corner of his eye, but that was enough. He knew exactly who they were.

The Slaughter Squad.

Oh no.

He tried to calm his nerves. Alright, so he was on a team with the freshest inklings in existence. He couldn’t afford to let them down. He had to pull his weight. And definitely, no making a fool of himself.

“Ancho-V Games? Hey, remember that time I splatted 22 people here?”

“Well remember the time I inked 1800p here?”

“You just got lucky…”

“Well maybe you did too!”

“Hey, I consistently splat loads of people!”

“And I consistently ink more turf than anyone else! Which, may I remind you, is the objective of Turf Wars!”

“Then it’s no wonder I’m better at Ranked Battles – the thing that actually matters!”

Kim and Alix were arguing again. Come to think of it, Nath had never heard them do anything else. At least this way their attention was off him.

“May I remind you two that the only reason you’re not constantly losing is because I am always covering your backs?!”

Max had spoken – he had actually spoken. It was the first time Nath had ever heard his voice. For some reason it seemed to triple his nervousness – though somehow he felt like that wasn’t anything to do with battling.

“Yeah, fine,” Kim muttered.

Nath dared to turn aside slightly to get a look at his teammates. Kim and Alix were facing away from each other, looking grumpy. And Max was–

Wait, was Max looking at him? It was impossible to see through those sunglasses. But the thought gave his stomach a rather weird turn.

The signal played for the match to begin. Nath immediately began shooting into the distance with his new Jet Squelcher, knowing that he had longer range than the Aerosprays and a quicker fire rate than the E-Litre. Maybe he could actually get some points!

It didn’t last long. Kim and Alix were using their Aerosprays to ink everything quicker than he could keep up, and Max had already swam ahead to some sniper vantage point somewhere. Nath himself tried to swim ahead too and get in some points before the Aerosprays could reach, but they were just too quick for him.

The battle did not end up being much fun at all. The opposing team quickly found themselves confined to the small area around their base, not able to venture further forward without being splatted, and there was simply no turf for Nath to ink without the Aerosprays getting there first. He resigned himself to standing and shooting at the opponents, hoping his long range would be able to splat some of them. But his accuracy was completely off. Not to mention, the Jet Squelcher did not have great damage stats.

This sucked.

When Plagg announced the final results, it was no surprise that his team had won by far. It was also no surprise that he had barely managed to ink anything at all. 458p? That was just atrocious. And in front of that Slaughter Squad, too. He wished the ground would just open up and swallow him whole.

“…and I actually beat you this time, so there! I’m better than you! Told you so!”

“One time out of fifty, Kim, that proves nothing!”

“Oh stop being such a sore loser, I beat you fair and square…”

Again? Those two always seemed to be trying to get the better of each other. Nath stood there dejectedly, watching them. He noticed with a jolt that Max turned back to take a look at him. Why was that making him feel so nervous? He turned around and faced the other way, hoping no one would catch him staring.

What would it be like to have a squad like that? To know that you were incredibly powerful, so much that people feared you? To know that you were always guaranteed a win? To know that people didn’t even dare talk to you, because they knew they weren’t fresh enough?

And he wasn’t. He knew it. He was nowhere near fresh enough to talk to anyone as amazing as them. Just being teammates had been bad enough. They were lightyears out of his league.

“Sorry about all that, you hardly even got to do anything this match. You probably hate us.”

W-what?

He had been so lost in thought he hadn’t seen what had been going on in front of his eyes. Looking up, he saw that Alix was standing right there in front of him. And talking to him.

Oh boy. An actual member of the Slaughter Squad, speaking to him! What was he supposed to do now? What was he meant to say? Wait, what had she even said? He had barely been listening!

Yes… she said he hadn’t done anything this match, that was true… and that he must hate them… what? No! Not true at all!

“Of course I don’t hate you, why would I hate you?” he babbled. “You’re like, the coolest, freshest inklings ever!”

She frowned up at him. “Seriously? We’re not. We’re really annoying and we know it.”

What did she mean by saying the Slaughter Squad weren’t cool? Of course they were cool! They were the very epitome of freshness! How could you be that fresh without even knowing it?

He gulped and said, “Well for the record I think you’re really cool, and I was honoured to be on your team… I wish I was as cool as you…”

“Wait, you’re not kidding?”

“No.”

Her face lit up suddenly. “Dude! Are you saying you’re like, a fan of me?”

“Well yeah, who isn’t?”

“This is awesome! I so need you on my team again next time!”

Nath was so surprised he almost stumbled backwards physically. “B-b-b-but why? I’m not even good!”

“I don’t care! I want you on my team as a friend.”

“Friend?!”

“Yeah!” She gave him a punch in the arm, probably meaning it in a friendly way, though it was strong enough to knock him aside slightly. “You’re my friend now! Wait – that’s okay with you, right?”

Nath just nodded, too shocked to even speak.

“Awesome! Come on new friend, let’s go hang out!”

He did not object as she grabbed his arm and Super Jumped him somewhere else. They arrived in what Nath recognized to be Blackbelly Skatepark, though he had never been here outside of battle times. There were actually people skating here. Inklings, jellyfish, anemones, all sorts of creatures.

“If you ever need to find me when I’m not battling then I’ll be here,” Alix said, leading him to a bench on the side where they sat down. “I practically live here.”

He just nodded again, still not sure what to say. Talking to someone as fresh as this was so intimidating.

“So. Your name is Nathaniel, right?”

“You can call me Nath,” he said quickly. Nathaniel just sounded odd to him now, considering how unused to it he was. Though he didn’t have much in the way of friends here, Rose always just called him Nath.

“Cool. Where are you from?”

“Nowhere special, just the further-off parts of Calamari County…”

“Like where the Squid Sisters are from? Awesome.”

True, the Squid Sisters were basically what the area was known for. Well, and the iconic Calamari Inkantation too. But there wasn’t much else to do there. It was glum and boring… much like Nath himself…

“Why do you want to be my friend?” he asked before he could stop himself.

“Well, it would be kinda nice to have someone around who doesn’t hate me. Or who I don’t hate.”

“Surely there must be lots of people like that!”

“Nope.”

“Not even Kim and Max?”

He knew that had been a stupid question as soon as he’d asked it. Her eyes narrowed.

“Do you seriously think I’m friends with them?” she asked.

“No…”

“Exactly. I’d rather punch myself in the face.”

Huh… but that didn’t make sense. She was part of the Slaughter Squad. Surely there must be a reason for that? Why would she stick around if she hated it?

“I know what you’re thinking,” she said, crossing her arms. “You’re wondering why I always team up with them, right?”

“Um, yeah…”

“Well, it’s because it’s better that way. I get to win almost every Turf War. I don’t have to worry about being sniped by Max. And you weren’t here for this, but ages ago me and Kim were such bitter rivals that people would literally Super Jump away from matches if they saw we were there, we were that annoying. It’s better now. I once accidentally got put on the same team as them and we completely annihilated the opponents. So now we just team up for convenience, glory, and reputation.”

It did seem to be working very well. The three members of the Slaughter Squad had such a legendary, fear-inducing reputation, enough to cause inklings to quiver in their boots at the sight of them. And plus, this inter-team rivalry of theirs seemed to push them to gain higher and higher scores just to outdo each other. Well… during Turf Wars, at least. Nath knew what a mess they were when it came to Ranked Battles. Actual teamwork would be the only way to win there.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to say more things, rather than just sit there silently like a clam. “Why do you hate them?”

“To be fair, I don’t exactly hate Max. It’s just annoying that he pretty much ignores me. Like he’s got better things to be doing with his time, and I’m totally unimportant.”

Oh, that was true. Max seemed to be so aloof, so above it all. It was actually pretty cool, though, the way he ignored the antics of his teammates, focusing instead on never being splatted, never getting even a drop of enemy ink on that jacket of his, that really cute jacket that suited him so well…

Nath shook himself out of his daydreams. Why was Max so easy to think about?

“And as for Kim,” Alix continued, her voice sounding colder all of a sudden, “you might have noticed that he’s the biggest jerk to ever exist. Inkopolis’s aggressive battling culture can only ever bring out the worst in someone as competitive as him. But that doesn’t mean he’s allowed to be mean to the only person who can beat him at Turf Wars – which is me!”

That did not sound fun. In fact, the more Nath was hearing about the truth behind the Slaughter Squad, the less cool they seemed. “Why don’t you just… like… stop?”

“Someone’s gotta knock Kim down a peg, and Max is too above-it-all to do it, so it may as well be me. And if I stopped now he’d just steamroll right over me and leave me behind – you know he’s way more popular than me, right? So I stick around in his stupid squad even though I hate it, because no one else likes me either. We’re just a bunch of bullies and I want out.”

Seriously? Was that really what the Slaughter Squad was like on the inside? Rotten?

“Surely I can’t be your only friend,” Nath said, still feeling the effects of being around a somewhat famous inkling, even if that illusion had just been shattered. “I would have thought lots of people would want to be your friend!”

“Nope, just you. That is, if you still want to be my friend after all my ridiculous oversharing just now…”

“Of course I still want to be your friend!”

She grinned. “Awesome! Now I guess I’ve finally got someone else to battle with. Thanks, Nath.”

He just looked down, hoping he wasn’t blushing. The best Turf War player ever actually wanted to be on his team? Maybe he was fresher than he thought. And the fact that Alix had just been complaining to him, venting her problems, when he hadn’t even considered that an inkling that fresh could even have any problems, well, it certainly was lifting his own nervousness a little. Perhaps he sometimes forgot that even the freshest of inklings were still inklings, just like him. Not gods.

“So,” he said, wondering if he would regret asking this, “that rumour about Kim at Walleye Warehouse, that wasn’t you then?”

“Ew, yuck, no way. If he’d managed to plant one on me I would have murdered him with my bare hands.”

“So was it Max?”

“I asked him once but he said it wasn’t him either. I have no idea who it was. I feel sorry for them, though.”

Nath wondered if he should ask Kim himself, but quickly squashed that thought. He wasn’t quite that curious about it anyway. He was more curious about something else – far more curious.

“How are you so good at Turf Wars?” he asked.

“I dunno, I guess I just am. Do you want help or something?”

“Um… well…”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. “Yeah, I’ll help you! Come on – let’s go buy you an Aerospray!”

He was pulled along into a Super Jump before he knew it. This friendship had already started out so weirdly unpredictable, and it would probably continue like that. It was a nice change.

A quiet corner of the underpass below the highway, the only sound being of vehicles rushing far above.

“I wish I didn’t have to keep all this a secret,” Adrien says, leaning on the arm of this precious inkling sitting beside him. “But if my father found out he would send me away again! I can’t go back into isolation like that…”

Tears sting his eyes. He feels a hand run through his hair.

“Hey, it’s okay Adrien. I don’t mind keeping it a secret, I swear I don’t. I would do anything to keep you safe.”

“I’m sorry,” he says, unable to stop the inky tears rolling. “I know you would want to show off about me, about having a boyfriend, right? I promise you’ll be able to someday! Just… wait until my father leaves Inkopolis. He will do at some point, to go back into the countryside to look for mother. He’ll leave once he’s satisfied that I’m doing fine here in the city.”

His eyes closed, he feels a kiss on his forehead.

“Well for the record, I think you’re doing great here. And as soon as your dad’s gone I’ll show you off to everyone all the time, don’t you worry about that!”

It isn’t quite the reassurance he wants to hear, but it’s the thought that counts. He opens his eyes again and stares up into the face that has been getting all his attention lately. That beautiful, fresh face, with the cocky grin and hints of mischief in those dreamy grey eyes.

“I trust you,” he says.

Hopefully that trust is not misplaced.

Adrien opened his eyes, the ceiling of the now-empty boss arena fazing into view. What just happened? Oh yes, he had used his Kraken again, this time fighting the Rampaging Octowhirl. A foe somewhat more difficult than the ones he and Marinette had already faced. And so, by using his Kraken, he had absorbed enough Octarian ink to knock him out again…

How did it work, anyway? How was it that Octarian ink didn’t kill him? All it seemed to do was bring the occasional memory back into his brain. Memories that made him homesick. Octarian ink wasn’t supposed to do that, was it?

“Chat, you’re okay!” Marinette was kneeling down beside him. “Wait – you’re okay, right?”

He sat up and rubbed the back of his head, blinking the spots out of his eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Oh, thank goodness. That boss battle was a tough one, wasn’t it? But were you completely unconscious? Did you hear what just happened?”

“What do you mean?”

She looked grave. “On the radio. We got a bunch of distress messages from Captain Fu, saying that some strange monster had encountered him while he was out on his patrol, and then it sounded like something grabbed him, and he won’t answer at all now.”

“You mean he’s been kidnapped?”

“I think so. And just on the day when he was going to introduce us to Agents 1 and 2! Well, I suppose we’ll have to hurry and try to rescue both Nino and Fu now, before anyone else gets taken too…”

Adrien gulped. Things were just escalating so fast now. The danger was seeming ever closer, ever more real. How much longer until they could save the day and just go home? At least Marinette seemed to be taking everything in her stride. She was just so good at this whole hero thing.

“How are we going to keep going without Captain Fu’s guidance?” he asked.

“The other agents should be here soon. According to Fu they’re already linked up to our radio sets. Agent 1 will be through the left ear and Agent 2 will be through the r– hey, do you hear that?”

Adrien listened intently. Sure enough, there was an odd crackling noise through his headset. The next second, his left eardrum was being blasted with incomprehensible yelling.

“¡OOOOOOOOOO˥˥ƎH ¿ǝɯ ɹɐǝɥ noʎ uɐƆ ¿ollǝH”

And now a mellower voice through the right earpiece.

“You’re holding that upside down.”

The left ear now seemed to have reverted to a normal volume, and intelligible speech.

“Oh… Agent 1 of the New Miracusquid Splatoon reporting in!”

“Agent 2 also reporting in! We got an SOS from Captain Fu!”

“Are you Agents 3 and 4, aka Ladybug and Chat Noir? Don’t worry, we’re your new support team!”

“Yep! We’re taking over for the captain! Well, we’re going to try…”

“But we’ve gotta hurry, or the captain is as good as sushi!”

“Let’s roll, agents!”

The audio cut off again. Adrien and Marinette just looked at each other in bewilderment.

Those voices… they sounded familiar.

Like…

Really familiar.

But no… it couldn’t be…

Could it?

Marinette pointed at her earpiece and mouthed, “It’s them, right?”

Adrien shrugged. It certainly did sound like… them. But there was no way that two of the highest profile celebrities in the world could possibly be secret agents. Absolutely not. There was no way.

Wait – there was one way of finding out. Whenever Captain Fu was linked up with their sensors, there was a little icon of him on the electronic screen on the side of the earpieces. Adrien took both earpieces off for a second and looked at them.

The left one was an inkling with short black hair, wearing sunglasses, a sweater, and a purple beanie, with a huge grin on her face. The right one had long, light-blonde pigtails, wore a green hat and jacket, and a cloth over the lower half of her face.

Even with their “disguises” their identities were unmistakable. No one else in Inkopolis looked like that, and more importantly, no one else in Inkopolis sounded like that.

Agents 1 and 2 were none other than Mireille and Aurore. The Squid Sisters.

[agent-7-at-your-service]

Future Plot: Project Titanomachy - Chapter 24

(( Camille, Lee, and depiction of Callie belong to @inklingleesquidly

Nebula belongs to @myzzy and @agenttwo

Agent Blueshift belongs to @myzzy

Depiction of Agent 2 belongs to @agenttwo

Cell, Rasbel, Mercury, and Vix (mentioned) belong to @teamuntyblue

Galaxa Gems belong to @splat-tendency and @eiden-squid

The Frosted Stars belong to @askvincent / @asktheseastars and @evora-flux

Willow belongs to @alpinesquid

Agent 7, Sandra, Circe, Justinian, Kitzeh, and Telemachus belong to me.))

The Arowana Mall mission that started 7:00 PM was finally complete along with the  mission in Kelp Dome. Argus Initiative have sent military personnel to contain the meteor fortresses in the two site.

Cell, Rasbel, Mercury, and Vix were sent back to Octo Valley with Kitzeh's protection. As for Camille she was sent back to Alexandria District to recover. Arowana Mall and the Kelp Dome are now restricted areas since battles that took place there last night left massive damages. As for Celeste, Arsenic, and Hephaestus, they were still working on widening the path from Mt. Olympus to Octo Valley.

Nebula, Justinian, and the equine pack were still in the Blackbelly Skatepark, and there was no word from them since midnight. Hera and Sea Angel Splatoon, who were also at the skatepark, also didn't report back and were still there.

Ebisu First Care, Alexandria District - Inkopolis - 12:00 Midnight

Agent 7 checked on Camille who was still recovering from her exhaustion. Soon his wife, Circe, and his adopted daughter, Sandra, approached Agent 7. He didn't expect them to visit. Sandra was there to check on Camille, but Circe was there to chat with Agent 7.

Circe took Agent 7 to a hallway in the hospital to chat.

"Circe what is this all about?" Agent 7 asked.

"Jason I am worried about you... you haven't been spending time with either me or Sandra," Circe stated.

Agent 7 knew he's been away from his family that he has raised, but his executive and authoritative jobs made him really busy. Thus, his hasn't been visiting his wife and daughter than expected; the only exception were during the holidays, day-offs and vacations. And now that Circe is mentioning this to him, Agent 7 felt some guilt coming from that reminder.

"I'm sorry, but I can't just leave during these times." Agent 7 holds her hands. "If I do, I'm deserting those defending this city."

"Jason..." Circe pouted a bit. "Please... I really miss you. Sandra misses you..." Circe looks down. "What if you died in the middle of battle?"

"I won't die, "Agent 7 assured, "But I have to continue this job--"

"Jason, this can't go on," Circe interrupted, "don't you love me?"

"...I do." Agent 7 gave a nod.

"And you would do anything for me, right?" Circe questioned.

"Yes," Agent 7 answered.

"Then at least spend more time with me...even in times like these," Circe begged.

"I wish I can, but this is really important, if I don't help--" Agent 7 was making excuses.

"Jason, just leave this to other!" Circe just wanted Agent 7 to be with her and their adopted daughter. "You can just be there during desperate times and  expect an opportunity."

"What opportunity?" Agent 7 asked.

"You know what I'm talking about! You're just helping people at this times to show you're still a hero in this city!" Circe shouted.

"That's not what I'm doing," Agent 7 argued.

"Oh cut the carp, Jason! All the things you did was for being hero that you were back then!" Circe tears up. "Look at what you've done so far, and look how much you succeeded! Isn't that enough?"

Agent 7 can remember most of those time he saved Inkopolis and parts of the world. And there has been some times he's gone overboard with some of his deeds. Even though his friends and allies left, Agent 7 tried to continue the generations of heroes and agents. It was only when Marie raised a family with Blueshift where his legacy started to tarnish from grief and despair. He didn't want to remember the Achilles's Heel that drastically affected him. In the end, so many people he knew or met were still there, and they pulled him out of the darkness.

Agent 7 stared at Circe who was about to cry. He soon held her close.

"You have to understand that I can't leave all this... but for your sake... I..... I will spend time with you and Sandra... as a family," Agent 7 promised.

"You will?" Circe looks into his eyes.

"Heck, I'll invite Pammy, her daughter Daisy, my mom, your son Narses, and my other children." Agent 7 wanted to make up for lost time.

"...At least we're together as a family." Circe smiled.

Agent 7 and Circe embrace and kiss.

Ebisu First Care, Alexandria District - Inkopolis - 10:00 AM

Telemachus, Willow, Kitzeh, Agent 0, Anteros, and Hermes were in the recovery room, waiting for Camille to wake up. Suzy was somewhere in Inkopolis, gathering more agents allies. Agent 7 was managing his alliance, the Argus Initiative, to stabilize their union and monitor foreign allies outside Inkopolis and Japan.

Camille quickly gained consciousness and got up. She is in a medical patient's down. Athena's spear and the other items from her inventory were placed on a nightstand. A nurse just came in to check on her, and it since Camille is now awake, the nurse quickly left to prepare her breakfast.

"Thank goodness, we thought Typhon's influence got to you." Hermes enters her room along with the others.

"And don't worry about your parents, they visited last night," Telemachus noted, "and Agent 7 assured you'll recover until morning. And they were really worried with Callie thinking you were out there alone, starving, and close to death."

"Figures..." Camille sighed. "We killed that giant, right?"

"We sure did," Agent 0 replied, "And Cell and Mercury told me to tell you that they're thankful of you saving them in Arowana Mall."

"Well, that's good news," Camille stretches, "Anything else?"

"The meteor fortresses in the Kelp Dome and Arowana Mall are contained," Anteros reported, "The places need some repair, but at least your friend can cover the damages."

Camille then noticed Nebula and Justinian weren't around.

"Where's Nebby and Justinian?" Camille asked.

"They haven't come back from Blackbelly Skatepark since midnight. They're probably still there, and so are the splatoons they're trying to rescue," Telemachus replied, "But Blueshift and Agent 2 offered to take their agents to the site to see what happened to them. And they only manage to find Sea Angel Splatoon being the only ones there. Hera reported that Justinian's Splatoon was waiting for Nebula and their splatoon leader, Justinian, to return."

Camille wanted to help Agent 2 and Agent Blueshift and she quickly got up, sitting on one side of the bed. She reaches her hand out towards Athena's spear. The weapon turns into electricity and later materializes on her hand.

Hermes walks over and makes her put down the spear on the bed.

"You should rest," Hermes cautioned, "You've used up a lot of energy as Athena's champion--"

"Doesn't matter," Camille picks the spear back up, "I need to help Uncle Blue and Agent 2." She then looked at everyone else. "I can't stop now."

"So we're doing this?" Antero asked.

"What?" Camille raised an eyebrow.

"Are we going to help rescue your friends in Blackbelly Skatepark?" Anteros rephrased.

"Well shell yes!" Camille gets out of bed and does a few stretches,  shaping up for her next mission.

An hour later, Camille would only be taking Telemachus, Willow, and Kitzeh to Blackbelly Skatepark. Agent 0 and Suzy decided to check on all the factions part of the Argus Initiative while Anteros and Hermes returned to Mt. Olympus in Greece to check on Celeste, Arsenic, and Hephaestus.

Blackbelly Skatepark (Quarantined), Inkopolis - 11:00 AM

Agent Blueshift, Agent 2 and their band of Agents can be seen stationed at a perimeter established by Sea Angel Splatoon minus Justinian. These agents with Blueshift and Agent 2 aren't associated with the Alexandria District or with Agent 7's military branches; They're trained to form as independent splatoons.

The Agents with Blueshift and Agent 2 were preparing patrols to help quarantine the skatepark. Agents and Militia from Agent 7's branches were also there, camping near the perimeter with fortifications and battlements.

Hera is seen, talking with a worried Agent 2 who had her mask taken off. Blueshift had his arms crossed as he listened to Hera.

When Camille arrived early in Olympian form, she quickly reverted back to normal form, wearing her Agent Alpha uniform. She ended up falling from the sky; she turned into a squid and lands like any squid.

Hera turned to look at Camille. "Used up too much of Athena's powers?"

Camille returns to inkling form and gets up, dusting herself. "That's what Hermes told me."

"You should be more careful," Hera cautioned, "All powers have their limits."

"Then I'll just rely on this. "Camille takes out the Hero Splatling. "So how happened to Nebby?" She didn't care about Justinian.

Hera closed her eyes and shook her head. "Agent Omega and Justinian got captured along with the Frosted Stars and Galaxa Gems." As a telepath, she can tell most of what has happened. "The horses that were part of a stampede dissolved and were routed out of the skatepark."

Camille didn't want to hear that. Her own cousin being in danger is something Camille will not allow. Theodora and Marcus of Sea Angel Splatoon nod in agreement.

"They weren't responding our communicators last night," Marcus explained, "and this was when we heard a conflict ensue."

Telemachus and Willow arrived later in their conversation. This is because Telemachus took the Sandpiper to get there, offering Willow a ride. Camille could use some allies, but she thinks she can handle this alone with Blueshift and Agent 2.

"Uncle Blue, Tia Marie." Camille already knows Agent 2's identity. "We should get in there right now!"

Blueshift shook his head. "Camille..... I mean Agent Alpha, I know you're determined to go in and save your cousin, but think before you act."

"Oh come on! There's no time to think when you own daughter is danger!" Camille never argued before with her relatives.

"But look at the numbers," Blueshift reasoned, "look at those horrid beasts that have my daughter and Justinian. If we go in there alone without our allies, then you're asking for casualties."

"Then bring them along!" Camille wanted to go now.

"Camille!" Blueshift didn't want to argue, and cooperation with her is lacking.

"Camille, listen to your uncle with respect, I never seen you two argue like this." Agent 2 then looked at Blueshift. "Dear, we can't waste time here arguing." She puts on her mask and prepares her Hero Charger. She calls in all available Agents in the area. "All agents waiting for reassignment, rally to our location."

Soon Blueshift's trained agents, the one that are available to participate in the rescue mission, rally to Agent 2's and Agent Blueshift's location. Camille carried Agent 1's hero roller and Athena's spear in her Mermaid's Purse. Telemachus walks up to Camille as Madoka.

"Cammy-san, Mrs. Noh told me to give you this." Telemachus's Madoka personality hands Camille a wonder ring. "Just in case you want to try out the overdrive mode."

"Overdrive mode?" Camille takes the ring and puts it on. She thought these several modes and forms are too much. "Don't you think I have enough modes to try out?"

"What makes you think that, girl~ You look -- like -- fabulous~!" Telemachus's sassy personality pops out of nowhere.

".....Sorry, it's been a while, but I have to do this again." Camille hits Telemachus's head.

Agent 2 covers her mouth in surprise.

Telemachus was now under his Homura personality. "...Oww... Uhm... thanks. " He looked away. "...Let's go save your friends."

"Yeah, we should." Camille switches her Hero Splatling with Agent 1's Hero Roller. "I'll just stick with the usual ink-weapons. I don't know what's going on with the spear."

"It's probably needs to recharge, like a battery," Willow assumed.

"I wonder why the spear won't function properly right now?" Blueshift folds his arms, and he then shakes his head. "Alright! Agents! Proceed with caution!"

"Commencing Operation Theseus!" Agent 2 declared.

Blueshift's Splatoon advances into the quarantined area surrounding the skatepark. Camille and Willow follow behind them while Telemachus gets into Olympian Form and puts on Hades's helmet, turning invisible and going ahead of them.

As they made their way into the quarantine zone and towards the skatepark, they've managed to detect the horrid packs that are oozing the pitch-black violet ink. Blueshift, Agent 2, and their Splatoons would sneak past them. If it was impossible to get around them, Camille offered to take them out swiftly with Willow and Blueshift as support. And this was done without one of the horrid being wailing or howling for help.

When they reached the turf war stage, they stopped at one of the spawn points. There was pitch-black violet ink claiming the turfs, waiting to be taken away by other colors of ink.

"We're in the park, but no sign of Nebby," Camille observed.

"Hmmm..." Blueshift gestured the Agents that follows him and Agent 2 to secure the area and place unique ink mines.

Telemachus reappear next to Camille and Willow, taking off Hades's helmet. Camille and Willow were both startled.

"Stop doing that!" Camille reacted.

"Sorry, Miss Squidly." Telemachus puts the helmet away. "So I scouted for you guys. The horde here is split up, hoping to expand their turfs outside the skatepark. Thank Sea Angel Splatoon for containing the area . And if you're looking for Nebula, Justinian, The Frosted Stars, and the Galaxa Gems, they're on the other spawn points."

"Good, they're still here." Camille would just need to get to them.

"But.... there's a catch," Telemachus warned, "you know that part in most alien horror films where the captives end up placed in processors?"

".....No... You can't be serious.....," Camille denied before grabbing him, "I can't allow that!"

"I'm sorry, Camille, but that's what I saw." Telemachus looked at Willow who changed into her Olympian Form. "She's a champion of Asclepius, right?"

"What's your point?" Camille doesn't know what the god Asclepius does.

"Asclepius is a god of medicine, healing, rejuvenation, and physicians," Telemachus explained, "I'm thinking that since Willow is his Champion, she can help return them to normal if Nebula, Justinian, and the Splatoons trapped her end up dying."

"Telemachus has a point." Willow know what Telemachus is planning. "It might not be too late to save them from the processors."

"Good, then follow me!" Camille quickly runs off, using Agent 1's roller to make her own ink path for Telemachus and Willow to follow. She knew the terrain well thanks to playing turf wars with her cousin.

Blueshift and Agent 2 decided to leave the remaining splatoons the brought in reclaiming Blackbelly Skatepark. They followed Camille as well.

Camille already reached the central tower with a fair view of the other spawn point. Telemachus, Willow, Blueshift and Agent 2 caught up with her.

"See, Camille?" Telemachus folded his arms and folding his arms. "They're...right over.....there......You seem him as well, right?"

".....Chaodis....." Camille can tell it the him from his black feathers and cock-eyed smile. She didn't want to be around him or even approach him. He betrayed her.

What Telemachus said was true about Nebula, Justinian, the Frosted Stars, and the Galaxa Gems: they were trapped in webbings of pink and purple lattice, paralyzed and lifeless. Chaodis was there, juggling 16 slices of Eris's Golden apple.

Camille closes her eyes and looks away. Telemachus places a hand on her shoulder.

"Camille...No... Agent Alpha, don't avoid him," Telemachus warned, "Ignoring someone forever is worse than confronting him. Otherwise, you'll regret it."

"Neo-Agent 3 has a point, dear," Blueshift agreed, "Just face him."

Camille hated that she's being told to do this. She took a deep breath.

"Alright." Camille then jumped off the central tower and approached the other spawn point where her friends are being processed.

Chaodis stands in her way with the Key to the Underworld that her stole from Telemachus. His smile has never changed.

"Champion of Athena and Zeus," Chaodis addressed.

Camille said nothing and intimidated him with a glare.

".....What's wrong cat got your tongue?" Chaodis asked. "Or are you still bitter about all the things I did before and after your exile?"

Again, Camille didn't respond.

Blueshift, Agent 2, Willow, and Telemachus snuck around Camille and Chaodis. They went ahead to free the lifeless bodies of Nebula, Justinian, the Frosted Stars, and the Galaxa Gems. Blueshift decided to make a change in plans, using his headset to notify Camille.

"Camille, change of plans, one we free Nebula and your friends, we'll have to fall back," Blueshift notified, "Agent 7 dispatched Agent M and Agent C to our location with his Agents."

Camille sighed and gave a smile to Chaodis. "Nah, no hard feelings, Chao-Chao."

"Wait... you don't mind it???" Chaodis not seemed confused.

"We're boyfriend and girlfriend, aren't we." Camille was giving a fake smile.

She noticed Blueshift, Agent 2, Willow, and Telemachus carrying Nebula, Justinian, the Frosted Stars, and the Galaxa Gems out.

Chaodis has hesitant to let his guard down, but he had to follow Cronus's orders: Kill Camille. But at the moment he points the Key to the Underworld straight at Camille, he lowers it.

"And I guess Chao-Chao is a nickname for me?" Chaodis flirted.

"Oh stop it." Camille giggled, but in her head she hated that, especially if she's doing it towards a traitor. "Can't we stop this whole war?" She steps closer.

Chaodis didn't know what she's doings. "The war can't be stopped..."

"You do have the Omphalos Stone right?" Camille pouted with false innocence. "Do it not just for this world--" She embraces him. "Do it for me."

Chaodis was to shocked to attempt to murder her on the spot. Camille was staring at Willow and Telemachus were still there. They were shocked to see Camille do that. Camille made a look that told them to leave now. Telemachus nods and he holds Willow's hand before putting Hades's Helmet on to escape invisible.

Camille then sighed let's go to Chaodis, pulls the Key away from him and delivers a few capoeira kicks to the head, chest, and groin.

"Now we're even, Chao-Chao! You patoot!" Camille was running off.

Chaodis collapses, curling up in pain.

Camille, Blueshift, Agent 2, Telemachus, and Willow leave the Skatepark with their Splatoons following. Operation Theseus was complete. Nebula, Justinian, the Frosted Star, and the Galaxa Gems were then being rejuvenated by Willow, turning their decaying  grey ink back to their original colors before they're all rushed to Alexandria District to Recover.

Agent M and Agent C already arrived to help Sea Angel Splatoon exterminate the Typhonian Horde still roaming the area around Blackbelly Skatepark.

One day left until the final battle.

[hythememes-blog]

smash bros deluxe edition?

as soon as the switch was released people were speculating about what games would come out for the system, one of the favourites being a new smash bros game,but i think it would be more likely that smash 4 gets a deluxe edition like mario kart 8 did. 

the game would have a ton of returning characters and stages as well as new characters / stages and the DLC characters already available. The returning characters would be squirtle and ivysaur, but as seperate characters this time around. Ice climbers would also make their return after the 3ds killed them off, and finally wolf would come back. As for stages poke floats, great bay, new pork city, princess peach’s castle, frigate orpheon, spear pillar, planet zebes, saffron city, fountain of dreams and fourside would return.

New characters would be waluigi, inkling, skull kid, incineroar and ridley. New stages would be camp triggerfish, blackbelly skatepark, clock town, battle tree, iki town, aether paradise, tetris, kirby’s epic yarn, mario odyssey,  bowser’s airship and great plateau.

Just new/returning stages and characters isn’t enough to sell a remaster of a 3 year old game so naturally there has to be more. 

Online amiibo tournaments could be interesting, joining a room, scanning your amiibo and having it fight the other persons amiibo could actually make amiibo more interesting, as there wasn’t much point in them in smash 4.

The return of the subspace emissary would be great, if it were to return i’d make a new story and cutscenes, but once the subspace emissary has been beaten, that would unlock the second story, which is brawl’s.

3 new custom moves per character and a much more in depth mii fighter maker i would love to see, the mii fighters never seemed special, no matter what i’d make i’d always feel like it was too weak or uninteresting, add a new class to the brawler, swordfighter and gunner lineup it could be interesting, add a lot more moves too when people make mii fighters they’re mostly making characters that they’d want to see, but none of the moves ever matched up.

special smash now has balancing options, at your will you would be able to nerf or buff whoever you want at will, nerf clouds attack or up jigglypuff’s defence, it would make for an interesting addition

[takoluka39]

Yesterday in reverse

From the moment I woke up this morning I was stressed out.  I had too much to do before work, and not enough time to do it.  I couldn’t eat breakfast for the first hour I was awake because my family was monopolizing the bathroom and I can’t eat if I can’t use the bathroom right away because of my ulcerative colitis. I had to share the counter with my sister when I was shaving which was so awkward (I always have preferred to shave my face in the shower because I’m so uncomfortable with having hair on my face, but I didn’t have time to shower).  I cut my lip shaving cause I was rushing.  When I got to Kaiser I found out the doctor sent one of my prescriptions to the wrong city.  Rushed around doing more errands and barely made it to work on time.

And then as soon as I got to work I got my manager dropped a bunch of tasks on me and then left work early.  I felt so overwhelmed and my heart was pounding.  Like I felt like I was going to have or was having a panic attack.  From the moment I woke up at 8AM, I didn’t pause for one moment long enough to even look at my phone until 3:30PM when I got my first break.

But once I came back from my break things turned around a full 180°.  All my extra tasks had been completed and it was slow customer-wise.  We were basically hanging out at that point, and my friends and I were sharing knowledge and likes about different pride flags.  It’s such a huge relief after such stress to just chill with my queer friends.  I learned the lesbian flag has an axe on it, which is completely new information to me.  I told them I think my flag has the best colors (pastel pink and pastel blue just so happen to be my favorite colors aesthetically, a happy coincidence that they are both on the trans flag).  My friends really helped me to calm down.  Their kindness, openness, and love constantly remind me why they are the reason I got the courage to come out and transition.

After my lunch break ASM was in the backroom so I worked up my courage and told him about the pronoun issue that had been bothering me.  Even though he had seemed uneducated in our previous meeting, he told me that the new store manager actually told him about the need to use my preferred pronouns.  He was very supportive, and told me to come to him if any manager addresses or refers to me in a way that makes me uncomfortable.  It feels so good to have this off my chest, and to know that we are on the same page.

When I got home I found that they added Blackbelly Skatepark to Splatoon 2.  I won 3 battles in a row, so not a bad way to finish off the evening.

[splatoontrio]

Splatoon Trio #1

INTRODUCING THE SPLATOON TRIO!!!

A buzzer blared as one squid kid in a yellow sweater and backwards cap rocketed off ahead of his four squid team. His Splattershot Pro firing far and hard as the yellow kid shifted into squid form and blazed through the ink faster than he shot it. He chuckled to himself as he swiftly swam half way across Saltspray Rig. He stood over the incline, pulling a triangular device out of his sweater pocket. Flicking the device, it activated and expanded to a pyramid shaped Splat Bomb with the word “Grougal” engraved on the bottom. Tossing it forward, the bomb landed before two purple squids and the duo recoiled while the explosive went off; demolishing the two.

“Hah! Two in one shot!” The kid exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air before walking over to the elevators and looking down. Beneath him was one more purple squid, a splat roller. A massive grin grew on our yellow warrior’s face. The kid released a ground shaking scream. Jumping off the top of the elevator, he fired rapidly and annihilated the splat roller; making sure the ground was yellow before he even landed.

“Heh, Splat THAT.” He chuckled, flipping his gun and catching it. He looked over to the southern nook of the map and found the fourth purple squid. “Oh! Perfect! Do I have enough for…” The kid pulled another device out of his pocket; it was a PDA that stated ’78%’. He groaned and quickly started shooting in one direction; watching as the percent rose and stopping every so often to reload. Once at ‘100%’ the kid regained his massive grin and started pressing on the screen. Within moments, he lowered the screen and watched as a missile fell from the sky. The purple squid looked up as panic filled her face and she made a dash away; however couldn’t quite make it as the massive storm of yellow obliterated the squid.

“DI-RECT HIT!” He cheered before swiftly going back to work, searching for the opposite team. As minutes ran passed the time began to count down from 10 to 0. As the buzzer rang, the squids all jumped back to their bases. The four yellow members checked their individual screens as it began to count the scores.

“And the winners are…” Time almost stopped as everyone waited for Judd to announce the winning team. “PURPLE!” Hearts sank as Purple team cheered. Our kid looked at his score. Fourth on the team was “Finn” and next to his name was a Splat ratio. He splated 11 other squids to his 2 deaths. Within moments, the squids super jumped back to Inkopolis.

“What!? What happened!?!” Finn exclaimed, his gun now put away.

“Maybe, if someone FOCUSED ON THE MISSION we would’ve had a better shot!” One girl with aviators yelled over at him as the four walked back to the tower.

“Seriously man, 289 points? What were you doing the whole time?” A guy with aviation goggles stated.

“Kickin’ butt and taking names of course! It’s what I do.” Finn bragged, “Seriously! You guys hardly made half my score!”

“Your score isn’t about splatting!” She yelled at him as they approached the tower once again, entering the lobby. “It’s Turf War! It’s all about inking the turf! But you’re too busy aiming at the other team!” She turned towards a computer screen in the lobby and started to set up another match.

“Well maybe if someone would take advantage of their ten second respond time we wouldn’t have this problem.” Finn muttered under his breath. A hand was placed on Finn’s shoulder. Looking over to him was the fourth member of their group, someone with a Paintball mask. From under it came a deep voice.

“Maybe you should sit this one out.” They stated as the three of them walked towards the center of the lobby.

“Pfft- Fine. I can plaster some bad guys on my own! No problem!” Finn chuckled his emotions off, giving a thumbs up. He sighed as the middle of the lobby lifted as an elevator; taking the three teammates to the next floor. Finn crossed his arms in a huff and walked back out to Inkopolis. As much fun as he had soloing, he really didn’t work well outside of his team. He walked towards the center of Inkopolis’s hot spot and noticed something that would absolutely change his luck. A light blue dot soared through the sky and, upon seeing the dot, Finn started waving.

“HEY, TENTA!” he chuckled to himself as the dot touched down in the hotspot and emerging was a Cyan Squidkid, just now pulling his tentacles back into a ponytail.

“Hey, Finn! You’re here… surprisingly early!” The new member stated, fairly impressed.

“Yeah, I was warming up a bit y’know! Made a few new rivals, couple new friends, those friends became rivals, same old, same old.”

“Jeez, you’ve been warming up for a while now?” He asked as the two started walking over to the shops.

“Y-yeah! It’s been a few hours now!” Finn chuckled to himself.

“A few hours?…” Tenta looked over at Finn questioningly, analyzing his face and realizing something important “Finn. Did you stay up all night battling in Turf Wars?”

“No! Of course not!” The exhausted Finn laughed and looked away, caught in his lie. “There were some Splatzones too.” He muttered under his breath.

“Splatzones?! Finn, you look exhausted!!” Tenta exclaimed in worry, the two of them stopped outside of Jelly Fresh.

“I know, I- Look though! Look at this!” Finn pulled his screen out of his sweater pocket and showed Tenta his profile. “Check it man! B. A solid B, man! Isn’t that awesome!”

“I- Holy sea cow that’s incredible- But Finn, you’re not getting around this man! You gotta get some rest dude.”

“Bahhh, I will, I will. Coral probably won’t be here for a few more hours anyway.” Finn stated, walking over to an Inkopolis bench and quickly laying down on top of it. Tenta started walking towards the shop.

“Alright man, well I’m gonna go through the shops real quick alright? When I’m done we’ll-“ Tenta looked over his shoulder and noticed that Finn was immediately out like a light. Tenta sighed and entered Jelly fresh, shopping and keeping an eye on the sleeping Finn whenever he could, to make sure the yellow squid was safe. After a discussion with Jelonzo, the shop owner, Tenta said his farewells and swiftly left the store. No new clothes as of yet.

Tenta approached the sleeping Finn and pulled out his own PDA. Taking a seat near the bench, he began to burn time by checking the Squid Hub and trying to get in contact with their third member, Coral. Odds are though, she was still asleep. After about 20 minutes, Tenta stood up and put the PDA away. He figured that it’d be best he gets warmed up before the day gets going but first, he walked down a nearby alleyway. At the end of this alleyway was a relaxed sea-urchin named "Spike.”

“Hey, Spike!” Tenta began the conversation as Spike just looked up at the squid asking for his attention.

“How’s it goin’ mate?” He asked, his accent thick as ever.

“I had a quick request. Nothing major, but Finn fell asleep on the bench over there. Would you be able to keep an eye on him? I’ve gotta warm up for today’s matches.” Tenta explained, Spikes eyebrows rose as he just nodded his head.

“Sure thing, mate. I’ll keep an eye on the yellow squidie, no worries.” He stated as Tenta gave a swift thumbs up,

“Awesome! I’ll be back in about 5 minutes. Thanks a ton!” Tenta expressed his gratitude as Spike just raised his hand in response. With that blessing, Tenta made a beeline towards Inkopolis Tower. Inside, he began to search for matches inside of the tower using his PDA. It was only a matter of seconds before he found a match. Turf War on Blackbelly Skatepark. Working fast, he changed his weapons accordingly, equipping his Aerospray and dashing towards the nearby elevators. Once in the elevators, he was raised near the top of the tower and, from there, he super jumped towards the Skatepark.

With a SPLAT, Tenta landed at the home base, right in the navy blue starting ink. Upon landing in the ink, Tenta’s color slowly changed from Teal to Navy Blue, officially coloring him with the other three squid kids he was paired with. Tenta’s grin grew as he looked outward, watching the opposing team land on the other side of the stage. Looked like two splat rollers, a charger, and an ink brush! Tenta chuckled to himself at the odds.

“Only ONE person with an ink gun and it’s a sniper?? This should be an interesting match...” With a confident smile, the readied his Golden Aerospray Ink Gun and took off as soon as the match started. Tenta focused on inking the turf, making sure to throw splat bombs over obstacles and around corners that he didn’t have time to check. Over analyzing the scenario he was in, he knew that he was going to have a tough time with his short ranged gun, so for him it’d be best to fight from a distance with bombs. Tenta stayed very wary, trying to not get pounced on by the splat rollers. Of course, it wasn’t long before he ran into one on the right side of the skatepark.

Tenta quickly threw a bomb as the orange squid started closing the gap, however the bomb missed whizzing right over the roller’s right shoulder. In a rush and nearly cornered, Tenta quickly began to paint the wall. Now, in Turf Wars, painting a wall doesn’t get you any points; however that’s not what Tenta was aiming for. Tenta knew that in order to get points and keep turf, he had to do one obvious thing: survive. As the Roller closed the gap, Tenta quickly turned into a squid and jumped into the ink on the side of the wall, dashing pass the aggressor and ending up on the other side.

Tenta let out a chuckle as he began to run off, the Roller tailing him closely. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that the second roller on the enemy team had noticed him and was following as well now. Looking up at the tower in the middle of the stage, the blue squid kid saw a laser light pointing outward, meaning that a sniper was on top of that tower. Tenta swiftly swam up the tower with half the enemy team behind him. Once he was up there, he was met with the enemy sniper and, surprisingly, the enemy with the ink brush.

Without even looking, Tenta took out his PDA, and pressed a button on it; grinning ear to ear as the two rollers joined him on top of the tower. Within a second Tenta was hit from four angles at once, completely taking him out of the game and forcing him to go back to the spawn pad. However, as he respawned he looked out over the dips and twists of the skate park, and watched as an ink strike crashed down on top of the enemy team; sweeping them all in a vortex of blue ink. Tenta couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as he began inking turf again.

“Heheheh, man. Finn is gonna be ticked when he hears that I did a team wipe without him.” He stated gleefully to himself, as he carried on with the match."

Meanwhile, back at the Plaza, Finn was completely passed out on the bench, practically snoring as a small, bright pink inkling approached him. This inkling didn’t say a word and shrouded her face in a gas mask. She only sat down on the edge of the bench, leaned back as far as she could, and began to rest her eyes as well…

This young inkling is named Coral. Unlike Finn or Tenta, two inklings who never seem to shut up, Coral is very quiet and reserved. She may have a bit of a tough looking exterior with the spooky gas mask, but the truth of the matter is that she’s a lot softer than many would give her credit for. That’s not to say one should underestimate her however; in fact, that was a mistake that Finn made on day one…

Finn stood on his spawn pad, three teammates to his side as he mentally prepared for match ahead of him. Once the buzzer sounded, Finn was gone in a flash. He dashed ahead making it to the middle boxes and leaving his team in his ink. He aimed and fired at the first pink squid he saw, immediately plastering the enemy. He grinned getting back into the game and ready for the opponent as he jumped off of the boxes and started running forward.

“Ready or not, here I- Whoa!” Finn was interrupted as a suction bomb stuck in front of him and plastered him within the next second. While respawning, his spirit looked over towards the squid girl who splattered him. Armed with a Splash-o-matic, pink sweatshirt, and gas mask, she continued to ink up the turf in front of her as if nothing happened. Upon respawning, Finn dashed forward again, ready to take on this new challenger. However, as he reached the center field, he noticed another suction bomb landing in front of him. Letting out a yelp, Finn jumped back and witnessed this new rival throwing multiple suction bombs off the top of the boxes. Realizing that now was his chance, Finn quickly took out his splatbomb and tossed it up at her. The girl’s eyes widened and she let out a quick shriek as a flash of yellow blasted her off of the boxes and back to the pink base.

“HAH! That’s Grougal!” Finn taunted with a thumbs up. The rest of the match just consisted of war. Finn racked up splats but would always trade off blows with the gas masked squid. After minutes passed, the last few seconds began to count down.

“C’mon, one more splat! One more splat!” Finn yelled, looking everywhere for a pink squid. As the clock ticked from five, he heard maniacal laughter from behind him. The gas masked squid had another bomb rush up her sleeve. Finn had a massive smile as he swiftly swam up towards her and, only a few feet away, he aimed the splattershot at her, only to meet her Splash-o-matic. At the count of one, the two fired, decimating each other as the buzzer went off.

The two respawned and watched as the scores nearly matched each other. “The winner is…” Silence went on for a few more moments. “YELLOW!”

“YES!” Finn cheered in glee, completely feeling better as the two groups prepared to jump back towards Inkopolis. Getting a last second look at the screen he noticed the gas masked squid named ‘Coral' at number one on her team, scoring over a thousand points even though they didn’t win.

“Hey… Finn… Coral… Up and at ‘em, sleepyheads!” Tenta shook the feet of Coral and Finn as the two slowly opened their eyes. Finn let out a groan as he sat up and Coral slowly and shakily stood up, still a little drowsy.

“We’ve got a whole day of Turf Wars ahead of us, you guys ready?” Tenta questioned with a hand on his hip. Finn yawn and let out a “yeah, yeah” as Coral simply nodded. Tenta grinned wide as Finn jumped to his feet, finally fully awakened.

“Alright! Let’s head on over to the tower then!” Tenta led the way with Finn and Coral following behind him, once they reached the inside of the Tower they reached a computer monitor. There they typed in their names and the name of their new team: “The Splatoon Trio.” The machine synchronized with their PDAs and gave them a match out in Saltspray Rig. The three then walked over to the elevator, rode it to the top and super jumped out towards Saltspray Rig; ready to take on their first match as a team.