Chapter Text
Someone has an idea to try out each other's weapons a year later. They've all become so accustomed to their own that none of them can really imagine using something else.
Battles are more at a standstill now, because they've discovered Ranked Battles and it's a shell lot harder than they want it to.
But it's turf, and turf can allow them some leeway to mess around because they aren't risking their A in Ranked.
Aloha ends up with Straw's Krak-On, something that gives him a little more than discomfort since technicalities made it so they broke up a week ago, not to mention that the roller itself is not a weapon class he's fond of. Scuba gets Aloha's Gal, Octoglasses the H-3, and Straw the Splattershot Pro.
Turf commences in a more strange way that any of them are used to. Aloha forgets halfway through that he needs to swing the roller, not shoot it, and Octoglasses gets splatted more than the team wants because Scuba's weapon "officially sucks ass" and honestly, the only one who's doing well is Scuba who seems to find the Gal more like his main than anyone else.
But they're having fun and it's honestly a blast to just give up any cares and play their way through the music, dancing their hearts out, accidentally splatting each other, until their next opponent comes in.
Aloha's heard of this guy. The guy who made it to S rank without swinging his weapon.
On his sporadic conversations with Army, the Inkling from the train, he knows enough about this cyan Inkling to call him by his name.
"Yo, Mask!" He shouts across the field as they respawn in the beginning of the next match. "How's it going?"
Mask gives him this utmost stare of pure disgust, and Aloha feels a wave of disappointment and annoyance ripple through his body but he grins anyway, his expression fake enough to be made of plastic.
"C'mon, man, it ain't that hard to answer," Scuba yells, and Mask's glare turns on Aloha's second-in-command.
"He probably doesn't want to yell all the way across the field with that gas mask on," Straw giggles.
Scuba snorts and Aloha feels his grin become somewhat more genuine. "Well, he's S rank and we're A+ rank but we're gonna try this out, yeah?"
"As always," Octoglasses says with a smile and she lifts her hand for a high five. "He may have got his autobombs but we got our freakin' awesome dance moves."
Straw high fives her friend and they clasp hands briefly before letting go. Aloha watches them curiously. He's sure that they've both got crushes on one another and while he and Straw are still on close terms, it gives him a strange feeling in his gut as he glances over at Scuba.
"You ready?" The masked Inkling is grinning widely and Aloha once again marvels at his ability to be so genuine with his smiles all the time.
"You bet." Aloha claps his friend's shoulder and the whistle blows for the start of the match.
They get an early start, and since it's Starfish Mainstage, they make it all the way to the middle before all shell breaks loose.
Aloha knows how Cyan Team works. He's had Army rant to him over the phone about how dedicated they are on relying on their sub weapons, but he never would've guessed there'd be an ink mine right in front of him even though there's no cyan ink in sight.
He backflips out of the way just in time as it explodes, and he swears he can hear that girl laughing at him. What was her name? Full Moon?
A sprinkler appears in front of him and he has to leap backwards again, that other girl, Jersey, appearing above him. She waves at him and he ignores her. He takes ink damage from the sprinkler and he submerges himself in ink to swim away.
It occurs to him that maybe going against an S-rank team isn't the best idea.
A sprinkler appears behind him again, and he can hear Jersey laughing above him. He shoots her a brief glare before a sprinkler nearly lands on top of him, forcing him back. He’s surrounded by sprinklers, and with each second he stands there, he takes damage.
He shoots at one in an attempt to destroy it but it takes a half second too long and he gets splatted.
He respawns, determination still running through him. There isn't any way they can hope to defeat an S-ranker, but they can still try, right?
Distant explosions of cyan ink can only tell him that one of his teammates is currently running through a line of ink mines. Octoglasses appears briefly in his line of vision, a trail of toxic mist secreting from her body.
"Scuba!" he shouts when his co-captain spawns next to him, looking disgruntled, holding the remains of a seeker in his fist. "Speakers!"
The masked Inkling looks over at him, eyebrows raising slightly, a grin already edging its way onto his face. "Sure thing, man."
He produces a sound system out of nowhere, turning the beats so they blast directly in Aloha's ear. He can hear the music in his body and lets himself instinctively move to the tune, and he can see the initial tension leave Scuba's body as well.
"You ready to get 'em?"
Scuba laughs, the sound clear cut against the music. "We're gonna crash but I've always been ready."
Octoglasses and Straw respawn at the same time, both of their expressions shifting when they hear the music. "That time of the match again, huh?" Straw asks them as they race down from their spawn point.
"You bet."
Cyan Team had already claimed the stage and now were just setting up traps, unseen. Aloha can see the trail of ink leading in, overlapping with their own pink, and he grins. "Let's go! Disco Ball Dance!"
It's a name he came up with on the fly, but his teammates roll with it so easily, it's like he's been calling it that forever.
A seeker greets him as he rounds the corner and he flips over it, landing on the second one heading his way, bass pounding in his head. He almost slides in the enemy ink, the explosion from the first seeker damaging him, but he pushes forward, hopping over the next few seekers, heading towards Mask, who stands merely a few feet away. The cyan Inkling just watches him, and it sends a wave of frustration through Aloha. Sure, he didn't swing his weapon, but why was it so infuriating to have Mask just stand there, staring?
He lands on his feet, surprisingly, inking the side of the stage to come up, sharking only when Mask sends another seeker before retreating. He comes over the top of the stage to an ink mine, which explodes so quickly, he barely has time to get out of the way. Octoglasses is the one who gets caught in the second ink mine, as she managed to cover more ground than Aloha, and gets splatted with a shriek.
Toxic mist erupts around him all of a sudden, stinging his skin, slowing him down. He inks the area around his feet and swims outwards, met with another ink mine that he can't avoid this time.
There's an explosion of cyan and he respawns again. Cyan Team has covered up whatever progress they've made and by the timer ticking down the final seconds, they won't have enough time to push back. Straw is still alive--
No she isn't.
Scuba and Octoglasses are caught on the left side of the stage, being bombarded with seekers (they are dancing so furiously the seekers seems to miss every time) as Mask pops his special for the fourth time this match. Aloha snorts and just runs down the stage again, swimming in his own ink. Cyan Team is distracted by the other two so Aloha starts to ink the side of the area, sliding up the wall to perch above the stage. Des is right below him, and Aloha splats him before moving forward.
A ring around him signals Straw's super jump and he moves aside for her. She lands and immediately starts inking the stage.
A loud squelch sound indicate both Octoglasses and Scuba are dead, and Cyan Team is starting to paint forward again. Full Moon appears in Aloha's line of sight right as he gets his special and the Killer Wail splats both her and Jersey, who just happens to be in the line of fire.
The whistle blows right as Mask appears, the seeker zooming towards Aloha and exploding, but causing no damage as the game ends right at that moment.
They super jump back to the lobby to view the results. Aloha already knows they lost, and it's probably the most irked he's ever been during a match too. Doesn't this guy know how to loosen up?
They lose terribly, 33% to 67% and when Mask turns to them, his eyes hold so much judgement that Aloha almost falters. Still, he holds out his hand to shake, mouth stretched in a wide grin. "Good game, man."
Mask stares at his hand, the cyan Inkling's eyes narrowing slightly. The faint huehuehue of his breathing hangs between them before he reluctantly shakes Aloha's hand, gripping it so weakly, Aloha is glad to pull his hand away.
"Okay, we lost that one," he says to his team as they exit the lobby. He can't shake Mask from his mind. Cod, it was annoying to lose. "But we ain't done with that, yeah?"
Octoglasses nods, tentacles bobbing. "We can rematch him when we're all up to speed on how he works."
"First, shwaffles," Straw puts in, gesturing to the Cafe. "I'm starvin' from dancin' so much."
The door jingles as they walk inside, every Inkling looking up at their entrance. Aloha notices a few lean over to each other to whisper behind their hands, eyes looking them up and down. Silence falls for a few seconds but Aloha gives his teammates a look when they exchange glances. Act normal.
"Over here," a voice calls out, and it's maybe one of the only times Aloha is glad to look somewhere else. It's that Inkling girl who he always saw around Army these days. She wears the exact same headgear as him, so Aloha has to do a double take to make sure that it's not Army speaking to him.
They pull up chairs at her table, Aloha sitting directly across from her. "Yo, Forge, right?"
She nods formally as the chatter around them starts to pick up again.
"You four got beaten by Mask, didn't you?"
Aloha winces slightly. Really, the match was over five minutes ago but he's keen to forget it as soon as possible. "Yeah, we got dragged. What about it?" he lets some warning edge into his tone, and Forge's eyes widen slightly.
"Oh, nothing. It's not common for an A rank to be matched up with an S rank, even in turf. So that is why everyone is probably whispering about you. It's lack of probability for this outcome."
Scuba rocks back in his seat, tilting it back on two legs. "'Kay, but have you considered it's because we lost? Anythin' at all?"
Forge frowns, flipping through her manual. Aloha blinks; he had no idea where it even came from. "Perhaps. I believe it's because you managed to turf against Mask with no negative effects whatsoever. Most of his opponents end up rather depressed and refuse to turf for weeks."
Aloha shrugs. "I mean, what can I say? it's not like the world's endin' now, ain't it?"
"No." Forge snaps her manual shut and stows it in her jacket pocket. "And that is why everyone must be aware of that match. You went in, faced Mask, and came out still as normal as Pink Team can be." Her face scrunches a bit at 'Pink Team', and Aloha raises an eyebrow.
"What? Is there somethin' wrong with how we are?"
Forge sighs, something inside her seemingly loosened. "When do you practice?"
Aloha blinks. By her tone, it seems like this is the real reason why she called them over, but he can't be too sure with Orange Team. Their members are all blank-faced and serious as far as he can see. It's hard for him to read her easily, especially since she's staring at him like that. He keeps the smile on as much as he can. "Never. Who has time to practice?"
To be honest, they did try practicing once, but it was too boring for words. Turfing and practicing weren't the same, especially with training dummies, and they gave up early on.
The orange Inkling doesn't seem surprised; she just nods slowly. "No practice, yet you faced Cyan Team. What rank are you?"
"What rank are you?" Straw asks, leaning forwards slightly. Forge barely glances at her.
"We're A rank," she says.
"A plus," Aloha replies. He feels a little smug over that, but Forge merely shrugs.
"So not that far off."
"We got crashed so hard," Octoglasses says as a way of countering, and Forge nods patiently, like Octoglasses is a child. Indignation rises in Aloha's chest a little. She's treating them like they don't understand anything, which probably is true, but he isn't a child. None of them are, anymore.
"Yes, but everyone, including S+ rankers, has gotten defeated by Cyan Team this past week. None of them were able to secure more than 30% of the stage. Except you."
"So you're saying we are a little higher than whoever's been playing them," Aloha says. "Why is that an issue?"
She shakes her head. "Your team is amazing, to say the least. Army has barely any data on you as we have not battled before, but he is certain that you might be close to Cyan Team in skill. Maybe not exactly the same, but very close."
"Where exactly is Army?" Aloha knows he's gong a bit off track here, but the sudden thought of Orange Team's leader is enough to distract him. "Didn't bother to show, did he?"
"He's occupied with practice," Forge replies, the corner of her lip twitching slightly; it's the most emotion Aloha's ever seen on her. "He'll be here soon. We're planning a team meeting in a couple minutes."
"So you can smile!" Octoglasses laughs, baring her teeth in a grin. "You should do that more often, cutie."
Forge flushes deeply, orange tint darkening to a crimson red. "Pardon?"
"You heard her," Straw's grinning too, eyes bright all of a sudden. "If you smile more, more people will see how cute you are."
Forge is becoming flustered now, spluttering as she tugs her manual back out, flipping through the pages in almost frenzied panic. "I--"
Aloha glances over at Scuba, who's grinning behind his hand, watching the whole scene play out. "I'll go order," he says and stands, Scuba quickly hastening to follow.
"Hopefully they get her number," Scuba grins when they're safely out of earshot and standing in line. "Maybe catch a date too, if that's Forge's thing."
Aloha just chuckles. "I almost feel bad for her, but really, what's not to love about Straw and OG?"
Scuba snorts. "You tell me, man. You were the one dating Straw for a while."
"Weren't you dating OG?"
"Nah." Scuba shakes his head. "Kinda more of a fling thing to see if it would work out but it never did so we ended it before it could start."
"That sucks."
"Not really." Scuba glances away, as if he's interested in the menu above but Aloha can see that he isn't reading it. "Y'know, I think I kinda figured..."
"Yeah?"
Scuba's silent for so long, Aloha has to make sure he hasn't fallen sleep standing up or something, but the masked Inkling turns to him before he can open his mouth to ask if he's okay. There's some sort of slight trepidation in his eyes, and Aloha has a slight edge of confusion.
"I don't think I'm into girls."
"I'm sorry?"
As if sensing that Aloha might take this the wrong way, Scuba hastens to explain. "I mean chicks are hot, cute, whatever, y'know? I'd probably date them but it won't be the same as if I were to..."
Aloha waits. Scuba's never had trouble getting his thoughts out before, and it's starting to concern him. "Yeah?"
Scuba opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again. "...It wouldn't be the same if I were to date a guy. I don't think I'd really be into it."
Aloha knows he should probably say something, to reassure Scuba's he's fine. They already established that all four of them were into all genders, so why was it hard for him to say something? It was true all four of them initially flirt with girls but--
"That's cool," he says finally, and Scuba immediately looks so relieved that Aloha feels a gentle nudge of regret course through him for no apparent reason. "It's chill, man."
He doesn't understand why Scuba made it such a big deal. Was his friend trying to tell him something?
They move up through the line in silence until Straw comes up to them. "Yo, I got her number!" She's flushed, grinning, like she just ran the mile, and Aloha grins at her.
"You're smokin', Straw. You and OG both."
She laughs. "We do try."
She ends up stepping ahead of them in line and ordering all of their food, including the entire Orange Team, who happened to show up at the moment. As the three of them make their way back to their seats, Aloha sees Mask in the corner of his eye, lurking near the front of the Cafe with his team.
The cyan Inkling flips him off and Aloha rolls his eyes, turning back to the combined table of Orange and Pink Team, forcing a smile onto his face. He's intent to enjoy this time as best he can without any reminder of that previous match--
Footsteps make them look up, and Aloha feels his stomach drop twenty stories. If the dynamo roller didn't give it away, the Camo Mesh did.
They sit there in silence, and Aloha is aware of his team's eyes on him. He swallows, hard, and freezes the grin to his face as he makes eye contact with the yellow Inkling.
"Hey Camo."