Chapter Text
- - -
The sound of the door to the test range slamming open grabs my attention. Standing in the doorframe is a girl wearing a somewhat casual outfit that screams PINK. From her socks, to her jacket, to even her beanie, she’s covered in said color. Ultimately, I can tell that the outfit is put together extremely well… She has a good sense of fashion.
“Found you Goldie!”
Four seems surprised to see her.
“Ah beans…”
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing… What do you want, Callie?”
Callie? I didn’t recognize her... I wonder, does she remember me?
“Aw, can’t a girl want to spend time with you?”
“I seriously doubt that’s why you’re here.”
Callie bounces over towards Four and Sheldon.
“Yeah, you’re right. I was just checking in on Sheldon and Octo-gramps. Butttt, now that I found you here, we’re DEFINITELY hanging out. We can even get Marie over here to join fun!”
“That’s an excellent idea Ag-I mean Callie. Spending time with Four might very well allow you all to become a more effective unit. For instance…”
The crab begins rambling on about some sort of team bonding exercises. Something tells me I’m missing some context…
Still carrying my heavy splatling, I join the trio.
“Four, what is he referring to?”
“OOOOH… He’s just talking about battling. Right Sheldon?”
“I-er uhhhh YES! I am referring to battling and am most certainly NOT anything else!”
“Does that mean she’ll be joining us for Turf War?”
“That’s up to her… Callie, are you up for some turf war?”
Callie jumps in excitement from Four’s question.
“Yes yes YEEESS! I would LOVE to! Marie can even join us!”
She points directly at me.
“ …but one question first. Who’s the giant?”
Oh… I guess she doesn’t remember me.
“That’s Ucean, one of my roommates.”
“Oooohh, ok. Nice to meet you, Ucean! I’m Callie. Yes, I’m THAT Callie, the one from the Squid Sisters.”
She strikes the signature Squid Sisters pose. Rather than correct her, I pretend as if we’ve never met.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Callie, I am a big fan of yours.”
“Awwww. Thanks!”
Turning to Sheldon, I speak.
“Could I try using the other weapon now, please?”
“Of course! Simply put the Heavy Splatling back on the wall. The one you’re looking for is the Hydra Splatling. It’s a large metal weapon that is inspired by a fire hydrant! Fair warning, it is extremely heavy.”
“Remember to lift with your legs, not your back.”
Callie laughs at Four’s remark.
I nod at the group, before heading over to the weapon wall. Gosh, I’ve never seen so many weapons before… I wonder what they all do?
I take a step closer when a voice suddenly rings in my head.
‘Careful. One wrong step and you’ll knock everything to the ground. You’d better not let that happen.’
Heeding the familiar voice’s warning, I gently set the Heavy Splatling into the empty slot on the wall. Stepping back, I follow the row of Splatlings until I spot a large, metal weapon.
Picking it up, I immediately notice how much heavier this weapon is. Still, it’s not nearly as heavy as-
“Yep, that's the one you’re looking for.”
“Bwah!”
I wasn’t expecting Sheldon to suddenly be behind me. The sudden shock results in me dropping the Hydra Splatling. I can feel the ground shake as it hits the ground.
‘Oh, look what you did Ucean. I hope it’s not broken.’
…
“I apologize, I hadn’t expected you to be a bit jumpy.”
“No, no! I’m the one who dropped your weapon Sheldon. I should be the one apologizing. I promise it won’t happen again.”
“It’s fine. All my weapons are built to withstand the heat of battle so they can handle beating. Now please, go on. I’m anxious to see how you handle this weapon.”
That’s it? No scolding? No… punishment? Okay…
Reaching down, I lift with my legs while I pick up the Hydra Splatling. Once I have a good grip on the weapon, I start walking towards the balloons. Callie, Four, and Sheldon follow me. Behind me, I hear them all making small comments.
“Holy carp on a stick! He’s moving so fast!”
That was Callie's voice.
“This is nothing. You should’ve seen him earlier when he was walking around with the Heavy Splatling. He could probably race an Inkbrush and win.”
That was Four’s voice.
“Indeed. I suspected that his large size would let him move rather quickly with heavier weapons, but I hadn’t expected results this spectacular.”
And that was Sheldon’s voice.
With a turn, I point the weapon at the balloon. After feeling around with my hand, my finger finds the weapon’s trigger.
Deep breath in, deep breath out.
I begin charging a shot. Seconds pass as I wait. When I let go of the trigger, the Splatling fires a short sputter of Ink before stopping… is it broken?
‘You broke it when you dropped it earlier. You’re an embarrassment.’
Callie falls to the ground laughing as I dro
“BAHAHA, All that build up! …and that’s what happens!”
I drop my head in shame as Sheldon comes up to me.
“I’m sorry. I think I broke it…”
“No, the weapon isn’t broken. You see, the Hydra Splatling is very durable; a building could collapse on one and it would still be completely fine. You simply released the trigger too early. Remember, the charge time is significantly longer for this weapon. Try holding down the trigger until the barrel’s rotational acceleration is 0 radians per second.”
“...huh?”
Four sees the confusion on my face and interjects.
“He means wait until it looks like the barrel of the Splatling isn’t speeding up anymore.”
“That is what I said, isn’t it?”
…
Four just laughs.
Armed with this new knowledge, I point the splatling back at the training balloons. When I pull down on the trigger, the weapon’s barrel begins to slowly turn. Five seconds later, the barrel starts accelerating. Another five more seconds pass and, although the barrel is now spinning extremely quickly, it is still accelerating. After a total of 15 seconds, the weapon’s barrel was spinning so fast that I could feel the weapon pushing air around like a fan. It’s spinning so fast that I can’t tell if it’s speeding up or not.
Four calls out to me.
“It’s done charging Ucean. Let it rip!”
Hesitantly, I release the trigger.
A massive bombardment of ink begins firing from the tip of the weapon. I’m not prepared for such powerful recoil… I nearly lose my footing.
The weapon continues blasting out ink with no sign of stopping. It rumbles and shakes in my hands. The grip on this weapon feels like it’s going to rub my hands raw.
I want it to stop. Stop. STOP.
After what must have been over a minute of continuous firing, the weapon finally does stop.
I stand there in silence for a moment, not quite sure what to do.
…
“Woah… Sorry to be the one to say this but your accuracy sucks.”
“Knock it off, Callie. He’s never fought in a battle before. You can’t expect him to be a master marksman like Marie is with a charger right off the bat.”
Once again, the door to the test range is open up. All of our attention immediately is given to the new arrival.
“Somebody say my name?”
“Marie! You made it!”
Callie jumps for joy before racing over to the girl and diving into a hug.
“Woah, easy there Call.”
Seeing the two of them hug hurts.
‘Is that what you want? A loving family? That’s rich. You already threw away your chances of that.’
I avert my eyes from their hug and head back over to the weapon wall. I quickly exchange the Hydra Splatling for the Heavy Splatling. As I turn around, I nearly bump into Sheldon. He’s standing awfully close…
“Did you not like the Hydra Splatling?”
‘Come on, where are your manners? Be polite and tell him you want the Hydra. You can’t make us look bad after all.’
But I didn’t like it! The weapon was heavy and it shook so much that my hands hurt.
‘Do NOT make us look bad.’
But I-
‘DO NOT MAKE US LOOK BAD.’
FINE. I’ll do what you want.
I smile at the crab.
“Oh that’s not true! I really liked the Hydra. In fact, I think I’ll go with it.”
When I turn back to put the Heavy Splatling back down, Four is standing in my way.
“Hmm, you’re a pretty bad liar.”
“I-I’m not lying…”
“When you were shooting that Hydra, you looked like a kid behind the wheel of a runaway car: you had absolutely no control of the situation. There’s no way you actually want the Hydra.”
I sigh.
“...You're right. I like the Heavy more than the Hydra.”
“It’s not that big of a deal Ucean! You’re allowed to like whatever you want. That includes the weapons you use.”
Callie pops up between the two of us.
“Enough waiting around! I wanna go play turf war already!”
In a monotone voice, Marie responds as she also joins us.
“Patience Callie. It’s only a quarter past noon. We can spend all afternoon battling.”
Sheldon seems to freak at this revelation.
“Wait, what time did you say it was?!”
“Um, it's 12:16 Sheldon.”
“Shooting Hydra Inking Turf! I was supposed to open the shop an hour and sixteen minutes ago!”
Callie, Marie, and Four all seem to do a double take at what Sheldon just said. Meanwhile, I’m confused.
“What does ‘Shooting Hydra Inking Turf’ mean?”
Callie, Four, and even Marie all chuckle.
- - -
Due to Sheldon needing to open his store, the four of us were forced to leave the test range. And after filling out the required paperwork, I walked out with a brand new Heavy Splatling and an ink tank.
I wasn’t the only one who walked out of there with a new weapon. Sheldon seemingly gifted Marie, Callie, and Four a charger, a roller, and a pair of dualies respectively. Their weapons are stylish too. The lights really go well together with the weapons’ black and yellow coloring.
Once we reach Deca Tower, I take a moment to stop and stare up at the giant building. Marie and Callie step inside, but Four stands next to me waiting.
I never thought the day would come where I would actually be doing this.
…
“You worried about your first battle?”
I nod.
‘Of course you’re worried. And for good reason, you are a model Ucean, not a fighter. You belong in front of a camera, not on a battlefield.’
“Eh, that’s normal. But hey, the three of us will be right there with you.”
Again, I only nod in response.
I belong where I want to. I won’t let you control my life anymore.
‘Then why am here Ucean?’
“Alright, let’s not keep them waiting. Are you ready?”
I take a moment to collect myself.
“...No, but let’s do it anyway.”
With a laugh, Four leads me through the building’s entrance. It’s massive. On the inside, there appear to be three main desks with large symbols above each one. The first symbol is one of two intersecting arrows with a pair of eyes in the middle. The second is an anchor but the flukes of the anchor have been replaced with swishing arrows. The third and final symbol is identical to the previous one, except the logo is surrounded with flames.
In front of each desk is an organized line of squids.
I make eye contact with Callie, who is standing near the front of line at the first desk. With a smile, she waves the two of us over just as the group in front of them finishes speaking with the receptionist.
Marie notices us as we approach.
“There you are! Geez, if you guys took even a second longer we would’ve had to step out of line.”
Suddenly, a small desk bell tings. The three of them approach the desk and I follow, unaware of how this works.
The receptionist greets us with a professional smile.
“Hello, will you all be battling together?”
‘Leader’s take the initiative. Now answer.’
“Yes. We all want to fight in a Turf War, please!”
Marie lets out a small chuckle.
“She already knows that. This IS the Turf War line.”
“...ohhh, my mistake.”
‘I told you to answer, not make a fool of yourself.’
“Fantastic. Now if you four could all please stand in front of the camera one by one, we’ll get your team registered for battle.”
The receptionist gestures towards a small camera set up next to the desk. Callie immediately puts herself in front of the camera’s lens with a wild grin on her face.
“ Scanning, identified as DefinetlyNotCallie. ”
Followed by Callie is her fellow Squid Sister, Marie.
“ Scanning, identified as ColdKillerCuttlefish. ”
Four goes next.
“ Scanning, identified as Ebb&Flowing. ”
The camera is too short. So, as I step in front of the camera, I am forced to crouch down so that my face is in view.
“ Scanning, no data found. Registering new battler, welcome. Your current splashtag is Player. Please see the terminal in the lobby if you wish to change it later. ”
A door to our left suddenly opens.
“ Battlers, please step inside the transport room. You are now in queue. ”
Callie, Marie, and Four all enter the room without a second thought. Hesitantly, I follow them in.
‘So you’re really going to do it? Fine, but your gear is horrible. At the very least, you could’ve worn the family brand.’
At least I still look somewhat fashionable.
‘Yes. I suppose that you did inherit my fashion sense. Now let’s see who’s battling skills you inherited, mine or hers.’
- - -
After several minutes of waiting, a small drawer on the wall of the room opened. In it was a puddle of orange ink. The four of us all changed our ink color to the same color as the puddle. As soon as our tentacles all matched, the pad beneath us turned green. Callie turned into a squid and dived right into the floor. Four, Marie, and I quickly followed suit.
It felt… strange to travel like this. I could feel myself being accelerated through several twists and turns until we eventually shot out of a massive pad on the outskirts of a shopping center.
“Mako Mart? YAY! There’s so much stuff here I need for the apartment.”
“Callie… We’re here for battling, not shopping. Try to remember that, ok?”
“Right right. You worry too much Marie!”
…
“...um, is now a good time to ask what I should do?”
The three of them look directly at me. Marie sighs.
“Oh brother… I almost forgot you're totally new to this.”
“Hey, why don’t you just stick with me the whole game? I’ll show you what to do.”
“So he can fight on the front lines with a Splatling? I don’t think that’s the most So-FISH-ticated of plans, Four.”
Callie giggles as Four makes a slightly disgruntled face.
“...instead, Ucean, why don’t you stay near me?”
Marie offers me a neutral expression.
“Okay. I guess I’m in your hands then.”
We are interrupted as a noisy horn blaires throughout the entire marketplace. The three of them get into battle stances. I do the same and ready my splatling for a fight.
“READY?”
‘Don’t embarrass us.’
…
“GO!”
Callie slams her roller onto the ground and instantly begins running towards the center of the map. Four follows her, swimming through the paint trail she leaves behind.
I turn to Marie.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Just go around covering as much of the ground in ink as possible, ok?”
“And what if I see an enemy?”
“Honestly, you don’t look like you have much natural talent. Trust me, I’ve got an eye for these things… As long as you stay within my range, I’ll protect you. Now, no more questions. We only have 3 three minutes to paint more than the other team. Go paint the left side of our spawn and then join me up these ramps on the right.”
I try to speak but Marie is already swimming away.
With no better options, I turn to the left side of the map and begin charging my Heavy Splatling. The weapon soon releases a bombardment of ink onto the ground. The ink perfectly covers the entire area, not leaving a single spot uncovered. I run to the next area of uncovered ink and do the same.
Oh wow. This feels… therapeutic.
I repeat this process over and over again. Inking and area, running to the next, inking that area, refilling my tank, and doing it all over again. I keep doing this until finally, I spot some blue ink in front of me.
So, I just spray my ink over this right? Easy enough.
I start charging another volley of ink shots, but an inkling with blue tentacles suddenly jumps out of the ink.
“Bye bye big guy~”
Before I can snap out of my surprise, she uses her bucket to drench me in blue ink.
SPLAT.
Seconds later, I feel myself reforming back at the respawn pad.
Why did nobody tell me getting splatted hurts?
Callie suddenly reforms next to me with an annoyed huff.
“Hmph, that dumb Splattershot is so annoying! Oh, Ucean… you don’t look so good. Pain from getting splatted?”
I nod. The pain is still mildly affecting my entire body.
“Eh… you get used to it. Just try to get moving. The more you get your ink flowing through your body, the quicker the pain goes away.”
With that, she takes off swimming through the ink. Sighing, I run my way up the ramp on the right towards Marie while spraying any areas that were still uninked. When I find her, she’s perched on top of a crate of boxes. The laser of her black and yellow charger points at something in the center of the stage.
BANG.
My eyes follow the ink as it flies through the air before hitting an Inkling with an Inkbrush.
SPLAT.
“Woah… that was a nice shot.”
“Thanks, so you finished painting the left side?”
“Yes. However, I became too caught up in the fun of it and painted all the way to the center of the map where I was splatted.”
“That’s fine. The more turf you cover, the better. Now why don’t you hop down there and start painting? I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
“I suppose I can do that. Thank you for helping me Marie.”
With a nod, Marie turns her focus back to the battle. And so, I jumped off the elevated ledge down towards the middle right side of the map. All around me is blue ink, which I quickly began to replace with orange. I fall back into my process of spraying ink and moving to the next area.
Abruptly, the same bucket wielding girl jumps out of the ink next to me.
“Hey pretty boy~ you-”
BANG.
A quick stream of ink ends up slamming directly into the girl.
SPLAT.
I turn around to see Marie giving me the thumbs up. Hesitantly, I return the gesture before resuming spraying the ground with ink. Before long, a horn sounded throughout the entire stadium.
I stopped and looked around. Seeing nobody inking any turf and began to head back to the spawn.
Someone jumps out of the ink next to me.
“Don’t turn around!”
In a panic, I accidentally began shooting my splatling at them, which only fired a few shots due to the charge having not built up.
“Hey! Friendly fire Ucean!”
Four wipes the orange ink from his face.
“Oh, Four, it’s only you. I apologize, I thought you were an enemy. Are you alright?”
“Yea, I’m good. Now come on! You heard the horn. We’ve only got one minute left. Paint like your life depends on it!”
Then he disappears into the ink.
Ohhh, it’s a 1 minute left warning… not a signal for the end of the match.
‘You failed to do any research before battling. These things happen because you were unprepared.’
Maybe you have a point. But at least I know now.
‘Life isn’t always so forgiving.’
I know. You’ve made sure I would know that.
I go back to painting.
…
It must be close to the end of the match by now.
“We meet again, you tall glass of water.”
In front of me stands the bucket wielding Inkling.
Unfortunately, I’m just outside Marie’s range so the charger shot to protect me ends up falling just short of the girl.
“Ooo, too far for your charger friend to help? Tough luck.”
The same horn from before once again sounds throughout the entire area.
“GAME!”
We both stare at each other before she smirks.
“Never mind, guess you are pretty lucky. Cute too. See you at the results~”
The girl waves as she walks in the direction of her base with a smile.
I sigh before returning to my own base. Standing atop the respawn station is Four. He smiles when he sees me.
“Hey! There you are. So what did you think? Fun right?”
‘This sort of thing is beneath you.’
“I-I’m not sure…”
He starts… laughing?
“Ucean, that smile on your face tells everything. It’s okay to say you had fun!”
My… smile? How long have I been smiling?
“Let’s go. Callie and Marie are waiting.”
Together, we both dive into the respawn pad. Moments later, we’re back in Deca Tower.
Callie and Marie are waiting for the two of us near a large indoor jumbo tv. When we join them, it's silent until Marie speaks.
“Four, how do you think we did?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure. I was raising hell in their base but I think the Inkbrush snuck past us… a lot of our base was blue. It’s going to come down to if the brush or I painted more. I’m not sure the odds are in our favor here.”
“ Now announcing Turf War match: Orange vs Blue on Mako Mart. One moment please… ”
The blue team ends up standing right next to us. Both teams watch in anticipation as an image of Mako Mart map covered in orange and blue ink appears on the screen.
“Awww, that doesn’t look good.”
“Callie, hush.”
Two fluffy looking creatures pop onto the screen along with rising percentage bars of orange and blue ink.
The tinier of the two creatures raises a blue flag signifying the winner.
The final scores were 41.1% to 53.3%.
The blue team next to us begins to celebrate their victory as the screen switches to show individual player scores.
“COD DAMN! That Inkbrush painted 1555 points!”
Despite having lost, Four still seems to be smiling.
“…That Splattershot too, 938 points. Damn.”
Marie chuckles.
“We didn’t do too bad though. Four, you had 8 splats. Pretty good for only getting splatted three times.”
“Whoa! Look at Ucean’s score! He had 1316 points! That’s amazing!”
“That’s what happens when he does all the painting by himself. As a roller, maybe you should help him out?”
“Hey! It’s not my fault! That Splattershot had it out for me!”
“You still only painted 534 points.”
“Come on you two, don’t start bickering here. Let's get in line for another match.”
As the four of us turn to leave, I am stopped by the bucket girl from the blue team.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”
Four and I exchange glances. Slowly, a smug smile crosses his face. With a laugh, he leads Callie and Marie away, leaving the two of us alone together.
…
“So um, hey. Look, I’m just gonna be honest here. I think you’re a really good looking guy. Sooo, do you wanna grab coffee sometime?”
O-oh... I’m used to people flirting with me, it comes with being a model. But… being asked out directly? This is new.
‘You know you can’t. ’
Oh really? And why not?
‘You are to be engaged, Ucean. A relationship would only get in the way.’
Last time I checked, I threw that all away.
‘Do think that I would really stop simply because you disappeared?’
No. No he wouldn’t stop, would he?
‘You’ve only delayed the inevitable.’
- - -
Finally, finals week is over and I am abound with ideas.
We are about to make this fanfic gain multiple chapters in only a few days.
Let me know if you have any questions or if anything wasn't made clear.
As always, I hope y'all are enjoying.
-Veckle (12/19/2022)