Chapter Text
Leaving his home. Getting on the train. Waiting for what felt like days. Silently getting off. Going into a new place. It all felt weird for poor Leo. The 15 year old inkling walked off the train and into Inkopolis Square, the freshest new place for squid kids like him. He walked off the train, walking into the middle of the square.
All the shops, all the Inklings, all the bright colors– it felt so different from the undergrounds. Leo felt like he didn’t belong, which was true. Everyone was so fresh, while he was… well, he was Leo. Leo wasn't allowed into most stores, so he decided to do what the other inklings were doing.
He went to the lobby to play some turf war. Leo had never played an actual game of turf war, which most inklings would go into cardiac arrest hearing. In fact, this was his first time on the surface! He walked to the lobby and entered, sitting down on the stairs. He held his Splattershot Jr. and looked over it. He thought it looked bad. Not just in the fashion sense, but in the fighting sense.
As he looked over his weapon, some more inklings came inside the lobby. One had a giant sniper. The other had what looked like a paint roller. Leo had seen them before. Not the inklings, but the weapons. They were on sale in Ammo Knights, the weapon shop. Leo looked down. He closed his previously spread legs and kept his weapon close. He had to admit, despite being a smart, more serious inkling, these inklings scared him. Their weapons and gear made him feel a bit inferior. He hated feeling like that. He was supposed to be a leader, not a coward. Soon, more inklings showed up, and the match started. Leo was on the pink team, and he was fighting the green team. He was a bit happy he was on the pink team, as he liked pink. It was very saturated and bright, unlike home. Though, due to him not being quite good at processing colors due to his usual gloomy environment, it was a bit hard to match the colors. He had a bit more purple-ish gray mixed in with the pink, but most inklings didn't care. A few looked at him weird, but just assumed he was sick. The other team's weapons were nice and big. Leo's team’s weapons were a lot smaller, but held potential. As soon as the countdown finished, they were off! Leo didn’t know how to use this weapon, but he did know how to do something important: fight. He ran into the middle of the stage, leaving the Bamboozler 14 Mk I to ink the base. Great going, Leo…
Leo ran straight to the middle of the map. They were playing on Wahoo World, so the middle was one of the most important parts to get to first. The walls on the bottom moved slowly, stopping for a few seconds before going back into rotation. Leo ran, practically bursting into flames as he stressed his little legs to go as fast as they could. He was able to hop onto the walls as they moved away from the small opening the walls had, letting people get into it. The walls were fast, but Leo was faster. His legs spread as they took leap-like movements, bursting into the middle. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone. The Dynamo roller was right next to him.
Leo saw the shadow of the small inkling, and the large Dynamo roller. He looked up, seeing the smallish inkling. They looked tough, with their giant roller. It got Leo thinking; How heavy are these weapons? They both looked at each other.
“Your ink colors off.”
“Oh.”
Then, without warning, the inkling raised their Dynamo..
But Leo was too quick! Despite having a small weapon with no abilities like the dodge roll, he got out of the aim of the inkling. He jumped up, shooting the small inkling. The Dynamo fell out of their hands as they blew up in ink, making a small ‘ouch..’ sound. Leo didn’t look shaken or scared at almost getting splatted. Instead, he kept up his shallow expression and started to ink the middle. It was the same for most of the match. Inking, splatting, sharking, inking, splatting, sharking.. Leo chuckled. Just like back home. Soon, the match came to an end.
Judd and Lil Judd, held their flags as the numbers changed on the board. Left, right, left right… Then kaboom! The good guys, also known as Leo, Keisha, Aaron, and soggy waffle. At Least he thinks those are his teammates' names. That's just what's on their name tag.
Leo was a bit tired from the turf war. Not because he was fighting hard, but because it was just so… new. This entire place was new, and it hurt to look at. It was a beautiful sight, even Leo would admit. Big lights, a shining sun, games, sports, and happy inklings everywhere! But, to Leo… the sight wasn’t filled with hope for a new life. It was a bittersweet glimpse into what his peers couldn't have.
Leo walked out of the lobby, his weapon in his pocket. He kept that odd color of pink as his ink color; he started liking it. Nobody else had that ink color.
As Leo walked, he couldn't help but hear something. It sounded like rocks being kicked around. He looked up, catching an image of what looked like a taller inkling girl. She had a green and black color pallet, with a parasol that covered her from both the sun and the sight of others. She was standing above a manhole, but that was when Leo was seeing her from his peripheral vision. Once he looked over, there was nothing except some green ink seeping into the small holes of the manhole.
Leo took a few steps, watching the manhole. He stared down at it, only seeing the darkness that went down. He took a few breaths. He was known for being strong, for taking risks. Sure, he was on the short side for inkling, being about 4’3 in height. But, even with that, he was a fighter who had courage.
Leo’s curiosity and desperation to not lose who he was supposed to be in this new place, stood above the manhole. He transformed into squid form, and went down the manhole.