Chapter 1: Meeting the Crew
Author Note:
Hello everybody! Welcome to a new story that was requested to me by Mayor Lavi, a friend that I met on the Animal Crossing amino. I didn't think I'll tackle a Splatoon story, but here we are. This story is going to be an interesting one folks, but how is it interesting? Well read on and find out for yourself. This chapter isn't long, but that's okay considering it is the first chapter. Feel free to tell what you think of the chapter and the story concept itself, this is TheFoolOfTheNoon, signing off!
/
Inkoplis, there is never a dull moment in a place like this. Every Inkling growing up knows that this place is where are dreams are made and broken. Me? I'm living the dream! Well, my version of it anyway. I mean turf wars is one of the most famous games here! Heck we all agreed that once we we're old enough that we will enter the splatting arena! Well, that time has since passed and I must say we are doing pretty well for ourselves on the leaderboards, granted we aren't the best, but we always made sure to have fun. Of course, this sort of gets thrown out the window when Splatfest rolls around. When one is announced, we end up selecting certain days to do nothing but train in order to prepare for the Splatfest.
As a matter of fact, today is one of those days! I had my alarm set and once it rang, I was up and ready to go with my favorite goggles on my head. I'm not exactly an expert on fashion, but I believe it looks good with my black jacket and my short hair. Also, unlike other Inklings I like keep my hair and eyes in a red color. It's not an often-seen color, but I personally like it. Makes me look fierce!
"Lavink! Over here!" I heard a familiar voice shout, which breaks me out of my internal monologue.
Looking over to the source of the voice, I smiled as I saw a familiar sight all sitting around at a table. Spaz, Fix, Grey, and Inky, oh dear sweet Inky. We all grew up with each other in a local neighborhood and since then we been inseparable.
Spaz is the muscle of our group, he's slightly big for a normal inkling, but that's alright by him since his favorite weapon is the Custom Hydra Splatling. Filling the role of heavy weapon squid, of course he dressed the part by wearing the Power Armor gear set. He has white skin that has slowly been getting tan, and his eye color is blue. His preferred ink color is Blue and his hair style is the topknot.
Fix is our unofficial sneaker of the group, and what I mean by that is that he likes to use the E-liter 4K Scope and the sneaky tools that come with it. To fit this theme, he dresses like a soldier and wears gear associated with it like the Moist Ghillie gear set. His skin is white but not enough to be pale, and his eye color is yellow. His preferred ink color is green and his hairstyle is the buzzcut.
Grey, was the odd one of the group and I don't say that because of his preferred grey ink color. He keeps to himself, but when he talks it's because he has something important to say. He has no preferred style and often change his outfits on a day by day basis. Although he has lately been fixated on the Null Armor replica ever since the Octolings joined our society. Eyecolor wise, he seems to have a different color each day, but I chalked that up to contacts. His preferred hairstyle is the slick. His weapon of choice though, is no joke. The H-3 Nozzlenose, while not the best weapon in turf wars due to its slow firing rate, but boy does it pack a wallop if all shots hit you. I been on the receiving end of his shooter and it is no joke.
Then there is Inky, this lovely squid is my girlfriend. We started dating a few weeks ago after a rough patch in my life, but her attitude always seems to lift my spirits. She is a tough gal and shows no mercy on the battle field, but this is contrasted by her gentle heart off of it. She likes to keep her hair in a purple color which matches her eyes and goes well with her dark skin. Her hair is asymmetric with one end being shorter than the other. She wears a purple pinkish jacket with a black body and light blue accents, and a black sun visor on her head. Her preferred weapon of choice is the roller, but what kind is depending on how she feels. When she is relaxed, she goes for the quick and easy brush, but when she is angry, she uses the Dynamo.
"Hey! How is everyone doing?"
"Doing fine comrade. We be speaking of upcoming Splatfest," Spaz said.
"Off the Hook has yet to completely reveal what it is, but my guess it's going to be big. I got my war face ready!" Fix added.
"Whatever it is, we either might end up on the same team or on opposing sides. Either way, let's make sure it doesn't tear us apart," Grey reminded everyone. He says this every time a Splatfest has come around and it's a bit annoying. I mean they are wise words and all, but he's a broken record sometimes.
"We know Grey, sometimes dude you need to relax with this stuff," He rolled his eyes at me, but ignored it.
"It's alright Lavink, I mean Grey is very inspiring when he wants to be. Besides Splatfest's are for fun anyway, when has it torn anyone apart?" Inky said cheerfully. Me, Spaz, Fix, and Grey looked away and simultaneously whistle in order to feign ignorance, "What? Why are you guys whistling?"
"Practicing," we all say at the same time.
"Sometimes I don't get you guys."
"Anyway, what's on today's schedule? I bet its turf war related!"
"Yes, comrade Lavink. The plan is to play some turf war, practice teamwork and find any weaknesses."
"Sounds good to me, so what are we waiting for? Let's go kick some squid butt!"
*Yeah!*
/
From the plaza and to the lobby we arrived as a group. We assigned ourselves as a squad with Judd; the strange cat that looks like a referee. Makes me wonder if he was born for this job as he is so dang good at seeing how much ink is on the field. Inky thinks he's cute along with Mini Judd, but personally I think he's grouchy and his brother creeps me out.
We stood in the lobby waiting for a match. Since all turf wars and most game modes are 4 vs 4 Grey waited to be dropped into a separate group. It's a sad fact of life, but what can you do? He seems alright with it and it wasn't long before he saluted us and went off into his match. The rest of us waited until finally a minute later they found another team and finally send us off to the playing field.
/
We were selected as the purple team while our opponents is light blue. The map that was chosen is the Kelp Dome which can be a straight out warzone when things get hectic. I looked over to Inky who smiled at me while holding her standard roller in her hands. I could hear Spaz chuckling under his helmet. Fix was checking his weapon for any problems, and as for me...well you can't go wrong dualies can you? I'm just using the standard version because even the standard has it's perks you know?
We were enveloped by a light and before we knew it, we were all spawning from the team spawner.
"Whew, that entire process still give me the tingles."
"Don't be baby comrade, we fight, we learn, nothing else matters!"
"Like you need to tell me that! You ready Inky?"
"Ready!"
"Fix?"
"Hostiles sighted, begin the mission."
Like that the music begins and the turf wars begin. Immediately we covered the area near our spawner in our ink before jumping off and splitting up. Spaz and Fix took one path while Inky and I took the opposite path. Inky, being the roller girl, she is paving the path as I followed behind and inking parts off the trail. It wasn't a thorough job, but we needed to set up our travel lines so we can swim away faster. Once we started hearing the shots of our opponents, we immediately change tactics and stopped our progression.
We hid behind a wall in order to stay out of sight and see what are up against, "Okay, I see...three nitwits. One using an Aerospray MG, another is using a Splatbrella, and the last one is using a Dark Tetra Dualies. We basically got an assault squad over here."
"That's not good, we'll be splatted instantly if we take them head on," Inky said as she narrowed her eyes, "We're going have to employ the bait 'n' switch maneuver."
"Got it love, just be ready to run them over once I got their attention."
Inky gave me a thumb's up and I proceeded to jump into the fray, "Hey fish fry! I'm bet none of you can hit the broadside of a barn!"
"Oh really? Let's take him down guys!"
My taunt worked as all three came after me. Of course, here comes the hard part, running for my squidding life. I used my dualies to pave a path for me to swim through, but dodging their shots was far from easy as the Aerospray squid was acting like a sprinkler and trying to cut off my path. The Splatbrella one was providing offensive fire while keeping his team safe from my return fire. He even managed to hit a me a couple of times with the spread, but it wasn't enough to splat me. However, the real trouble came when the Dualies squid came out of cover began making a beeline towards me.
"Running, running, running!" I said in growing panic as I was wondering what was taking my girlfriend so long to pounce.
"You can't run from me coward!"
Normally I'm very good in a Dualies vs Dualies fight, but since this guy's friends are backing him up I don't have much wiggle room here. Using the quick dodge roll I managed to avoid most of the pot shots, but some hit me and I ended up tripping onto the ground. Thinking fast I fell on my back and got my guns ready, but then I realized that I was looking down the barrels of multiple weapons.
"Give it up pal, it'll be easier this way."
I was truly in a bad spot, but then I notice Inky with her roller raised and ready to splat them, "I agree it really was easy."
They were confused by my words, but they didn't get much time to think about it before my girlfriend slammed her ink brush down and splatted all of them all in one go. I breathed a sigh of relief as she helped me up.
"Inky, you know I love you very much, but why did it take you so long to splat them?"
She giggled, "Sorry, but it looked so funny to see them chase you. Also, it gave me the chance to undo their work!"
She pointed behind her and like she said all the turf they inked up while chasing me was now covered in our team color, "Huh, well you had me worried still."
"Oh relax, it worked didn't it? Also we have the advantage now!"
"Heh, you're not wrong. Come on, let's push it so they'll have a hard time recovering!"
"Got it, get behind me and let's get this train rolling!"
It's hard to stay angry at her especially at that energy she has. It's one of her positives points and it's nice to see her happy.
The battled raged on as the timer hit the last minute mark and things really picked up. Sub-weapons, and specials went flying as both our side and their side tried to stay as the dominant team. Spaz's ink armor gave us a defensive edge while Fix's ink cloud provided support inking. I could practically hear our heavy weapon's squid shouting his signature catchphrase.
"Ha ha ha! I am ink proof!"
He gets too excited about it if you ask me which has led to him being splatted in the past as Ink armor can only protect you for so long. Still Fix had him covered which prevented some of the enemies from ganging up on him. However, things got messy as both us and the enemy team clashed in the middle. We lost Fix while taking out one of their own, and I ended up in a roll dance off against the enemy's Dualies user. I won that battle by shooting the area the guy was going to roll to and slow him down before finishing him off.
"Look out behind you!" I hear Inky shout. I was barely able to dodge an incoming charger shot that would have splatted me instantly if Inky didn't warn me soon enough.
The enemy's charger panicked and ran off when she found out she was discovered, "Inky! Take care of that charger!"
"Already on it!"
The timer ticked down to the last ten seconds and seizing my chance. I activated my special and pulled out two comically oversized Tenta-rocket launchers. With a smile on my face I began firing into the sky, ink rockets that rained down onto the area. Inksplosions happened everywhere and before I knew it the whistle blew; the turf war is over.
We all stopped in our tracks as we waited for Judd's and Mini Judd's call. After a few seconds of anticipation, the winner was decided, our team won. We all cheered with joy as we are whisked away from the arena and placed back into the lobby. Hugs were passed all around, especially a big one from Inky to me. I gave her a peck on the cheek to which she returned in kind.
"So, whose ready for another round?"
An agreement was about to be reached until suddenly all of our stomachs growled at the same time.
"Uh...maybe after some lunch?"
*Yeah!*
/
We returned to Inkoplis square and ordered some lunch. Nothing like tacos to help satiate one's appetite, right? We sat at a nearby table and while we waited, Grey walked out of the lobby with three girls following behind him. Two Inklings, one Octoling, they all seem interested in him but he seems to pay them no mind as he walked towards us.
"Again Grey?" I asked.
"Again."
I sighed, "Alright ladies, our friend you are fawning over want to spend some time with us. However, you are free to exchange numbers with him."
They squealed with joy as they did just that before leaving and waving goodbye. Grey return the wave before sighing and hitting his head on the table, "That was rough..."
"I'm guessing your fight was an uphill battle?" I asked.
"Yeah, I had to save them a couple of times. The enemy team was packing heat in the form of a scoped charger, Dynamo roller, Aerospray RG, and a Splattershot pro."
"Yikes, if you keep pulling stuff like this then your fan club is only going to get bigger!"
"I have a fan club?"
The rest of us began to laugh as Grey began to grew irritated, "Of course you do pal! I mean it's a niche fan club most made up of people you inspired or the fan girls you saved."
"Gee, thanks for telling me now. Anyway how did your guys battle go?"
"Great! It was an epic battle that either side could have won!"
"Did you find anything you need to improve on?"
"Uh...well I realize I need to be more alert or else I'll splatted by a charger?"
"Is that all?"
"Well..."
Grey sighed as our food arrived and our focus shifted to just the food itself. We made some small talk about our performance to show to Grey that we did learn from our battle. It was nice for the time being and Grey eventually order a meal of his own. Everything was as it was and as it should be. Peaceful, fun, and nothing to ruin my day.
Which is what I would have said until Inky tightly grabbed my arm and pulled it close to her, "Hey, Inky what's going on?"
She had a pouting expression to her face and as I followed her line of sight I caught a glimpse of what caused her to act in such a way; my ex Sashi. Sashi is a tan skinned Inkling girl with orange hair, with a 'banger' hair style. Her eyes are a tan color which is hard to notice as her colors blended in together. Her current gear set up is Squidfin Hook Cans on her head, Silver Tentatek Vest for her upper wear, leggings for lower wear, and Red Power Stripes for her shoes.
I heard that she is doing pretty well herself in the ranking boards, but I do my best to keep her out of my mind. She wasn't a bad person, as a matter of fact she's nice and was fun to hang out with, but then she threw it away. One day her skill was noticed by a popular team at the time, and they asked her to join them. It was a once in a life time opportunity and I was happy for her...until she slowly started spending less and less time with us, with me. She changed, the fame, the glory, and the recognition from being in the highest ranked teams made her driven and ruthless.
I remember trying to talk to her during this and she didn't even recognize me. This hurt and when we came across each other on the field of battle she told me this,
"I would never have a boyfriend as weak as you."
After that she never talked to me again. The team went on to win many battles until finally disbanding. However, rumor has it that she dropped out of the team long before it disbanded. Why, I did not know. Though, on the bright side she returned to her normal self and has made friends again, but she avoids us like the plague. I remember Grey saying he ran into her once, but the moment she recognizes him she ran away. I guess she want's nothing to do with us or at least that is what it seems.
We were all feeling betrayed when she left our group, but right next to me Inky was affected very much by it. She detests her now and now that we are dating, she holds me tightly whenever she sees her. This may seem possessive to some, but Inky is just scared of losing me. We even talked about this once and I was able to calm her down and ease her worries. Still she gets antsy like right now.
"Easy Inky, I'm not going anywhere," She easies up her grip on my arm and I wrapped it around her. I held her close until she calmed down. To be frank, I think it's best that we never meet again. I wouldn't know what to say to her or what she would say to me after all these years.
We finished our lunch and headed back to the lobby to play our next match. There was no point thinking about the past and killing your own joy. Still I would be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that wanted to talk to her again. It's hard to forget the good times along with the bad, especially with someone you used to love. However, as it stands...she is just someone I used to know.