A sound of an alarm clock could be heard going off in a bedroom as a hand moves up to turn the alarm off. The blessing for modern technology with a cell phone is the device being an alarm clock as well. It was 6 am as a male inkling sat up in bed with a sigh.
"Good morning Arthur, it is time for your morning check-up" a computerized voice came from the squid shaped cell phone. The screen changed from the time to a circular sphere that was more a visual representation of itself. The inkling sighed as he looks at his phone and then turns the lamp on.
"I know Oracle I know" Arthur knew the routine by now, it had been a year so far doing this routine.
It had been two years since Arthur was hospitalized after the incident at Sharktooth mountain. Oculus and the Terraformer were gone and now just memories. The medical community learned quite a bit thanks to Oracle and Arthur. More so with Oracle working with doctors and scientist to try making a remedy for the virus that was coursing through the former human. It was determined that the virus had started attacking the mutagen inside Arthur which would cause his mutation to reverse back to a human. The problem has been trying to cure it, however, viruses are difficult to cure in some cases. Oracle managed to come up with a solution that would help Arthur and possibly the entire world in the long run. The treatment was simple enough, a mixture of Inkling or Octarian ink was combined with the mutagen at a high concentration would need to be delivered via a needle into Arthur's blood stream. This way the virus would be held at bay via the ink treatment that originally helped his body become stable at first, and the mutagen to try repairing the damage the virus had done. It took a full year to perfect this treatment for Arthur and it finally looked to be working. But there were a few draw backs.
Arthur pricked one of his fingers with a little device that looked more like a diabetic device used to check blood sugar. The screen displayed a 24.6% mutagen to blood ratio. He sighed as he was sitting at his desk pulling a drawer out with several vials with an orange liquid in them and a small injection gun. Seems the vials were small enough he could load them into the gun for quick administering.
"Great, guess I still have to shoot my leg again" Arthur sighed as he pulled his shorts leg up and took a disinfecting wipe to wipe off a spot. There were a few marks here and there on his right leg indicating the number of times he's injected himself.
"24.6 mutagen to blood level is indeed below the level of concern, 30% or more and things get problematic. At least look at it this way Arthur. You've not had to take an injection for nearly two days straight. This would've been day two if the reading was still fine" Oracle tried to sound optimistic as Arthur lined the small injection gun to his leg and pulled the trigger. He gave a small sound of discomfort as the needle went in and the vial was emptied into his leg.
"Yeah, coming from the guy that doesn't get stuck by the needle" Arthur added though at this point he was more awake than he was a couple of minutes earlier. His voice was a little different in tone, lower than he had two years ago. He even looked a bit more mature in age. Which that came as a side effect. Due to the virus constantly harassing the mutagen that Oracle had made, the mutagen was unable to keep him at the same age that he was originally mutated as. Thus, the mutagen reverted Arthur back to his original age when he was first placed into the pod some 12,000 years ago. Which originally Arthur was an 18-year-old. And that caused a bit of a stir with the family he was technically adopted by at this point, thinking he was younger. Bianca was hoping to have a brother that was a tad younger than her but now had an older brother suddenly.
Speaking of Bianca and her friends, it had been a fun two years as they're all around middle school age and having now gotten through most of their puberty. Her team is still hanging together as friends, class work has increased so their time for turf wars and ranked matches have been limited to weekends when they're all free. Bianca and Jake were still sorta interested in each other, to say the least. At least Arthur's been keeping up with them all, they all did visit him every now and then when he was being hospitalized. They kept him in the loop about new changes going on in Inkopolis including the renovations to the area after the last splatfest pinning the two Squid Sisters head to head. Some things were not clear what happened, but best Arthur could tell some didn't like the outcome to say the least. He did keep in touch with Marie and sometimes Callie just to see how the two are. He was glad that Callie was alright after her Octarian encounter while under the control of DJ Octavio. Easy fix for Callie, Marie just had someone make the glasses she liked to wear so much without all the mind control garbage. So that was nice.
"I hear the sarcasm and understand, it's no more different than sticking a USB stick into a port and dumping all the contents on it into a hard drive" Oracle noted as Arthur took the injector off his leg and pressed on the spot he just stuck himself at.
"I suppose so, just wish I wouldn't need the mutagen anymore and be rid of this damn virus" he really didn't like needles to begin with and this was no better.
"Until your body has grown a resistance to the virus, the mutagen must be in place to-"
"Ensure survivability of the user and to take the antibodies to make a cure, yes yes I know Oracle" Arthur finished what Oracle had begun to say as Oracle merely gave a computerized sigh.
"I can't change that part of my programming and you do realize this quite well. At least you can be glad the treatment is working and you're back home thanks to it" Oracle did want to keep things on the up and up. It could tell Arthur was hating this sort of cell he had to live in.
"Yes I know, but even with that, it's been weird. Home schooled for the first few months and took an exit exam for High School and I passed it. I'm an unemployed worker now and all I have left is my past and my artwork. Not counting you Oracle" Arthur gave a sigh as he got up from the chair seeing his puncture spot had not begun bleeding. He went to the dresser and started looking for a different pair of shorts to wear and a t-shirt. His hair was still a right mess as always but short enough it didn't cause too much trouble in a turf match.
"Not to mention if my activity level is high, I need to inject myself more. But if I'm not pushing my body a bit, nothing changes and I'll never get off this treatment" Arthur added finding a pair of cargo shorts and slips off the jersey shorts he was wearing and getting these shorts on.
"I understand your discontent, thus why today's outing is important. We can finally see how you can fair outside of a controlled environment with the treatment provided. Though I am skeptical if you should try to do any sort of turf wars" Oracle had indeed noticed his discontent and had that in consideration. It would be unfair for Arthur to be locked up inside another "pod", in the figurative sense, after this virus got to him.
"Well, I just can't sit around outside if that would make ya feel better Oracle. You know as much as I do that we should do something at least, if not just a single turf match" Arthur was itching to get his feet back out there if not to at least let some people know he's still alive. Two years away was a long time to some people.
"If you insist then best to pack the pin in case your health starts deteriorate while in a match" Oracle recommended as a precaution. The pen worked like any Epi-pen would except this one could be opened to insert a vial of the mutagen mix he took this morning.
"Have to remind me to pack that alright? Well, guess we should get something done in the mean time" Arthur rummaging through the dresser to find a yellow shirt with a store logo on it and put it on after removing the white t-shirt he was wearing. Taking his phone with him and placing his black hat on his head, he would slip out of his bedroom and out to get something to eat.
Not much has changed in the condo since Arthur's hospitalization had occurred. Grace spent quite a bit of her time at work and home though would drop in on Arthur to see how Arthur was. It eventually led to Grace's husband, Cecil, to make arrangements to work in the office a bit more so he can stay at home while allowing Grace to put her attention to Arthur when he came home. Up until he was capable of moving around on his legs. Given his accident within the Terraformer, he wasn't exactly able to steady himself on his legs for a while. Bianca was a lot of mixed feelings of the whole ordeal. She was hitting her teenage years and she wasn't quite liking having to help with Arthur here and there. But he was "family" now.
"Let's see… Where's the cereal at..." Arthur muttered to himself as he checked the pantry.
"Hey sleepy head may want to skip on that" a voice whispered to him as it made him jump in surprise. Whipping around he would see Bianca standing in front of him. She was around 5ft now but she was still growing. Her blue hair was kept short. She wore a white tank top with a sports jacket over the top. She also had a pair of cream colored shorts on with strapped sandals. She had her Carbon Roller with her though it was folded up with her ink tank by the door. He took a moment to catch his breath.
"Geez Bianca, can ya be a little quieter" he looked back at her blue eyes as she rolled them.
"Pssst, give me a break Arthur. Come on, get your ink tank and bow. I want to blow this place before mom and dad wake up. Ya know how she'll be once she wakes up, worry wart mother over ya" a hint of disgust was in her voice as Arthur grimaced over it. It was true that Grace was worried for Arthur given his health condition, but that may have also put some distance between her and Bianca unintentionally.
"Right, be back in a second" he quickly moved to his room and get his old ink tank and splatbow, which was inside a case thankfully. He grabbed his messenger bag as well with his art supplies and a few other items. But mostly the injection gun, vials of mutagen and an epi pen in case he needed something fast and more immediate. He went out of his room and down the hall, past the kitchen and into the living room to the door of the condo. Bianca was already waiting for him holding her ink tank on the side along with her roller. Took Arthur a moment to get his shoes on as he heads out with her.
"So what's the plan then? Grab a bite as we head into town?" Arthur asked as they were heading out of the complex.
"Look, I want to make this clear. I'm doing this just to satisfy Mother and that dumb AI" Bianca was pretty sharp on her tongue as she seemed to have kept some frustration inside herself towards him.
"The name is Oracle. Bianca, it is important that we know if he can keep himself stable while-"
"Yeah yeah, I hear ya. You don't need to explain this to me. I just want to enjoy this Saturday with my friends. Geez" Bianca got snappy with Oracle, even cutting it off while it was speaking through Arthur's phone.
"Whoa tone it down a bit, didn't mean to get things off on the wrong foot. Look let's just swing by the doughnut shop and get something there" Arthur knew there was one down the street which would be easy for them. Bianca grumbled.
"Fine. Guess I'll be paying too" she was complaining as Arthur shakes his head.
"I have some money, don't worry about. I'll pay" he insisted as she was still in a bad mood.
"Well alright then. Should probably tell ya, before ya go running off into the tower, ya should see Sheldon. Your splatbow maybe… Nah it's definitely out of date. Will have to get a new bow or weapon that's under regs and re-register your stuff" she added walking by him towards the doughnut shop. Arthur listened to her and gave a heavy sigh. Was she seriously that pissed off at him? Was he really being that big of a burden to her? He wasn't sure and wasn't gonna pry at it. Guess time to get doughnuts and then see Sheldon.
The tram ride over to the Inkopolis Square was the same as always. That's the one thing that hadn't changed. Though the silence that Arthur and Bianca were sharing was a bit unsettling. He could remember the first day that Bianca had taken him out to the square. It was actually a little fun, experiencing a new world for the first time. That memory felt distant. Now he felt out of place once more. He was of age to be an adult. Heck, he should be 20 if Oracle hadn't reversed his age and then his body reverted to being an 18-year-old. But seeing he was 18, there seemed to be some different leagues depending on age as well. Arthur had been playing in the Teen League for all matches. This included unranked turf wars and all ranked matches. He was going into the Adult League which was for individuals 17 years and older. This was where the big named teams reside. It's hard as can be apparently. This will be interesting to see how this all goes, hopefully, he wasn't too rusty. The sun was starting to rise as the tram was making its way to the square.
"Well, guess this is where we-" as the tram stopped, Bianca merely got up after checking her phone and left the tram not even acknowledging Arthur. He gave a soft sigh, she was mad. Then again at this point, he should know what he needed to do. With that, he got up with his things and went out onto the square.
The square looked much different structurally, the tower was covered in billboards and screens. The shops looked completely remodeled as well and some sort of fenced in area just beyond the weapon shop. His first business was to check in with Sheldon and see if his bow is up to competing in matches. He could see the various inklings around the square this early in the morning. It sort of was sad given the fact that he had heard Inklings and Octarian having finished working out peace treaties. Though the lack of Octarians was concerning, to say the least. Which sort of reminded him of Octavia, he wasn't sure where she was. He hadn't seen her in a long while. He got to the door of the shop and pushed through, the bell chimes still being the same.
"Welcome to Ammo Knights, what kind of weapon are you in-" the same Sheldon as always. He popped his head from under the counter. Seems he was doing something before he heard the door chimes.
"Are my glasses dirty, or is that my prototype tester Arthur?" Sheldon was surprised to see this inkling back. Then again, Sheldon had only seen him when he was younger and just two years ago. A much older Arthur probably threw a curve ball at the horseshoe crab.
"Yes, it is me, Sheldon. Didn't mean to surprise ya there. I'm wanting to see if this prototype is still good to use for matches or not" Arthur asked as he took the bow case and laid it on the counter. Sheldon would open the case and look at the bow.
"Hmmm, that's a good question. Regulators from the League went after all the companies for making new weapon abilities. So some special weapons have been removed. But where have ya been? I was hoping to get more info with how the bow was handling" Sheldon was having to check a catalog of weapons he had made to see where this bow was at.
"Well, it's complicated. I got ill and been tackling it for the past two years. I'm starting to get better" Arthur answered as he looked around the store. There were some weapons that were completely new to him. He noticed the dual pistol looking blasters. So these are dualies?
"Ill for two years? Great golly! I'm glad you're doing better Arthur. I think the bow should be fine to use. The sub weapon and special are all fine" Sheldon remarked as he closed the case to slide it back to Arthur. The inkling took the case back once he got to the counter.
"So I take it I'm not fresh enough to buy any of the weapons in here huh?" Arthur commented figuring his rank and freshness was zero in the league sense. Sheldon shrugged.
"Most inklings I would say yes. But you seem more capable of using them. So I don't mind if ya buy from me. Though I would try doing some matches before changing up your weapon up" Sheldon was at least was wanting to be helpful to the inkling.
"Oh well thank ya, Sheldon. I'll be heading over to the tower to see what I can get into" Arthur mentioned as he picks up the bow case and looks at the door.
"Best of luck to you Arthur!" Sheldon gave a salute with a smile. Arthur chuckled at the store keeper.
"Will do mate" he went on out to the tower to see how things were. Something in the back of his head was scratching at him though. What if they didn't accept him back into the league? What if he was too 'rusty' to be any good? There was only one way to put those fears aside. Time to see what the league says about his status.
"So my rank has been bumped down to A- and my turf level has been set to zero, is that correct?" Arthur was asking the jellyfish at the registration desk. The jelly was wearing a purple t-shirt with a past splatfest theme on it.
"Eyup. Most had to have their ranks in the league completely reset to zero. That's for the teen league. Adult league, we keep your rank at a specific point. But that doesn't mean you can't be knocked backward into a lower rank in the league" the jelly clarified as Arthur nods. That part he did understand at the very least.
"Fair enough, thank you for your time" he thanked the jelly as the jelly smiled and waved.
"You're quite welcome, splat safely" the jelly would return back to work as Arthur went over to try doing some turf wars. Turf was an all around match mode where someone could get a good idea what to expect from a league. So Arthur would log on and go into a match.
He was transported via a pipeline that went to Inkblot Art Academy. He honestly was surprised when he spawned in on the pad that he was here. He had heard about the academy nonetheless. Should apply to this school at some point. He looked around him and saw his team spawning in. Some were dressed in the freshest clothes from the Galleria, which compared to Arthur, he looked antique. A female inkling was looking at him as she was wearing a tank top with a sports bra on with tight shorts. She had a hair pin holding her two larger tentacles back in a low ponytail as had had a pair of Dapple Dualies. She was mostly looking at the bow that Arthur had.
"A Splatbow? Haven't seen those used in ages" she commented as one of the guys look at him with a raised eyebrow. This guy he couldn't tell what he was looking at as he was wearing a full gas mask with an Octobrush.
"Last time I've seen one was about two years ago when some kid went from C rank to S in a very short time span" the guy mentioned as the other was not paying him too much mind. They had a Rapid Blaster and wearing a safari hat and tactical vest with a shirt and shorts. The Octobrush user was wearing a tactical vest as well but had pants on too.
"Yeah, I've had it for a while. Just hope I'm still good with it, haven't been in the circuit for a while" Arthur mentioned as he checked his pocket really quick, he did have his epi-pen with him in case he started feeling terrible.
"Oh? Did we get a newbie here? That's just great" the inkling with the Rapid Blaster complained as the Octobrush user rolled his eyes.
"Go in with that attitude and we'll lose for sure" the Octobrush looked back to the inkling that was complaining. The match was about to start.
"Well, better be ready to go. We hit hard out here. The name's Sofia, what's yours?" the female inkling looked at him as she looked ready to run off the pad as the last 10 seconds were counting down.
"The name's Arthur. Nice to meet ya Sofia" Arthur would get to say before the whistle blew and the match began. The team split into different directions as the Octobrush went to the side starting to cover turf, the blaster user went off down a side alley as Sofia went onward going mid but then going left. Arthur figured he should go mid given he might be able to get a good spot to splat people from a far. So throwing a suction bomb and firing his bow a few times, he started making his way across the turf. He got down to a statue that was half way to the middle of the map to their spawn. Arthur moved up onto a ledge and started taking shots from his spot to try getting a few spots covered, trying to give his teammates something to work with. Though from the side he saw a male inkling on the opposing team. Arthur was on the green team and the enemy was purple. The inkling was using a Dynamo Roller, a very powerful roller that can fling ink a great distance. The guy wore a black muscle shirt with a gold chain around his neck. Baggy white pants with sneakers and he had shades on with his hair spiked up. He had a deep tan on his skin as Arthur took aim to the guy. Arthur knew Dynamo Roller's could cover a lot of ink when they flung it, but they couldn't hit distance.
"This should be no problem" Arthur commented to himself as he drew the bow back taking aim. Though at that moment the guy looked at Arthur as if knowing he was being targeted. The inkling merely smirked as Arthur took a shot. The orb of ink shot out making a line of ink where it flew over before landing. Sadly, the inkling jumped to the side and pulled his roller over his shoulder as if taking aim. But the roller was folded up.
"Why is he…?! Shi-!" was all Arthur could say before the inkling threw the ink from their Dynamo Roller splattering Arthur from afar with no problems.
"Ya got Clancy'd! Chargers, too easy to knock out hah!" the inkling muttered as Arthur was being sent to spawn. Once spawned in, Arthur sat on the spawn being dumbfounded.
"So people realized you can do that?! Guess kids aren't as smart as adults after all. They're learning" a sigh of annoyance was present. He didn't feel bad at that moment as he checked his little mini-map. Found that Sofia had dropped a beacon in a safe spot for people to jump. Maybe he should be more mobile with his bow, after all, he could pull it back fast.
"Let's jump here" with that Arthur would change to his squid form and launch over to the beacon. The flight was pretty quick as Arthur had a suction bomb ready in case someone from the enemy team found it. Which seemed there was some enemy ink nearby. Though just as Arthur was landing, the same inkling that had splat him earlier came out of the ink and swung his massive roller. The roller would pin Arthur against a set of blocks meant to be a smaller statue near a tree on his side of the map.
"Well look who it is again? Can't get enough of Clancy can't ya? Dry little scrub wanting to get some ink?" so this guy's name was Clancy huh. Arthur could think of other words to describe him as he felt the enemy ink piercing at him.
"How about ya mess off and finish what ya started" Arthur threw his suction bomb as Clancy smiled.
"Gladly little fish" with that Clancy pulled his roller back causing Arthur to fall off the blocks. But instead of splatting, Clancy kicked Arthur in the gut, pushing the inkling over his own suction bomb, covering the explosion. With that done, Clancy would slam his roller down on Arthur splatting him.
"He's gonna be a nice splatting bag" Clancy smirked to himself as he starts to cover turf. Arthur knew this was gonna be a rough day wasn't it?
The rest of the day was like this. For whatever reason, Arthur was being placed against Clancy fellow. And every match, this guy would target just him. And all the stuff the guy was saying was getting on Arthur's nerves. They were hurtful words. The ink can be wiped away, words can sink in deeper than ink. Though while he was in a match on Sturgeon Shipyard, he was having issues as he felt his breathing getting harsh. He looked to a spot he could hide out. He took a corner that was down low to sit down and check his blood with the monitor.
"Crap, over 34%" he put the monitor up and grabbed his EpiPen and stuck himself with it quickly as he felt the solution going through his veins from his leg. He winced for a moment though a shadow appeared over him as he looked up just to see a Dynamo Roller slamming down on his face.
"Allergic to being a rear fin? Should stay in spawn so ya don't get an allergic reaction" Clancy mocked as Arthur was splatted and then sent back to spawn. The EpiPen was fine once Arthur arrived to spawn. But he stood there processing what had happened as he was sort of lost. Here he was having a medical emergency and this guy had no concern about that. It was the last straw. Arthur was rarely a bad sport, but he took his league card out and set it to head back to the tower. He needed to take a major break and reporting someone. Hopefully, the officials would listen to him.
"What you mean I'm getting an hour ban?!" Arthur's voice was irate as he looked at the inkling behind the counter as he was managing the access of participants. The guy had a single tentacle going down one side of his face with glasses on. Wearing a similar attire as the jellyfish Arthur spoke with earlier. His red eyes rolled listening to this complaining inkling.
"You dropped a match before it was over when ya do that we now have to ban people for a certain amount of town. It's a new rule for a while now" the worker said as he tried to remain calm with an angered inkling.
"Right, and what about that inkling I was telling ya about? Clancy" Arthur was going for his complaint as the worker merely sighed.
"All I can do is write a report and send it up to other regulators to review the complaint" the worker was saying the very basic that he could do.
"Ya mean you can't do a thing for a guy that has been harassing me match after match, physically abusing another player and mocking them? I believe that falls into the category of unsportsmanlike behavior" Arthur argued though a voice he didn't want to hear came up.
"Oh but come on buddy, I just want ya to get better" Arthur turned his head to see Clancy looking as smug as can be but offering a smile. A fake smile as the 5'6" inkling came over to nod to the inkling behind the desk.
"Better?! You joking me! The last match I was having a medical emergency" Arthur remarked as Clancy looked sorry.
"Oh, you were having a medical problem? Geez, I didn't know really bro. If I knew I would've held back some" Arthur heard those words on deaf ears. He could tell Clancy didn't care.
"I would suggest if there was a medical issue, alert the refs and we'll take a moment to address the condition and conclude the match as a draw" the worker seemed to be going along with Clancy as Clancy smiled.
"Yeah see, if ya did that you would be fine man" Clancy smiled as he knew he had beaten this shorter inkling. Such a scrub.
"Well back to business, I need to see your card Arthur," the worker said holding a hand out to take Arthur's league card.
"Arthur huh? Sorry, ya got that ban buddy. You'll get gud eventually" Clancy added with a smirk chuckle. Arthur had enough as he looked at the card and then at them both.
"The only person that needs to 'get gud' is your attitude ya filthy rear octarian tentacle" Arthur snapped just as he bent his card in half snapping the electronic card in half slamming it onto the table. The worker was shocked from the words and actions as Clancy was wide eyed.
"What did you- You little!" Clancy tried to throw a punch to Arthur. But he was already expecting it, side stepped and grabbed the arm. Using the punch that Clancy had thrown, Arthur was able to pull Clancy over his back and slamming him down onto the tile flooring.
"That was for all the shit ya told me in the matches. I'm done with this league. If you guys can't even moderate rear fins like this, then I don't need to be here" Arthur had enough of this as he left the tower after getting his stuff. He didn't wait for Bianca either as it was just around 2 pm. He looked at his ink tank and looked at the nearby trash can in front of Ammo Knights. The threw the ink tank away but kept the bow and case. Sheldon was finishing setting something up as he noticed Arthur throwing the ink tank away. The surprise caught the shop keeper off guard, tripping over his own display and messing it up. Arthur didn't want to think. He had it at this point. Who was he kidding? He wasn't worth being in turf wars. He wasn't "fresh" enough. He wasn't the best nor was going to be. He knew his artwork online could fetch him a good price. He had done that to save money for himself. Just like back home. Even this world didn't care for those that are on the short end of the stick. He got on the next tram and started making his way back home.
"Arthur, are you alright? Your vocal levels indicate high stress" Oracle asked as it had been listening to Arthur the entire time and conversation he just had at the tower.
"Yes I am stressed!" thankfully Arthur got an empty car to himself.
"Heightened stress levels can increase your risk of the virus spreading" the AI added calmly.
"I KNOW!" Arthur was tearing up as he felt the past poking back at him.
"I want this to stop. I want to feel like a somebody again. I-I… I hate this" Arthur said as he looked down at his lap at his phone.
"You hate this? I don't understand" Oracle sounded confused.
"This isn't me Oracle. You know this. I'm not an Inkling. I'm not some squid hybrid. I'm a human! We know this! I have to fit some mold that I won't ever fill, nor never will. Why? Cause I'm not an inkling, not at heart" Arthur was clenching his fist as he tried to keep himself together. Oracle sat there thinking.
"This isn't what Mary would've wanted" the inkling's eyes went wide and the sorrow was quickly turning to anger.
"Did you-Leave her out of this Oracle!"
"I'm saying that she would've wanted you to be happy and to make others happy too" Oracle was going to say more but the phone was thrown onto the floor.
"Structural damage detected" Oracle commented as the phone was met with Arthur's foot.
"You leave her out of this! I know what she wished from me. I was there. I was there when she died! You only know this cause I told you" Arthur was in an unstable mood as Oracle seemed to be looking at him through the camera part of the phone.
"But you're acting just like Mr. Fate" that pushed Arthur over the edge as Arthur slammed his foot onto the phone breaking it.
"I AM NOT LIKE HIM!" he shouted as he looked at the window as the tram went under a hill. The window showed a reflection of himself in it. Though as Arthur looked on, the reflection that he saw was of himself. The reflection looked at him and rolled his eyes. The reflection spoke otherwise which by the time the tram went out of the hill, he looked down to see his busted phone. Oracle wouldn't be using this anytime soon. He couldn't believe, he was this distraught. This angry. Part of it was over people, part of it was himself. He was better than this. But how can you be something you're not?
The rest of the way home he remained quiet as he cleaned up the phone and brought it back to him at home. Cecil was out running an errand leaving Grace home. She was working on her laptop in the living room when Arthur came in.
"Hm? Oh hello, Arthur" she smiled at him before noticing something was off. One being his lack of ink tank and her daughter.
"Arthur, where's Bianca?" she asked as Arthur shrugged.
"She ditched me when her friends got to the square this morning. I've had a rough day… Oracle and I got into a fight on the tram back home and I went a bit too far on him..." he showed the phone as she looked shocked.
"Arthur Sketchink, what is the meaning of this? I've never seen you do something like this, what happened?" Grace placed her laptop down as he sighed.
"Grace, you shouldn't worry about me. You should be more worried about Bianca as she's felt neglected since I became sick. I've been a loading on your family for the past two years. Today I realize I can't keep up like this. I have managed to put money into my account with artwork online, and I have enough I can get an apartment" he told her not going further with it.
"So you're giving up on battling in turf wars then?" Grace leaned to one side with a hand on her hip. She couldn't treat Arthur like a child as he was an adult.
"Yes I have and tomorrow starts my job hunting and apartment hunting" Arthur was stern in his words. But on the inside, he was crying. He felt pain, he wanted to belong. Though this was drowned in the sea of stress that Arthur had kept inside for all these years.