Chapter 1 - Unwitting
"You're really somethin' with that Octobrush of yours! I wish I coulda seen it! What happened next?"
"Well, after I took out that Charger, someone started Bomb Rushing the area. Splat Bombs were coming down from the platform above me. They were everywhere around me, and about to go off," He told the girl on the other end of the phone. "It was an opponent with a Sloshing Machine. I swam up there before the bombs exploded, and I splatted them! People seem to always forget they can still use their main weapon during a Bomb Rush."
"I get that. I always feel like I'm wasting my Special if I quit halfway through! You know how that is, Markus?" Before Markus could reply, she spoke again. "Oh! The oven timer's going off. I gotta take care of the cookies. Hey, you and Milton are still coming by later, right?"
Markus nodded even though he knew she couldn't see it.
"Totally! Are the cookies free or do I need to pay in more Turf Wars stories?"
"Ha ha ha! Whatever you'd like! Okay I'll see you guys then! Get here by six to guarantee yourself a cookie! I'll have a new batch by then. Bye!"
"Bye, Marinka!" Markus grinned to himself as he ended the call with a press on the glass screen. The dimming orange sunlight reflected off his equally bright orange hair, and hit warmly on his back as he followed the sidewalk.
He watched the display for a moment as he still walked onwards along the quiet sidewalk. A small basketball court was situated on the street corner. Tall apartments lined either side of the road. Some of the balconies high above were hung with drying linens, or window unit A/C's lazily droning.
Markus was heading home to his own apartment after a full day of Turf War battles. His empty ink tank and weapons lay dry inside the backpack slung across his shoulder.
"Hey!"
Markus, still looking down at his phone, didn't register the shout.
"Hey, hey Markus!"
With the mention of his name, he halted in place and glanced about. His eyes caught on the Inkling standing across the street and waving. The other boy wore his green tentacle hair in a ponytail like Markus, but two protruding bangs over his forehead differentiated him from the average style. The tentacles bobbed with the Inkling's movement.
"Nathan?" Markus said, just barely loud enough for the other Inkling to hear.
"Yeah, c'mon Markus!" Nathan made a faster beckoning motion. In one hand he gripped a hoop too small to be a hula-hoop.
Markus knew Nathan from brief experiences – almost none of them good ones. The kid was a sore loser and had a temper. In fact, it was merely an hour ago that Markus had last seen Nathan pounding the ground in anger after his team lost a Turf War match. And today it had been Markus who had inflicted that loss.
Two other Inklings stood near Nathan on the basketball court, one was another male and the other a female. Markus recognized them as Nathan's teammates, but he didn't know their names himself.
By now Nathan had turned back around, walking over to several objects on the concrete. Markus couldn't quite make out what the objects on the ground were. Curiosity winning him over, Markus pocketed his phone in his hoodie's front pouch and hurried across the empty street.
"You might have some skills in Turf Wars, but I'm better than you at this," Nathan whisked the hoop he was holding around in emphasis, then handed it off to the female Inkling. "Just watch, just watch," He urged Markus, holding a hand up as if he were calling for his audience to settle.
Nathan melded and shifted down into his squid form and easily leapt through the hoop his teammate held. Markus blinked blankly. The leap seemed like something practically any Inkling could do. Nathan then turned on his spot and raised a tentacle, signaling his teammate. She bent to pick up a second hoop, and held both high above her head. This time, when Nathan jumped up, he twisted in the air and swooped through both hoops. He landed neatly on the other side, and shifted back into his humanoid form.
"Impressed yet? I'm only getting started. Unless… you could do better? Huh, Markus?" Nathan grinned widely, his hands fisted in enthusiasm.
The female teammate kneeled again to hold a third hoop, this one smaller than the previous two.
"Unless you're scared! C'mon Markus! Show me what you've got. For fun!" Nathan added, fidgeting and quickly hopping from one foot to the other.
Markus shrugged off his backpack and let it rest against the worn chain-link fence.
"Sure. Why not?" He offered a calm smile at Nathan, and Nathan nodded excitedly. Markus thought this could have been his opportunity to smooth out things between them, or at the very least, learn more about this fervent Inkling who frequented the Turf Wars arena.
The two started with jumping through hoops. Every round the hoops rose higher, but it was still child's play to the Inklings. With each round, Nathan's teammates gave small applause. After Nathan had begun to grow bored of the hoops, he fetched the jars he had in his pack.
"That was easy stuff. But now," Nathan spoke as he set down the jars and unscrewed them. "I have something better! Check this out." Again, Nathan held both hands out to call for attention. Once back in squid form, he scaled the side of the biggest jar and climbed into it.
"Look! Think you could fit in a jar smaller than this? I bet you can't!" Nathan teased from inside the container.
"Yeah! Nathan's the best!" The female Inkling added in a shout.
"I could probably fit in the smallest one," Markus proclaimed, taking out the phone in his pocket to free up space. He tossed it into his backpack before changing into a squid and easing into the smallest jar in the line of them.
Nathan had climbed out of his jar to see the feat.
"Markus, you're so…" He paused as he picked up the jar with Markus inside. "…gullible!" Nathan slapped the lid on and screwed it shut in a haste.
"W-what?! What are you…?!" Markus's voice faded once he realized the jar silenced him from the outside.
Nathan laughed and laughed, staring into the jar and turning it over in his hands. One of his teammates gave him a high-five. Markus pushed against the confines of the jar, but it proved futile with his limited movement. There was no room to maneuver at all.
"You deserve it, Mucus! You suck! Your stupid team shouldn't be allowed to play Turf Wars!" Nathan yelled down at the jar and gave it a shake.
Markus could just make out the muffled voice beyond the thick glass. He was in disbelief. The hoop games were all a ruse to trick him into the jar, where he was at Nathan's utter mercy.
Nathan began down the street with his teammates, the three of them hollering and tossing the jar with Markus inside to each other. They rolled the jar down the sidewalk. Tested their skills in making it spin like a top. Tried to see who could throw it the highest without letting it hit the floor and breaking it. Nathan hadn't ever held so much control over someone else before and he was elated to have the power.
Cars rumbled past endlessly in the bustling outskirts of Inkopolis's downtown. City goers sparsely populated the sidewalks during this time of day. None paid attention to the rowdy Inklings with the jar.
Nathan couldn't help but stop to watch the river when they began to cross the bridge. A terrible idea had sprang to mind. His dark brown eyes followed the rushing currents. Nathan faced his comrades.
"Let's drop him off the bridge."
By now Markus was no longer spending his energy attempting to listen in on the group's conversation. He'd been spun and thrown so much he wasn't sure if he was upside-down or not. His orientation came back to him after the jar had become unusually still. From what Markus could tell, the three Inklings on the outside were discussing something.
"He'll wash up in a day," Markus caught a part of Nathan's words, which struck a rush of panic in him upon noticing the river below. "The jar will keep him safe 'til then," Nathan held the jar up to his face to sneer at Markus up-close. "Now we're the ones that won, Mucus! See you in a day!"
The two other Inklings by Nathan's side clapped and howled after Nathan had announced his decision.
Nathan stuck his hand out over the dully painted railing, his fingers slowly releasing hold on the jar. Markus, shocked at the situation, pleaded desperately before forcing himself with all his strength against the lid in a last-ditch effort. The glass rolled out of Nathan's palm, and the jar plummeted. Markus braced for impact and prayed that the glass wouldn't crack or shatter once it hit the water. He was dead if water was to surge into the jar.
The splash was raucous and hard, but the jar went undamaged. It rolled and tumbled roughly as it descended the choppy waters. The evening sunlight dimmed the further down Markus sunk. The bottom of the river was murky enough to block out the sun nearly completely.
Rapid currents pushed the jar fast along the ground, and Markus didn't think he could handle the whirling turbulence for long. Surrounded by darkness and hopelessly trapped within the glass confines; It was a nightmare.
It remained pitch dark for ages. Tumbling. Rolling ceaselessly in an eerie quiet.
The dark blue-haired Inkling lay sprawled across the couch with a plate of cookie crumbs on the armrest. He thumbed his phone's screen over and over.
"Any word from Markus?" Marinka asked, hands clasped while she paced around the coffee table.
"No. Something probably got his attention and he forgot about the time. He's always late for things," Milton mumbled back. His blue eyes still scanned the rectangular screen in his hands.
"Yeah, but he usually answers my texts right away. And I warned him about missing out on cookies. I thought he'd be early for once," Marinka said a little sadly and absentmindedly felt her pocket for her phone. It hadn't vibrated yet, but she pulled the cellular out to check it again anyway.
"Maybe his phone died. I can't tell you how many times he's broken his phone charger," Milton lowered his phone to face Marinka. "Don't look so depressed. He's fine."