A/N: I know my profile said that this month's one-shot was about RWBY, but I couldn't think of a way to end the scenario I had planned. Since the month is almost over, I decided to do something a little different, because I refuse to break my New Year's resolution.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it… Sorry if it's a little short.
Orange ink laid on the ground. Swimming through it was a squid. But she wasn't just any squid. She was an Inkling. They were squids capable of shaping into a humanoid form.
The girl emerged from the ink taking her form, and with a Splattershot, a weapon that some Inklings use in battle, shot at her opponent from across the way with orange ink, narrowly dodging the counter shots of blue ink being shot back. Once the shots were too close, the Ink boy ran away, and two opposing sides ran in circles trying to shoot one another.
Tired of this impasse, the girl threw an Ink Bomb, but the boy managed to jump and swim away in his own ink. The Ink girl was persistent, continuing to shoot as she chased after him.
Suddenly, everything around her began to turn dark. The music that usually played during an Ink Battle grew faint until there was silence. The Inkling stopped her running, and looked around, wondering what was going on. Then there a slight warmth beating down on her and notices a glow from behind. She turns around and was met with a sight to never forget as the Ink boy walked over cautiously to her side.
There was an emblem burning brightly in the dark. Various figures could be seen in front of them, but the two could not see their faces… And that emblem was burned into their minds…
The Inkling girl awoke with start. She looked around, finding that she was in her room. Morning had come to Inkopolis and it looked like business as usual. The dream still played in her mind, and she wondered why she remembered it so vividly. Usually, the dreamer forgets bits and parts, but she didn't forget a single moment of this one. The Ink girl shook her head. It was probably nothing. Maybe she was just battling too much lately.
Suddenly, her cell phone rang, so the Ink girl answered it, seeing that it was her friend.
"Hey, it's me," he said.
"Oh, hey," said the Ink girl. "What's up?"
"L-Listen," the Ink boy said. "C-Can you come over? I-I need to talk to you about something. It's about this dream I had last night."
The girl grew silent. A shiver went down her back.
"It was really weird…" he went on. "But it felt so real at the same time."
There was silence.
"Hey, are you there?"
"Huh?!" the Ink girl said, looking around her room once more. "Y-Yeah, I'm here. I'll be right over. There's something I need to talk to you about, too."
"Okay," the ink boy responded. "I'll see you soon."
"Yeah." And she hung up. She slipped on her shoes and made her way to the living room at the sound of mail coming through the door slot.
The Inkling approached the pile, expecting the usual. Bills, spam, letters from home… but then one envelope seemed off from the rest. Then she jumped back in terror.
The tag keeping the envelope closed… had that symbol. It was the very same emblem from her dream that was burned into her mind. She forgot about the other letters and managed to pick up the envelope in question, with her hand shaking.
Enough was enough! She had to figure out what the heck was going on!
The Inkling girl left her apartment, making her way to her friend's a few floors below. She urgently knocked on the door and it was opened immediately.
"Oh, good! You're here!" the Inkling boy said. "Get in here, quick!"
The boy led his friend into the kitchen where they sat down.
"What going on? You sounded like you were in trouble," said the Inkling girl.
"I… I got a letter," said the boy.
The girl tensed up in her seat, leaning against the back.
"Wh… What?"
"And I think it has something to do with this dream I had," the boy said.
"Wait," said the girl.
"What?"
The Inkling girl placed her closed envelope on the table.
"Did it look like that?" said she said.
"Um… yeah," the boy said, holding out his own and placing it on the table. The two could only stare for a second.
"You had a dream that you saw that symbol too, huh?" said the Inkling girl.
"Yeah," said the boy. "What do you think is in those envelopes?"
"I don't know," said the girl. "But I guess there's only one way to find out."
The two grabbed their envelopes.
"On three," said the boy.
"One," said the girl.
"Two," said the boy.
"Three!" they both said.
The two opened their envelopes, only to find a letter. Yet, it only contained one message.
Please go to Moray Towers. There is someone waiting for you there.
"Nope," said the Inkling girl. "Nope. Nope. And some nope. This has shady written all over it."
"Come on, there has to be some sort of connection to our dreams," said the boy. "Think about it: We both have the same dream and then this happens. We've gotta get to the bottom of this."
"I'm not getting splatted over this!" said the girl.
"We won't," said the boy. "We'll bring our weapons."
"Fine," the girl said, rolling her eyes. "But we are gone the moment things get scary."
So the two Inklings grabbed their Splattershots, ink tanks and bunch of bombs and they headed into town. Moray Towers wasn't on the rotation right now, but they thought to ask if they could go in, anyway.
Judd was eyeing them upon their approach to Inkopolis Tower. The two found it weird he was even here, since Deca Tower was more popular these days. Lil' Judd wasn't with him and he held out a flag for them to stop before they went into the tower.
"There you are. We've been waiting for both of you," said Judd.
The two Inklings looked at each other. Then back at Judd.
"Um…" the Inkling boy said. "We need to go to-"
"Moray Towers," said Judd. "Sure. This is a pawsitive oppurrtunity for both you," said Judd. "Go into lobby 3. You'll be taken straight there. Cat-cha later!"
"Um…" the Inkling girl began.
"Thank-you, Judd!" the boy interrupted. And he grabbed his friend's hand and dragged her into the tower.
They headed into lobby 3 and found the metal grate that usually led them to the stages that they fought in. If what Judd said was true, it would lead them to Moray Towers.
"Well, no turning back now," said boy said, turning into his squid form. The Inkling girl sighed and joined him, going down the grate.
They appeared at a Spawn Point on Moray Towers. Everything seemed normal, the only difference being that there no other players, besides the two of them.
"Hey, do you see that?" said the girl.
The boy looked below. At the center of the stage stood what appeared to be another Inkling in white. They shot a path of ink for a quicker way down. Now that they were near the mysterious Inkling, they saw that he was wearing a white formal suit. He had a white cap covering his hair and his eyes were covered by a pair of shades. The Inkling also had a pair of white gloves on his hands.
"Ah, I've been expecting you two," he said. "I trust you've gotten the letters?"
"Yeah…" said the Ink girl. "Did you send those to us?"
"Of course," the mysterious Inkling responded. "I understand these circumstances are quite… perplexing."
"What… What do you need?" the Ink boy said, beginning to glare. "What is all this?"
The mysterious Inkling grinned. The two immediately gained notice of the impending dark clouds in the sky.
"A test," said the Inkling answered.
The ink girl began to back away. "I think we should go…" she whispered to her friend, but it was too late. They found themselves enshrouded in darkness. They could no longer see the buildings or sky that was beyond the towers they stood on. They were no longer even at Moray Towers.
"What's going on?!" The Ink boy yelled. The two stood close to one another, reaching for their weapons. They turned to the mysterious Inkling only to see that he was gone.
The two found themselves on a platform different colored lights illuminated on it. The pair of Inklings looked around, seeing various stars and formations.
"Uh, I don't think this is Inkopolis anymore…" the Ink girl yelled.
The two huddled close, hoping that this was just another dream. Especially, when there was sound of an intimidating laugh, and a white disembodied hand appeared before them. The Inklings could only draw their weapons in the face - or in this case hand - of the unknown.
The hand snapped, causing an explosion, throwing the two Inklings to the edge.
"Sheesh! That actually hurt!" the ink boy said, standing up.
"Don't just stand there!" the girl yelled, shooting around with ink. "Fight!"
The two were barely able to dodge the hand slamming down on them from above. Luckily they escaped by swimming in their own ink. The ink boy, ran back towards it shooting upward towards it, until lasers shot down from the hands fingers.
"Dodge!" the ink girl cried running and pulling him away. Before the hand could reach in and grab them the Inkling boy threw a Splat Bomb into its hand and they swam away. The hand waved around like it was hurt.
"Hah! Bet ya felt that one, huh?!" the Inkling girl yelled. She then summoned her Ink Armor, but it proved useless against a laser shot the hand threw at her. She was sent back towards the edge.
The Ink boy saw the hand fly upward and then in the distance he saw it dashing towards his friend, who was too focused on getting up.
"Watch out!" he yelled. He dashed towards his friend and pushed her out of the way at last second. He took the blow and was sent flying away.
"NO!" the Inkling girl yelled. Her hair glowed, her teeth were held tightly. She pulled out her stingray, a special weapon and open fired with a ray of ink. The hand was pushed back and everything turned white…
The Inkling girl found herself back at Moray Towers and her friend was by her side. She ran over and embraced him immediately.
"What was that?" said the ink boy.
"I-I don't care!" the girl yelled, beginning to cry. "I-I thought… you…"
"Hey, we're okay now… right?" the Inkling boy said, pushing her away.
"Excellent work, you two," said a voice.
The two pointed their weapons at the mysterious Inkling who had appeared before them once again.
"What was that?!" the Inkling boy demanded. "What did you do?!"
"I told you, this was a test," said the mystery Inkling. "I was merely assessing your abilities and skill. If I had wanted to kill you, I would've fought a lot harder than that."
"What?" said the Inkling girl.
"I suppose and explanation is an order," the Inkling said, adjusting his cap. "And you both shall have it. I am not what I appear to you. I test the skills of many worthy opponents. Many who have faced me have come to know me as Master Hand."
"Master… Hand?" said the Inkling boy. "But… Wait. So you were the hand that was trying to kill us?"
"Yes," the Inkling said, calmly. "I have taken this temporary form to appear more… approachable to the two of you."
"Then, why were you 'testing' us?" said the Inkling girl.
"I am here to offer you an opportunity of a lifetime," said Master Hand. "I am the creator of a universe. A universe where people from different come together for one thing: To fight."
"For what?" said the Inkling boy.
"There are no stakes," said Master Hand. "This just a way to show me and the others fighters who is the best one."
"Fighters?" said the Inkling girl. "Like… Smash?"
"Yes," said Master Hand. "I am inviting you both to join the world of Smash."
The two couldn't believe this. They thought it was just a myth. They pinched each other to see if it was a dream. Hard. It hurt.
"Ow!" they both yelled.
"With that said, I would like to formally extend an invitation to join," Master Hand said, calmly. Most people he recruited had similar reactions. He's seen them all. Approaching them carefully, he held out formal letter invitations to both Inklings.
"So, what do you think?" said the boy.
"Yes!" the Inkling girl. "Yes! Let's do this! Uh, I mean! It would be an honor, Master Hand."
"Then I hereby welcome you to the world of Smash," said Master Hand.
The two Inkling took their letters as a light surrounded them all. An exciting new world filled with challenges awaited the both of them.
Last Month's One-shot:
Family and Freedom - Fire Emblem
Other Stories:
Skyward Bound - Legend of Zelda
Splatoon: A Fresh Spark - Splatoon
Broken Worlds - Steven Universe
A/N: Have an idea for a one-shot? Feel free to let me know.