Loud cheers echoed across the arena as the Inklings battled. Kate watched from the stands as Victor, a member of Blue Team, dodged incoming missiles. Grace, one of his teammates, returned fire with the Splattershot. A member of Orange Team, armed with a Roller, charged at Grace. He was reduced to an ink puddle in an instant. Grace nodded at the source of the sniper shot, King. Grace turned into squid form, swimming through the river of blue ink left by her team. Surfacing, she stood at an incline overlooking two enemies below. She lobbed ink at them, the blotches splatting them in seconds.
Another series of splats meant an opportunity to push.
They pushed, with Champ leading the charge. With the N-Zap in one hand, he lobbed a bomb out in front of him with the other. It detonated, sending ink flying in all directions. He swam in the ink. Jumped out. Flinging his roller, he splatted a submerged Inkling.
The music in the arena blared, mixing with the roars of the crowd. The clock was ticking down. Both teams seemed to notice. Their advances were slower, yet more calculated. Grace was ambushed by two Inklings at once. King was flanked by a dualie-wielding squid. They were both turned to ghostly squids, floating back to the respawn point.
One minute remained.
The music kicked up, getting faster and more intense. The crowd cheered in time with the music. Both teams were faster now, swimming across the map quickly. Ink flew in both directions. Grace fired potshots from behind a wall. A bomb sailed over it, landing next to her feet. She exploded, crying out in pain.
Respawn.
King charged his Splatterscope as he stood on a high ledge. An Inkling appeared in his scope. He pulled the trigger. Another Inkling met the same fate seconds after. His team pushed in behind him, spraying their weapons in every which way in an attempt to cover as much turf as possible.
Five seconds. Four. Three...two...
The whistle blew and everything paused.
Kate walked down the street, stretching her arms. Inkopolis Square was bustling with activity. Inklings were chatting about the events of the League, which were posted on a wall in the square. After squeezing past some people, she looked at the leaderboard herself.
1. Team King
2. Team Omen
3. Team Omega
Figures, Kate thought. Team King was a Rank S+10 team, currently undefeated by anyone who dared challenge them. She looked up to them, wanted to join their team once, but she knew she wasn't at that level. No one was.
Instead, she partook in the Turf Wars. Joined random teams. Sometimes won. Sometimes lost. She had yet to find a team of her own, and even if she asked around, she'd be cast out.
No one wanted a scrub to carry.
With a sigh, she walked into the Lobby. She felt an itch to battle, to take out that frustration on others.
She grabbed her Brella.
Three other Inklings were by her side seconds later. Her ink color had changed from orange to purple. The first time it happened to her, she was shocked. Terrified, even.
Now, it was routine.
The battle began. At first, all Kate heard was the sound of ink landing on the ground. Then, one Inkling was swimming. Others followed. She pumped her Brella, fired, sending a glob of ink out in front of her. Fired again. Then, she swam forward towards the center of the map.
The opposing team was already there, spraying yellow ink across the battlefield. One of her teammates, a charger, was obliterated by the rapid-firing Splatling. As the stream of ink flew her way, she fired a shot and the Brella extended in front of her, blocking the shots. A teammate swam in behind her, firing shots with the Luna Blaster. A direct hit splatted one Inkling, so Kate dropped her shield and fired a shot. One Inkling was hit directly, and a second shot finished her off.
Kate ran forward, but was gunned down from behind. She respawned and began inking the areas her teammates had neglected. Turning into squid form, she swam to middle again. The enemy team had pushed up, two Inklings were roaming around, looking out for any threats. A member of Purple Team flanked the two Inklings, splatting them in seconds with an N-ZAP.
Kate tossed a device toward the ground, calling a raincloud to the battlefield. Purple ink fell from the raincloud and coated the arena as it moved forward. Kate followed it, shooting her brella to her right to paint more of the area.
The whistle chimed, indicating that thirty seconds were left on the clock. The four Inklings of Yellow Team rushed middle in a final assault. They were completely coated in yellow ink, their eyes shining brightly. Ink Armor. Kate fell back, tossing a Sprinkler over her head to repaint the areas Yellow Team had covered. She opened her brella, blocking whatever ink she could, but it was quickly destroyed from the oncoming fire. She was splatted almost immediately afterward.
When she respawned, she swam back to middle as fast as she could. That part of the map was vital to control, if they lost it...
She heard a voice to her left as she approached mid. "Ready!" Her teammate fired a barrage of missiles at the opposing team, managing to target all four of them at once. Two Inklings were splatted, while the other two swam away or ran from the missiles, leaving Purple Team to clean up whatever was left. Kate fired her brella. Pumped it, fired again, pumped it...
The whistle blew again. Kate collapsed on the ground, exhausted. Judd would be calculating their score alongside Li'l Judd. The results would be posted in seconds...
She heard cheers behind her and turned to see the other members of Purple Team dancing in celebration. Kate could only smile weakly.
When she got home, she hung her brella on her weapons rack. It was full of an array of other weapons, from a few chargers to splatings. Her eyes drifted down the rack as she admired each and every weapon. Some of them, like the charger, weren't her style; she preferred being up close, in the center of the battlefield. With the thought of that, her eyes landed on the Dapple Dualies. She took them and then fell onto her bed.
It was rough, operating solo. She had to admit she wanted a team, but she was scared of even attempting to find one. The last time she tried, the Inklings laughed at her.
"Really? A C- chick? Get outta here. We'll find someone better."
Ranked Battles offered a more competitive field for those willing to test their skills. Kate however, apparently wasn't up to par. Her ten placement matches resulted in nothing but failure. Everything was too fast paced, and her opponents were too coordinated, too quick on the trigger. Every engagement was a lost one. Every attempt to push was shut down. When she was rewarded with C-, she stopped trying in Ranked altogether.
Until now. That same fire she felt earlier had returned. The urge to fight. She sat up, examining the Dapple Dualies in her hands. They were equipped with Squid Beakons, some kind of device. She wasn't familiar with them. They did something of course, but she didn't know what that something was. She'd have to ask Sheldon.
Inkopolis Galleria was a sight Kate had seen dozens upon dozens of times. It was the one-stop-shop for weapons and of course, clothing to stay fresh. Freshness was a vital thing, if you lacked it, you couldn't buy anything. Not having Freshness was a great way to be swiftly booted from any store in the Galleria.
Ammo Knights was Sheldon's weapons shop. The horseshoe crab wore his shell for a hat. He often rambled on...and on about weapons constantly, but he was smart guy nonetheless.
"Hello, hello!" Sheldon said. "What kind of weapon are you in the market for?"
"Hey, Sheldon. I have a quick question," Kate said. "What the heck is a Squid Beakon?"
"You set them down and your teammates are able to jump to your side! Isn't that swell? They're often found on a variety of weapons, including the Custom E-Liter, the Octobrush Nouveau, and the Tenta Brella!"
"Alright, alright, I think I get it. Slow down, crabman."
"Would you like to purchase a weapon with—"
"No thanks. Maybe some other time."
Kate exited the Ammo Knights store. Going into the shooting range wouldn't be enough to test the effectiveness of the Beakons. She'd have to go into Turf War.
She began walking in the direction of the Lobby. A hand gripped her shoulder and she whirled around, instinctively drawing her weapons.
"You're Judd-knows-how-far from a respawn point," Kate said. "Do you really wanna do this?"
"Uh, I didn't mean to startle you or anything," the Inkling said, his voice shaky.
Kate paused to look at her hands. She pocketed the dualies immediately, recalling that weapons in the Plaza was a punishable offense.
"You have five seconds to explain yourself."
"All right, all right. Cool it. I just wanted to...chat."
Kate took a breath to calm herself down. Her hands were shaking. "What about?"
The Inkling grinned. "How'd you like to join a team of mine?"
"Define 'team,' " Kate said as she sipped on a soda.
"You know, a team," the Inkling replied. "My pal's planning to get a group together for Ranked and all that."
They were seated in an empty gymnasium on metal bleachers. The light bulbs hanging above them were dim, but it offered enough light to make out Seth's face. His tentacle hair was bowl-shaped and his eyes were purple. He wore a black tee shirt with the Tentatek logo on it.
"There's no catch to this right? No 'one loss and you're out' kind of thing?"
"Nope. Name's Seth by the way."
"Kate."
"So. You have any experience in Ranked?" Seth asked.
No. "Plenty," Kate said. "I have a B in Rainmaker."
She had a C, so it wasn't that far from the truth, though she still rarely partook in it. But lying a little was necessary. After all, people only wanted skilled teammates.
No losers. The words echoed in her head. Kate clenched her fists.
"Oh, I'm a B-. At least it isn't Clam Blitz."
"I hate that one. It's too...rush-y."
Seth laughed, snorting after some time. "Ahh, you and me both. Clam Blitz is shella stupid."
The mode required throwing a Power Clam into the opposing team's basket, then tossing other clams into it to score points. Kate felt the gametype was too fast-paced for her, so she never played.
"Hey, that makes three of us now. We just need one more person," Seth said. "You have anyone that can join us?"
Kate thought for a bit. There was Nori, though she hadn't been in contact with her for some time.
"Well, there is one girl," Kate said.
"Great. Talk to her, see if she wants to join. I'll give you my number so we can text each other and all that."
Kate and Seth exchanged numbers on their Squidphones. They chatted for a while before Seth left for some 'late night training,' whatever that meant. Kate checked her Contacts and found herself staring at Nori's profile. She was an Inkling clad in a beanie and a Firefin-made sweater.
An Inkling that likes to chill out playing Tower Control. I'll be happy to befriend you if ya want!
Kate sighed. How did this rift form between us? Could I even ask her to join this team? What if she won't talk to me again?
No. She wouldn't just sit around and mope. Kate stood up, the grip on her phone tightening. The only way to answer those questions was to talk to Nori in person.