This is my very first one shot story. Happy Valentine's Day everyone.
In the bumping, funky fresh town of Inkopolis Square, many Inkling's and friendly Octoling's were either watching, or participating in a one of a kind Turf War competition, the 1V1 Splatastic Mania! This event happens once a year and both the Squid Sisters, along with Off the Hook commentate and help Judd with the refereeing. It was a Turf War battle but with a twist. Only two were to face off each other at the Shifty Station, one on each side.
During the event, Inkling named Slasher Squirt, or Will Squisher as his actual name, is currently in this year's event. He's 18 years old with black tentacle hair that was flowing down past his neck. He has heterochromia with his left eye being green, and the other purple. He wore a Black Inky Rider leather jacket with Motocross Nose Guard on his forehead, and he wore Blue Moto Boots. He made it into the final rounds with his weapon of choice, the Splat Dualies.
"Wonder who I'll be facing in the finals." He wondered while watching the last battle of the semifinals.
"Dunno, but that Octoling gal is on fire." One of the Inkling's that partook in the event named Patrick said to him.
The violet eyed Octoling was wearing the Null Visor, Armor, and Boots and wielded the Octo Shot and she was facing off against an Inkling girl that was wearing a Jellyvader Cap, a Mint Tee shirt, and Purple Hi-Horses shoes. Her weapon was the Kensa Splattershot Pro.
Slasher watched as they fought. The Inkling girl maintained her distance while launching her Splat Bombs to cover turf and had the range advantage. The Octoling, on the other hand, had the mobility advantage and was able to cover more turf with the combination of an automatic gun, her own Splat Bombs, and using her Inkjet.
They gotten into a few encounters and unfortunately for the Inkling, she lost every encounter. The Octoling had a better way of using martial arts. She was a definition of badass.
With Slasher, he was looking closely at her way of movement.
"Wait a second. Something about those moves seems….familiar somehow. It's almost like…" He was saying before he realized something. He then clenched his fists and looked at his upper bicep of his left arm. "You…" He growled.
"Hey. You okay?" Patrick asked. He snapped Slasher out of his daze.
"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm cool. Just….remembering something personal." He said.
Suddenly, the whistles blown and the match has ended. The both of them returned to their respected spawn points. Judd and the Squid Sisters looked at the results.
"And the winner of the final battle of the semifinal round goes to….FIONA EIGHT!" Callie shouted while revealing her flag color.
"Congratulations!" Marie said while applauding.
"I knew it." He softly growled while others around him cheered.
Just then, Off the Hook came on.
"Well everyone, y'all know what time it is!" Pearl said while lounging on her beanbag chair.
"It's Off the Hook, coming at you live from Inkopolis Square." Marina said with her DJ setup.
"Check it! Let's take a look at the final two competitors." Pearl said. Just then, Marina scratched her turntables a few times and revealed the Octoling with bright pink tentacle hair and blue eyes in a sexy pose with her Octo Shot. "This chick of an Octoling really has been on fire out there. Even I think we should watch out for her." Pearl said.
"I'll say. She's gonna have to go all in with her upcoming opponent. Speaking of which…" Maria said while scratching her turntable once again and revealed Slasher with his Splat Dualies while striking a victory pose.
"This Inkling came out of nowhere from when the event started the other day, supposedly local and he has been unstoppable. But I can't quite shake the feeling that he looks a tad familiar somehow." Pearl said while getting a closer look at him.
"That anger he is showing from that last match makes him scary…but I think he's a big softy from the inside. From what I've heard outside of battle, he's practically harmless and honestly…he's kinda cute." Marina said while showing off a bit of a shy girl look at him.
Meanwhile, Slasher was watching the news while getting himself a fish burger. He froze when Marina called him cute, and blushed a bit. He then shrugged it off and just went back to eating.
'If only they just understood.' He thought.
"Now let's move onto our good friends, the Squid Sisters. Until next time…" Pearl said before she got up and Marina set her equipment aside. "Don't get cooked…Stay off the hook!" The duo said while striking their final pose.
Just then, the news station moved to the Squid Sisters.
"Hold onto your tentacles!" Callie said.
"It's Inkopolis News time." Marie said.
"And now for the moment we've all been waiting for. It's time to reveal the map that our final competitors will be facing off against in an hour." Callie said.
"What is the map? Come on already!" Marie demanded. Just then, the monitor behind them began to go through a cycle of maps that were used in Turf Wars.
Slasher, and Fiona from a different section of Inkopolis Square were watching the rotation to see what they would be facing each other at. The screen was going for a bit until…
"BOOM!" The Squid Sisters shouted when the map was decided…Goby Arena.
"Hey Marie, do you think we can do the half-time performance with Off the Hook next year at the championship game?" Callie asked her cousin.
"That would be awesome….or a calamity depending on one's point of view." Marie said. Several laughed from the bad pun.
"And so the final match is prepped and ready to go. See you all at the Arena. Until next time…" Callie said as she and Marie got ready for their conclusion. "STAY FRESH!" They shouted while striking their signature pose.
With Slasher, he just sat there and finished his burger and pondered more of what he will have to expect from Fiona. The more he thought about it, the more of a reminder of what she did to him some years ago returned to him.
Back when we was grade school, he never truly was the best with the girls. He did, however, maintained as that nice guy that everyone knew. Just then, he was asked out on a date by Fiona herself. She was the most popular girl back then. He had everything prepared perfectly, but in the end, it was all a lie. She laughed at him and smacked him hard that day, leaving a wound under his eye saying that she would never date a THING like him. Not only did his heart turn to a puddle of ink, but his depression grew exponentially. He was hurting so bad that it took a toll from him, both literally and figuratively.
One day after not wanting to take any of that any longer, he ran away from home since it was all painful from all that torture and bullying he ended up getting from that day. He even went as far as to get everyone to think that he had died. Afterwards, he took the name Slasher Squirts to hide his identity, and to pursue his dream of being a competitive Turf War player. Little did he know that the news eventually reached Fiona. That was when reality hit her hard. Regretting everything that had happened that caused him to no longer exist, or so they all thought, she made it her life's work to correct this big mistake. She even left and betrayed her friends that bullied him by calling them out to the staff of what they done and got them all expelled, yet she did receive a more merciful punishment of only a week suspension. Now she seeks to find him while taking part of Turf Wars.
About an hour later, Slasher and Fiona were heading for the lobby at Decca Tower. None of them made eye contact, especially Slasher. He already had his headgear over his eyes and looked away from her.
"Hey! Don't think that if you win that you'll have a shot at my heart." Fiona said while looking at him.
"Save your breath. I don't care about that anymore, especially after some years ago. Besides, you're not my type." Slasher said without making eye contact.
She silently gasped at his words. She may have finally found him unintentionally. She was now fighting back her emotions and turned it into anger.
"Yeah well…don't expect any mercy today." She retaliated. Slasher grunted from that.
"Same to you." He said before he and Fiona were transported to their final destination.
At the Goby Arena, the place was overflowing with Inkling and Octolings. Many have placed bets to see who will win. Slasher and Fiona went onto separate sides of the arena and prep themselves for the fight.
The Squid Sisters joined Slasher at his end while Off the Hook met up with Fiona on the other side.
"So tell us Slasher, how does it feel to make it to the final round?" Callie asked.
"Yeah. It must be quite the honor to make it this far." Marie said. Slasher took a deep breath and smiled.
"This really is quite the honor to be a part of something this big. I'll admit, I am rather nervous." He said.
"Why nervous?" Marie asked.
"It's just that…Fiona was someone from my past that I want to get rid of. It's a long story." He said. The cousins just looked at him with shock.
"What'd she do?" Callie asked.
"All I'll say is that…she betrayed my heart and didn't even look back." Slashed said while looking down while rubbing his scar on his face. The cousins looked at each other for a moment until they looked back at him with pity.
"Before you head out there, can we get a hug?" Callie asked him. He happily obliged and he hugged each of them.
With Fiona, she and Off the Hook were chatting.
"Wow, you think that Slasher is the missing Will Squisher?" Marina asked.
"It has to be him. I'm going to get through to him, even if I have to really show no mercy to him." Fiona said while gripping her Octo Shot.
"Everyone wants you to show no mercy! This is the biggest match of the competition. Go get him love." Pearl said.
After some final prep time, the two gotten ready for the ultimate match.
"Alright everyone, the time has come. On the west side, from parts unknown, is the Inkling that has been unstoppable for team green. Slasher Squirts!" Callie yelled. The jumbotrons switched to him with his Splat Dualies. The audience cheered for him.
"And on the east, from the county just south of Inkopolis, we have the Octoling that is quite the beauty of martial arts for team pink. Fiona Eight!" Pearl yelled. The jumbotrons now switched to Fiona who was readying her Octo Shot. The audience cheered as well.
The countdown has begun and they got readied to begin the Turf War. Just then, the sirens went off and signaled the match. Slashed ran out and fired his Dualies and made his way around his half of the arena. Fiona was doing the same and was using her bombs to get to locations she couldn't get to.
As they met in the center, the anger in Slasher's eyes grew. He began chucking a couple Burst Bombs at her. She was able to dodge them well, and she tried to get the upper hand. She then launched a Splat Bomb at him, while he had to dodge and ink more turf.
Just then, she activated her Inkjet and hoovered into the air.
"Try this on for size." She said while firing bursts of ink at him.
With the use of his Burst Bombs and the use of his squid form, he was able to maneuver the attacks, yet he was hit by the splash waves from a few near direct hits.
She then landed onto one of the ramps and fired around her.
"Come on Slasher, where's the challenge that I was hoping for?" Fiona asked loudly. Suddenly, she felt a few tabs on her shoulder. She quickly turned around and her eyes shrank as he was right in front of her. "OH CARP!" She screamed.
"Right here." He said softly as he unleashed his attacks onto her, causing her to get splatted and her ghost was sent back to her spawn point. "Ha! Now where was I?" He asked himself before getting back to covering turf.
At the east side, Fiona's ghost returned to the spawn point and she was revived. She rubbed her head and shook it off.
'Dammit! He's tougher than I thought. Will…I'm not holding back any longer.' Fiona thought while her anger grew. She turned into an octopus and swam back to the center.
Slasher continued to ink more turf until Fiona snuck up from behind and opened fire of him. He took some hits, but was able to get away. Just then, Fiona threw a Splat Bomb at him general location. He was too close, and the blast cause him to get splatted. His ghost was sent back to the spawn point.
"Personal." She said while inking more turf.
Slasher responded and was getting angrier.
"That's it. No more." He growled while charging forward and gotten into position near one of the ramps on the north side of the arena.
He was now inking some of Fiona's ink and readied his Tenta Missiles. He aimed at Fiona and has her locked on.
"Eat this." He said while firing multiple missiles at her.
Fiona saw the missiles coming and gasped. She swam away fast and the missiles bombed behind her. She quickly threw her Splat Bomb at his ink and tried to cover them up.
They were now about halfway through the timer. The pressure was now getting stronger.
"Come on Fiona! Is that all you can do? You've been a bit disappointing so far." Slasher yelled out.
"You know, you've been rather challenging than I thought, but you're still a novice compared to me!" Fiona yelled back while throwing a bomb at him.
"I HATE YOU!" Slasher screamed and threw a Burst Bomb at the Splat Bomb. Both bombs exploded on impact and half of each of the bombs ink covered their half of the explosion.
Fiona began to tremble and was doing her best to hold back her tears from what he said to her, but one single tear escaped from her. She promised herself that she would try to get him to forgive her for what she had done, even if it meant having to go all in against him in battle.
Suddenly, something snapped within her.
"I'LL TEACH YOU SOME RESPECTS YOU BASTARD!" Fiona screamed with rage.
Just then, there was one minute left. The two of them were now going all out.
Slasher was beginning to ride on an ink rail to get on the higher ground. Just then, Fiona was shooting at the rails starting point and attempted to force him out. Just as he jumped out, he accidentally tore his jacket sleeve on a gate.
He grunted as he saw the damage on his arm and covered it.
"Deal with it later. You have a battle to win." He said to himself.
Meanwhile with the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook, they were doing a lot of commentating to the Inkling's and Octoling's watching at home.
"We have reached the final minute of the match. It looks like Slasher is having an issue with his sleeve." Callie said.
"Wait a minute! Marina quick, rewind that." Pearl said with shock. Marina used her turntable and rewind the clip. "And….stop!" Pearl yelled. The clips stopped with his arm revealed.
That's when everyone saw them, scars on his arm.
"HOLY CARP!" Marie screamed.
"This is shocking! Could those be from…depression?" Marina asked while cupping her cheeks from shock and sadness.
"Viewers at home, we the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook do NOT condone self-harm." Callie quickly added.
"We do however, want to take a quick moment to give a shout out to all those that are suffering from depression. All of you, we love you and we wish for a very quick recovery." Marie said.
Fiona caught up with him and attempted to splat him point blank. Unfortunately, her anger got the best of her that she was sloppy in getting the hit. He dodged and fired at her. She quickly fired at his guard, causing it to fly off of him as he grunted in pain.
He rubbed his eyes and his heterochromia eyes met her blue eyes. She gasped from the sight.
'I knew it! It's Will!' She thought to herself.
She was caught off guard as Slasher tripped her and she fell onto her back he was on top of her with his Dualies aimed right at her visor. Her Octo Shot was forced out of her hand from the fall.
"Any last words before you go SPLAT!?" He shouted at her. She was shaking and her emotions began to explode out of her. She couldn't do this any longer.
She ripped her helmet off and she began shedding tears.
"WILL SQUISHER I'M SO SORRY!" She screamed at the top of her lungs before sobbing.
His eyes widen from her scream and how she was sobbing. The stadium fell silent from what has happened, and from the name that Slasher was given.
After a moments past, Slasher put his Dualies away and the pulled out two Burst Bombs. She gasped and whimpered.
"Too little….too late." He growled a bit before pulling them back to bomb her. Suddenly, she pulled out a necklace from under her armor and revealed a brooch attached for it. She quickly opened it and showed his face onto it, causing him to freeze. "Where did you get that?" He asked in shock.
"Your parents gave me a chance of redemption of us being together should I find you and return you home. I want to make things up to you a hundred, no a thousand fold. Please…"She practically begged.
He closed his eyes and thought for a second. He looked back at her with a bit of less anger.
"Let's talk later. But first….see ya!" He yelled before sending the bombs at her, and she splatted into ink.
Just then, the sirens were going off and the match ended. Slasher picked up not only his guards, but also retrieved Fiona's helmet and Octo Shot to hold onto to return to the officials.
Just then, the Squid Sisters, Off the Hook, Judd and Li'l Judd appeared on screen.
"And so, the moment we've all been waiting for!" Pearl said. The results are being tallied up.
"And the winner is..." The four said as Judd and Li'l Judd readied their flags. "SLAHER SQUIRTS!" They screamed.
Goby Arena exploded with cheers of the spectators. Slasher smiled and looked around him. Fiona, who was on her spawn point fell onto her knees and sobbed more from her defeat.
Later that evening after the award ceremony, the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook began to perform for all the Inkling's and Octoling's and they were rocking and bobbing. They were able to create a mashup of Calamari Inkantation and Color Pulse.
Slasher, on the other hand, did not attend the celebration. He was just sitting on a ledge near Octo Canyon with his gear off to the side. He just sat there watching the sunset and realizing that his true face was revealed to practically the whole world.
Just then, he heard a pair of heels coming towards him. He looked behind him and saw that it was Fiona with her helmet in her arm and Octo Shot in the other hand. She set them down next to his gear and sat next to him. It was a bit of a comfort silence for a moment.
"Will…I'm so, so sorry for all that has happened. I know you won't forgive me that easily, but it's hurting me so much for not saying it to you for too long." Fiona said while eyeing him. He looked back at her.
"Why did you do it? You know that I respected you as a fantastic student back then, and nothing more. You owe me at least that much." He asked.
"It's just that…my once friends betted me that I wouldn't go. I retaliated against them afterwards by getting them all expelled from school by exposing them for what they done. Once I had the chance to speak to your parents on what I intend on doing afterwards, and for what I did for the first step, I took it. Your father entrusted me with this necklace you made for me and to present it to you as a hopes of us being friends again." She explained.
He looked down at the necklace and remembered him being so excited that he was going to present it to her as a sign of how much he appreciated her for that glimmer of hope.
"You've had that all this time?" Will asked.
"Of course. Honestly, this is very thoughtful." Fiona said while gripping the brooch. She then eyed the scars he gave himself from cutting himself due to depression from his torn sleeve, and then the scar under his eye she gave him from that very day. "This is all my fault!" She yelled before gripping his arm and cried into his shoulder.
He just looked at her as she continued to cry. This was the first time in his life that he had a shoulder for someone to cry onto, rather than the other way around with him who had it the worst.
"Fiona…" He whispered before wrapping his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him and she hugged him. She looked into his eyes with her glossy eyes.
"I promise you, I will make things up to you. Even if it means giving up on Turf War-MMPH!" She was interrupted by him kissing her. Her eyes widen from the impact. He pulled away and smiled a bit while Fiona blushed and remained shocked.
"You done?" He asked her.
"I…you…what?" She tried asking.
"Look, while I haven't forgiving you for all that you have done to me….I am a fan of giving others a potential second chance. And besides, seeing you with that necklace really makes me feel accomplished." He answered.
"Then…would be please give me this second chance? It would be an honor to be your girlfriend. No more lies, no more games, but legit." She requested.
He closed his eyes and looked down for a moment. Just then, he looked back her with a full smile.
"How about we go to that restaurant that we should've gone to as a first date, and you're buying dinner. Do all of that without whining and we'll call it even." He said.
She shrieked with joy and hugged him and he did not hesitate to return it. She pulled back and kissed him as his girlfriend.
The very next day, Slasher went back to being Will Squisher and returned to his home. Not only did everyone welcome him back with open arms, but his family have given Fiona a full redemption. Not only that, but they have been dating ever since.
Years went by and they finally gotten married and made a career life of continuing to be a part of Ink Battles, even to the point when Fiona refereed a few matches herself.
The two began a family and their son went on to becoming a member of the Turf War Jr. Tournament. They taught him everything they knew and he was very successful.
Will's life may not have had the most happiest of beginnings, but in the end, everything turned out amazing. He had a loving wife and son and his depression was now all in the past, and he never had to worry about such a feeling returning.
And that's it everyone. Thank you all so much for this reading. This story came to mind as a bit of a reminder that Valentine's Day is not just a day of just love for your significant other, but much more.
This story is actually based on something that has happened during my time in grade school. I won't mention names though. There was a person that was constantly bullied and harassed for years. It was to the point that he went through depression and was indeed harming himself.
One day however was when things took a tragic change. He was very close into committing suicide due to all of the bullying and harassment he had to endure. During an emergency assembly, we were lectured of the effects of depression. The person was saved, but it was a close call. And the worst part was….he was diagnosed with autism. I think that right there is enough.
Fortunately, on a brighter note, he has gone through treatments and the people responsible for his depression were expelled. He has made more friends and helped him through the rest of grade school and college.
Just remember this quote from the Wizard of Oz, 'That a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.' If you or a loved one is suffering from, or on the verge of depression, you can prevent this. Reach out and help make that change. Even the smallest change can make the biggest difference for everyone. Happy Valentine's Day everyone.