Hello again, and welcome back to the story. Thanks to Jawisian and TheFrostbite for your Reviews, and to those from r/Splatoon for their kind words in comments. Cheers, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

"Engineer, are we any closer?"

"Nope. Doc, I don't know what's happened to him, but a teleporter exit clearly hasn't helped much."

The machine lay in front of them, the limbs stationary without a linked entrance. Medic looked at it, a hand moving to his chin.

"Build an entrance. We'll see if teleporting through it will bring him back."

"Medic, you know why I don't let more than one person to through at a time. What if that happened? We don't want to end up permanently fused together and- what is it Scout?"

"I have a suggestion."

"Does it involve teleporting bre-"

"Yeah."

Medic threw his arms up.

"Ugh. Fine! We will teleport the bread instead."

Dell placed an entrance and Medic placed a loaf of bread on the platform. As it began to disappear, the exit shuddered and exploded, much to Dell's surprise. The bread had vanished.

"Oh, great. Looks like the chassis can't contain the energy from the teleport. Doc, we're gonna have to upgrade this thing the best we can to make it stable."

-Inkopolis-

"Come again? 1972?"

"Da."

"Wow, that makes you as old as, no older than Judd!" Callie exclaimed. She leaned back in her chair, agape. Misha just scratched his head.

"What year is it?"

"We don't know. What we do know us that Judd is around two thousand, and he was in a pod for ten thousand years before that. Wow..."

"So. Is future for me. Engineer's teleporter has gone so wrong..."

Marie leaned forward.

"Is this Engineer one of your associates? Do you all refer to your titles?"

"Da. There is Scout, Soldier, Pyro, Demo, Engineer, Medic, Sniper and Spy. And me."

"Nine of you... Do you know how you got here?"

"Nyet. Heavy used teleporter, Heavy appeared on beach. Heavy may not see friends of family again."

The large man sniffed. Marie's expression softened.

"Come on, Heavy. I'm sure your friends are trying to get you back right now! I bet they're making progress right now!"

As if on cue, a blinding burst of light filled the studio, the sisters screaming in surprise along with Misha. A large scorch mark marred the table. In the centre sat a loaf of bread. Dusting herself off, Callie noticed the loaf.

"Well, I was getting hungry anyway."

"Wait." Heavy held up a hand and reached towards the bread, quickly clamping down on it when a set of jaws opened on one end. He tore it in half. "Is filled with tumours. Get rid of it by burning."

"Where did that come from?" Callie asked.

"Teleporter. Looks like entrance is malfunctioning."

"The teleporter gives you tumours?"

"No, only in environments of pure wheat."

The sisters shuddered. Silence filled the studio for a few seconds before Marie started talking again.

"So it's clear you've never done any of our sports, but did you have any events back home?"

Heavy smiled.

"Da, we had the war games."

"And what were these games? Can you give an example? Which one is your favourite?"

"Heavy enjoys Payload Race very much."

"What was the objective of Payload Race?"

"Both teams have bomb. Push bomb into other team's base first."

"That sounds similar to Rainmaker!" Callie said. "Except in Rainmaker, there's only one Rainmaker and it's also a weapon."

"Heavy will have to try it at some point."

Marie's eyes widened.

"We could show you a turf war now, if you want."

"Heavy does not want to hurt children with Sasha."

"You won't be hurting us. It... Does fire ink, right?"

Misha took one of the rounds of his belt and shattered the casing, showing the sisters the black powder inside.

"Sasha shoots bullets, not ink."

Callie shrugged.

"Well, I bet Sheldon could sort out some rounds for you, or at least give you an ink tank."

Misha thought about it for a moment before smiling.

"Heavy will face you in battle."

It had taken a while, but Sheldon worked fast. The weapons expert had said that adding an ink tank would be a permanent alteration, so Misha had vehemently refused it. Instead, Sheldon made a replica weapon based on Misha's information, soon emerging from his workshop dragging a huge splatling gun behind him.

"I altered the trigger slightly, so instead of firing in bursts, this one acts like your weapon."

"Thank you."

"I also changed it to passively regenerate ink, since you are not an inkling."

"Heavy is thankful."

Walking out of the shop with his new weapon, he headed to the address the sisters had given him. Waiting there was a helicopter, Callie and Marie sat in the back, with Callie looking decidedly downcast. Heavy climbed in and sat opposite them. Callie had hold of an enormous roller while Marie held a sniper rifle.

"Why is Callie so sad?"

Marie giggled, and Callie scowled at her.

"She really wants to fly this helicopter, but I made sure the pilot wouldn't let her get in the cockpit."

The craft took off, flying over the city until it reached a warehouse. The helicopter touched down and its three passengers got out. The sisters lead Misha inside, showing him to his pad. He stepped onto it, the ink beneath him becoming red.

"Alright, so the objective of a turf war is to cover as much ground of possible with your ink." Callie explained. "Walls don't count. And splatting either of us will cause us to respawn in a few seconds. Got it?"

"Yes."

Marie pointed to the several camera drones hovering around.

"I hope you don't mind us recording this."

"Is not a problem."

"Alright! We'll be going now, so listen for the whistle that starts the match!"

The sisters turned into squid and super-jumped away from him. A few seconds later, Misha heard the whistle and immediately spun up his weapon, ink flying from the barrels and covering a wide area in front of him. Grinning, he ran forward, red ink spreading across his end of the warehouse as he fired his weapon across every available surface. That was when he spotted the laser a split second before a deluge of blue ink hit him, forcing him back a step. He traced the laser and saw Marie aiming down the sights of her rifle. Ducking behind a wall, he spun up his weapon, preparing to jump out when he spotted Callie approaching with her roller, raising it above her head before bringing it down, ink flying through the air and covering a huge area. It hit Misha head-on as Marie fired again, followed immediately by Callie hitting him with the roller. He felt himself drowning before he reappeared on his spawning pad. Growling, he charged forward again, noting that Marie had moved and Callie was approaching him again. This time, he shot first, but missed when she merely transformed and swam away. When he attempted to lead her, he shot too far in front of her, but noticed that his ink forced her to surface. He finished her off with a quick burst. He staggered forward when a round from Marie hit him from behind, and he turned around only to see a faint ripple as the sniper swam away.

"Heavy hates snipers."

Focussing on the objective, he covered more of the ground in his colour as the sisters did the same, and he managed to take out Callie twice more since her weapon of choice forced her into range of his weapon. He had more trouble with Marie, whose rifle left him unable to use straight routes, lest she be there, ready to attack. By the time the ending whistle had been blown, Misha had fallen before Marie twice while she remained infuriatingly out of reach. They met up in the centre of the warehouse, Callie pulling a tablet from a safe pocket.

"Alright! Time to see who won!"

Callie looked at the tablet intently, an expectant grin on her face; the grin vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

"What?"

She looked at Marie, who just shrugged. She turned the screen around to show Misha. He laughed. A wide stripe of blue ink was visible on an overhead image of the warehouse. However, playing back the video, Callie groaned and slapped her forehead when she saw that Misha had followed closely behind her, covering up her work in the last few seconds of battle. Misha's half was completely red, while a few streaks of blue cut across the middle due to Marie's rifle.

"Some people think they can outsmart me." Misha said. He extended his right hand. Callie glared at him before offering her comparatively tiny hand to be shook. Marie did the same.

"Not bad for your first game. Oh, does your weapon have a name?"

"Heavy did not think of that. Is it important?"

Marie raised her voice for the first time.

"Of course! Take our weapons, for example. This is the Eris Charger, a custom weapon designed by me for high power and low charge time. It's got less range than some Chargers though."

"This is the Tethys Roller, and it's essentially a souped-up Dynamo Roller, hurling ink insanely far but with the bonus of being lighter. It's less powerful than the Dynamo though."

Heavy looked at his weapon, considering the six barrels, enormous tank and dual trigger. The answer was obvious.

"Is Splasha."

"Splasher?"

"No. Splasha. Like Sasha, just with ink."

"And Sasha was your other gun?"

"Yes."

Marie smiled.

"Hm! I like it. Well, good game, Heavy and Splasha."

"Do the cameras have microphones?"

"No, Why?"

"Name is Misha. Tell no-one."

-Beach-

Misha woke up the next morning, yawning loudly before standing up off his bed. His fire had been boiling water all night, a series of tubes dropping fresh water into a bottle for him to drink while the salt built up in the main dish. Taking a quick drink, he put on his cloak and stepped outside, noticing another envelope bearing the Squid Sisters' emblem. Tearing it open, he read the inside.

To Heavy,

We know you don't want your name publicised, so we didn't write it here. But we have noticed that you're living in a cave, of all things. We can help you find an apartment somewhere. Same as yesterday, but this time, not an interview. This will just be a conversation. No cameras!

Stay fresh!

C & M

Folding the letter and placing it inside the cave, he picked up both of his weapons and left his cave, breathing deeply before he heard something that wasn't the sound of the surf. Rolling his eyes, he climbed on top of the cave again, noticing a puddle of green ink. Laughing quietly, he reached inside and closed his hand around the figure inside, taking care not to crush them before pulling them out. It was the same girl from yesterday.

"Little squid is persistent. Leave. Is not safe for you here."

Misha's arm was nearly torn out of its socket when the girl super-jumped from his hand. Rotating his arm to get rid of the pain, Misha began his walk into Inkopolis. This time, instead of the backstreets, he went in via the main road, ignoring the fearful looks he garnered from bystanders due to his cloak and two huge weapons. Walking up to the studio and showing his letter, he was let inside again, and he sat down with the sisters. Several large books were on the table, as well as a computer.

"So, Heavy. We decided to help you look for a home here instead of that cave you're staying in. Have a look, see what you think."

Sifting through the pages, he considered each of the properties, noticing the same problem with each one.

"Heavy is too tall for these properties."

The sisters shared a glance. Callie laughed awkwardly.

"I'm sure you can fit in at least one of-"

"Heavy is too tall."

Callie sighed.

"Alright, new plan. Renovate your cave. Make it nice. Add a door, our couriers say that it's wide open."

Sweeping the current stack of papers and catalogues off the table, Callie left the room before returning with another stack.

"Have a look through these, see if there's any materials you like. Like you said, things are too small for you. You'll have to get your furniture custom made. It'll be expensive, but..." Callie laughed. "Let's just say we can be very persuasive."

After several hours of planning and another hour of taking measurements, a construction team had been sent to the shore, ignoring the warning signs and beginning work on Misha's front door. The work took several days as it involved bricking up the entrance to the cave before the frame could even be placed. In the meantime, several Inkling engineers had helped him upgrade his water desalinating machine, turning it into an actual machine rather than a pot with a few tubes. A small generator powered the lights that had been installed. This sisters agreed; it had been a much better idea to upgrade Misha's cave. By the end of the week, the door had been installed and a bed delivered. Misha had built it by himself, since it was far larger than what an Inkling could practically work on. There was, however, a single worry gnawing at Misha, and he decided to approach Marie about it. Marie had been helping with the construction work while Callie helped with loading the trucks that moved between the city and the shore.

"Heavy does not have enough money to pay for renovations."

"Well, you'll just have to earn some by battling."

"Heavy cannot fight children."

"That's a fair point. You'd have an unfair advantage. We need a new set of rules."

"Heavy has idea."

Marie sat on one of the worker's chairs.

"Go on then."

"Is Attack/Defend."

"How does that work?"

"Is five or seven control points across map. Centre is neutral, rest are locked. Capturing a point unlocks the next. Be first to capture all points. If a point is not next, is locked."

Marie considered it.

"That... Can be done. Quite easily."

"Heavy will also go solo against Inklings."

"Yeah! We can sort that out! Come to the studio tomorrow and announce it with us! Your house is almost finished, so feel free to use the tent again. This is going to be great!"

When Misha emerged from his tent the next morning, he immediately noticed the pool of green on top of his cave, a pair of eyes dropping into it. Rolling his eyes, he went over to it, catching the Inkling in mid-air when she tried to super jump away.

"What is girl's name?"

Turning back into a girl wearing large glasses, a flowery shirt and sandals, she stared back at him, and he could see the fear in her eyes.

"Heavy is not monster."

"C-C-Corlu."

"Why do you constantly come to see Heavy, Corlu?"

"I w-wanted to leave."

"Leave? Why? Inkopolis is nice city."

"N-not when you're homeless."

"Corlu looks well-dressed for homeless girl."

"I make do battling."

"So Corlu wants to live with Heavy."

She nodded. Heavy laughed.

"Hah! Heavy has sisters back home. This will work." He leant down.

"Heavy has to go do interview. He will be back later. Beware of tide."

Half an hour later, Misha was sat inside the studio in front of a large screen. The sisters stood either side of the screen. Heavy waited off-screen.

"Hold onto your tentacles..." Callie started.

"It's Inkopolis news time!" Marie finished.

"We have a big announcement!"

"Do tell."

"We have a new rule set!"

"Thoughtfully explained by the Heavy."

Heavy stood up and walked into the camera's view, the graphics he had sketched appearing on the screen.

"Is fairly simple. Both teams start with two or three control points, depends if map has five or seven points. Middle point is always neutral at start of match. Capture it to unlock next point. Point behind it will be locked until the other point is captured by the enemy team. To win, be first team to capture all points."

"Keep an eye out for the new rules in the rotation!"

Misha stepped away while the sisters announced the current stages being used, leaving the building and heading straight to the lobby, seeing that Attack/Defend was being run in the standard battles. He grinned and selected it, waiting for the doors to open. When he was eventually stood alone on top of a spawning pad, he glared at the opposite pad across the Saltspray Rig.

"Heavy is coming for you!" He bellowed.

Misha laughed as the four Inklings looked between themselves nervously. When the whistle was blown, Misha headed for the central control point.

-Inkopolis-

Having battled for around an hour, Misha re-emerged from the lobby and into the city plaza, allowing Splasha to swing by his side. He tossed a now high-value cash card between his hands, yet despite his successes, he felt that something was missing. Something important. Looking around, he saw that the Inklings in the plaza had what he wanted, but he knew they would just move away from him out of fear. He was over three times their size, after all. He began window shopping, and soon found what he was looking for. Misha ducked through the front door and picked the garment from the window.

"These. I want them."

The shop owner, Annie, stuttered slightly when she realised who was in her shop.

"Oh... Uh, hi..."

"How much are these shades?"

Misha held up the Aviators.

"Oh, they're twelve thousand..."

He handed over the card, Annie scanning it while Moe glared at Misha. Misha stared back. At that point, Moe growled him and Misha frowned in response, his expression becoming neutral as Annie turned around again with the glasses.

"All done. Thanks for buying..."

"Thank you."

Heavy ducked outside again, sliding the Aviators onto his face.

Yes, this will work.

He began his walk back to the shore, unlocking the gate that had been installed to let the trucks pass through before locking it behind him. He reached the shore.

"Corlu. Misha is back."

Finding it odd that she was not outside, he unlocked his front door, wrenching it open when he realised it was unlocked, his mood plummeting to rage when he saw the sorry state Corlu was in. She had been lashed to a chair, and pinkish ink seeped out of several cuts across her arms and legs. She was crying inconsolably. The same ink covered the floor, and on closer inspection after wiping some of the ink from Corlu, saw that it had burned her.

"Oh my God, Corlu, who did this to you?"

She looked at Misha.

"O-Octoling..."

-Half an hour Earlier-

Corlu had done some battles earlier that morning, earning enough cash to buy food for the day before returning to the shore. Something she had heard while in Inkopolis had stirred her worry, however. She had overheard whispers that the Octarians, the ancient enemies of the Inklings, were stirring beneath the surface. She tried to put the whispers out of her mind. But on her way back to the shore, before she got out of the city, she heard someone talking about how they had seen one. An Octoling on the surface. Corlu shuddered. She didn't want to meet one, she had heard the stories of their cruelty and bloodlust.

She wriggled under the fence and underneath the front door, stretching and setting the food she had bought down. Yawning, she decided that a nap was the best course of action.

Corlu was woken up by a clicking at the door. Frowning, she inked the wall of the house to look out of the window, squeaking in fright when she saw the mass of tentacles outside. At that point, the lock clicked open, the Octoling giggling and pushing the door open. Corlu bit down on her finger, trying not to make a noise while the Octoling snooped around. She then realised she still had her Splattershot, and took aim. The Octoling stopped, turning in the blink of an eye and hurling a Burst Bomb at Corlu, knocking her off the wall.

"Now what have we here?"