Inkley couldn't keep his hands off his Splattershot Jr. while Jet guided him back to her apartment. Just outside the building, however, Jet grabbed Inkley by his shoulder and manhandled him into the alley behind the apartment building.

"Hey, Squirt. I got something to show ya." Jet said, giving Inkley a sharp slap on the back.

Inkley nearly stumbled from the slap, and took a moment to recover. "What is it?"

Jet grinned from ear to ear, and shrugged. "Just wait. I know you'll like it." Jet gave Inkley a thumbs up and opened a metal door to the building. Halfway through the door, she stopped and glanced back to Inkley with a smirk. "Oh, try and make an ink puddle. It'll make things easier."

Inkley looked at Jet, wide-eyed. "I-ink puddle? But that's -" Slam! "- embarrassing…"

Inkley gave a sigh, and looked around nervously. No one seemed to be paying any attention to him. The alleyway was fairly clean of trash and debris, but the walls were covered in graffiti. He wouldn't be doing any harm if he made a small ink puddle… Inkley swallowed, looked around nervously once more, before closing his eyes and clenching every muscle in his body.

And then the change took over. The sensation was strange - it always was. It was only the fourth time Inkley had ever changed, and there was still a gnawing worry in the back of his head; what if I can't change back? What if I'm stuck like this forever?

Just the thought made Inkley want to ink himself on the spot. And not the good kind of ink.

Inkley would have sighed were he able, but instead bubbled noisily, and clenched a muscle. Yellow-green ink began to pool beneath him, and after a moment, Inkley began to sink into it. Being surrounded by his own ink was refreshing, the goopy liquid cool on his skin. The pool increased in size, and Inkley swirled himself around within it, creating a miniature whirlpool.

"Having fun, Squirt?"

Inkley froze. He immediately began shifting back to his humanoid form, eventually landing on his knees. Jet smirked down at Inkley, and it took him a moment to realize his sister was carrying quite an armful. Over her shoulder, Jet had an empty, cylindrical glass tank, and in one arm, she carried what seemed to be a rifle-bag.

Inkley blinked. "What're those?"

"An ink-tank, for you Splattershot."Jet slipped the tank off with one hand, and set it down in front of Inkley. "Aaaaand…" Jet shot Inkley a self-assured grin, and set the bag in her arm down. "My charger."

Inkley slid closer as Jet unbagged her splat charger. Inkley could only watch in wonder as Jet withdrew the sleek form of her rifle. It was varying shades of blue, with the main body of the gun being very light, while a grip, which curved from under the body up onto the top rail, was a much darker blue.

"Squiffer." Jet said at a moment. "Classic edition." She added quickly.

"Cool." Inkley said absently, staring at the rifle unabashedly.

Jet shook her head. "You got your own,Squirt." She gave her Squiffer an appreciative pat. "This one's mine." Pointing at the empty tank sitting on the ground, Jet motioned at the pool of ink Inkley was crouching in. "Fix the hose on that tank onto your Splattershot. It just screws right in. Then strap that puppy on your back. I'm gonna teach you the basics of paintin'."

Inkley nearly fumbled his gun as he reached for the hose. It took a moment, but he found the proper port for the hose, and screwed it in. Testing the connection with a small tug, Inkley looked back up to Jet, and shot her a thumbs up. Jet nodded approvingly as Inkley strapped the tank to his back. It seemed awkwardly large on his small frame, but Jet knew he could handle it.

"Alright, so, that's your ink-tank." Jet said casually as she withdrew a much thinner tank from her bag. She busied herself with attaching it to her Squiffer while she talked. "The good ones change with you when you turn into a squid, so you can keep a solid speed. That's one of the good ones. And oldie but a goodie." Jet smiled wistfully, but shook it off a moment later. "When you're in a puddle, the tank refills. When you're out of ink, no splatting for you."

Inkley frowned. "I know all this. I've watched turf-wars on TV."

"But you've never handled the actual equipment," Jet replied quickly, "so I get to lecture you. Deal with it." Jet pointed at the puddle at Inkley's feet. "So, fill up, Squirt."

Inkley frowned thoughtfully, but said nothing as Jet shrugged on her own ink-tank. Inkley's features contorted as he reverted back into a squid, and idly wondered how the ink his tank changed with him. He didn't ask, though, for fear of sounding dumb. Oddly enough, Jet mimicked Inkley's actions, turning into a squid as a pool of purple formed beneath her.

Inkley was drawn out of his thoughts as he heard a plain ding! Gathering the will, he shifted back to his humanoid form, and found himself kneeling in his own ink a second later. The tank lashed to his back sloshed with green ink, and Inkley couldn't help but grin.

"Cool." He muttered.

"Isn't it, though?" Jet replied, suddenly back in her humanoid form. "All this tech's so sweet, it boggles your mind, huh?" With a grin, Jet pointed a finger at Inkley's Splattershot Jr., and then jerked a thumb at the wall opposite the apartment building. "Right. So, now that your gun's full, fire a few shots at that wall. Let's see if that thing handles like I remember."

Inkley gave a nod, determined to learn. He glanced at the shooter in his hands, and inhaled. His finger depressed the trigger.

And the Splattershot Jr. fired, while bucking like a mad seahorse. It took all of Inkley's strength to keep the wild shots from flying over the wall and repainting the neighbor's house. After a short burst, Inkley let go of the trigger and dropped his Splattershot.

Jet's grin was still firm on her face. "Yup. Juuuust like I remember." She gave Inkley a pat on the back. "I lost it when I first fired a Splattershot Jr., too. Funny, the Junior kicks like crazy. You'd think a kid's gun would be easy to handle." Jet lifted her charger to her shoulder, and simply grinned wider. "Watch this."

Inkley heard a sound straight out of science fiction. A small beam of light came from Jet's Squiffer, aimed at the center of one of the splats Inkley's wild barrage had created. Then, it fired.

The Squiffer left a trail of purple ink from where Jet was standing to where the laser had been pointing. Inkley stared.

"That was sweet!" He exclaimed. "Do it again!"

Jet grinned and shook her head. "Nah, Squirt. You've got to work on your shot. You're a long way from being a pro." Jet crouched, and wrapped an arm around Inkley's shoulders. "But, Squirt? I'm gonna take ya there."

Suddenly, Inkley was very worried about Jet's grin.

Inkley would have thrown the ink-tank across the room were it not so fragile. Instead, he slid it off his shoulders, and slumped back onto Jet's couch. With a sigh, he wiped a glob of ink from his forehead and flicked it away.

"C'mon, do you need to get ink all over my couch?" Jet asked, crossing her arms.

"It'll go away."

"But that shade of green is gross."

"Hey! That's my shade of green!"

"And you're gross, Squirt."

Inkley huffed and crossed his arms. Jet flopped down beside him, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. She gave her brother a little shake, and snatched up a remote from the small table in front of the couch.

"Let's see what's on the tele." Jet said. With the press of a button, the television across the room flicked on.

Immediately, Callie and Marie, Inkopolis' idol duo, the Squid Sisters, appeared on screen. They were standing in front of the Booyah Base, Callie looking as excited as ever, while Marie was calm as usual. Strangely enough, the entire plaza around her seemed to be painted a variety of colors. Ink dripped from every building, and even the windows to the shops weren't spared the splatter.

"-and as a result, the entirety of the plaza was covered in a rainbow of ink under an hour!" Callie said, motioning to the scene behind her. Dozens of inklings were gathered in the plaza, most of them waving wildly into the camera.

"The painters were so thorough, barely an inch of the plaza escaped inking." Marie added. She motioned to the Squid Sisters' own studio, and the building beside it, both of which were just as covered ink as everything else. The only thing not totally splattered was the Inkopolis Tower. "Even our studio wasn't spared an inking."

Callie laughed and shrugged. "I'm sure a few sweethearts will be willing to clean it up for us. And, despite the mess, almost all the faces here are smiling. With a hard day or two of clean up, the shops will be back open, and this incident will be nothing more than a fond memory." Callie turned her back to the camera, and gave the group of inklings an enthusiastic wave. Turning back to the camera, her smile only widened. "For those who don't work here, at least."

"Staaaaay fresh!"

Jet sat up, resting her elbows on her knees. "Oh, what? They splattered the whole Booyah Base? And I wasn't there?" With a huff, Jet rested her chin on her palm. "Inkers…"

Inkley blinked. He sat up as well, and looked at Jet. "They… painted Booyah Base…?"

Jet hesitated for a moment. "Yeah… Wait!" She turned to look at Inkley. "You've never been to the plaza before, have you Squirt?" She bolted to her feet. "C'mon, we've got a busy day!" Without waiting for a response, Jet turned off the TV and snatched for Inkley's wrist.

"Mom took me there before!" Inkley said quickly, trying to pry his wrist free.

"Were you a big, grown-up boy then?"

Inkley paused. "N-no..." He blinked. "But... weren't you tired?"

"Screw naps! We can go play in ink!" Jet replied hastily. "Maybe Callie and Marie will still be out in the plaza, too! That'd be sooo cool."

Running out of excuses, Inkley resigned himself to his fate. Jet dragged him towards the door, despite the fact that both of them were still covered in splotches of their own ink.

Inkley looked at the window as the train approached the Plaza station. The train car was fairly packed with inklings, and a handful of jellyfish. Inkley was pressed against the wall of his seat, with Jet sitting next to him, while a jellyfish busily flipping through a newspaper hovered not a foot away. The car was absolutely buzzing with chatter, a large deal of which was about the freshly painted plaza.

We're not the only ones here to see it. Inkley thought, watching as Inkopolis Tower grew larger and larger in his view.

"Now stopping at Inkopolis Plaza station." And a minute later, the train came to a halt.

At least three quarters of the passengers stood as the doors slid open. Inkley was pressed on all sides as the exiting passengers shuffled out en masse. The crowd in the boarding area was so thick with those coming and going that Jet had to grasp at Inkley's wrist to keep him from getting caught up in the tide of bodies.

Eventually, the siblings made it through the press of bodies, winding up on the very edge of Inkopolis plaza. True to Callie's words, Booyah Base had been covered in ink from top to bottom, and even a large portion of the plaza had been splattered. Strangely enough, the Squid Sisters' studio was almost spotless, and the Battle Dojo was almost completely clean as well. Half a dozen inklings busily scrubbed at the pavement, or squeegeed windows on the Booyah Base, while nearly triple that watched them with amused looks on their faces.

"Look at that!" Jet exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "They really did it. And they've gotta clean it up, too. You know, I think, if I had the choice, I would've…"

Inkley stopped listening as Jet went on. He scanned the faces of the inklings in the crowd, and for some reason, felt like he saw familiar faces, despite knowing better. Inkley simply couldn't shake the feeling.

Inkley was broken from his reverie when Jet nudged his shoulder. "You still with me, Squirt?"

Inkley looked up at Jet. "What?"

Jet chuckled and shook her head. "Alright, listen up. I'm gonna give you a rundown of this place." Jet crouched, and placed a hand on Inkley's shoulder. She pointed towards the Booyah Base. "That's the Base, as I'm sure you know. The really big shops are there. Ammo Knights, Cooler Heads, Jelly Fresh, and Shrimp Kicks. "They're the freshest shops in the city, Squirt. And all the freshest folks shop there." Jet hesitated, before adding "But, uh… They're also kind of… judgmental. If they don't think you're fresh enough for their store, you'll get kicked out."

Well, that's rude. Maybe they deserve to have their stores splattered, Inkley thought with a frown.

"But don't worry about that, Squirt." Jet told him with a cocky grin. "I'll have you so fresh, the whole city will be copying your style. The style I set out for you, of course." Jet shook her head. "But, back to where we were. Coolers Heads, the hat shop, is run by Annie. Real sweet girl, has a cap to fit every head. Great hair, by the way. Got a partner named Moe. Steer clear of him. Jelonzo runs Jelly Fresh, the clothes store. He's kinda… Off, but he's still one of the freshet jellies you'll ever meet. Sheldon runs Ammo Knights. If you need something splattered, you'll be stopping at Ammo Knights sooner or later. Sheldon's pretty geeky, but if it shoots or splats ink, Sheldon can make it or fix it. And finally, Crusty Sean runs Shrimp Kicks. Best shoe store in the city. Crusty Sean isn't the smartest guy, but he's really friendly once you get to know him." Jet pointed to the other side of the plaza, towards the Squid Sisters' studio. "And, of course, Callie and Marie's studio, plus the Battle Dojo. Folks go there to train for turf-wars."

Inkley did his best to store this information away, but there was still one thing he didn't quite understand. "Why are you telling me all this?"

Jet smiled knowingly, and looked at Inkley like he was some kind of idiot. "Being in the know is almost as important as being fresh, Squirt." Jet stood suddenly, and stretched with a noisy groan. After a moment of thought, she dug through a pocket and pulled out a coin. She slapped it into Inkley's palm. "Go get yourself a soda or something. I'm gonna go talk someone. Be back in a few."

Inkley called after Jet as she walked towards the shops, heedless of the ink she strode through to get to them. Inkley sighed in defeat, closed his fist around the coin he had been given, and looked around. Spotting a vending machine across the plaza, next to an alley, Inkley made his way around the mess and the crowd, and eventually found himself staring at an assortment of buttons indicating just as many beverage choices. Inkley slid his coin into the slot, after a moment's thought, pressed button with his thumb. The machine hummed in response, and a colorful can thumped down into the opening at the bottom. Inkley retrieved his drink, and found an unpainted patch of ground to sit himself down on, leaning against the wall behind him.

Inkley spared a glance at his drink, a can of Splatberry Punch. The logo was stylized to look as though it had been sloppily painted on, while a moderately attractive, fully-grown inkling woman rode a surfboard on a multicolored wave of what was presumably ink. Inkley opened the can, satisfied with the hiss it produced, and took a deep drink. Setting the can down beside him, Inkley looked back to the crowd, and noticed something he had missed earlier. He spotted an inkboy with an orange shirt on,busily scrubbing at the pavement with a large broom. In the center of his chest was a familiar logo; a tangerine with tentacles. There sure is a lot of orange ink out there… Were the Tangerines a part of the mass-inking?

Inkley's heart suddenly began racing. Could she be here? He wasn't sure if he to see her here or not. His body and mind were at war now, with his mind telling him he'd surely embarrass himself, while his body reminded him of something. She was really pretty.

Inkley was startled as he heard the sound of someone drinking through a straw. Inkley looked to his left and realized that Luma had taken a seat beside him, and was drinking from a colorful cup. She looked at him from the corner of her eye, and a smile formed on her lips.

"Hey." She said after a moment.

"H-hey…" Inkley replied quietly. "You, uh… Startled me."

"Yeah. I do that sometimes."

And then there was a long silence. Both Inkley and Luma looked out towards the mess.

"So, I saw you earlier." Luma said suddenly.

"Y-yeah? I, uh, saw you, too."

Luma finally looked directly at Inkley. "You had a Splattershot with you. And you've got some ink on you, now."

Inkley felt a knot form in his stomach as her dark eyes locked with his. "S-so…?"

"It kinda seems like you might have helped paint the plaza."

"W-well, I didn't!"

Luma smiled knowingly, and looked away again. She reclined against the wall, and shrugged. "Yeah. Me neither." She glances at him from the corner of her eyes. "I'm Luma, by the way."

"I'm Inkley."

They sat in another session of uncomfortable silence. Inkley tried to make himself more comfortable by taking a sip from his drink, but found that it didn't help in the slightest. Inkley glanced at Luma from the corner of his eye, and noticed that she looked as cool as a sea-cucumber. Either the silence didn't bother her or she was incredibly good at hiding it.

"Hold on a second." Luma eventually said, her voice almost a whispered. She took a small, crumpled piece of paper and a pen from her pocket, and quickly wrote something down. She stood and balled the paper back up, before sliding the pen back into her pocket. With one hand, she tossed the paper into Inkley's lap, and with the other, she drank noisily.

"See you around, Inkley." She said, adding a not-so-subtle wink as she strolled away. After a moment, she disappeared in the crowd.

Inkley watched as she disappeared, utterly dumbfounded. After a moment, he remembered the paper she had given him, and he hurried to uncrumple it. Inkley wasn't surprised when he saw that one side of it was a receipt for a smoothie. On the other side, however, was something that both excited and terrified him. He crushed it back up and hastily jammed it into his pocket.

Inkley scanned the crowd for anything that could distract him. Across the plaza, he saw Jet talking with a diminutive girl with a massive head of hair. It took him a moment to realize that the short girl was Annie. Looking closer, Inkley realized that there was something small floating in Annie's hair. And then it moved. It couldn't be… Could it? Annie's so-called partner was a fish! And he lived in her hair!

Suddenly, Jet looked very frustrated - upset, even. She waved her hands in the air, shouted something, and then stormed off. She made her way through the crowd, back towards Inkley, nearly knocking over several others in the process. Inkley downed the rest of his drink, and tossed the empty can into a nearby trashcan. As Jet approached, Inkley could tell she wasn't genuinely upset, instead throwing one of the fits she occasionally had.

"Ooh, that Moe really sets me off sometimes!" Jet exclaimed. "I don't understand why a girl like Annie lets him hang around!" She didn't wait for Inkley's response, but instead started making her way towards the train station. "C'mon, Squirt. It's time for me to take you home."

Inkley had to run to catch up with Jet. "What do you mean?" He asked quickly.

"Mom called earlier today. While you were napping, actually." Jet's usual grin reappeared after a moment. "She said she wanted you back home by tonight. It's getting kinda late. We're gonna stop off at my place to pick up your stuff, and then I'm taking you home."

Inkley knew arguing was useless. As much as Jet irritated him, he liked his weekend stays at her apartment. But mom's word was law. His head hung in defeat.

"Alright." Was all he said.

"Oh, relax, Squirt." Jet told him with a playful slug on the shoulder. "You can come back next weekend, and we can make even more of a mess."

Inkley gave her his best smile, but next weekend might as well have been a lifetime away. He had plenty on his plate up until then thanks to the message Luma had given him.

Meet me here tomorrow night, at 11. Bring your shooter. And money.