Hey all, Toon Think here. Before I start here, a bit of a disclaimer. I just wanna say that this is basically like a novelisation of the Splatoon Island trailer (that April Fools fake trailer for a game that doesn't exist for those of you who don't know), so, I've gotta give credit here to Mike Inel. He created the trailer and made the designs for the characters that will appear in this, even if I was the one who basically gave them their names and personalities, as well as the location and some of the scenarios. Otherwise, everything here is from Splatoon itself and thus belongs to Nintendo of course. With that out of the way, this might be a bit of a long read in comparison to the other one-shots in this, so sit back, grab a drink and some popcorn, and enjoy.
Splatoon Island
Written by: Toon Think
In the middle of the vast ocean, there sat two islands. By sheer coincidence, one was shaped like Squid, and the other like an Octopus, the two sitting right next to each other.
A group of speedboats sped toward the island that was shaped like a Squid, filled with different Inklings who were on their way to their vacation.
"We're almost there!" One of the drivers, a Jellyfish, announced. "You can see the island if you look straight ahead!"
The Inklings on that boat turned to see the green island, leaning on the railing. The blue-haired male Inkling pulled out his cell phone and began to take pictures.
The pink-haired female Inkling near him took off her sunhat and pulled out the brochure again, reading it out loud in excitement.
"Welcome to Splatoon Island! We are eternally grateful that you would choose our humble island for your vacation! Here at Splatoon Island, we are all about adult fun, while the kids stay at home and play Turf War. We hold many activities, such as water-related sports and, the main attraction, privately held Splatfests! Make it on April 1st for the Tea vs Coffee Splatfest to see the introduction of the new breakout pop star duo, Solar Flair, comprised of beautiful singers Dawn and Sunny!"
She put down the brochure with a big grin on her face, turning to the blue-haired Inkling. "Isn't this so exciting, Ethan!?"
"Hm?" Ethan put down the phone, turning to his girlfriend. "Oh… yeah, Amelia, this is exciting."
"Can you just imagine the thrill of playing water-related sports!? Knowing that one wrong move could instantly splat you!? We get to try that!"
"I mean… I don't consider that fun, but, if that's what you enjoy…"
"And Dawn and Sunny! Oooh, we get to see them perform live! No one even knows what their outfits will look like, but after they released Tentacular Summer, even if it didn't have any vocals, ahh I'm already their number 1 fan!"
Ethan checked his backpack, just to make sure his trusty black box was still there. "Yeah. I'm excited." He said with a small grin. "I have a feeling this vacation will be magical…"
A few minutes passed and the speedboats finally reached the island. The two said their goodbyes to the Jellyfish driver and made their way into the main plaza.
They looked around in amazement. This place was so fancy compared to Inkopolis, with fountains, silver tables with umbrellas, and palm trees. The hotel that they were going to had massive electronic billboards of both the Squid Sisters and Off the Hook littered over the wall. Ethan looked up at the billboards in curiosity.
Amelia giggled in excitement. "This place is so cool!"
Ethan pulled out a paper from his backpack, which had words lazily written in pencil. "Alright, let's go over the schedule again. Today, March 30th. Sign in to hotel." He squinted his eyes in confusion. "…That's quite the uneventful first day, but alright. Tomorrow, March 31st, play Ball Smash with Jake and Lily. Defeat Team Rocket. Sit and cry for the rest of the day if we lose."
"You actually put sit and cry in the schedule?" Amelia asked. She attempted to look over his shoulder, but Ethan suddenly pulled it from her view.
"Well, if we lose. Anyway… Finally, April 1st. Fight for the glory of team Sun in the Splatfest. Watch Solar Flair perform." He stopped reading it out loud there, even if there was more.
He glanced at the last line nervously. 'Propose to Amelia on the beach.' He smiled, folding the paper and putting it back. "Yep. Everything seems to be in order here."
Amelia wondered why he was hiding the paper from her, but shrugged it off and smiled. "Great." She said as she pecked him on the lips. "Come on. We gotta get to the hotel before all the rooms get taken or something."
A few minutes of booking their room later, the two made their way up to their room, which was one of the few rooms left available in the entire building. The hotel seemed to be having a busy day compared to what the staff was used to, because the staff were very obviously frustrated and frantically doing their jobs.
The awkwardly opened the room, and to their horror, the room was an absolute mess.
"What the…" Amelia muttered out loud.
"Oh god…" Ethan said, looking around. The closet door was broken off the hinges, laying on the floor, there was random food and clothes all over the floor, one of the windows was missing, the ceiling fan wasn't even on the ceiling, and the bed they were supposed to sleep on was somehow flipped over, the covers tossed among the random food and clothes. They stared in utter shock at what they were seeing.
Amelia eventually broke the silence. "…THIS is what we payed for!? This has been the most expensive vacation we've ever been on and this is what our room is?"
"Uh… I'll get the office." Ethan said, turning around and walking out. Suddenly, however, he tripped and landed on his face with an "OW!"
"Hey hey hey! Watch where you're going, man!" A jellyfish, who he apparently tripped over, said, standing up. He recollected himself, and then waved awkwardly. "Hi. I'm room service."
Ethan himself got up. "Mind telling me why our room his such a mess!?"
The jellyfish took a moment to observe the room. "…Ooohh, it isn't, isn't it? Yeah, sorry, the last people who had this room threw a tantrum."
"Must've been quite the tantrum." Amelia said, a little frustrated.
"Yeah. I came up here to find the body."
Silence for a few moments, before Ethan and Amelia both yelled out together. "A BODY!?"
"Yes, unfortunately there has been a murder. Ink everywhere. I've heard rumors the head is just gone. Do not worry though, ladies, I am on the case!"
Amelia began to step out of the room. "Ok, I'm not feeling well, I need to sit down."
"I'm not… I'm not a lady…" Ethan said awkwardly. "Why did you rent us this room when there's a god damn body in here!?"
"Dude… I was kidding." The jellyfish said. "It was just a tantrum. If there was a murder, the entire hotel would be shut down and there'd be police everywhere." He began to start cleaning the room, mumbling under his breath. "…Idiots."
Ethan and Amelia looked at each other in annoyance, and then back at the jellyfish. "I demand we get another room right this instant!" Amelia yelled.
"No can do. All the rooms are taken at this point."
"We were just at the office a few minutes ago and they said there were others!"
"Well, that was a few minutes ago. There's a lot of people checking into rooms today. This hotel wasn't exactly built for that, you know."
Amelia grunted, but the jellyfish wasn't done.
"How about some island facts while we're here? Despite the fanciness, this place is in the middle of the ocean obviously, so we really don't get that many visitors here. We've been having a massive spike in attention lately just because of the splatfest thing going on." He sighed to himself. "…God I hate splatfests. People having fun makes me sick…"
Ethan and Amelia once again looked at each other. Maybe coming to this island was a mistake. "Uh… How long until the room doesn't look like a tornado aftermath?" Ethan asked.
"Give me the rest of the day, will ya? You people have no patience!"
That Night
It was going on midnight. The jellyfish had cleaned up their room, left long ago, and now, Ethan and Amelia both collapsed into the bed, sweaty.
They took a few minutes to sit and relax, breathing heavily, as Amelia broke the silence. "So uh… how was your first day at Splatoon Island?"
"...Quite shitty up to the end there." Ethan sighed. "Tomorrow should be better. Jake and Lily should be here by then."
"And then hopefully we can finally take down Team Rocket."
"Yeah… That too…" Ethan stood up and began to put back on his clothes.
Amelia sat up in the bed. "Uh… Going somewhere?"
Ethan slipped on a t-shirt. "Yeah, just thought I'd go down to the bar. Get a drink."
Amelia groaned and reached down for her watch, checking the time. "Ethan, it's almost midnight. Please don't do this tonight…"
"I'm only going down for a few drinks."
She looked at him with concern. "Last time you said that it almost splatted you. You know you can't digest too many liquids, especially not alcohol…"
"It's not a big deal. I'm not addicted anymore. I'm still on a fresh slate."
"You promised that you'd go cold turkey, though."
He stopped. "…I did promise that, didn't I?"
She went over and grabbed his arm. "Come on, just sit and chill in bed with me for a bit."
Ethan pulled away. "Honey, I'm sorry, but…" He grew more nervous. "You know I have issues, and…"
"Hell yeah I know you have issues."
"And yeah I promised I'd cut alcohol all together, but the thing is, I haven't been keeping that promise anyway."
Amelia's face grew frustrated. "Oh…" She looked down. "Of course you haven't…"
"I'm just going down for a couple drinks, maybe some games, and then I'll come back up. It doesn't even need to concern you."
"...Fine."
They sat in silence for a few seconds as they both waited for each other to say something.
"...I love you, Ethan. With all my heart. You know what, right?"
Ethan smiled. "I know. See you later." He turned to leave, and Amelia's face grew consistently frustrated.
"...Are you gonna say 'I love you' back?"
Ethan stopped and slowly turned around. His thoughts went back to the black box. He wanted to save those three words for the big night… "…I love you." He let out awkwardly.
Amelia sighed. "…Like you mean it?"
Ethan sighed himself. "Can we not do this right now? Like I said, I'll see you later."
Suddenly Amelia jolted across the room and grabbed his arm. "You know what? Nu huh. We are doing this right now."
"Amelia, what are you-?"
"I just wanted to have a simple fun vacation. I just wanted to spend some time with you. I put money into this, and I put time into planning this."
"I was the one who planned this!"
"You planned the dumb shit we'd do once we get here. I planned how we'd get here, all the money behind it, what to pack, how long we'd be gone, how it'd affect our work…" She listed, tapping her fingers to count.
"Amelia, please, can we talk about this later?"
"We're talking about this now." Amelia continued angrily, fighting back tears. "I put so much of my time into just making sure that you're happy and you… you just treat me like just another hot girl who's willing to sleep with you."
"Amelia, that's not what I-"
"And now the time has come where you need to start showing me more respect or I can't… I can't be with you anymore!"
Ethan now looked concerned himself. "…What are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?"
"No, but I'm feeling damn near breaking up with you." Now she was crying a little bit. "I can't keep doing this, Ethan. Not after I put so much work into a vacation just for you."
"Amelia, I…"
"And honestly, I just need to come out and say this one thing. You're a mess."
Ouch. Ethan rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"I tried to get you off alcohol and now you're admitting that you're drinking it behind my back. Do you know how much that worries me?"
"I have it under control, I-"
"It almost KILLED you last time! And I'm tired of this secrets game you play!"
"What secrets game?"
"Earlier when you wouldn't even let me see your to-do list! Speaking of, what even is on that list? Some other girl I don't know about, maybe? Maybe you getting drunk to high heaven until you get splatted?"
"Now you're just being ridiculous…"
"If I'm being so ridiculous then it must not be a problem for you to show me the damn list!"
Ethan sighed again. He opened the door to leave. "…Let's just talk about this later."
Suddenly, Amelia extended her hand in an instant and slapped him. Hard.
"Ow…" He groaned, rubbing his cheek. "What the hell?"
"Screw you." Amelia said, giving him a light shove in the direction of the hall and returning to the bed. "Maybe we should just break up."
The emotions that Ethan were currently feeling was a mixture of regret, 'you're overreacting', anger, and mostly, straight heartbreak. Sighing once more, he slammed the door shut.
Amelia wept to herself.
The Next Morning
It was a beautiful day for a good game of Ball Smash. Amelia arrived at the swimming pool early, in her swimsuit, sighing to herself. The pool was lined with donut-shaped floats, where the games would take place on. The rules of Ball Smash were relatively simple, and pretty similar to Turf War. Basically, the goal was to spread as much ink onto the floats as possible by standing on them, all while the two teams of four toss multiple volleyballs at each other like in volleyball. Failing to hit the volleyballs would result in enemy ink being spread across their own floats.
Some Jellyfish were setting up a sign by the side of the court. She looked up to it. WII SPORTS RESORT! It showed with big bold letters.
"Um… What does Wii mean?" She said, confused.
"I dunno." One of the Jellyfish said, getting down from his ladder. "But it was either this or calling the event Tomodachi Life, so…"
"Ok? What does Tomodachi mean?"
"Still dunno." The two Jellyfish walked away.
Amelia stood alone by the pool, thinking to herself. She had not seen Ethan since their little fight the night before, and naturally, she was getting nervous. What if… their relationship was just over? Suddenly, as she thought this, a female voice pierced her ears.
"EEEEE! AMELIA!" The girl said, running up to and hugging her. Amelia immediately smiled and accepted the hug.
"EEEEE! LILY!" She exclaimed, as they hugged each other. "I'm so glad to see you! How have you been, girl!?"
"Just chilling! Jake and I got here in the early hours this morning!" Lily replied, breaking the hug. Jake walked up to them from behind her.
"Sup." He said, also going in to hug Amelia.
"Hi, Jake! Oh god, I hope you managed to get rooms!"
"We haven't gone to the hotel yet. Why? Are they all out or something?"
"Unfortunately. Maybe you can stay with us though. So, uh, how are the kids?"
"Our little girl is in school!" Lily replied, her enthusiasm unfading. "She's so adorable, just a little squid, I can show you pictures!"
They spent a few minutes showing Amelia the pictures, reacting as one normally would, before the subject changed.
"So, how are things going with you and Ethan?" Lily said.
Amelia cringed slightly, remembering last night. "We're… still dating. Few rough edges to work out, but you know how that is. Just… waiting to take things to the next step."
"Oh my god, are you gonna propose to him?"
Amelia chuckled. "Heh. Well… I don't know…"
"Oh come on, you two are perfect for each other."
"I guess I just… Need to work some stuff out with him first, ya know? Maybe I still need time to decide if he's… right for me."
Lily's smile faded. "Oh… Well, I wish best of luck to both of you."
"Thank you, you too."
They continued to converse for a few moments before eventually Ethan himself arrived.
"Hey, man." Ethan said, going up to Jake and giving him a quick man hug.
"Sup, dude. It's been a while, hasn't it?." Jake responded.
"Yeah, well, you know. Been busy."
Amelia rolled her eyes at the 'been busy' part, but no one noticed as all eyes were on Ethan. Eventually, Ethan and Amelia locked some painful eye contact.
Refusing to say a word to each other, the eye contact soon broke awkwardly. This flew over Jake's head, but Lily noticed and squinted a little in confusion. "…Are you guys ok?"
"Uh… yeah. We're perfectly fine. Just, you know, ready to take down Team Rocket!" Ethan said, dropping the negative attitude.
"Yeah, man. Dualie Syndicate, assemble!" Jake suddenly said, tossing his fist up into the air. All four of them smiled, bumping each others fists.
Suddenly a Jellyfish got up onto a stool behind them with a megaphone. "Attention, Dualie Syndicate!" He yelled into it.
Because of how close he was, it was loud. The team covered their ears in pain. "Ow! You don't need to use that thing!" Amelia yelled.
"I regret to inform you that the Wii Sports Resort event and the associated games are cancelled!"
Then, the team grunted. "What? Why!?"
"Team Rocket is a no show. They never made it to the island."
"Are you serious!? We've been planning this for a month!"
"I'm sorry, ladies, but there's nothing I can do. Unless you can find a replacement for Team Rocket, Wii Sports Resort will have to be cancelled. Have a good rest of your vacation."
The jellyfish put down the loudspeaker and began to leave. Everyone grunted among themselves.
"Well this is just perfect." Ethan sighed. "I've been training to take down Team Rocket for a solid year at this point…"
"Not much we can do about it." Jake said. "Well, this entire vacation is a bust."
"Oh, come on. It can't be that bad." Amelia replied. "I mean… There's still a Splatfest tomorrow… Isn't there?"
"No one cares about the Splatfest." Jake and Lily both responded. "We came here to play dangerous water sports and we are going to play dangerous water sports."
"Attention, Dualie Syndicate!" The Jellyfish repeated once again into the loudspeaker as he stood back on the stool. "I have another announcement!"
"What now!?" Ethan yelled, once again covering his ears. "And stop yelling into that thing!"
"We have found replacements for Team Rocket! They will be joining you momentarily, and then the game of Ball Smash can begin." Once again, he stepped down from the stool.
"Wait, who's replacing them?"
They heard footsteps approach from the general direction of the pool, and slowly, they all turned toward the sound.
Time seemed to slow down as the anticipation of who it would be grew. The footsteps grew louder.
A Jellyfish, watching from the side lines, dropped his ice cream as his eyes went wide.
"Oh my god…" Amelia mouthed, eyes also wide.
"No way…" Ethan exclaimed.
Two female Inklings finally approached them. "Hey, guys!" Marie said, wearing her swimsuit.
Callie, who was standing behind her, was holding a volleyball, in her own skirted swimsuit. "Y'all ready to smash some balls!?"
"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod-" Amelia screeched, jumping up and down, covering her mouth with her hands, before suddenly launching a bit into the air with a massive scream. "IT'S THE SQUID SISTERS!"
Marie chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah… That's us…"
"We heard your game got cancelled, and we were here wanting to play our own game, so, we thought we'd just join you! Sound good?" Callie said excitedly.
"Wow!" Ethan yelled. "That's uh… We don't know what to say! This is so cool!"
Amelia had to fan herself with her hat to keep from passing out. "This is the greatest vacation ever…"
The words bothered Ethan a little. It was as if he was being overshadowed by a couple popstars to Amelia. But, at the same time, he kinda understood why.
Meanwhile, Jake and Lily were both just standing, really not understanding what was so special about these two girls.
"So…" Marie said, taking the volleyball from Callie in a teasing manner. "Game on?"
A Few Hours Later
It was a long series a matches. Each person involved had fallen into the water several times at least, and it had reached a point when they were all starting to wonder why they thought they'd make sport out of such dangerous and painful activities. But, they had fun.
"And with the series of matches concluded, the team who has won the most is… Team Squid Sisters!" A Jellyfish announced, holding up a flag in their direction as if he was Judd. "Congratulations!"
Jake threw his hat down, stomping it. "Dammit!" He yelled.
"Aw, guys, don't feel so bad. We're just here to have fun is all. No need to be super competitive." Marie said, smiling. The pop stars were standing next to the couple of standins they had as their teammates. "And I did indeed have fun, so, mission accomplished."
"You knocked my Ball Smash rank from an S+ to an B-…"
"Oh, well, sucks to be you."
"Ranks aren't everything." Ethan said, trying to keep the mood high. "Thanks for playing with us, girls."
"No problem."
"And uh… How are you so good at this anyway?" Amelia asked.
"Oh, it's no problem for us, really!" Callie replied. "I mean, we have some complex training, since we're secret ag-"
Suddenly, Marie elbowed her before she could finish the sentence and give away their most important secret. Then she realized, she had to cover for what she was about to say. "Yeah we're secretly… uh… Trained with uh… We're cult members."
"Oh?" Amelia said in confusion.
Marie cringed to herself. "Yeah… because… cults are a… normal thing… that people… do…" She cleared her throat. "Anyway, uh, we'll see you all around, yeah?"
"Um… ok…" Amelia said awkwardly, as everyone shrugged it off. "Yeah. See you around, I hope. It was nice meeting you." Amelia said as she went to talk to Jake and Lily.
"You too. Let's go, Callie." The two Squid Sisters began to pack their things and walk away, when Callie suddenly awkwardly bumped into Ethan, who was standing by himself..
"Oh!" She said. "Sorry, I'm just a clutz. Oh, what this?" She said, reaching down to pick up the black box that fell from Ethan's pocket. "Is this yours?"
"Uh…" Ethan said awkwardly, preparing for the worst. He looked over, and thank the heavens, Amelia wasn't paying attention.
Callie, being as nosy as she could be sometimes, naturally opened the box without thinking. "Wow…" She exclaimed as she saw the ring inside. "Is this…? It's beautiful…"
"Uh, thanks, please give me my super valuable… object… back. Thank you." Ethan said as he took the box, closed it up, and slid it back into his pocket.
Callie smiled. "You're going to propose to someone, aren't you?"
Ethan glimpsed over, and Amelia was no longer even in the area. She was walking away with Jake and Lily to who knows where. "I mean… Please don't tell her, but, yeah, I was gonna propose to that sweet little lady tomorrow actually."
"Wow!" Callie said, geeking out a little bit. "I've never had someone propose to me. Kind of my fault though because with me it's usually just one-night stands."
"Callie, let's go." Marie pressured, watching from a bit of a distance.
"Can it, Marie!" Callie yelled. "This is important! We're talking about life and death stuff over here!"
Marie rolled her eyes.
Ethan sighed. "Look… just please don't make a big deal out of this. I was gonna propose to her, but… I don't think I should anymore."
"What!? Why!?"
"Because I just… I'm not right for her…"
"What makes you say that?"
"We had a fight last night, and… She called me a mess, and she slapped me, and… look I really shouldn't even be talking with you about this, I should probably go."
"No, you are staying right here, because we're gonna work this out! You're talking about the cute girl with the red hair, I'm assuming? What was her name? Amelia?"
"Yeah…"
"Bingo! Stay right here! Marie!" Callie suddenly yelled, running past him to speak with Marie. "We have a problem!"
Marie groaned. "Callie, we have stuff to do today. What is it?"
"This man is gonna propose to that girl and we need to help them to make sure things stay on track. We gotta activate Code Heart here!"
Marie lazily turned her head to the sky in annoyance. "Oh my god, not Code Heart…"
"Yes Code Heart! Come on, Marie, do it for love!"
"Callie, we seriously have stuff to do today!"
Callie put on her best puppy eyes. "For love…"
"Will you not do the puppy eyes? Come on, Callie, be reasonable here!"
Callie refused to drop the eyes, staring into her soul. "Come on, Marie… be reasonable here…" She mocked.
Marie groaned. "Gramps taught us better than this, you know!"
"For love…" Callie repeated.
"Gah! Fine! I'll do it! Anything for love." Marie grunted, and then sighed. "What do you want me to do?"
That Night
"So, uh, what exactly is Code Heart?" Ethan asked as the waiter at the bar gave him and Callie their drinks.
"Only the most important operation known to Inkling kind." Callie said, gulping down her drink. She groaned in satisfaction, before suddenly smashing the glass against the ground. "ANOTHER!"
The Inklings around them all looked at her awkwardly, as Callie realized her mistake.
"...Please?" She followed up.
Ethan rubbed his palms against his forehead. "I really shouldn't be out drinking again, I already did this last night and got a smack from Amelia for it…"
"What, she doesn't like you drinking? Just a little is harmless."
"I used to have a drinking problem, probably could've died from it. And she knows it too well." Ethan sighed, banging his head on the table.
"Hm." Callie said as the waitress brought her another glass. "Hi, sorry for the mess."
"Crazy bitch." The waitress said, going back to her own business.
"Yeah, I am pretty crazy…" Callie then brought the attention back to the topic. "Alright. Spill it, kid, what happened between you two?"
"Ok, for one, I just told you what happened. Two, don't call me kid, I have a feeling I'm older than you."
"Ok, then, kid." Callie sighed. "Alright, let's wind the clocks back to the beginning. How long have you two known each other?"
"Fresh outta high school. I ran onto her on the street once, we had an awkward chat, I put reached over and put my hand on her shoulder and said in the manliest voice I could muster: 'Hey'".
Callie gasped slightly. "The classic shoulder touch. I saw that in a movie, it really works."
"Have you done it?"
"No but it really works because the movie says so."
"Well I mean it did work. We've been dating ever since. We've been dating for so long that I've just been… itching to make that big leap, you know?"
"Hey, I haven't really been doing too much relationship stuff, like I said, it's just one-night stands with me mostly."
Ethan groaned slightly. "Oh my god this is gonna end up a disaster."
"It already is a disaster and I'm here to fix it. Marie knows what she's doing, trust me, Code Heart is gonna work wonders for you."
"Which is why I'm saying this is gonna end up a disaster."
"Oh, come on, it won't be that bad. Alright, so you've been dating this girl since fresh out of high school, obviously your relationship has some rough edges, and this all happens to go to hell right before you're getting ready to propose?"
"And I don't know how to fix it…" Ethan hid his forehead in his hands as if he was panicking. "I mean, what if I just show the ring tomorrow, after all that's happened, and she says that little word…"
"'Yes, Ethan, of course I'll marry you, ahhh I love you so much ahhh!'"
"The little word I was going for was 'no.'"
"You were planning on proposing during the splatfest tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah…"
"Dude, that's so perfect, Splatfests are so romantic!"
"They're competitive."
"And romantic! I mean, the setting is perfect my guy, we're on a beautiful island, there'll be fireworks, music, and a night time sky, god I'm getting fuzzy just thinking about it."
"You literally keep saying that you've never really been in a relationship, so why am I supposed to take your advice?"
Callie grinned. "I… know from… TV… It doesn't matter though, because even though I'm just a bystander watching from the side lines here, I feel the electricity in the air. You guys have that electricity, you guys are like electric generators."
"So… You really think she'll say yes?"
"Absolutely. …As long as you make things right with her first."
"What if I can't make things right with her? What if I've pushed her past the point where she doesn't feel like forgiving me?"
Callie chuckled. "That, my new friend, is where Marie comes in…"
Meanwhile
Amelia sighed to herself, sitting in a diner a little west of the of the main plaza. Jake and Lily were sitting at the same table, but their attention was only on each other, as they flirted with each other nonstop. Amelia might as well have been alone. Amelia was picking at her food nervously, her mind on Ethan the whole time. She had a sneaking suspicion that Ethan was out drinking again. What if he got addicted again?
She heard the door open. The diner was pretty empty just because everyone was mainly back toward the plaza, so every little sound in the diner was extremely obvious. A female voice rang out.
"Hey, I'll have some pancakes? Thank you."
Amelia looked up, and to her shock, Marie was standing right by the table. She had to keep herself from screaming again.
"Sup, girl? Mind if we have a chat?" Marie said with a comforting grin.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhh…" Amelia awkwardly droned.
A minute later, Amelia abandoned Jake and Lily to sit with Marie in a table toward the back, in order to not draw attention to the popstar.
Amelia was absolutely fangirling silently. She was sitting with one of the Squid Sisters! "Hey, uh, can I just say something?"
"Shoot."
"I'm your number 1 fan! I mean, I've always dreamed about meeting you, so today, was like, magical!"
"Trust me, girl, things are only gonna get better." Marie said. "I've heard quite a bit about you in the past few hours."
Amelia blushed. "Aww, you know about me?"
"I know you're in love with a certain someone."
"Oh…"
"And I know that you two haven't exactly been happy together lately."
Amelia looked down. "Yeah it's just… Oh, I don't know, I guess he can just be hard to get along with sometimes."
"Mind me asking what exactly happened between you two?"
"It's just he's a mess. I spent all this time planning out this vacation, I timed it so we'd make the splatfest, and it was all to make him happy, but… I've barely ever gotten a thank you, or a 'I love you', or… any sign that he loves me really. Last night he left me just so he could go get a drink, which concerns me, because I know he used to have a drinking problem."
Marie took the moment to digest all this. "You know what I think the problem here is?"
"I'm all ears."
"I think this is a lack of communication. A lot of relationships get folded up and left for sharks from stuff like this."
Amelia began to weep silently, hiding in her hands. "I knew it. Our relationship is doomed."
"Hey, no, no, that's not the point I'm trying to make. The point I'm trying to make is that you can fix this."
Amelia looked back up. "R-really?"
"Yes. You don't think that he loves you, but trust me, he does. He really does. He's been a mess today just trying to figure out how to fix things with you."
"I, uh…"
"Look, you guys are going through a rough patch right now, I get it, I've been there. But I just wanted to come and tell you that things are gonna got real better real soon. I know they will."
"What makes you think that?"
Marie smiled teasingly and sat back in her seat. "I just got a good feeling…"
"...How did you know I was at this diner anyway?"
"...I have my methods."
Amelia shrugged it off. The Squid Sisters were quite interesting when you got to know them a little. "So, uh… you really really REALLY think things are gonna work out?"
Marie nodded. "Just make sure you attend the splatfest tomorrow." She winked and then stood up. "Enjoy the pancakes I ordered for myself because I gotta get going. Good luck, girl."
Amelia watched her as she left. "Uh… thank you!" She called out just before the door closed.
Splatfest Night
Bright concert lights filled the plaza with brimming happy energy. Inklings flooded the plaza, waiting for the reveal of Solar Flair. No one knew what they would be dressing in, the design having been kept secret until tonight. Most of the Inklings in the area gathered around the fountain that doubled as a stage platform, although the floor on the platform was missing.
Callie and Marie took a seat near the fountain with their drinks so they could get good views of the pop stars when they came onto the scene.
"Nervous?" Marie asked.
"Me? Nah." Callie lied in reply. "Why, are you nervous? Don't like competition?"
Marie grabbed her glass, holding onto it. "Well, I heavily doubt it'll be as bad as when Marina revealed her outfit."
"You only think that because she dresses more revealing than any of us."
"You gotta admit, the girl's sexy." Marie sighed. "I bet that these girls are gonna b in comparison." She said, using the letters without saying the word itself. "Yep. There's nothing to worry about, just plain and simply. We won't have to worry about any new rivals today. No sir."
"Ha! You are nervous, I can tell because you're making that face you make when you're nervous!"
"You don't look too comfortable yourself."
Callie put on a big fake smile. "Well, I'm not nervous, because you're right, we are the Squid Sisters and we will never have to worry about rivals ever again!"
"That's the spirit, girl. So, uh… Ethan and Amelia, are they here yet?"
Callie looked around, surveying the crowd around the fountain. She smiled and nodded toward a girl who was standing in a sun hat and a swimsuit. "Lovebird 1 is in the area."
"Excellent. And Ethan?"
Callie looked around some more, turning around to see the balcony, where the blue-hair Inkling stood in a tuxedo. She waved, and Ethan awkwardly waved back. "Both lovebirds in the area. First phase successful, second phase active. Mission is a go."
"Why are you speaking as if we're doing Agent work?"
"Well this is just as important, is it not?"
Marie rolled her eyes. "If it was, I would've called in Agent 4 long ago."
"Shh. Don't undermine the mission. This is the mission of our lives. The mission to end all missions!"
"Whatever you say…"
"Ladies and gentlesquids." An announcer boldly said through an intercom over the plaza as the concert lights intensified.
Callie and Marie both got ready for the performance. "Here we go." Marie sighed.
"Welcome to tonight's Tea vs Coffee Splatfest! We are all absolutely thrilled that you would visit Splatoon Island for the occasion. Now, you are about the witness history in the making, as Solar Flair will appear publicly for the first time very shortly. These two girls have been best friends since childhood, having grown up together…"
The announcer kept talking, but Callie tuned him out. "Wait a minute, that's not fair, WE'VE been best friends since childhood! WE grew up together!"
Marie chuckled. "Callie, it's gonna be fine. I really don't think we have anything to worry about."
"Without further ado, please welcome, SOLAR FLAIR!"
Electronic music with loud bass shook the plaza, as deafening cheers erupted all over. Decorative smoke came out from the fountain, and slowly, the platform rose up, revealing the popstars, their backs turned to the audience.
Suddenly, the two girls turned around, pointing to the audience, big smiles on their faces, revealing their outfits in full. The two girls wore black shorts and crop tops with high heels, some areas of the clothing glowing with neon lights. Dawn, the one with the red hair, had a sort of bunny ear ribbon on her head, and Sunny, with the yellow hair, wore black leggings to match her outfit.
Marie's glass shattered in her hand as she balled her fist in surprise.
"Oh my god they're hot…" Callie said, starstruck.
The crowd was going absolutely bonkers, and one person actually passed out from excitement. The girls began singing as the music reached the first part, the tune found to be incredibly catchy, and their dancing was on another level beautiful. Collectively, the whole situation were making both Callie and Marie extremely jealous.
"So, uh… what were we saying about rivals?" Callie said awkwardly.
Marie stood up angrily. "IS HER BRA GLOWING!?"
The two girls stared, and sure enough, Dawn's bra was glowing.
"Oh my god her bra is glowing…"
"I can handle Marina and her glowing shorts but this a bit much!" Marie yelled. "They're not even completely covering her breasts! What a god damn-"
"Marie, calm down a little. They're just… they're just rivals…"
Marie grunted and sat back down. "I'm tired of being upstaged by people who think showing off their belly button is a good idea…"
"Oh come on, we are not being upstaged…"
A random Inkling passed their table. "Haha, look at the Squid Sisters in comparison. So lame!"
"I bet these people wouldn't know truly good taste if it hit them in the face..." Marie said bitterly.
As she said this, the song that was playing reached its chorus, and the girls began rapping to it. It was… amazing.
Marie ducked her face down into the table. "Oh my god this song is so beautiful…"
Callie moved closer to her and grabbed her hand to comfort her. "Hey hey hey, get a grip now, don't forget we're on a mission."
Marie sat back up. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
Amelia stood among the loud crowd, standing relatively still compared to everyone else, simply watching Solar Flair. She shrugged to herself. "Eh. Squid Sisters are better. More disappointing than Off the Hook, really." She said to the crowd around her, but no one even heard her. "Alright. Whatever." She said to herself as she began to walk away.
Well, here she was. She heeded Marie's advice and attended the Splatfest. She wasn't a part of any team, she was just… standing around.
She looked around, eyeing the Squid Sisters, who were sitting and staring. Marie gave a wink and nodded her head in the direction of the balcony, where she could just barely see Ethan. Subtly, she smiled in satisfaction. Remembering what Marie told her, she slowly walked up the stairs to visit him.
"...Nice night." Amelia said after the two had been uncomfortably for a few moments. "And you like nice."
"Oh… uh… Thank you." Ethan said with a smile. "You look nice too."
The two leaned over the railing, watching Solar Flair perform from a distance.
"Uh… how'd you like the performance?"
"Solar Flair? Eh. Nothing special, ya know. No one can beat the Squid Sisters, I have a… nostalgic place for them. It was truly extraordinary to meet them."
"Good. I'm glad you're having fun."
"How about you? Rocking a tuxedo as always…"
"Oh, this old thing." Ethan laughed. "I just… wanted to look my best."
Amelia nodded awkwardly. "Hey, listen… I know we haven't really been talking the last couple days but I just wanted to say… About the other night…"
"It's no problem, really, I just… you know… Like you said, I'm a bit of a mess, admittedly. But I know I can do better for you, if you'll keep me around."
"About what I said about us breaking up, I uh… I didn't mean it…"
"Hey. You don't need to explain anything, and I mean it. It was just a rough patch, you know how those go…"
"Yeah…"
A part of Ethan wanted to kill himself right here and right now because of the awkwardness, but most of him wanted to see this through. "So uh… I was hoping to take you to the beach tonight. Just over there." He pointed to where the beach was.
Amelia looked over. "What's at the beach?"
"Oh, nothing much, I just thought it'd be a nice place to sit, you know… because people sit at beaches, ya know?"
Amelia eyed him suspiciously. "Alright, Ethan, what's up?"
"What? Nothing's up…" He lied.
"You're acting strange. It's not like you to be this romantic…"
"Romantic...? Nah…" Ethan wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then mustered his strength to grab her hand. "Come on, you're gonna love this."
Amelia shrugged and delicately accepted. "Alright…"
As Ethan led her down the stairs in the direction of the beach, they passed by the concert and thus, Callie and Marie's table.
The Squid Sisters stared at each other with the biggest, most mischievous smiles ever.
"Alright… It's working!" Callie said eagerly as she stood up. "We gotta go fast, Marie! Final phase of Code Heart is a go!"
The couple took a seat on the sand, dangerously close to the water. They sat for several minutes, Ethan buying time, as they looked up at the sky.
"The sky is so beautiful…" Amelia sighed. "It's honestly… pretty perfect…"
'SHIT, ETHAN, PICKUP LINE PICKUP LINE PICKUP LINE' Ethan screamed in his head. Without thinking, he made his move. "You know what makes the night more perfect?"
Amelia looked down at him.
"Your uh… Your…"
Amelia blushed. "Oh…"
"Your uh… Just… you."
Amelia smiled. "Really?"
"And… things are gonna get better…" Ethan said with a smile, turning his head to the direction of the plaza.
Suddenly, all of the lights from the concert completely shut off. The music followed soon after, and Solar Flair were left completely silenced by the embarrassment.
"Uh… is this on the setlist?" Dawn asked shyly.
"Oh my god, I was afraid this would happen…" Sunny replied.
Then the lights came back on, this time centered around the beach, in green and pink flashes. Then, green and pink fireworks began to go off, lighting up the nighttime sky. Amelia covered her mouth in surprise. She knew these colors…
Then, Fresh Start played throughout the island, turning many heads. Callie and Marie's voices rang in.
In their Squid Sister outfits, the two stepped onto the beach. They danced in rhythms to the music as they always do, and the entire time, they focused the attention of Ethan and Amelia.
A spotlight centered on the couple, and at this point Amelia was in tears. She was sobbing. It was intense.
The crowd that was once focused on Solar Flair were now stepping onto the beach and instead watching the Squid Sisters. Eventually, Dawn and Sunny joined them, staring in utter annoyance.
The Squid Sisters continued their song without fail, through the sand, and the crowd was now swaying and cheering with the melody.
Eventually, the two wrapped the emotional song peacefully, delivering their final lines. Slowly, all the lights but the spotlight focused on the couple faded away.
"Alright, kiddos! Let's wrap this up!" Callie yelled with a wink.
"Stay fresh, yeah?" Marie added.
Amelia turned to Ethan in amazement. "Did you… did you know about this?"
Ethan only smiled, pulling out the black box. The crowd was in utter silence.
Ethan felt like he was gonna have a heart attack, but pushed on. "Amelia… My dear sweet Amelia… I have a lot of words I wanna say to you, but I think for right now it's best we just cut to the chase. Ever since I met you, I've been in love with you. That was years ago. Now today… I'm taking the next step to show you how much I love you."
He opened the box, finally showing off the ring, and the crowd gasped.
"Amelia… Will you marry me?"
Amelia was sobbing even harder now. She still hadn't removed her hands from her mouth. "Oh, Ethan! Yes! Yes! Yes!"
They both slowly leaned and kissed under the night sky, and the crowd went wild again.
"SQUID SISTERS, SQUID SISTERS, SQUID SISTERS, SQUID SISTERS, SQUID SISTERS!" Some of the crowd began to cheer, which ironically, now included Jake and Lily.
The Inkling from earlier walked past Dawn and Sunny. "Haha, look at Solar Flair in comparison. So lame!"
"Nice work, kid. I knew you had it in you…" Callie said with a smirk. Then, together with Marie, they went over to Dawn and Sunny, who looked absolutely pissed.
"So, uh… Sorry for upstaging you." Marie said awkwardly. "We just uh… Had a code to adhere to, ya know?"
Sunny grunted, angrily walking away with a sort of bad bitch attitude, shortly followed by Dawn, who flung her middle finger into the air behind her. Callie and Marie turned to each other.
"I, uh… don't think we have to worry about rivals anymore." Callie said. "But ha! Whatever, right?"
"I should've just trusted things would work out." Marie said, looking over to the newly engaged couple. The two were now sitting shoulder by shoulder, heads touching each other, hands linked, as they stared out to the ocean.
"Code Heart never fails." Callie said.
"Never ever, not in a million years."
"Yeah. Uh… happy April Fools, by the way."
Marie looked at her in confusion, wondering what she was talking about. "Huh? Oh yeah… Today is April 1st, isn't it?"
"At least this wasn't a prank."
"God, that would suck… Could you imagine if this entire vacation just didn't mean anything in the end?" Marie shook her head, laughing just a little. "Happy April Fools."
Meanwhile, Ethan and Amelia smiled into each other, kissing once more.