Tory couldn't sleep. Seeing as his sleep cycle was already messed up from leaving his suburban house at midnight, working on a project for an hour and a half, and going back by 3, he decided by five to just leave and go do something while he waited for Ciera and Charron to show up in the plaza. Maybe he could practice with his new Inkbrush.
Walking into the plaza after leaving the train, he was surprised to see a large group of inklings outside Ammo Knights. He realized they were there to be the first using the new weapon being released this morning - the N-Zap 85. He ignored the crowd and hoped to pick up on a few strangers to fight with.
In the lobby, a few inklings stood idly, waiting for players to enter. He saw that they were still one person short. As he was searching around for something to occupy him in his wait, an inkling, in tears, ran into the lobby and began to repeatedly bang his Splattershot Jr. against the walls. A few inklings approached, only to move away again, and Tory took it upon himself to get a closer look.
The boy looked to be around 17 years old. He wore beginner clothing and held a starter weapon. Glaring at it angrily, he seemed almost mad as he tried to force his weapon into a state of disrepair. Kind of difficult, considering Inklings were made of ink and weapons were made of pure steel and designed to be hardy. He carefully observed the boy's flexibility as he threw the weapon every which way, and he seemed far more intelligent and confident than his appearance would imply. Tory could see this in his expressions as he threw a fit in the center of the lobby.
Deciding to move in and speak to him, he walked over calmly and grabbed the boy's arm. He reacted quickly, assuming a stance similar to that taught in self-defense, but once he got a better look, he immediately backed off.
"Ugh. What am I even doing any more!?" he cried, throwing himself to the ground. He seemed to have lost hope. Tory felt sympathy for the boy, and without thinking, he handed to boy his Splattershot Jr. and dragged him gently outside.
"Thank you," he finally said, a deep sigh emanating from him as he took a sip of a Squiddy Smoothie that Tory had instinctively bought. He stared into the cardboard cup, apparently unaware that he was gaining a huge number of awkward glances from surrounding inklings, as he sat with Tory on a bench near the train station. "I lost myself. I guess it all became too much, even for me," He laughed, a nervous, uncertain laugh which gave way to his real feelings.
"I recognize you from somewhere," Tory said, not really to anyone. "I knew I saw you somewhere... On a poster, or in a book..." He mulled over the possibilities, but the boy answered for him.
"I'm Joker, former member of the elites," He admitted, shocking Tory back into reality. "Note former. They just decided they only needed three members, the double-crossing crooked cheats." he hissed gently, an angry, vengeful hiss which, while quiet, struck Tory as being very aggressive.
"Please continue," Tory urged, serious. "I have a bone to pick with one of them, too." Joker smiled and complied.
"They took everything I had. It was part of the contract at the beginning that I felt would never come into effect. They recently tightened the rules for being in the elites, and that meant no casual battles, and they also banned the use of the Splattershot Jr. and the wear of the basic gear, my trademark things. It was unfortunate that I happened to break all those rules at once, but they didn't blink an eye at taking everything before bothering to tell me what I had done." He took a huge gulp out of his drink. "I just want to have fun. I don't want to force people into being my pawns. I don't want anything to do with those creeps any more. Not Alder, not anybody..." he broke into tears again, and Tory waited patiently for him to calm down.
"Alder should have been kicked from the elites long ago," Joker continued. "Especially after some beginner defeated him. That was an amazing battle, and I'm surprised he even let it happen. He's allowed to do everything the elites aren't supposed to; change weapons, play casual, wear what he wants..." he went on, stating how Alder broke all the rules, but lorded power over everyone like a tyrant since they couldn't beat him in a one-on-one battle.
"Those two... the Heir and the Queen... they kind of feel cold. They're in this for their own reasons. I was in because back when I was still new, everyone loved me, and Alder wanted to have more popularity. Once he got that popularity, he didn't need me any more, I guess..." A weak laugh escaped his lips. "It's too bad he had to be so greedy. If he'd even just left me somewhere to stay... It's a thing, you see, that we all live in this private apartment complex. It's really pricey, and literally only the elites are allowed to live there. I had to live there, but now..."
Tory didn't really know what to say. From what Ciera had told him, the Joker had been a fun-loving, clownish personality around to have some fun - but no one could beat him. He didn't think that he would ever see the Joker like this.
"What's your name?" he asked, at last.
"Fréremont," the Joker replied, wiping his eyes, tossing a weak smile Tory's way.
"I know it doesn't even begin to compare to getting you a place to stay," Tory admitted, surfing through his backpack for something he had picked up at the Squid Research Lab, "but I think you'll like it. Normally, Don-Don wouldn't allow it, but since I did help him get that position he wanted..." He lit up when he found the small red weapon he had been looking for. Lifting it from the bag and giving it to Fréremont, Fréremont received it graciously and awed at the design.
"It may look weak for a weapon," Tory explained, "but it actually takes fewer shots than an Aerospray to splat. It's also a bit more accurate. It's another version of the weapon that was released today." After going over the other features of the N-Zap 89, an unreleased weapon, Fréremont awed at the new weapon happily.
"Thank you for everything," he smiled, fully recovered. "I'll go try it out right away." He was about to leave Tory when he turned back and returned into earshot.
"What's your name? You never told me."
"My name is Tory." Tory got up, but Fréremont wouldn't let it go. He had already put two and two together.
"Wait, bro, you're telling me you are the guy who defeated Alder the other day?"
"Yeah, although I have been training for a while now. Had a few serious mentors who taught me not just how to fight well, but how to survive. It was a bit more like military training, really, but I never had much interest personally. I had other things to do, and I still have other things to do." Tory shrugged and began to walk away again, but Fréremont grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
"Uh, um, I know I'm probably being ridiculous asking you for this... but could you show me how to use this weapon before I jump into actual battles with it?" he asked, hopefully. Tory sighed, and without saying a word, he headed for the battle dojo. Unsure of what this meant, Fréremont followed.
"Wait, don't you need a membership for this?" Fréremont commented as Tory approached the fancy building confidently. Tory nodded, pulling a small blue card from his pack and walking inside.
"Don't wait for anything," Tory called, seeing that his new friend was falling behind. "You only need one person to have one to get in. I'll get you a day pass. No problem." Regardless of Tory's urging, it took some convincing and throwing a red card and a lanyard at Fréremont to get the point across. After they got past the initial uncertainty, however, Fréremont seemed right at home as they entered the simulated ground.
Placing down his brush and quickly making his way to center field of Walleye Warehouse, Tory looked in the distance to see Fréremont testing the fire rate and damage of his new weapon. He smiled to himself as he threw a Sprinkler up at one of the walls and made his way speedily to the center.
"This weapon is pretty cool!" he said, holding it up. He blinked in confusion when he saw Tory's weapon. "What's that?"
"This is my Inkbrush. It is one of the currently unreleased weapons I was given as thanks for helping an insider. I trained with it when they were testing how it would function in battle." Tory showed it briefly to Fréremont, doing a few casual passes to display its play style. After filling its ink tank, He displayed how he could run much faster than any other thing in the game, other than swimming.
"Way past cool." Fréremont murmured, awe-inspired. "What sub and special does it have?"
"Same as yours," Tory replied, shooting an inkstrike and tossing a sprinkler at the wall symmetrical to Fréremont's. Fréremont nodded, smiling, and after some initial explanation they had a few practice rounds, with almost all of them ending in a near tie.
"You're really good!" Fréremont said, shocked. He hadn't expected Tory to be as good as him. Laughing, he asked for a serious battle.
"Why not?" Tory said, to no one in particular. "I'm sure there are a bunch of people out there right now that are trying out the N-Zap 85." Smiling to each other, they left for the lobby to enter some friendly turf wars.
Once they got there, the lobby was practically full. Judd was rushing around like a maniac, barely able to keep up with so many battles - but, it being his profession, he tried not to show it. His red pillow lay abandoned outside. Tory and Fréremont waited until a bit of the crowd left, in consideration for Judd, before going inside to fight in a few battles.
Shaking off ink after the ride, Tory breathed deeply as he checked his team and the opposing team. Fréremont was on the other side doing the same, and waved calmly as they were watching the countdown above urchin underpass. Once the buzzer went, they were off like rockets, Tory speeding along ahead of his bewildered team mates, Fréremont doing the same, but slightly slower.
Tory was excited to see that half of the enemy team was made up of chargers. His blinding speed in testing meant he would be able to dodge any shot he saw coming, and even some he didn't. He quickly got to the main area, tossed a sprinkler into the center of the arena, and rushed back to cover the side passage for a splat charger on his team. The other three faces were all using the new weapon, the N-Zap 85. An echolocator went out from both teams, and soon it was charger heaven.
Tory saw his team mate arrive at one end of the passageway and begin to charge a shot. He pointed it out and pressured one player into an oncoming N-Zap, but didn't manage to get him himself.
"Hey!" Tory hissed, coming up behind the charger. The boy turned, and his headband gave away his level. A novice. "Look, if you want to get people without them dodging in time, try hiding your laser. You'll be surprised how easy it is to get people." Tory recalled that there was an E-liter on the other team, and added, "Be careful, and don't be afraid to leg it. There's a charger on the other team that can reach this spot. I'm going to throw an inkstrike over, but if he manages to charge, he's likely to go for you, since your weapon has a shorter range." The charger nodded gratefully, and before Tory had set off his inkstrike the boy had sniped the N-Zap he had pressured earlier.
The echolocator was still in effect, and Tory was able to see that three players were in one spot. Hoping for the best, he dropped and inkstrike on them and watched his feed as he splatted two of the opponents, both chargers.
He decided it was about time to test Fréremont's mettle. Going into the central area, he saw Fréremont leap off the place he had just put an inkstrike, and zooming in, he managed to get around three hits before Fréremont leaped into inkling form and began to shoot accurately. Tory, seeing he stood no chance, made a hasty retreat, successful partially because the Charger on his team noticed and fired a few haphazard shots at Fréremont to distract him.
"That weapon is way too fast, Tory!" Fréremont complained, though his voice was filled with glee. There was exchange after exchange between the two, and Fréremont seemed intent on getting a splat or two off Tory. Tory knew this, and thinking carefully, he ran around to a good position, threw a sprinkler directly up, and hid in the ink before legging it again.
"Argh! How do you keep getting away?!" Fréremont moaned, his voice fuelled by the challenge. Tory splashed a few shots backwards to try and get the better of Fréremont, but only managed to work him down to half.
Seeing an opportunity, Fréremont approached, going in for the kill. Tory turned quickly, and without needing full strength he was able to get the better of Fréremont, but not without getting picked off himself by a few stray shots.
"We did each other in," Tory moaned, re-inking where he could and helping an N-Zap get the one on the other side. He stopped to catch his breath, and without even looking to see where it landed, he tossed a Sprinkler up again. He dodged a few shots from the enemy chargers before sending an inkstrike at them again. This time they were smart enough to jump, but Tory was already waiting for them. He saw that among them was Fréremont.
Flinging ink as fast as he could, he picked off the chargers easily enough, but Fréremont was still going strong. In a brief moment of ingenuity Tory cried out to pretend he'd been splatted, then ran backwards underneath his sprinkler.
"I've got you now, Tory!" Fréremont cackled, having the time of his life. He was so focused he didn't even see the sprinkler above him. Splashing a little to impersonate struggle, Fréremont got just in the right spot. A few more seconds and...
Splatted Fréremont.
The buzzer went as the game ended, and Judd rushed into his box to announce the results. Fiddling with his paws hurriedly, he struck a pose in Tory's direction, mewing loudly, "Team Green wins!" Fréremont looked shocked. He checked the map, and sure enough, it was mostly even on both sides - but 5% more of the map had been covered by Tory's team. A solid circle of ink lay right about where he had been splatted.
Leaving the lobby, Fréremont was idly thinking about his defeat. If only he hadn't been splatted, he wouldn't have been the 5% that got them a loss! Tory had good teammates, sure - that charger was smart and attentive, and was able to pressure him away from Tory, and the N-Zaps were obviously used to the shooter play style. Most of them probably had experience with weapons like the 52 gal. But how did Tory splat him?
Giving up trying to figure it out, Fréremont merely asked Tory how it worked. He earned a modest look before Tory went into details.
"You were just in a lucky position for me. If you'd looked up, you would have seen my sprinkler raining down on you and working down your health. I managed to get you in the right place just as the shots were going overhead. A couple of the shots hit you, and the splash from my weapon took care of the rest. Any other map and you would have gotten me." Fréremont grinned. So it wasn't his being splatted that got them the loss. His teammates just didn't see the sprinkler, and no one took it out, meaning it had plenty of time to hit him.
"I'm just glad I wasn't the losing factor," Fréremont admitted, smiling. "But now you've revealed that location to me, I think I'll equip some of my sub saver abilities and try out a similar strategy. It's always fun to try new things." Fréremont waved goodbye, before running to Inkopolis tower to go for a few more games. Tory looked up to see a plane go overhead.
"It's funny," Tory murmured to himself. "I think that guys is better than Alder ever was. But if he keeps going for the kill he won't get half the points I got last battle. I wonder..." He turned to see the Great Zapfish smiling at him. A sneaky wink from the Zapfish made him sigh. He wondered how Ciera and Charron were doing.
"In fact," he announced to no one in particular, "why don't I go see them myself?"