"Hey, Tory! How're things looking?" Charron called, Ciera in tow. His new friend had brought nothing but surprises, and now was no exception. Tory smiled, holding his new weapon like an Inkbrush, while Squids of all descriptions tried to get their hands on a set with the Inkbrush included.
"Good, considering my favourite weapon's now available," Tory replied, and Fréremont waved eagerly, holding the weapon in his hands.
"Hey, isn't that Tory's?" Ciera asked, as they gathered outside the lobby waiting for some eager players to team up. She idly cleaned her Squiffer until she got an answer.
"Yeah," Fréremont admitted, "but Tory said I could have it. He wanted me to try it, at least for today, anyway." He struck a heroic pose and did a few experimental passes, but all he got from Tory was laughter.
"You're holding that upside down, buddy," Tory said between fits of laughter. "I should've run you through the basics of that weapon when I had a chance." Fréremont hung his head comically in defeat, before the two went through the weapon together. Tory explained how it worked for a bit before turning to Ciera.
"Ciera, I hate to be blunt," Tory apologised, "but you're going to have a really hard time against the Inkbrush. Fast movement, not to mention swipes which blind you of the attacker's location... you'll need to be on your A-game today to have a chance against the Inkbrush." Ciera nodded stiffly, a bit miffed but nonetheless a little frightened.
"Today we'll all try to get to level 12," Tory announced, leading everyone to listen closely. "I want us to practice as much as we can today. One of my sources has made me aware that a new arena will be available soon, and I want us to gain some experience in the other maps before that comes out. You remember the last time a map became available?"
Everyone shivered. They all remembered the time Port Mackerel came out - it was in the rotation for so long that people joked it would never leave. Callie even announced it twice once when the clocks went back.
"Oh yeah, Charron," Tory said, "how's Zion doing?"
"He couldn't be better!" Charron grinned, and Ciera groaned audibly. "He wakes me up in the morning, too."
"You mean he ZAPS ME to wake ME UP!" Ciera yelled, pulling Charron's ears. He protested, regardless of how futile it was, while Tory thought up a plan.
Hmm. Tory thought carefully for a bit, unsure. We really need to work on our individual skill, but I'm worried Ciera will have a hard time at the moment. He glanced idly at Fréremont, who seemed a little eager to get moving. Why not, I guess.
"Charron," Tory said, distracting Ciera from her abuse of her brother, "You and I will go out on our own. Ciera, Fréremont, you'll go in together and battle until you're separated, okay? I'm just a little worried Ciera will have a little trouble. This is the first time people are using the weapon, but it's also the first time others are fighting against it." Tory sighed. If only he'd thought to combat his own team mates to teach them how to fight the Inkbrush...
"Before we head in," Tory decided, "I'll explain how the Inkbrush works. It's mostly an assassination weapon, out-speeding people, and its main weakness is that it isn't very strong without having a surprise element. Try to keep your distance and predict their actions. An inkbrush will always have the upper hand close range, but it has trouble covering walls, so height is convenient. Also, they aren't the best at covering ground efficiently, so that's something." Everyone absorbed the information and quickly headed for the lobby.
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Tory spawned into Port Mackerel, automatically drawing Inkaliber. He glanced at the other team and noticed that Charron was on the opposing team.
"Funny," Tory murmured. "I thought we would've been separated." He grinned to himself. This would be a good chance to evaluate his weaknesses, considering he knew exactly how to combat the entirety of the other players.
He pushed the tip onto the ground and travelled forward as quickly as he could. Getting to the forklifts would be necessary to get a good advantage. He got to the first area and sent a few swipes around to cover the ground. He drew the weapon on the first player he encountered, who was swiping swiftly, but Tory jumped of the forklift and splatted him in an instant.
Moving forward, he spotted Charron on the forklift on the other side. Tory decided to have a little fun and go after him, drawing a line up the forklift. He leaped up, but Charron was expecting him.
"Hey!" he cried, shooting at Tory with his weapon. Tory faked out and leaped off the forklift, and Charron tried to shoot at him, but he had disappeared.
"Where-?" Charron commented, confused. Suddenly, Tory leaped back over the forklift and splatted Charron.
As Charron went back to spawn, Tory called, "Be more careful next time!" He transformed Inkaliber to its Roller form and leaped down again to splat two unsuspecting players. He went around carefully covering the ground until his team mates got to him. He ran to a wall and hid next to it, watching the exits carefully. He splatted three more players before he decided to fall back and check the base.
Transforming his weapon again, he found someone had slipped through. He followed their trail right around the map, until he found someone was hiding in one of the side passages. Charron was keeping his distance and shooting out of Tory's reach. Tory charged his ink tank and fell back to try and fake Charron out, hiding in one of the sparsely-used side passages. He transformed his weapon into the shooter form and leaped out, shooting accurate shots Charron's way. After a short chase, Tory's map beeped and a pop-up told him he had splatted Charron.
Making his way back to the main field, he cut off a few players who had broken through the defences. He found a real mess surrounding the area outside the enemy base, with Inkbrush flings going everywhere - so much so that he couldn't see anything. He backed up and shot where he could see enemy ink coming from, and managed to clear out two of the opponents. Taking one side, he set up his team mates in a blocking formation, where he covered one high point and the other three covered the opposite high point and the two entrances.
The rest of the game was basically Tory blocking the enemy from getting any farther, although his team mates were unable to push inwards. They won with a solid 50% on their side and a modest 38% on the other.
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Ciera was not liking the Inkbrush. At all. All of them managed to outrun her, all of them managed to blind her, and almost every brush she ran into splatted her at least once. If she had a coin for every time she'd seen 'Inkbrush" come up on her splatted by screen...
I should've paid more attention to Tory's tips earlier, Ciera groaned, as they entered yet another lobby filled to the brim with Inkbrush-users. Some help would be seriously appreciated right now. She glanced around, glad to see Fréremont standing next to her, but glared at the opponents in a terrifying manner.
She decided to decimate these suckers, whether they liked it or not. The moment the buzzer went, she didn't even hesitate to charge forward into Blackbelly Skatepark, leaving her team mates to ink the rest of the map. She approached the first Inkbrush and splatted him before he even saw her pointer. Grinning, she shot her way up to the top of the middle-ground and blasted a few others. This battle was going well.
Fréremont moved into the center field, and he went for a few side passageways for a quick attack. The first person he met canceled both of them out. Returning to spawn, he ran for the center field and went around to try and get to another passageway.
Three players were waiting for him. He turned and ran, but they all followed him like a pack of hunting dogs. Spinning and swiping, he called for help, but no one answered, and he was forced to keep running. He faked them out a few times, managing to recover his ink, but he found himself running still.
Suddenly, the enemy team numbers went down to three. He didn't dare look behind him, but as he spun around in a small gap in the arena another went down. Ok, now someone chasing him had to be splatted. It was now or never. He turned around and swiped wildly to try and splat his pursuers. They turned to fight back, and while Freremont was getting damage off on them, they had the advantage of numbers.
He splatted one and moved backwards, swinging, and an audible click went off. No ink...
Suddenly, a shadow went overhead, and A loud splat was followed by a nearly evil grin from Ciera. She smiled, pointing to her Cherry Kicks, and chased after a straggler. Fréremont covered as much ground as he could before the buzzer went, and while they still lost, the battle was fair. The two players with them hadn't gotten far, and Ciera had been to busy holding back the other players, keeping them off of Fréremont, to cover any ground.
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A/N; Sorry this took so long to get released, I haven't got much prepared for this story and I have huge things planned. Thank you for your patience with me! I'll try to have a few more chapters ready next time.