I, Snowy The Sky Wolf, do not own Splatoon, or any of its characters.
The other side of the tunnel was strikingly different compared to the previous entryway; the new area was bathed in the reddish gleam of the horizon sunset, making the terrain look fifty percent beautiful as well as fifty percent more eerie.
"It's sunset already?" Supotca says to no one in particular. Although she had not realized it, she was technically on the surface area above the Octarian lair. However, due to an extensive amount of high barbed fencing at the edges of the area, any outside access was completely blocked off.
The Octoling girl looked back through the tunnel; all she saw through the sea of darkness was a very dim speck of light. The same speck of light that she had seen when she left Aoiko behind.
Her attention directed back towards the sight in front of her. It looked a lot like a skatepark, as shown by the various curved ramps that gave it all away.
Aoiko wouldn't mind if I were to explore a little bit… Would he?
Supotca blinked, then took one step forward. Before she knew it, she was quite deep into the arena, the concrete slopes almost closing in like a fortress.
"This feels like a place where Inklings would battle in turf war," Supotca mumbles as her feet flew her along. She tried to imagine what a scene of an Inkling turf war would look like.
Supotca imagined the arena cloaked in bright, dazzling sunlight, with the ground only colored in two hues, blue and orange. The color blue seemed to have the lead.
She saw the illusion of Inklings sprinting past her with various weapons in their hands; splattershots, chargers, rollers… There were too many different kinds to count them all.
Ink flew across the sky as the battle progressed, each fighting for dominance of the battlefield.
Outside the midst of chaos was one lone blue Inkling boy, cleaning up any remains of orange before traversing forward. He dashed ahead of Supotca, but suddenly skidded in his tracks as he halted in front of her and stared.
The girl gasped silently to herself. She knew his face all too well. It was Aoiko.
The boy smiled and held out his hand to her.
"Come on!"
Her hand reached out to grasp his, but the illusion of Aoiko and the ink-stained battlefield disappeared before she could do so.
If only I was born an Inkling instead of an Octoling, then my life would be completely different…
Supotca sighs, then observes her surroundings once more. She realized that she had been walking during that illusion, as her eyesight spotted new scenery. Just ahead of her was a tower that rose above the arena.
"I shouldn't get too far. This might be a good stopping place…"
The Octoling girl began to relax, leaning her body against the base of the tower.
"I wonder how Aoiko is doing…"
…
The Inkling's breath was heavy and sharp as he dashed away from the Octarian soldier that was chasing him, making random sharp turns in an attempt to disarray the enemy. His thoughts were mainly focused on escaping, but he had also realized that he had dropped something from his bag along the way.
"Halt!" The Octarian soldier shouts.
Aoiko glanced back at the soldier; he had a thin build, but a vehicle housed the Octarian.
If only I could get his vehicle away from him… Or maybe I could throw him off...
The Inkling, trained for running after many turf war matches, continued to sprint down the path and around walls. He suddenly took a sharp turn to the left, his body rolling down to hide against the wall to catch his breath.
Luckily for him, the unsuspecting Octarian soldier zoomed right by the exhausted boy, the army car's engine slowly becoming quieter with every minute that passed.
"He's finally gone…" Aoiko sighs to himself, taking a look at his new surroundings and taking off jogging in the direction he came.
The large packages of rations could be seen again, and at this moment the Inkling lifted his head to where the sky would usually be. His eyes met with the sight of almost pitch darkness with a slight flicker of light.
Aoiko arrived at the place where he had commanded Supotca to run away. The tunnel that she had run down remained the same as it was before, and when Aoiko peered into the dark alley he swore that he could see a tiny speck of light.
Another gleam of light flashed in Aoiko's eyes, his vision darting to the ground.
Shining on the dusty ground was a pair of Octarian goggles. Supotca's Octarian goggles.
…
Supotca didn't know how long it was since she had started waiting for him. The sky had turned to a shadowy purple color, and dots representing stars could be seen.
She knew one thing, however. That she was getting very, very impatient.
"Where are you, dummy?" Supotca hisses. "You're really late."
The Octoling began pacing; it didn't seem to help her.
It was only after she heard a mysterious cheer that she stopped her footsteps.
Supotca froze, her heartbeat starting to rise until she could hear it in her ears. She did not retreat, she did not breath heavily, and most of all, she did not move a single centimeter.
A cold hand suddenly grasped her arm and pulled her backwards, causing her to scream. Her feet tripped as she was dragged along, until she was shoved into a web of more arms.
Supotca struggles to escape from the web, failing to do so.
"Quit your strugglin', Inkling pest."
The Octoling girl's eyes dilated in fear. She had heard those two words somewhere before.
A lantern's wick was soon set on fire and roughly set on the ground with a clatter. The newfound light revealed another Octoling, all suited up in the Octoling armor with the addition of green kelp floating upwards from the goggles. The web of arms that was holding Supotca back were actually two Octolings, dressed up identically to the first one.
"Well, well, well," The first Octoling laughs. "What do we have here? Say, don't I recognize ya? Oh, that's right… Inkling pest!"
Flashbacks of Supotca's past experiences with the same Octolings were dug up from her memory as she hissed her disapproval to the Octoling. "What do you want with me?!'
"Oh, why so cold? We haven't seen each other in so long, I just wanted to say hi," The Octoling taunts. "While myself and my friends moved up to a high rank in the army, you've gone and simply became trash!"
Supotca glared at the former bully, her eyes now seeing her as a true enemy.
"Want to have some fun?" The Octoling unsheathed a knife, the blade reflecting the light from the lantern. "Let's play cut the Inkling!"
"No!" Supotca screams.
"Yes!"
Supotca then felt the cold blade brush by the skin on her face, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut in terrified anticipation.
The high ranking Octoling grinned evilly.
"Let's start with your face so you can really scream!"
"NO!"
This voice was different from the rest. The newcomer aimed a large bazooka at the Octoling, shooting out a tornado of blue ink at the threatening soldier. The blast launched the unsuspecting Octoling soldier against the tower, knocking her unconscious.
"Boss!" The other two Octolings shout.
The captive Octoling kept her eyes shut, still scarred by the threat thrown at her.
The intruder aimed the large gun at the two Octolings, his hand set on the trigger. The voice that came afterward was cold, sharp, and demanding.
"Release Supotca this instant!"
That… voice… Supotca shakily breathes, her eyes opening slightly in reaction. It's… his voice… Aoiko...
The two Octoling minions glanced at each other, at their fallen leader, and finally at Supotca before releasing the captive and preparing an attack against their newfound enemy.
"It's an Inkling!" One of the Octolings shout, picking up the knife from her fallen leader after spotting the armed Inkling with Octoling goggles on.
"Avenge our leader! Charge!" The other Octoling minion announces, charging towards the attacker with her Octoshot, the Octarian version of the Tentatek Splattershot.
Supotca couldn't help but stare in horror as she saw the two Octolings begin to attack Aoiko, the Inkling that she knew all too well. It was an unfair two to one match.
Until she saw her blue inked Splat Charger.
A rapid fire shot of purple ink was launched from the Octoling soldier's Octoshot, only for the Inkling to counter with a tornado of blue ink, which almost hit the soldier dead-on.
"Ugh!" The soldier grunts, continuing her attack. She raised her weapon over her head looking for an attack similar to a frying pan whack. Aoiko blocked the melee attack using the barrel of his bazooka.
"Just so you know," Aoiko whispers, his arms holding the weapon block. "Rollers are for melee fights, not splattershots."
The Inkling threw the Octoling soldier backwards, tipping her off balance. She was then met with a whack in the head from his weapon, causing her to fall to the ground unconscious.
"That's one," The Inkling murmurs. "Now where's the other-"
The other Octoling minion that had picked up the knife previously now tackled the unsuspecting Aoiko, kicking his Inkzooka away from him and pinning him to the wall. The bazooka flew away from his hand to the ground several feet away, the large weapon reverting back to the original splattershot form.
"Heh heh heh," The knife wielding Octoling soldier laughs, resting the sharp side of the blade against Aoiko's neck. "I got you. You can't escape from me anymore, Inkling…"
The Inkling remained silent, not resisting against the Octoling.
"Any last words?"
"Well," Aoiko mumbles, staring at the Octoling. "You're pretty cute."
"Huh?" The Octoling questions, surprised.
"But… You're not as cute as another Octoling I know, sorry," The Inkling whispers, the blue eyes behind the Octoling goggles glanced up away from the Octoling soldier to where Supotca once was.
A sudden loud boom was emitted from behind the Octoling soldier before she dropped the knife, her body falling to the ground in front of Aoiko.
Supotca held her charger in aim, her hands now shakily holding the weapon after spotting the trail of blue ink. She dropped the weapon and lifted her hands to her face, tears threatening to flow out of her eyes.
Aoiko's hands removed the goggles from his eyes, now showing an expression of sadness and worry. He slowly strided towards her, being careful in his footsteps as if not to scare her.
The Inkling bent down to her level and offered her a hug. "Supotca…"
Supotca gratefully accepted the hug, hiding her eyes in his shoulder.
"You… You almost died…"
"Shh, Supotca. It'll all be okay. I promise."
Next time on Beneath Inkopolis... Aoiko learns more about Supotca's past after discovering her hometown. Stay tuned!