Inkley watched as the older boy with the roller sprinted down the right-middle path, and the masked girl down the left-middle. Jet moved towards the far right path, stopping only to ink a path and shout.
"Go left, start inking!" She called, and disappeared into her own ink.
Inkley inhaled and turned to the left, before realizing that most of their base was left unpainted. He pivoted on a heel and walked backwards, coloring their base as thoroughly as he could. He stopped only when his back bumped into the wall, and laughed at himself before turning back to the path before him and moving down it. Inkley made sure to go out on the edges, and as he did so, he saw an alarming amount of pink. Frowning, he dropped into his ink and filled his tank, surfacing only long enough to retrieve a bomb from his tank and lob it into the area below. He didn't wait for it to explode, swimming back and coloring the rest of his raised area. Standing at the furthest ledge, Inkley watched as a pink blob flew through the air, popping as it landed and leaving a splotch of pink amidst the blue. Jet appeared across from Inkley, charger raised to her shoulder. A thin beam of light stabbed out towards where the burst-bomb had come from, and a concentrated line of blue ink followed it a moment later. Jet pumped her fist in the air as she dropped down, and assuming she had splatted the culprit, Inkley dropped down too, sending a short burst of blue towards the path nearest him.
He was contemplating moving further towards the enemy base when a girl wielding a roller, clad in military apparel leapt out from the pink, swinging her roller over her head. Giving a startled cry, Inkley threw himself to the side, changing into a squid and swimming several feet away. Peeking out from the shelter of his team's ink, he saw the girl lift her roller and repeat the motion several times, apparently certain that she would splat Inkley in the process. On the final swing, barely a drop of ink flew from her roller, and she dropped into her own ink.
With the words seize the day stuck strangely in Inkley's head, he emerged from his own ink and tossed a bomb at where he thought his foe was. It exploded in a rain of blue, but Inkley was surprised when he saw no trace of the girl. He hopped away, startled, when a thin line of blue trailed past him, carving through the pink and revealing a squid, suddenly squirming in ink that wasn't it's own. The girl shouted as she changed back into a humanoid, and Inkley hurriedly brought his shooter to bear, hosing his opponent with blue. She burst into blue, and the faint outline of a flinching squid floated away.
"Be careful!" Jet called, aiming down the path nearest her.
Inkley exhaled and nodded even though Jet couldn't see him. He cleaned up the mess his foe had made, filled his tank halfway, and turned towards his own path, spraying it with ink just for the sake of creating an obstacle between him and any possible enemies.
Inkley maintained that position for several long moments, content to simply hinder any advances, at a length, he became aware of the fact that his vest was vibrating. He heard a sharp whistle, and then someone screaming. Inkley dropped into his ink and swam several feet back from the path, suddenly afraid that someone had somehow gotten behind him. His fear was proved wrong as his team's roller slammed down where he was standing.
"Thanks for the jump, kid." Said his teammate, before swinging his roller overhead and driving forward. Inkley was amazed at how much ink his roller threw, and realized that his teammate was only barely exaggerating.
"Right!" Jet shouted suddenly, firing her charger and laughing. "I totally forgot to explain Super Jumping!" Inkley paused as he realized that only one person had jumped to him before. "Okay, so, after you get splatted, or if you just want to go say hi, you can Super Jump to an active team member. There are three buttons on your chest; one for each of your teammates. You kinda have to figure out which is which on your own. If you press the button and it pushes back right away, your teammates is respawning."
Inkley made a surprised noise and tossed a bomb as a boy with a slosher appeared at the end of the pathway. It exploded, but the enemy was unscathed, and with just a few shakes of his weapon, he carved a path towards Inkley. Another shake splattered Inkley with enough pink to knock him back, and the final one burst Inkley apart. Sighing inwardly, there was little he could do but watch as Jet avenged him before he respawned.
As he materialized, Inkley's hand inquisitively prodded the buttons on the left side of his chest. He had never quite noticed them before, and he hesitantly pressed the third one. It gave, clicked, and stuck. His vest began vibrating, and he felt compelled to shift into a squid. Once he changed form, he felt pressure well up within a muscle he didn't know he had, and it released explosively, rocketing Inkley skyward. He felt simultaneously exhilarated and terrified as he soared through the air, and he saw that he was approaching the ground, where Jet waited, idly sending thin streams of blue forward. He hit the ground surprisingly softly, and stood, marvelling at the fact that he wasn't hurt in the slightest.
Jet laughed as Inkley appeared beside her. "I guess I don't need to explain it anymore." She slapped Inkley's arm and pointed forward. "Let's move up. You first."
Inkley frowned at Jet but said nothing, instead stepping forward hesitantly. He kept his shooter aimed forward, and as he came to a corner, he stopped to peer around it. Seeing nothing but blue, he went to the next shipping container, pressed his shoulder against it, and slid to the next corner. As he peered around it, a stream of blue shot over his shoulder, splatting someone who had stepped into view at the end of the path. Jet stepped close, put a hand on Inkley's shoulder, and man-handled him forward.
"We're in control," She said. "Be aggressive. Exploit the opening."
Inkley sighed as Jet pushed him into the open, but set himself to turning the clearing blue, sending a cautious glance around to make sure he wasn't in danger of being blindsided. A decent chunk had already been painted, Inkley realized, and the gas-masked girl popped out from a pool of blue, shooting her teammates a thumbs up before moving towards the enemy base. A moment later, their roller splashed down in the ink left in her wake. He surfaced, grunting as he slapped his roller down onto the ground and taking the other path, charging headlong towards the enemy base.
"Alright, never mind." Jet said with a laugh. "They're being aggressive, so we be defensive. Mark your turf and then we hold this position to the last squid."
Nodding, Inkley slid a splat bomb along the ground, watching as it burst. He dropped into his ink and swam to the mouth of the pathway nearest him. It was almost entirely blue, Inkley realized, and he squinted, straining to watch the form of his shooter-wielding teammates. He recoiled in shock as she burst apart in a shower of pink, and squared his shoulders, ready to face whoever came to challenge him.
"They're coming." Inkley called, glancing at Jet from the corner of his eye.
"I got it." Jet replied, shouldering her charger.
Inkley saw the slosher coming towards him, moving at a steady pace as his bucket sent ink flying. He briefly wondered if he was outmatched, but discarded the thought as pink stained his shoes. Giving a determined frown, Inkley rolled a bomb towards his foe and dropped into his ink,swimming back and looping around to break line of sight. His opponent let loose a string of curses that made Inkley blush, before he realized that he had hit him. Exploit the opening. Jet's words rang in Inkley's mind as he burst up, shouting and spraying ink to where he believed his enemy was.
But he wasn't there anymore, and all Inkley hit was concrete. Something smashed against Inkley's side and he nearly fell, windmilling his arms to keep his balance. Inkley thought he had been tackled until he saw the pink dripping from his entire right half. It made his skin crawl, and the sensation was suddenly gone as he exploded into pink. He internally exhaled as he waited to respawn.
Inkley took a deep breath as he rematerialized, and staggered a step forward. His hand went to his chest, and he pressed the button that had taken him to Jet earlier. It resisted his finger and pressed back right away, and Inkley sighed as he realized his error had gotten Jet splatted. His finger slid over to the next button, and he pressed it. It clicked, and Inkley dropped into squid form, and launched into the air, soaring through the sky and landing heavily beside his gas-masked teammate.
She glanced at him from over her shoulder, said something Inkley couldn't make out, and laughed, before promptly turning and running in the opposite direction, oblivious to the fact that Inkley wasn't following.
"Get a move on, kiddo." Urged the young man with the roller, stepping past Inkley and lobbing a sprinkler into the air. "There's a war on, y'know."
Inkley chewed the inside of his cheek and stepped over to the other path, deciding it would be better to spread out. He jogged to the end of the path, tossing a splat bomb out into the pink expanse of the clearing to announce his arrival and give him room to work. He swam quickly to the edge of the blue ink and began spraying, glancing warily to either side, distinctly aware of the lack of resistance. Inkley vaguely heard the sounds of splatting to his right, and he dearly hoped his teammates were coming out on top.
Pressing onwards, Inkley carved a path towards the enemy base, stopping only for a moment to slide a bomb towards a large pink splotch and refill his tank. He had barely taken a step down the path to the opposing base when something slapped painfully against the back of his neck. His entire body went cold, and he knew he was being splatted. He heard a very unsportsmanlike call come from behind and above him, just before he lost all sensations but frustration.
Inkley took a breath to calm his nerves as he ran to where the fighting was, certain that a little jog would steady him. I was wrong, he realized as a burst bomb knocked him onto his rear. It's thrower was nowhere to be found, and instead, a girl sneered as she swung her roller over her head, bringing it down on top of Inkley's. Despite the fact that ink had splatted him before the roller actually his head, he felt a throbbing pain that reminded him that he wasn't an athlete, and most definitely wasn't used to stressing himself like this. As he rematerialized, Inkley let out a growl of frustration, and rubbed at his temple, willing his headache to go away.
It didn't, and Inkley had little choice but to carry on, opting to take one of the higher paths, hoping it would give him some kind of edge against the other team.
It didn't. This realization frustrated Inkley just as much as the last as a trio of burst bombs turned him into a puddle of pink. He let out a shout as he respawned, but his frustration was lost as a pillar of blue exploded onto the field, undoubtedly the work of his masked teammate. Squinting as he ran, Inkley could see his entire team retaking their half of the field. He slid up beside Jet, turning a small splotch of pink blue as he did so.
"Where've you been?" Jet asked, clearly not wanting an answer.
"Dead." Inkley replied, deadpanning. They shared a brief laugh, but Inkley frowned. "This sucks!" He shouted over the sound of his shooter.
"I know, but we've got this!" Jet replied.
Their roller-wielding teammate stepped between them, lightly slapping Inkley's arm. "Here's the plan; we're rushing. Get your special ready ASAP and spread it like a disease. Then we push to win."
Inkley looked to Jet for guidance, but she said nothing, apparently satisfied to follow the plan. With no better idea, Inkley gave a nod and set off down the path, emptying his tank to fill the demands of his special. A roller lunged at him from a surprisingly small puddle of pink. Inkley narrowly avoided the downswing of the weapon, and quickly turned on its owner, reducing them to a puddle of blue.
He carried on, moving into the enemy team's clearing. There was a suspicious lack of enemies, and Inkley moved forward cautiously, painting a path towards the center of the area. He could see splashes of blue from the corner of his eye, and knew that the others were moving along as well. A few streams of blue shot from over Inkley's shoulder, and Jet gave him a gentle nudge, encouraging him to move forward. He did so, stepping fully into the clearing, and as soon as he did so, the enemy team sprung into action.
Directly across from Inkley, the slosher burst forth from their ink, hurling a burst bomb and flinging ink. Inkley had barely registered the threat as he dropped into his own ink and swam out of the line of fire, only knowing that he was startled and in danger. Only as he swam to safety did he realize that he had doomed Jet, and he scolded himself for his cowardice. Glancing about cautiously, Inkley realized two of his opponents had moved towards his base, and one, the slosher, busied themselves with cleaning up the blue. The roller Inkley had splatted landed lightly beside the slosher.
"Wait," Said the boy with the slosher, looking as though he had just had a revelation. "We only splatted three."
The girl with the roller shrugged and laughed. "Well, there's only three and a half on their team anyway."
They both laughed, casually painting turf, as though they had already won. Inkley felt his cheeks burn with indignation, and he burst forth from his ink, giving an inarticulate battle cry as he hurled himself at the unsuspecting squids before him. Squids, Inkley thought derisively, feeling unspeakably satisfied as he splatted the slosher.
The roller was faster than Inkley thought, however, and she lunged to meet him. His indignation was replaced with self-preservation, and he pressed his special button. A bubble shimmered into existence around him, and the wave of ink that would of splatted him instead pooled uselessly at his feet. With a scowl, the roller threw herself forward again, thrusting the head of her roller at Inkley's stomach. His bubble flexed beneath the blow, throwing Inkley onto his rear, but it remained intact. Inkley felt panic rise up within him once more, actually afraid of the girl before him, and he raised his shooter as he crawled backwards. Horns all over the field sounded, but Inkley depressed the trigger anyway before he realized his error. He jerked his weapon away and opened his mouth to belt out an apology, but the damage was done, and his opponent screamed as blue stained her form. She stood stock-still for a moment, staring at the ink on her shirt, before she glared daggers at Inkley and stormed towards him, her roller falling onto the ground behind her.
"You kelp-munching brat!" She shouted, her fists balling. "What the hell is wrong with you? Did mommy and daddy not teach you how to use a shooter or something?! I should-"
"You should what?" Both Inkley and the girl before him turned as someone stepped out into the clearing with them. Inkley recognized his masked teammate, though she held her mask by its straps now. Her shooter was slung over her shoulder and she stared expectantly at the girl. When she got no answer, she laughed, and stepped closer, trailing blue ink from her boots. "I'm sorry, were you not done harassing this poor kid?"
Their opponent looked as though she were about to respond, when Judd appeared, standing atop the taller stack of shipping containers. He withdrew two flags, blue and pink, and unceremoniously raised the pink one. Inkley's shoulders sagged as everything but disappointment drained out of him.
His opponent smirked down at him, and reached out to flick his tentacles. "It's too bad your little bubble didn't help at all." She hissed.
Inkley flinched away from her and gave the most defiant glare he could muster. The girl laughed and pivoted, retrieving her roller and moving towards the exit at a brisk pace. Inkley was almost startled when his teammate clapped his on the shoulder.
"Hey, don't worry about her." She said, smiling encouragingly. "I knew her in school. She was a huuuge bitch." Inkley couldn't help but laugh, and she gave him a nod. "Better luck next time."
Their team's roller appeared. "Hey. I wondered where you went off to."
The girl beside Inkley laughed and clapped him on the shoulder again. "I had to save our new little buddy from Samantha."
The young man scrunched his face up. "Oh."
She laughed again, and stepped away, taking her friend's hand. "Yeah. See you later, kid!" She said, waving her weapon at Inkley. She began pulling her friend towards the exit. "C'mon, I'll buy you some ice cream and we can watch the ships load."
Her friend groaned, but allowed himself to be led. "I keep telling you, Port Mackerel isn't romantic."
Inkley waited a moment before following after them. He could hear them idly discussing plans as they walked, but ignored it, instead fixing his gaze firmly on the ground. He found Jet waiting from him at the exit, and she fell into step beside him as they went to retrieve their belongings.
"What happened?" Jet asked without preamble.
"I accidentally inked this girl after the match was over. She got mad, but the chick with the gas mask saved my butt." Inkley replied.
"Oh. Yeah, that happens sometimes." Jet sighed and shrugged. "She didn't get to you, did she?"
Inkley waited a long moment before answering. In truth, some of what she had said bit surprisingly deep, but Inkley had no desire to let his sister know. "No."
"Good." Jet said, stowing her charger in its bag. "You feel up for another?"
"I don't know. That…" Inkley began, making a noise. "That sucked."
Jet remained quiet for a moment before shrugging. "Fair enough. Let's head home." She motioned for Inkley to follow. "Come on, squiddo. I could use a bite to eat. I'll make us some noodles or something."
That sounded fantastic to Inkley, and he followed in Jet's wake without hesitation, shouldering his bag as he did so. He idly wondered if he would ever see his other teammates again, but shook the thought from his head a moment later as a sudden growl from his stomach drew his attention to more important matters. Jet led Inkley in silence for a long while, before her pace slowed. She glanced casually at Inkley from the corner of her eye, and Inkley returned the gesture.
"Hey, squiddo." Jet said at last.
"Yeah?" Inkley replied, looking up at Jet.
Jet opened her mouth, looking as though she were about to say something profound, but closed it again. She remained silent for a long moment. "Has mom talked about anything… serious, lately?"
"Like what?"
"I dunno!" Jet snapped without anger. "That's why I asked you, Squirt." Seeing the look Inkley gave her, she shrugged and looked ahead. "Like, uh, turf war, or being a grown-up, or… me, even."
Inkley's unsure gaze only intensified. "You?"
"Yeah. Or turf war, or anything related to it. You know how she feels about that kind of stuff."
"No, she hasn't talked about anything like that." Inkley replied, shrugging weakly.
Jet made a noise and nodded, staring ahead of her with an unreadable expression. Inkley watched her for a while, trying to figure out what she was thinking. They walked in silence, eventually arriving at Jet's apartment complex. Jet led the way, unlocking and opening her door before stepping inside. Inkley followed her in and closed the door behind him. Jet disappeared into her room, and Inkley went to the couch, scooping all of his belongings back into his bag before dropping it on the floor. Jet emerged from her room a minute later and walked to the kitchen.
She rummaged through the cupboards, and, apparently dissatisfied, went to the fridge, then the freezer.
"Hey," Jet called, "I got some dumplings. Sound good?"
"Yeah."
"Cool."
Inkley found himself staring blankly at the TV screen as he listened to Jet prepare what he guessed to be leftover or premade dumplings. He didn't pay the slightest attention to what was actually playing, and slumped deeply into the couch, exhaling as he contemplated the day.
Inkley started as Jet sat down beside him, laughing at his reaction.
"What's wrong?" Jet asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.
Inkley remained quiet for a moment, before shooting his sister an unsure look. "I was gonna ask you that."
"What do you mean?" Jet asked, though Inkley wasn't sure if she was playing dumb or not.
"Earlier, when you asked about mom. You sounded serious."
Jet looked away for a moment, before sighing. "We don't get along like we used to, Squirt." She said hesitantly.
"Why not?"
"Both of us want what's best for you, Inkley. But we have very different ideas on what that is." Jet said with a frown. "I think you need to get out and experience what the world has to offer, but mom would rather shut you in and baby you until her arranged marriage for you comes through."
Inkley had no doubts that his mother had a very different view on the whole affair, but kept that to himself. "Arranged marriage?" He asked, biting into Jet's obvious bait.
His sister grinned at him, breaking the suddenly serious mood. "Oh, yeah. Mom's totally trying to set you up with her boss' daughter. Remember last year, all those play-dates?"
Inkley laughed at the memory, and Jet laughed with him. They stayed quiet for a moment, content to let the moment be, but Inkley felt the weight of another question on his mind, and he had an inclination to break the comfortable silence.
"Jet?" He asked softly.
"Yeah?"
"Why does mom hate turf wars?"
Jet frowned thoughtfully, pausing to think. "Tell you what," She said at a length. "I'll let you in on that little secret if you let me in on one of yours."
Inkley stopped to consider this. "Like what?"
Jet grinned at him. "I wanna know more about that Luma girl."
Inkley glared at his sister. "We're not-"
"Not dating, I know, I know!" Jet interrupted, waving her hand dismissively. "Listen, I'm not trying to make fun of you. I just want to know what you know about her."
"Fine." Inkley replied with a sigh.
"We'll talk over dinner, okay?" Jet asked, standing and going to the kitchen without waiting for a response.
Inkley closed his eyes and allowed himself to slump even deeper into the cushions of the couch, hoping through sheer willpower he could slip inside it and disappear forever. He had no such luck, however, and a few minutes later, he cracked open an eye as Jet set down two plates of dumplings. She picked up the remote and turned the TV off before sitting down, turning slightly to face Inkley.
"Okay," Jet said, stuffing a dumpling into her mouth. "You go first. How'd you meet her?"
Inkley took a deep breath. "Remember when you gave me my shooter? When we first saw the Tangerines, and Cherry introduced you?"
"Yeah, the day the whole plaza got painted up."
"... She was the girl I was staring at…"
Jet laughed, nearly choking on her food as she did so. "Makes sense." Was all she said.
"When we left Frank's, she saw me with the shooter, and when we went to the plaza, her and some of the other Tangerines were there. Some of them got busted painting the place. She didn't, but she stayed to watch whoever did, or something. She saw me there and thought I painted the place, too."
"When did all this happen?"
"While you were yelling at that fish."
"For the record," Jet said, looking cross. "The fish was yelling at me. Because he's a jerk."
"Well, while you were getting yelled at by the fish, she kinda just appeared next to me. We talked for a minute before she gave me a note and left."
"A note confessing her undying love?" Jet asked before howling with laughter. Inkley glared at her and slugged her shoulder, but that did little to deter her laughter. "Okay, okay, sorry! I couldn't help myself!" She took the better part of a minute to compose herself, before breathing out and shaking her head. "Okay, for real. What did the note say?"
Inkley bit his lip. "You can keep a secret, right?"
Jet laughed. "I hope so, otherwise pretty much all of my friends are gonna be really mad at me."
Satisfied with that, Inkley took a deep breath. "She asked me to meet her at the plaza, the next night at eleven, for-"
"A romantic rondevous?"
Inkley groaned, and punched his sister again. Jet roared with laughter, and Inkley ate while he waited for her to calm down.
"Okay, okay, I'm done, I swear." Jet said eventually, raising a hand for emphasis.
"She brought me to join this group of kids who get together to play with ink on the sewers every other week. It's all sort of led by this guy everyone calls Blue. He's a Tangerine too, and the Captain's brother. Luma hates him and his brother."
"Then why doesn't she quit?" Jet asked. "She's pretty good. Could probably get on with most other teams."
Inkley shrugged weakly. "I dunno. She says they know turf war, or something like that."
"She's not wrong." Jet said plainly. She waited a moment. "So is that it, then? The whole story?"
"Sort of." Inkley said, scratching his neck sheepishly. "We did a few turf wars together, and she even said she'd help me get better. But she's really… weird. I don't understand her, or the way she thinks."
"Weird is fun." Jet said with a grin. "Have you seen the group of crazies I've put together? They're the best."
Inkley laughed weakly, realizing that he couldn't argue with her. He cleaned his plate, expecting Jet to drop the subject and make good on her part of the deal.
"So, do you have a thing for her?"
"Wh-what?" Was all Inkley could manage.
"Luma." Jet returned, smirking. "Do you like her? Like-like her? Because Synth would get super jealous."
Inkley felt his cheeks burn with shame and indignation, and instead of answering, he made a sour face at Jet and crossed his arms. Jet laughed surprisingly tenderly, and set a gentle hand on Inkley's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Squirt." She said quietly. "I'm sure that, beneath that I'll kick your ass exterior, there's a mushy cuddle me and buy me flowers center."
Inkley remained silent for a moment. He eventually looked at Jet, dearly wanting to believe his sister's words. "You… you think so?"
Jet smiled softly, but her words rang hollow. "Probably."
They sat in silence for a long while, the both of them contemplating something that would have been lost on the other.
"Now it's your turn." Inkley said at last.
Jet exhaled. "I hoped you would forget…" She lightly slapped Inkley's back. "Alright, get comfy. I've got a little story to tell you, Squirt."
Hey, ladies and gentlesquids. Sudden computer problems have forced me to complete this chapter on my phone, and I'm not sure when I can get it fixed. The next few chapters may be significantly shorter as a result. Thanks for your patience. Or impatience. Either way, thanks. You squids are the best.