Splatoon: The Bate Bros.
Lights Out
The Bate Brothers, for once, woke up early to get some work finished, the sun slowly rising over the hillside. The two of them were working on top of the roof/second story of their house, installing a huge, yet to be finished beacon, the tripod base already firmly nailed down to the house roof, next to the three Inkling and Octoling shaped holes in the roof which were cheaply boarded up. The satellite dish to the beacon resembled a Squid Beakon dish commonly constructed (but never used by any teammates) in Inkopolis Turf Wars and Ranked Battles, the dish itself already built but not yet connected, lying on the side.
"Heh, it took us a whole week, but we finally got around to this. Feels good knowing that we won't crash land… Well, as much, as we normally have been doing." Splin stated, wiping sweat off his forehead.
"Two problems solved!" Sharq grinned, gesturing to the beacon and the patched up holes in the roof. "Now all we have to do is earn money in Turf Wars for food, get groceries to save, test out the Tele-Cube, buy Salty… Snail food… And help… Maria get her memories back. Huh." Sharq sighed. "That sounded a lot better in my head."
"One issue at a time, Sharq." Splin said, pointing at him with a wrench. He turned back to the beacon, rotating a screw to fit one of the parts that would hold the net dish. The screw fell off, and the part that he was supposed to screw it into fell apart, landing on the floor. "...Slow but steady I suppose."
During the brother's tedious and so far fruitless work, Maria was sitting downstairs, watching television. Tai was no longer in the house, away at the Octarian headquarters presumably doing nothing too important considering her actions. Maria was currently surfing through channels, boredly tapping on the remote. Figuring she'd had enough of drab entertainment and poor highlights of Turf Wars, she nearly clicked the power button, when a certain news report got her attention.
A flustered news reporter was on screen, shock present on his face. "Hello, I am here on the scene at 'Diamond Beach' by Inkopolis, where currently something that appears to be a… Black hole it looks like, is consuming nearly everything in sight! We go to News Chopper 20 live right now, recording the scene from a bird's eye view!"
True to the unknown reporter's details, the viewpoint of the camera switched to an aerial view, a shaky helicopter camera providing footage of a purple vortex over a beach, consuming everything. A group of Inklings could be spotted by the beach shore, one passed out and the others staring at the vortex in horror. One of the members of the group swiftly broke this standstill, running up towards a building and leaping towards it, using the building as a bit of a stepping stone to jump towards the vortex. Maria, who watched the entire event, was dumbfounded, her eyes shrinking in amazement.
"Wait, was that…?" Maria gasped, turning off the T.V. shakily. She held her head in her hands shakily, and fell down on her mattress, shivering. "...J-Jack?"
Just then, the trapdoor to the roof opened with Sharq tumbling down the stairs. He shook off the impact of the floor easily, and ran over to Maria.
"Maria! What's the matter?" He asked, inspecting her from all over.
Maria stood up quickly, shivering intensely. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, why do you ask?"
Sharq looked at her with a completely mistrustful face. "I lived with my shaky brother for fourteen years now, I know a lie of that caliber when I see one. It's normally a sibling thing, but I think I have a bit of a 'sadness' radar or something."
Maria sighed, burying her face into her palms. "I thought I saw someone… Someone I remembered on the T.V."
"Really?" Sharq asked. Sliding over to the T.V. as a squid, he manually hit the power button beneath the monitor, turning the television back on. The events taking place were still being reported on, the black hole on the monitor growing bigger. "Oh. Yeah, Splin and I messed around with the T.V. a while ago, and we keep getting weird news reports that don't seem to be accurate. Watch."
Sharq grasped Maria's hand and pulled her outside. Opening the doors, he brought her behind the the house, the side that overlooked Inkopolis, and no black hole or any sign of imminent doom was currently transpiring.
"Splin says that it's probably a 'strange occurrence', like the time an Inkling we met vanished, or when we met a skeleton for the first time... This might be one of those deals. You said that you recognized someone from the newscast?"
Maria nodded, prompting Sharq to go into a state of thinking.
"Hmm, weird. Well, I'll tell Splin about this, but lemme know, or my brother, if you see something like that again. We'll probably ask voice later, but in the meantime, relax." Sharq smiled.
"Alright, thanks Sharq." She said, patting him on the head. Sharq beamed at the friendly pet, and gave a thumbs up.
"Sharq!" Splin yelled from the house roof. "I think it's ready, but just to be sure could you test it really quick?"
"Sure!" Sharq stated, tipping his cap to adjust it, then turning into a squid.
The brother Super Jumped straight up, his trajectory arcing slightly, then he began his descent towards the house. It wasn't entirely successful, Sharq landing approximately five feet (1.5 meters, yes this is a running gag) to the right of the beacon, hitting the soft grassy terrain close to the house.
"Ah… Thanks Sharq." Splin called out to his brother, then resumed tampering with the beacon.
Sharq dizzily stood back up in humanoid form, shaking his head. "Oh! I just remembered, Splin, come downstairs really quick, I wanna show you something!" With that being said, Sharq dashed around the house, and jumped through the window again as a squid, the already shattered glass providing a perfect opening.
"Adding, 'fix the windows' to that to-do list." Splin reminded himself mentally. The beacon's work was put on hold, Splin laying the wrench by the beacon, walking downstairs. Closing the trapdoor behind him, he took a seat on the staircase, looking down at Maria, who noticed the brother entering. "What did Sharq want to show me?"
"This!" Sharq popped up from behind the kitchen counters, the television remote in his hand, and clicked the power button, pointing at the monitor. The program blinked back on, chaos still the main topic. The Inkling who had vaulted himself into the vortex was missing, but another Inkling was traveling into the vortex.
"Is that…?" Splin squinted his eyes.
Apparently the person flying into the destructive violet whirlpool of death was Callie of the Squid Sisters, glowing as she entered the portal.
"...Are you serious." Splin frowned. "How…"
Before Splin could go into another rant about logic, the television shut off, the screen fading to black.
"What the-" Splin turned over to Sharq, who was holding the remote with a surprised face, Maria mirroring his expression.
Sharq looked down at the remote, then back at Splin. "I swear, that was not me."
Splin tilted his head, one of his lower eyelids closing in puzzlement. Splin dashed outside, the doors to the house still open, and looked at the sky. The sky didn't have anything out of the ordinary besides a few gray (grey if you prefer UK English) clouds in the sky.
"Voice?" Splin asked aloud.
Dimensional business.
"Ah, so nothing we should worry about?" Splin said, sitting down on the grass and peering at the sky.
Not at the moment, no.
"That's a relief- Wait, not at the moment? What exactly does that mean?" Splin questioned concerned.
Hey, look at the city!
Even though Splin wasn't thrown off the trail at all, he turned to the city of Inkopolis. Not much changed, although he noticed a lack of activity, vehicles weren't moving, hardly any lights were visible, and the city simply laid there, dormant.
"...Huh. We're going to have to take a longer break from working than I thought." Splin said, observing the city.
"Yipee!" Sharq shouted, jumping on Splin. The two tumbled down the hill, Splin yelping in surprise and scolding his brother during the fall while Sharq cheered, not caring much now that he didn't have to do much work.
"Ow…" Splin groaned when they hit the bottom, Sharq landing on top of him as a squid to lighten the collision.
"Sorry, just glad I don't have to do anymore work!" Sharq exclaimed, hopping off of him.
Splin switched to squid form, shaking his head. "...We don't have school or jobs, what are you talking about?"
Sharq shrugged using his two longer tentacles.
Splin sighed. "We're not going to stay for long, we're just going to see what's happening, then retreat back to the house and finish working on the beacon."
"Aww…" Sharq frowned.
The two of them prepared to Super Jump, not before yelling goodbye to Maria up on the hill. Maria walked outside, quickly waving goodbye to the two, who Super-Jumped away to the city of Inkopolis, Maria watching them disappear through the cloudy sky.
The brothers were heading towards Inkopolis Tower quickly, the tower growing in size as they came closer and closer to the large monument in the middle of Inkopolis. Splin braced for impact, curling his tentacles up to protect his eyes, stopped by Sharq poking him.
"Hey man, it's fine. The Great Zapfish will cushion our fall!" Sharq smiled, letting his tentacles flap in the wind.
Splin opened his eyes, then widened said eyes. "Okay, well then would you happen to know where the Great Zapfish is?"
Sharq's squid brow furrowed in befuddlement, he looked over at the tower expecting a giant glossy catfish to be generating electricity as always. Instead, the green tower was bare, no catfish to be seen.
"Oh no!" Were Sharq's last words as he and Splin rammed into the tower at high speed, somehow causing the structure to collapse and fall over onto the plaza.
The tower's glass lookouts on the top were smashed to pieces, as well as the many sattellite dishes stationed upon it. The tower quickly burst into flames, burning the plaza as well, the blaze spreading across Inkopolis, ruining the city with just a day, scarring survivors and eliminating several others. The tragedy would be remembered for years to come…
Just kidding guys, the two brothers didn't slam into the tower and cause a mass catastrophe, they slammed into the tower, and dropped to the grounds like flies, the tower hardly showing any signs of damage, much less a single dent. The two landed on the ground fine compared to the tower's unforeseen harsh welcoming, bouncing back up after the landing, Sharq's hat floating down perfectly onto his head.
"At least we teched the ground…" Splin groaned, rubbing his head.
Now you're getting it!
Sharq dashed out from under the tower, the pain from the head-on accident with the tower dissipating gradually. Sharq turned back quickly towards the tower, the Great Zapfish nowhere to be found. Sharq beckoned for Splin, the other brother shaking his headphones on his head to making sure that they weren't damaged, and to determine if the ringing in his head was from the hit or a headphone malfunction, stepping over to the middle of the plaza where Sharq stood. Splin inspected the tower curiously, trying from every angle to search for a clue of where the Great Zapfish could be. Splin looked around, the plaza looking rather deserted, the only other people left in the plaza shopkeepers at the Booyah Base, boredly waiting for any business that would walk in. Judd sat asleep as usual, not changing too much. The Squid Sisters' studio monitor was shut off, and the music that normally played on large speakers underneath the plaza was silent, the plaza essentially a ghost town.
"...It's the middle of the day." Splin stated, the sun shining down brightly. "Don't people have other things to do, right?"
Well, some people spend a lot of time with electronics, heck, look at me for example.
Splin looked up to the sky. "Okay, first of all, how would I know that you use electronics, you're a disembodied voice. Second of all, I can't physically 'look at you', because you're a disembodied voice."
Fair point.
"Splin, we gotta do something." Sharq said. "We can't just let the electricity stay off, people are counting on it!"
"Sharq, we are literally the least qualified Inklings in all of Inkopolis to be searching for Zapfish. The Inkling agents, Cap'n Cuttlefish, even the Squid Sisters could help the populace out better than us. I don't understand why you'd think that we'd be a good fit." Splin lectured his brother.
Sharq stood with an unwavering smile, though his eyebrows shifted in a nervous manner. "Heh, eh… Honestly I just don't want to have to work too hard on the beacon…"
Tai whistled, hanging out in the rec room of the Octarian headquarters, sitting on a chair with her feet on a table across from Chi, who was dozing the day away, both of their Octoling Goggles hanging on the back of their chairs, the other members of the Octarian cast sitting nearby on different tables, Shockwhisk playing around in his little space as usual, generating energy for the entire base. Tai stopped whistling and looked up, turning her head every which way.
"What's the matter, T-41?" Aussie asked, taking a sip out of a drinking glass filled with a cider.
Tai grinned. "Something tells me that one of our Inkling pals have achieved something beautiful in the art of laziness."
Jerry the Octocopter floated up. "Wow! What does that mean?"
Tai leaned on the table, her fist resting on her cheek as she smiled. "It means I'm darn well proud of them, that's what the shell it means, Jer."
Splin had his elbows crossed as he spoke to Sharq, "Really?"
Sharq closed his eyes, smiling still. "Splin, the project can wait, but there are people out there who want to watch television, play video games, and surf the Inkternet. We could very well be the people who can, and WILL help these poor people through these tough times! What do you say?"
"Don't know about you, Agent B, but I agree with A here!"
The two brothers turned to the source of the voices. Heroically posing on the railing, were the Squid Sisters themselves, Agent 1 and 2, disguised in their trademark pink and light green caps, 1 covering her eyes with a pair of sunglasses, 2 covering her mouth with a surgeon's mask. Clearly visible though were the Hero Headsets sticking out, and the Hero Runners. Underneath a pink sweatshirt and a green jacket were Hero Suits barely sticking out.
"We're here to help find the Zapfish and bring them back!" Agent 1 told them proudly, Agent 2 nodding in response.
Sharq pumped his fists up in the air, a determined smirk on his face. "Yeah! You heard the pop- Uh, Agent 1, Spl- Agent B, l-let's go!"
Sharq turned to Splin, who switched to squid form and was already planning to Super Jump away.
Sharq's mouth gaped open. "What?! Come on man, you're not planning on bailing on us, are you?"
"Bro, I'm not going through this cycle of, 'strange-adventures-then-worrying-about-it-later'. I already did that with Kaz, and quite frankly, I don't want to do it again, no matter how cool I thought the guy was." Splin stated, beginning to jump away, but was snatched up into Sharq's Takoroka Mesh, Sharq putting the hat with Splin inside on his head, holding it tight.
"Mmph, Sharq!" Splin mumbled through the cap, struggling to escape.
"We'll help you out, you can count on us!" Sharq told the popstar cousins, irritating Splin more.
"Great! Let's go to Octo Valley right now!" Callie said, making a dash for the manhole.
"Slow down, Cal." Marie told her, grabbing her by the back of her sweatshirt. "We're likely to face severe resistance. Plus, we might wake up Gramps…" She shivered. "We'd never hear the end of it."
"Splin and I could scout the area out, you know, and then report back to you!" Sharq suggested. The rustling in his hat followed by mumbles of protest must've meant that Splin wasn't a fan of this idea.
"Good thinking! You up to it, Agent A?" Callie asked, while Sharq was trying to keep a lid on his cap.
"Don't-" Splin tried to convince his brother, getting cut off by Sharq patting him harshly.
"Yeah! We can handle it." Sharq said. A sigh of failure came from the cap, and the fidgeting in Sharq's Takoroka hat ceased, Splin becoming silent.
"Awesome! Well, you better hurry, we'll start on looking out here, report back when you're done!" Callie called.
The pink Squid Sister flipped off the railing, landing perfectly on the ground, and ran off. Marie rolled her eyes, jumping down as well, running to catch up with her cousin. Sharq pat his hat sympathetically, and ran off to the manhole, kicking it open with a loud clang. He dropped into the hole, keeping his hands firmly on his hat. In almost no time at all, Sharq popped out of the other side, the manhole cover conveniently set to the side to prevent any more loud noises. Cap'n Cuttlefish sat besides the manhole, preoccupied with sleeping on his blue couch. Sharq grinned, and ran off, but not before stumbling across a new relic.
"Huh?" Sharq paused, stopping in front of a floating slab. This slab seemed completely barren, with some engravings, and an odd amount of bedazzled stickers on the front and back.
"Argh!" Splin finally managed to escape from his brother's cap while he was distracted, tackling the cap to the ground. Popping back into humanoid form, he picked it up and gave it back to Sharq, though he wasn't entirely happy with doing so. "Don't do that." Splin said, pointing at Sharq with a glare.
"Sorry man, but the people need our help!" Sharq stated.
Splin huffed. "Alright, alright, but next time warn me when you're going to do something like that."
Sharq smirked. "The point is to be sneaky like that."
Splin sighed. Turning to the slab, he narrowed his eyes, moving in for a closer inspection. Suddenly, he had an idea. Taking out the N-ZAP '85 he somehow managed to sneak into his pockets, he blasted the stone with ink. There, drawings and writing was revealed, the ink dripping off those areas cleanly.
Splin tilted his head. "...Unless I happen to be imagining things, it looks like some sort of… Dedication, to a group of people."
"Really? Who to?" Sharq asked.
Splin scanned the text, then began reading. "'Director: Yusuke Amano, Tsubasa Sakaguchi'? Programming: Shintaro Sato- What?"
Uh.
"'General Producer: Shigeru Miyamoto, Katsuya Eguchi', Executive Producer: Satoru Iwata'..." Splin read from the bottom, with a hint of wonder. He skipped past a disclaimer, reading another message aloud, "'Thanks for playing'?" Splin wondered what the words meant exactly. "...Voice?"
…
"These are video game credits." Splin said.
"Wow. What are they doing down here?" Sharq asked.
I'll tell you when you're... Ready.
"We already know how reproduction works." Splin stated.
Not that! Anyway, don't you guys have a "mission"?
"...Yeah." Splin said, taking one last glance at the slab. The ink was already beginning to dry off, evaporating quickly off the stone.
The brothers left the floating slab, and continued towards the Octarian base. Reaching the hidden kettle, they dived through the grates in squid form, sliding through towards the heart of the base.
The Octarians were still hanging out in the rec room, boredly sitting by as Shockwhisk played in his little area. Tiny lightning bolts flashed off of him every then and now, scorching the floor, leaving black marks wherever they hit.
Tai whistled, getting Shockwhisk's attention. "Hey, Shockwhisk, catch!" She tossed a fluffy slice of toast, which Shockwhisk caught in midair, gumming it down. Before the toast vanished into his maw, electricity from Shockwhisk's whiskers gradually toasting the slice as it was devoured. "Never gets old."
A rustling could be heard from above, when out of a kettle exit came the Bate Bros, who landed in the kennel Shockwhisk was playing in. Shockwhisk greeted them happily, licking Splin and Sharq, giving them static chills, although they happily pet the electric catfish, leaping over the small fences corralling the fish.
"What up Splin, Sharq?" Tai greeted the brothers casually, her legs now crossed on the table.
"Hey Tai! Aussie, Chi, Jerry! What's going on?" Sharq greeted the others back, who answered with waves of their tentacles or light snores.
"Greetings, Agent A, B." Aussie said.
"Nice to see you Splin and Sharq!" Jerry said happily.
Splin waved, clearing his throat. "Hi, uh… This is kinda awkward of me to ask, but would you guys happen to see where the Zapfish have went?"
One of Tai's eyebrows rose, eyeing the Inkling brothers carefully. "Hmm..." She swiftly grabbed an Octoshot, raising it to Splin's head. "Alright, what did you do to Splin? Talk."
"Tai! Don't freak out, we're just missing the Zapfish, and the Inkling agents asked us to help find them!" Sharq explained, though he adopted a defensive stance.
"...Really? Alright, then you'll answer this question-"
Splin cleared his throat again. "Whenever you come over, you sleep on a mattress and a pile of comforters."
"Yep, that's you." Tai smiled, pulling her weapon back. "To answer your question, sorry man, but we haven't seen another Zapfish besides Shockwhisk here, if he counts."
"T-41, you drop suspicion too quickly, the agency could have brainwashed them heavily for all we know!" Aussie stated.
Sharq shrugged. "Well, how do we prove ourselves?"
"Sharq, we don't have a lot of time. We need to find those Zapfish, then go back home and finally finish work on that beacon! Come on man, could you listen to me for once?!" Splin said frustrated. Splin coughed suddenly, shaking his head. "No, sorry. Forget it."
Aussie sat back in her chair. "Hmm. Brainwashed people don't show as much emotion as that. Okay, you're clean. Although, the issue Splin seems to be having… That's on your own."
Sharq looked at Splin sadly. "...Splin, look, sorry about forcing you to go on this mission with me. I knew you didn't want to follow me this time, and I'm sorry. ...That being said…"
"...You still want me to follow you around, looking for the Zapfish?" Splin said.
"Yeah… If you want to." Sharq said.
"...Heh. Heh heh…" Splin chuckled. "Well… Ha. Ha ha ha! I-I'm sorry, it's just I'm so used to being the one who apologizes… Urm! Well, thanks for the apology brother. Sure, I'll still follow you, but please be a little less rough with your persuasion methods later on, unless we're in some sort of bad situation or something."
Sharq smiled. "There we go! Sorry for uh, wasting your time guys, let's go bro!"
"Hold it, I'm tagging along, nothing to do, as usual." Tai said, hopping off her chair. "Kinda wish Octavio still fought the Inklings, to be honest. It's been flipping boring around here."
"Target practice." Aussie added.
"Boring." Tai retaliated, Aussie rolling her eyes behind her goggles.
"Alright, do you happen to have a box with you?" Sharq asked.
"...Actually, I happen to have something else in mind." Tai said, looking at Sharq's cap.
"So, did you find any Zapfish?" Callie asked, setting her sunglasses down a little, exposing her golden irises.
"Nah, sorry. What about you?" Sharq asked.
The four Inklings were congregating by the glass window railing bordering the Squid Sisters' studio, Splin and Sharq sitting on the railing side farther from the glass.
"We managed to find the Great Zapfish sleeping in an intersection with the help of some other agents, as for the other guys, agents from all over Inkopolis are helping us with that." Marie informed the two. "You two did a good job, feel free to take a break, but if you happen to find a Zapfish, give us a call."
The two pop stars disguised handed the two numbers written down on small sheets of paper.
"Roger that." Splin stated.
"Who says 'Roger' anymore?" Callie asked playfully.
Splin rolled his eyes, Marie following his lead.
"You see what I have to put up with?" Marie said. "Anyways, thanks again, see you later Agents A and B!"
The two celebrity cousins leaped off the railing, and ran off out of the plaza, presumably off to find more Zapfish.
"A break from our break. How ironic." Splin stated. "You know, we technically didn't really do much to help them."
"Dude! We got the phone numbers of pop stars?! That's so cool!" Sharq said, raising the numbers in the air.
"Sharq, careful with those, without those, how are we going to notify them if we find any Zapfish?" Splin said.
"Whoops, sorry." Sharq said, stuffing the numbers underneath his hat. The slips were pushed out, Splin catching them and folding them neatly into his pant's pockets.
"Watch it! Maybe stowing away in here wasn't a great idea." Tai's voice came from underneath Sharq's hat.
"Told you, should've used a box, those things are super reliable." Sharq stated.
"So, you ready to head home?" Splin asked.
Sharq shrugged. "Sure! I've been dragging you around all day, so this seems fair."
The brothers switched to squids, Tai flopping down as an octopus besides them, and the three Super Jumped, the Great Zapfish winking at them as they left the plaza.
The three landed nearly safely, stopping directly in front of the entrance to the house, landing on the soft grass. The three shook off grass blades, wiping off dirt and flora as well.
"See, the beacon's fine!" Sharq said, gesturing to the roof.
"...Yeah, I guess so. Doesn't mean it can't fail us later if we don't work on it now." Splin said.
"Ugh, this talk of work is really bumming me out, I didn't come here to build a stupid satellite dish, no offense." Tai said, stretching her arms.
"You can take a nap on your mattress." Splin offered.
"I love you two." Tai said, pulling them in for a quick hug, then sprinted inside.
"She really likes sleeping." Sharq observed.
"She's a soldier who's been fighting a huge war for quite a while, of course she'd need some sort of rest." Splin said. "...That's my explanation at least."
The two brothers entered the house, where Maria was watching the television, the power now turned back on. She was staring at the screen with a slightly scared look however, wrapping her arms around herself. Tai was watching as well, curious.
"What are you two looking at?" Sharq asked.
Tai pointed at the screen. The camera that was filming was cracked, but the scene being filmed could be perceived clearly. The only surroundings were a large strip of metal acting as the floor, a black void providing as the sky. Two Inklings could be seen were standing in front of something, the camera unable to see them perfectly.
Maria clutched her chest, (in a dramatic way, don't look at me like that) holding her breath. "...Splin, Sharq?"
The two brothers looked up at Maria puzzled. She was extremely tense, small beads of sweat and glimpses of tears in her eyes.
"I think I… No, I recognize the person standing there." She said, turning to the screen.
Sharq squinted his eyes. "...Uh, Callie?"
Maria and Splin closed their eyes patiently.
"Sharq, I'm sure she meant the man." Splin pointed out.
"...Jack." Maria said.
As if he heard her, the man turned to the camera, confused.
"Jack? You know him?" Tai asked.
"...Heh." Maria smiled. "Yes, I'm sure I do."
"Well then, let's get over there somehow! We can reunite the two!" Sharq stated.
"Yes, because we all know where dark, ominous, metal sheet world is." Splin said. Pausing, he looked up to Maria. "Well, at least, we don't."
Maria turned to the two Inkling brothers, Splin already brewing a plan. He went over to the counter, saying hello to Salty resting on his bed, ducking under the counter. Tele-Cube sat on the floor contently, not making a noise. Picking him up, Splin brought the cube in front of the television, having him float in front of it.
"Alright Tele-Cube, would you happen to know where this place is?" Splin asked.
The cube rotated rapidly, colors shifting on each side, then stopped. The cube floated to the ground, a single word on the top side.
Splin picked up Tele-Cube, reading the word aloud. "'Splax-X'? ...That's pretty vague. I can't ever recall a place called, 'Splat-X'."
Maria eyed the cube. "...Me neither, never heard of the name. I suppose, that could be where I'm from. We need to find a way over there!"
"Maria, we can't be hasty, you've seen the condition that place is in, we might get splatted as soon as we arrive!" Splin said, Maria humphing.
"Splin, if you wanted to go home, wouldn't you try to find any ways possible to get back?" Maria stated.
Splin sighed. "Yeah, I suppose I would." He looked over at the television screen, the Inklings being recorded adopting fighting stances, prepared to fight. "Hmm. Alright, we'll see what we can do. Sharq?"
"Yeah?" Sharq said.
"Let's head upstairs, I have an idea." Splin told him.
The two brothers dashed up the flight of stairs, opening the trapdoor. Standing on the roof, Splin set the Tele-Cube by the beacon base.
"Now, this is just a theory of mine. But if the Tele-Cube can generate dimensional rifts, then if we were to somehow enhance its abilities, we could teleport specifically to the world detailed on the news." Splin said.
"We're going to use the beacon for that?" Sharq asked.
"...That was the initial plan, but the more I think about, the less likely it seems it might work." Splin told him.
The Tele-Cube began to glow, getting the attention of the two brothers. The cube hovered onto the tripod base of the beacon, and pointed a flat arrow on its screen facing the brothers towards the beacon satellite dish. Splin and Sharq walked over, and hefted the dish just above the Tele-Cube. The cube shone brightly, sucking the satellite dish in, attaching the dish to it like a base. The cube glimmered brightly, then finally ceased, the surface of the cube becoming quiet, and the texture becoming gray, unmoving.
"Oh no!" Sharq gasped.
"Tele-Cube, are you alright?!" Splin asked the block.
The two brothers felt a tapping on their backs, Splin and Sharq turning around. They walked back startled, the Tele-Cube hovering behind them. The Tele-Cube had a laughing face on its screens.
"What the…? How are you doing that?" Sharq asked.
The Tele-Cube flashed brightly, then floated backwards, another gray replica of the Tele-Cube appearing in its place. The two stared in awe, Splin observing the cube carefully.
"You never cease to amaze me, Tele-Cube." Splin said.
The Tele-Cube chimed happily. Hovering back over to the beacon, he flashed again, the cube replica resting on the beacon shimering a bright green in response. The beacon also flashed green, signaling that it was operational, for whatever reason.
Maria and Tai arrived upstairs, standing just outside of the trapdoor. "What's going on? We saw a light from the roof!" Maria asked, concerned.
Splin turned over to the two, smiling. "Maria, are you ready to go home?"
AN: *build-up intensifies*. Well, hopefully. I'm going through another, "Idea drought", but don't worry, hopefully after the next chapter I'll have something good. Uh, let's get straight to the point, or in this case, the reviews! Thank you Dread Angel, Ultrapyre, OctoInkling75, Anon360, and Hoopa679 for reviewing! Thanks Dread, looking back I shouldn't have expected anything less than that from Maria! Ultrapyre, thanks for understanding, I realize that not a lot of people will get my references, but I'll try and make them fit in better or use less, and don't worry about the writing thing, this story was practically made under that idea of, "let's hope I don't get shouted at". OctoInkling75, you are very welcome, it was a joy to write her into the story! Anon360, yes, as you can tell, I have caught the Undertale fever as well, thanks for noticing! Last but certainly not least, Hoopa679! Thanks for your kind words, but adding Aqua into future chapters is really up to OctoInkling75, it's her character after all, I wouldn't want to add a character that has been requested multiple times without the owner's consent, that would be rude of me, so it's up to OctoInkling really. Anyways, that wraps today's chapter up, thank you again, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to practice using a Desert Eagle in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and fail horribly, as well as get hyped throughout the new Nintendo Direct! See you!