Whew! Man, is it great to see Sunny (can I call you that?) back in the reviews again! Also Thank you so much to the Guest (s) who continues to review and show support, for I deeply appreciate that you're enjoying the story so far! Now before continuing to the chapter I'd like to stress two things about the future. First is that I have finals closely approaching and will be spending all of my energy preparing for that, so if there are no chapters (not implying that there wont be) please understand that I'm taking care of my education first and foremost. I truly enjoy writing as a hobby (I have a funny story about how this all started but maybe I can save that for another time...) and I'd love to publish books and even try some other cool stuff like interact more with you all, but I guess when the time is right, things will come to fruition. I also have a disclaimer that I will go more in depth on in the next chapter but will talk about briefly at the end of this one. Until that day in the distant future, I hope to continue having your support and of course-as always-thank you for reading!
After the first week of school was over, now was the time for most students to find new strategies to handle the fresh semester as well as reform some old strategies that worked out. Azule was at a nearby cafe close to the campus looking to have a cup of joe with his former mentor Pastelle. Having wanted to talk to her about how to better improve his studies after avoiding his sister for an entire week, he was enthusiastic to learn as much as possible. Sitting outside of the cafe at one of the tables, Azule waited patiently for Pastelle to come back who was inside getting their hot beverages. Dressed in a yellow squidmark sweat, rolled up grey pants, and yellow Iromaki shoes to match, he wore his signature cap with pride as his long bang flapped while looking out at the busy street nearby with admiration for the sunny yet chilly atmosphere. Taking a heavy whiff of the scent, his lungs were filled with the smell of coffee as Pastelle opened the door holding a couple cups of joe in her hands. After a few minutes passed by of idle chatting, Azule had something on his chest he wanted to get off.
"Say Pastelle, why are you and Sky so open about your titles as Agent 5 and 6?"
Right before she could put her lips to the steaming hot coffee to take another sip, she looked at Azule with bewilderment. Looking around to make sure nobody was listening to their conversation, she leans closer. "Not that I'm comfortable with sharing it out, but I'll give you a pass. We're supposed to be the figureheads." she said in a hushed tone while looking around again. "No one truly believes we participate in any of the missions that we do. They assume we're just PR and very talented in sports, so we're the buffs to flex at enemy nations. Cap'n likes to snag them while they're young and full of development and turn them into weapons..."
"So...is there an Agent 7, possibly an 8?"
Pastelle halted, her eyes widening for a moment with puzzlement before regaining her composure and remembering the vitalityof the details. "Let's not talk about that…" she muttered turning her scope of vision away from him with a slightly uncomfortable shift in her tone. Azule nodded, understanding he might be prying into some very confidential information, but he was curious about the New Squidbeak Splatoon that he couldn't help but ask his mentor, a direct source. The curiosity stemmed from the various research he did in his free time while he looked up ways to improve his technique in turf wars and other splatting competitions. He also found an interest in honing his skill in martial arts for the sake of protecting the people he loved and cared for while also looking to break his physical limits, a new motivation that developed after seeing his sister reach her limits. He felt that self-defense was the best way to destroy those barriers that held back his potential, as well as be on guard from now on after thinking about the many foes he encountered within the last half of the year. Nonetheless he shifts his attention from there and decides to ask about the current situation with the government and how they're handling the death of the prime minister. From what Azule saw on the news, it seems like the government has not disclosed the announcement of his death. In fact, it appears it was a giant secret that they didn't want to let out. The only suspicion is that he was supposed to go into office from the week he was assassinated, but after reading an article somewhere the officials received reports that he was feeling ill and couldn't take over until his health got better, using that as the cover up against the media. Pastelle kept her awareness up, even though weeks had passed since the completion of the kill she learned in a secret meeting among her splatoon and Cap'n Cuttlefish that there was more going on behind the scenes than had been established. Even after learning critical information from Cap'n Cuttlefish, she couldn't-under any circumstances-share what she learned.
Thinking of some white lie to tell, she crosses her arms while keeping the same serious expression. "They're figuring out what to do regarding that. Since it was so close to his inauguration, what happened is putting them at a setback. If the mass media learns the truth, chaos would erupt."
"In what way…?"
"Azule, think about it. If the leading nation on the continent reveals that their future leader is dead-especially after the untimely departure of the former leader-the other power nations will bare their fangs ready to strike. We're in a very vulnerable spot right now and allowing this news to surface would only set our impending doom a few months ahead."
Azule was stunned by her comment, having not thought so precisely about the bigger picture. Realizing just what shoes the government had to be wearing right now made him feel a bit sorry that they were in that position. But by no means did he feel guilty for being the one to cause it. "I guess it can't be helped…"
Pastelle nodded, "No point dwelling on it too much."
Azule twiddled his thumbs, "So, about the upcoming rank wa-"
"I'm winning." Pastelle interjected before Azule could finish; Azule's expression didn't change since he expected as much from her.
"We'll be enemies after all…" he said giving a slight smile.
"I have no intention to lose to you or anyone else once the next season begins. I spent my entire first year catching up to your sister. And now that she's gone, the only goal left is to do what she couldn't do, and that's to bring silverware back to campus. She helped put our names back on the map, but I'll immortalize our legacy and shock the entire sports world." the conviction resonating from her tone was inspiring to Azule, except for the fact that he'd have to compete against her. Azule crossed his arms and admired her as she continued to voice her reason of why she'd win the rank wars, halfway through she realized that Azule had been gazing at her differently and without giving any more thought on it, she cleared her throat to snap his blue gems from piercing her defenses. "My apologies, that was insensitive of me. You're also of a similar goal, right?" she said swiftly, turning her attention away from Azule before casting her eyes down at her coffee.
"Nuh-uh, I enjoyed that. You have a lot of passion. It's something I respect about you." Azule said warmly with a matching smile and a tilt of the head as he leaned forward to admire his mentor's features more. Although he was aware that she was in a relationship, Azule couldn't help but feel a close attachment to Pastelle in the same way he felt an attachment to his sister, maybe it was because they both had a sisterly role to him? For Pastelle however, she misinterpreted his body language as romantic attraction, feeling that Azule must've caught feelings for her from their close bonding through training, and although she cared for him like the little brother she once lost...in no way could she reciprocate his feelings. Thinking for a moment if the latent reason for them meeting up to have coffee was to try and simulate a date or even a confession, had her head flush a little.
Azule's like a little brother and nothing else…
However, the thought crept into her mind as she locked eyes with him and once again was left to wonder. Did he like her? In her mind, she was aware that he had some romantic involvement with his teammate, Violet. And then there was her close friend, Fuchsia, who was head-over-heels madly in love with the boy. But seeing his innocent smile and eyes full of light, she had a nervous feeling...could it be that Azule was into his senior rather than fellow peers at his grade? Blushing a bit at the thought of what immoral thoughts Azule probably had running through his mind while gazing at her, she reassured herself that she's probably overanalyzing. Laughing afterwards, she mocks Azule for his comment he made earlier and teased him about it. Taking the teasing from his former mentor like a champion, Azule kept pressing forward and asked for continuous advice. Moving her coffee to the side, she answers all his detailed questions about how to study and prep for classes and of what classes to be taking for the following year. The mentor spent hours upon hours giving in-depth notes for her student to follow with him being observant and focused the entire time as he soaked in the knowledge he was receiving.
Later in the day elsewhere at Squid Academy in particular, Cobalt is sitting in Principal Telfin's office. The two have an intense aura surrounding them as they stare at each other with a strong emphasis that the topic being discussed was heavy. Cobalt had beads of sweat rolling down his face in anticipation of what his principal would respond with. After what seemed like an eternity but was only a minute, Principal Telfin gave a nod along with a strained sigh.
"If this is your desire, then I have no right to tell you not to go." Principal Telfin said, accepting Cobalt's wish to rescind his status as a student at Squid Academy High School. Cobalt came to his office with the request to leave the school before his departure for the selection. In the case that anything should happen to him and the media track him down, the school won't get tossed into the frenzy of hate and controversy having already had some history in the news for controversial matters involving the school.
Cobalt bowed with respect, "Thank you, Principal Telfin. I'm deeply in your debt for the kindness and hospitality you've shown me by letting me be a student."
Principal Telfin shook his head, "The pleasure was mine. Make sure to take care of yourself and remember, you're always welcomed to come back."
Giving a nod in response, Cobalt left. Quickly, he was wrapping up all of the loose ends he had before making his departure, for the young Ronin wanted to have no regrets. The many things left for him to do were to spend the day with the others, spend the night with Tangie, and head to Meiju. From there, he'd head down to Ikayumu Islands for the family selection. Walking to the Inkopolis square to meet up with the others who were already there playing in random turf wars, he stopped by his room first to pack up his stuff. Lucky for him, Todd wasn't there so he was able to rest easy and pack up. Digging through his clothes, he finds his drawstring long duffle bag and plops it on the floor. Picking out his favorite of clothes, he only packs up two pairs of shoes, ten shirts and five pants of different variety since he knew he'd be doing plenty of shopping once he got to his destination. Grabbing his sheathed blade, he inspects it before placing it in a bag of its own and wearing the strapped bag around his back, grabbing his duffle bag and heading through the door for the very last time.
Reaching the Inkopolis square minutes later, he takes a long look at the area where he'd spent many fun moments with Squidcom. Looking around for somewhere to put his duffle bag, he decides to talk to Crusty Sean for a favor. Spending numerous days relaxing and holding conversations with him whenever Azule would do a solo queue, they grew a solid friendship discussing delicious foods and the most popular shoes on the market as well as economics. "I'll swing by later on to grab it in the evening before you close."
Crusty Sean shook his head, "I'll stay open if it's for you, Coby. Take care, squiddo."
With that, Cobalt just had the baseball bag which he had strapped across his torso diagonally-blade asleep awaiting its turn to be of use to their owner. Texting Tangie, he went to where her, Fuchsia, and Kosami were. Apparently, they were underground at one of the many restaurants located in the underground galleria, a larger underground strip mall located directly under Inkopolis Square, it was rumored for the longest that the area was an abandoned subway before it got remodeled. Taking the stairs, already he could hear the booming atmosphere of the popular hub for inklings. His unbuttoned baby blue shirt flapping with each step he took, and his black shirt exposed, he moved his sights to the left and followed the directions Tangie gave. Although his resting expression was identical to his stone-faced expression, for some reason he could feel many inklings and others turning their sights to him as though he were a will o' wisp in the fog of midnight. Looking up at the sign of the many stores, he looks through the directory displayed straight ahead and marks where he's supposed to go. Guiding his finger, he'd need to make a left turn just short of where he was and then a right turn with his destination on the immediate left. With a nod of the head, the young samurai with the overwhelming presence made his way.
Having already gone through four difficult sessions earlier at Marooner's Bay, Squidcom had finally gelled together and built back up some of the lost chemistry through suffering brutal defeats at the hands of the enemy salmonids and boss salmonids. All of them were frustrated and irritated with the losing result of getting wiped out after nearly completing their objectives for each of the waves in their sessions. Azule had been throwing a tantrum on the boat while heading back to plaza to take a break. Although comical for Sally, for Violet and Reice it had the opposite effect; both felt guilty for being the ones to allow the team wipeouts to occur. To give a recap of what was going on during the day while Cobalt was away, the team came together to begin their part time service for Grizzco industries. After reading through the manual and completing their tutorial missions, they each came together to get to work and make some money and possibly bonus gear (although Reice was more enthusiastic to win food tickets and drink tickets). For today, the main weapons that were in use were the Mini Splatling, Nozzlenose, Dualie Squelchers, and the Inkbrush. When they initially saw the weapon lineup, they all grimaced since none of them felt comfortable with the weapons. As of their last game where they all played together, Azule was the main attack specializing in rapid fire weaponry with the mixture of mobility, Sally was their fastest member with an amazing skill of accuracy-combining them made her lethal with a heavy splatling despite being a somewhat inferior weapon to their cousins in the mini, Reice had a knack at being a roller user since becoming drawn to them initially-his defensive style of play also helped since he could cover plenty of turf while also protect his side of the turf, Violet served as their silent sniper with a heavy skill in operating on all charger weapons-especially the scoped weapons. But in the mission of Salmon Run, it forced them to alter the way they play. Focusing on a mixture of getting kills, completing the objective, and staying alive, the four of them were overwhelmed in their first session.
In the first wave, the team had a goal of 8 golden eggs to collect. The order went Azule-Mini splatling, Sally-Squelcher dualies, Reice-Nozzlenose, and Violet had the Inkbrush. Before their mission started, all of them looked like lost children asked to solve a complicated physics problem within a short duration of time, exchanging befuddled expressions with one another as they looked down at the weapons they'd been given. After shrugging off their unfortunate luck, Sally went to work and immediately targeted the edges of the restricted map. Getting her kills off the pairs of stingers at the edges of the maps, Azule and Violet focused on killing the salmonids that swarmed in their direction and threatening to splat Sally. But thanks to the determination of Reice to keep anyone from getting harmed, everything went smooth as Sally piled in the golden eggs while her teammates focused solely on supporting her. During that first wave, they all recognized that Sally should be the designated attacker and collector with anyone helping to deliver the golden eggs left over from her merciless assaults. But it was in the second wave of that same session that they all learned rather quickly that their plan had plenty of holes in them. Plain and simple, they were overwhelmed by the mass numbers that the salmonids and their bosses swarmed in. Losing their first session after two waves, failing to meet the goal of 15 golden eggs, they were determined to complete the job successfully. But all that followed were three more brutal sessions of defeat with Sally and Azule being the last ones to always remain until being swarmed at by the enemy. Unfortunately for Reice and Violet, they felt out of their zone in this environment. Having a usually set mindset where they are all fluid and capable of adapting, neither of them could adjust to the drastic change. Being the earliest to always get splatted and have to be bailed out by Azule and Sally, they felt responsible for the defeats in earnest belief.
"Why don't we take a break and do some turf wars? The maps should be changing around this time." Sally said while patting the pouting Azule on the back. He was still fuming about having lost in such a close fashion to the point that his face went sour with steam puffing from his ears. Reice and Violet both seemed unresponsive until Sally snapped her fingers in front of the dazed pair. "Did either of you guys hear? We're doing a round of turf wars, so come on and get out of that gloomy mood…" she said while approaching them, getting in between and wrapping her arms around the them both and giving them a squeeze filled with sisterly love. Although she didn't point it out, she was aware that they were feeling guilty that the losses were their fault. Understanding the difficulty, it takes for anyone to adjust to something new, she just gave them a bright smile and told them that next will be better, shaking both of them while she laughed hysterically.
Although a short walk for them, still it felt like a while given all the distracting spots to stop by and visit from the clothing stores to the weapons shop and thanks to a major renovation and expansion, the Galleria looked like a massive epicenter that rivaled the Inkopolis square in downtown and the famous Inkza strip that was also downtown but, in another area, completely separate from the famous Inkopolis square. Observing the many fresh inklings dressed in the trendiest of streetwear to the most optimal outfits for competition, everyone looked fresh. Azule led the way as he made his way to the lobby, high fiving and "yeah"-ing inklings that he remembered back from the plaza as well as from his solo queue he did in secret up until now. Noticing the hefty number of females Azule seemed to know quite well left an unsettled feeling in Violet, who despite her recent behavior to her breakup, very much still cared about him to the level that could even be considered lingering feelings. Putting themselves in the lobby, they waited to get placed in a room with other participants. The maps available now were Manta Maria, and Shellendorf Institute and along with that were the parties involved in battle for the room. In this room were Squidcom, but there were four other names that had the others open their eyes with surprise after seeing where their levels were as well as rank. Shiore at lvl.18*-Avg rank of X, Carmichael at lvl.3*-Avg rank of S, Sylvester at lvl.6*-Avg rank of S+25, and Royce at lvl.9*-Avg rank of S+50. Although levels didn't mean too much to competitors, it was the ranks that mattered...and after seeing such high levels matched by equally high ranks, the members of Squidcom knew they were matched up in the wrong lobby. Since Azule's absence in the first rank wars, Squidcom's ratings changed quite differently with Sally being at lvl.45 with an average rank of A-, Reice was at lvl.38 with a rank of B+, and Violet was at lvl.33 with a rank of B+ since they all had down some solo queue in their down time in addition to their team play. For Azule, he was at the much lower level of 26 but had an average rating of B. Having locked the lobby, the stage was set.
Whispers filled the plaza as many gathered by the huge monitors to check out all the hype surrounding one of the turf wars about to go on. Where Tangie and the other members of Squidcom were sitting, they heard whispers from some boys saying that the "Young Street Queen" of Inkopolis got matched in a lobby containing some low level unworthy opponents. Hearing them ridicule Azule's name, Fuchsia's ears twitched-tuning in and honing her hearing to listen to what the mouthy boys had to say. Tangie however was more enthusiastic than all of them, believing that Squidcom would surprise everyone watching now that Azule was back in the skipper's role. Predicting Squidcom to defeat them the moment they all came together, she waited patiently while watching a game out the corner of her eye while keeping all of her senses locked on her beloved Cobalt's entrance.
Spawning in their respective sides on the ship of Manta Maria, both teams had their allies set. The Green team composed of Sally, Carmichael, Shiore, and Azule while the Pink team composed of Reice, Violet, Sylvester, and Royce. As the clock counts down for the two teams, they all look at one another and do a quick assessment. From Reice's perspective, Silvester seemed friendly from the smile he gave while waving to Azule-brandishing a Tenta brella as his weapon. Silvester dressed in a formal outfit wearing a pink vintage check shirt, slim fit pants and cream basic shoes. Royce seemed the more imposing of the two teammates based on his unfriendly expression, not even looking in Reice's direction when Reice greeted him. He wore black glasses, a white LS shirt with thin black and gold horizontal lines decorating the body of the shirt. He wore rolled up pants like Azule's, but his white Norimaki's would've put Azule's yellow Iromaki's pride to shame. His weapons in hand was the Enperry dualies, a weapon that signified that he was a user of serious skill able to be at his rank and wield a difficult class like dualies. Violet however was the one that caught the attention of the audience watching them, decked out in white sesame salt sneakers from tentatek, tights that hugged her legs and showed off her figure in a way that most people from around the area to know that she wasn't from the district, a black negative long cuff sweater and a sneaky beanie that added to her appeal as the heart of the many boys and girls quivered with infatuation. Even Royce couldn't help but acknowledge her beauty, greeting her solemnly with a bow of the head, his stern expression still present. Violet bowed in response, her aloof expression still the same as her purple gems turned to the turf before her. Reice's eyes staggered in response, feeling a hint of jealousy before putting those trivial emotions aside to battle. He needed to prove his worth and surprise everyone watching. This was his chance to put himself on the map. As the stage opened for both teams, the higher leveled players from both sides were out and about the same way them heading straight for the middle of the map where the netting was. Sally decided that since she was using a heavy splatling that she should cover one of the masts and guard at the furthest, choking any enemies trying to flank from the linear paths on the sides, Azule decided to cover the mast closest to spawn point and help assist Sally or anyone looking to make a push past the netting area. Swiftly, Shiore and Carmichael already at the main point there the netting covers with Carmichael down bottom and Shiore on top. Shiore equipped an E-liter 4K with the scope, wore an annaki beret, a black squideye shirt with a blue wristband, a black skirt, and dark blue moto boots. Carmichael equipped a ranged blaster, wore a camo zip hoodie, a paintball mask, and pro trail boots while also wearing jean shorts.
"Someone to your left, Shiore!" Carmichael shouted as he detected an incoming enemy approaching; Shiore nodded and turned her attention to the left while Carmichael made his frontal push.
Emerging from the pink enemy ink was Reice with his Carbon Roller and his hands arched backwards, ready to slam downwards and eliminate the queen in the opening seconds. Having swiftly taken a side route and use his newfound speed to his advantage, Reice was determined to prove that he-too had evolved since the last time the team played in a match together. No longer was he strictly going to sit back and only ink the base but prove himself as a pivotal attacker. But the ignorant youngster was unaware that his poor choice in choosing a target would come back to haunt him at that moment. The second he decided to target her, his fate was sealed. Turning her head slightly with an emotionless expression donned, her ice grey eyes sparking with electricity as she honed her senses on her prey. Everyone on the turf felt the goosebumps on their necks surface, the rest of Squidcom recognized the familiar pressure radiating so heavily it could be felt from where they sat via the giant screens displayed.
Azule narrowed his eyes as he inked turf on an alternate route from where the action was-continuing his duty, "That pressure is the same as sis. No, it's...even stronger!"
Like the fury of a thunder god, Shiore rushed at Reice as he brought his weapon down, a wave of pink ink following behind him. Reice felt in that instance that the pressure rushing at him was unlike anything he ever experienced, this was the pressure of a Rank X inkling, the cream of the crop. Disappearing like a blur, the only thing that Reice felt was the painful pierce of a single line of green ink strike his stomach as he bursted in the very place he stood. Unable to shriek in pain, all he could do was admire the incredible talent behind the user of the gun that struck him down. Never again would he be so hasty in such a match. It was a wakeup call to not only Reice and Violet on the enemy team, but to Shiore's partners in Azule and Sally, whom were rocked to the core witnessing Reice's splat. As if nothing happened, Shiore's heavy pressure lightened as she swam up the tall pillar and began targeting the enemy side of the turf. Closing one eye, she set her sights on her enemy counterpart wielding the same type of weapon as hers. Violet felt her body tremble with excitement as the X ranker turned her sights to her, tightening her grip on the E-liter 4k and peering through the scope. Already the two snipers were readying to snap each other's throats.
"Even if you're able to do the same things as Sky, you won't expect any fear from me." Violet said to herself as she came closer to where Shiore was standing. Going head to head, Violet was attempting to dance her way around the X ranker's shots and splat her at point range.
"Hey, don't bother going after her. She's just looking to bait you in." Silvester shouted from afar, noticing the girl was about to make a novice error.
Violet jerked backwards after instinctively feeling Shiore pull the trigger and fire a long trail of ink and tripping backwards-off balanced avoided the recoil from the impact of the shot. However, Shiore wasn't going to just stand there and play it safe, instead she rushed over and dived in her green line of ink as Violet fell from her ledge. Silvester sensed that trouble would be apparent if already two members get splatted in the opening minutes and rushed his way over to help.
Two main battles ensued that'd take up the entire time. The first was the three on one battle of Sylvester, Reice, and Violet against Shiore, the X ranked inkling. The other was a one on one between Carmichael and Royce, but Azule and Sally were trapped because Royce's skills were so advanced that it felt like they were facing three people at once. While Shiore single handedly made her push into enemy territory and forced them into a squeeze on defense, Royce was on the aggressive attack for the pink team, not allowing anyone to get past him while also applying pressure of his own. Carmichael did well in preventing Royce from getting past him and inking most of the territory available, but with Azule and Sally trapped due to Royce's incredible speed and awareness, albeit they had the numbers, it meant nothing. Azule and Sally were stunned by what they were up against, seeing only the afterimage of the inkling instead. But for them, this match served as hefty reminder and a welcoming lesson: The top players were unreal compared to where they were. Before, the most unbeatable person in their mind was Sky, but after seeing the moves of Carmichael and Royce, they painfully swallowed the truth and realized at the same moment while watching these behemoth that even Sky wouldn't beat these people easily. Everything about their style seemed different from anything that they had ever seen in their life. Carmichael throws out his suction bomb before dropping back into his ink. His incredible pace at which he was able to refill his ink and emerge from at a enough rate to be able to keep up with the ever slippery Royce who was flirting on getting a triple splat. To a causal inkling, seeing a one on one between a dualie user and a blaster user surely meant sour defeat for the blaster user, but in this case, it wasn't the same. Having somehow be able to perform all of this all the while keeping in check that two inexperience inklings sat behind him watching intently at how the masters played, he knew couldn't afford to lose to Royce.
"Give it up Carmichael, it's only a turf war. No need to exert so much energy…" Royce said with an emerging grin as as he skipped across the ink with the help of the rolling ability of the Enperry Dualies.
Carmichael smirked while following all of Royce's movements, his eyes having no trouble of keeping up unlike his body, which was operating much slower due to the limitations of his weapon. "Don't tell me that when you're trying to show off to them, Royce!" He said popping up from a puddle of green ink.
Royce saw his chance as he spotted a perfect path to snag a triple splat, seeing Azule and Sally right behind the hopping Carmichael in a row. It was a matter of timing and not being too obvious, the irritating resiliency of Carmichael is what bothered Royce. The fact that Carmichael could hold his own in this matchup only testified to how tough an opponent he'd be if he didn't restrict himself. Known by his fellow peers as the carefree kind of guy, Carmichael was an incredible talent who didn't take sports too serious despite his generational talent. Spending his free time playing at the many local hubs in the country whenever he could, Carmichael is actually a foreigner from a nation somewhere in the middle of the continent. Leveling up all the way to his first star-equivalent of 100-he'd already been well respected from the moment he hit 50, but it was afterwards that his true respect came forth. Being known for throwing down in heavy battles against Jin and the other top teams in the continent, Carmichael was a lone star, having teammates subpar to his skill set that he usually had to carry them as far as he could take them; he wasn't alone either. Sylvester, another highly respected competitor hailed from a nation where on his team he sat as their entire force-without him, they'd be nothing. Royce, however was different. Royce was on a stacked roster of a team and was surprisingly their weakest member! That team? None other than the legendary Emperors from a small nation all the way in the north west far north of Squirabia. The Emperors had a stacked roster of 4 starters and 4 reserves with Royce being their first reserve and all of them were talented enough to manage a team single handedly.
All of this Royce boasted in his mind as he sharpened his vision, wanting to get promoted to a starting position. Feeling the pulse in his hand, he marked all of three of them with a red target in his mind waiting for each millisecond to pass and unleash his wrath, counting their heads yet again, he fired…flying high into the air with jetpack on his back, he triggered the Inkjet and began firing at the inklings below while also invading their territory. Long lines of pink ink break through the spotless green ink, Sally retreats and tries to take care of the fresh pink ink, Azule however decides to do otherwise. Instead of retreating like Sally, Azue's senses sharpened as he followed Royce's movements. He had other intentions and wasn't going to run away.
"My sister is expecting grandiose things from me, so there's no way on earth am I running away!" he yelled as he charged at Royce; Royce smirked in response, impressed by Azule's naivety.
Carmichael realized the reckless move Azule was about to make and quickly raced to him, pushing him out the way and absorbing the hit from Royce's special. Shades of what Azule did months ago to protect Violet were now happening to him as if a circle of life. Falling backwards and seeing his partner get splatted, Azule understood just what a team player meant. Carmichael didn't even know him, and yet he sacrificed that opportunity to protect Azule. Azule wasn't the only shocked inkling, as everyone else watching howled in disbelief having expected to see more of the intense battle between Royce and Carmichael. Tangie rose to her feet and yelled at the top of her lungs, "Seize the moment, Azule!"
While it is unsure if he heard her, or if it was just instinct. It was only for a brief second, just a shred of time. But Azule. Finally. Awakened. A streak of blue flames embered in his irises as his breath went cold like the glare in his eyes. Even Sally, the usually leveled competitor felt a shiver down her spine seeing he captain up close in a state of immediate evolution. He was evolving at school, but it wasn't complete because he wasn't competing. But the trigger to awaken the new potential was ironically every same scenario that awakened his teammates those months prior. Looking up at an excited Royce that sensed the new pressure welling up in his opponent's body, Azule his chin with his eyes sharp under the brim of his lowered cap.
"Now there, that face reminds me of a certain girl I know from this region…" Royce said cryptically as he went into detail about her appearance. "Sky blue hair, cold blue eyes, a sporty bobble hat, and the presence of a monster!" he laughed as Azule launched at him. "I was wondering for a bit why you seemed strikingly similar, but it looks like I don't have to question that any longer! You've got the same streak of fire in your eyes just like her." he mocked as he dodged all of Azule's swift attacks.
The other big timers in the match sensed that same presence and all of them immediately muttered the same thing at that moment. From Shiore, who already splatted Violet and Sylvester, to Carmichael and Sylvester at their spawn points, all of them knew that terrifying mode that only few inklings could reach, and one girl who managed to be a thorn in their sides because of it. "Midnight…" they all whispered in unison as images of Sky Royale entered their minds.
"It's the second coming of Midnight! A newcomer has the same mode as Sky Royale!" someone in the audience shouted at the crowd while bobbing up and down like a rabbit with enthusiasm for what was to come. Cobalt entered through the doors and almost immediately he was greeted by an overjoyed Tangie who leaped into his arms like a child, luckily Cobalt responded quick enough to catch and contain her before she smooched his left cheek. Tangie directed him to where the others were and demanded that he sweep her off her feet and carry her there like a newly wedded couple. Complying with a mild sigh, he carried over with dozens of eyes staring at them while Tangie buried her head his chest, blushing furiously at how realistic it felt.
"Are the others playing right now?" Cobalt asked Fuchsia as he set the euphoric Tangie who was lost in her own fantasies, drooling in love.
"Yeah. But something's happened to Azule…" she pointed at the TV screen suspended from the ceiling, noting that Azule entered the same mode that Sky entered in the winter. She also brought him up to date with everything else that was happening in the match, including that the team got matched with some high profiled players.
Cobalt nodded after getting the gist, "Seems like this is the perfect time for all of this to come together."
"What? The match itself, or Azule's awakening?" Kosami asked, wanting to join in and not get left having to watch over Tangie.
"Both. Dozens of times we came here at various intervals in the hopes to help him unlock his potential. He expressed to me his determination to reach that same level of talent as his sister and wanted someone to document his growth." Cobalt state while taking a seat, patting Tangie's head to bring her back to reality; Tangie snapped out of it once she realized Cobalt was patting her head.
"Wait, why keep that a secret from us?" Fuchsia wondered, having never noticed.
Cobalt sighed, "Around the time he regained his memories after having amnesia, he felt that jolt of motivation to get better. The sparks only intensified after seeing his sister's defeat. What you're seeing right now isn't even the strongest of what I've seen…"
The trio gasped with shock, "There's a stronger side to him than this!?" they shouted in unison, catching the attention of people nearby who were curious about Azule.
"The potential I see in the captain is limitless. Right now, I'd say he's about 30% to his full power. He's only cracking the shell of his wall."
"And that wall is only Midnight mode?" Fuchsia added, trying to follow what Cobalt was hinting. If what he was saying was true, that meant Azule could potentially surpass his mighty sister and even step into the realms of the X rank players.
"Yes. I predict that by the time the Spring Invitationals are present, Azule will be an absolute force to be reckoned."
The trio and new audience roared with excitement at Cobalt's bold prediction. If what he was saying was actually true, then the blue hair-cold and sharp blue-eyed inkling trading away blows with one of the strongest inklings on the continent was just at 30%, then just what would he look like at full power and control? The rumors of his relation to Agent 3 had grown deeper after the confirmation between him and Sky. Many people were already keeping tabs to see what was the enigma that was Azule Royale. All that was known was that the kid had incredible raw power for an inkling, but his skills in competition still were unknown. This was the best sample of the true Azule in competition, and it wasn't disappointing anyone. Sally, Reice, and Violet, were all stunned by what they were seeing from the captain. Single handedly-albeit Royce didn't seem fazed-he was going head to head with a top tier competitor and was matching him on every aspect: Speed, Agility, Power, and Intelligence. Azule wasn't holding back, and yet his potential seemed to go by greater as time continued to expire. As Carmichael watched in awe, no longer caring about the result of the match, but instead witnessing the second coming of a rival he thought had just retired operate before his eyes with a completely different weapon, until…
"!?" Azule looked up in surprise where another enemy pink inkling was about to attack. In the time where Azule had been dueling with Royce, another inkling shocked the audience with the emergence of Violet and Reice, who-although not as flashy and overwhelming as their captain-returned the fight to Shiore after a steady defense by Sylvester who defended until everyone came together. Afterwards he slipped away to go and lend a hand and leave the strongest enemy in the match to be handled by two rookies. But the duo didn't falter, instead they rose to the intensity of their opponent. Always being compared and glorified in a similar manner to how Sky was when she arrived and became the iconic sniper that she is, Violet quickly was becoming well popular as the cold-blooded sniper of the team, having a deadeye accuracy and mafia-esque presence about her. He smooth movement and calm air with an emotionless expression was what kept Shiore from completely dominating combat. She-too, although not in the same hungry and psychotic way as Royce, was enjoying the growth of another capable opponent being born before her eyes with same class weapon as hers. Reice was the true challenge, however, and this was attributed to the sharpness and quickness of Violet, who got more and more closer into the range to do damage to her counterpart. Reice swam around to perform a pincer attack and ground her in their pink ink when…
"You're too slow…" she muttered in soft and lifeless tone, her eyes swiftly leaving the sight of Violet who had been her decoy and turning to the swimming figure in the pink ink, jumping in midair and throwing her ink wall at Reice to cut him off. Falling into her green ink after jumping off the ledge she immediately splats Reice before finishing off Violet yet again. In her mind, they were getting better...but nowhere were they ready to face her. Turning her sights to the action behind her, all she could say under her breath was the same thing. "Midnight."
It seemed like forever since Azule awakened his midnight mode, but even then, it still didn't appear to be enough! Royce couldn't get splatted, and although Azule and Sally tried everything, nothing worked. The addition of Sylvester didn't help since Sally had to force him to retreat along with the help of Carmichael, but for the most part it was on the Royce-Azule battle that clearly decided whether the pink team could force a comeback. Feeling every fiber in her body crying out for oxygen, Azule continued to push through and sharpen his instincts even more, ignoring his body's warnings.
Ba-dump
That irregular heartbeat that he knew so well was once again haunting him, reminding him that if he didn't control his emotions, death could be waiting. But he didn't want to stop the incredible energy that surged through his veins like a running stream of water. That homeostatic feeling of being able to read and react to an opponent at the same time, feeling a sense of transcendence as he approached a new element of being. It captivated him of the unlimited levels of potentials he could reach. And yet, his body was rejecting this awesome power.
Ba-dump
Feeling the pulsing sensation intensify with a mixture of pain and euphoria, Azule ignored and kept pushing. If he could just land a direct hit and eliminate him, he'd know that he had the strength to carry the weight of everything on his shoulders. His mind was ready for the daunting challenges that lied ahead as obstacles, ready to battle every in his way, and to do it all with his team. He was ready to become the next big sensation. With the eyes of everyone watching, from friends to rivals, to just an amazed audience, to a fresh set of new competition that stood in his way, Azule gave everything his mind had to land that final hit...but it never reached.
Having sensed that killer instinct that welled up within Azule, Royce's smirk disappeared and instead was replaced with disgust at the talented prodigy before him. And like a strike of lightning, he immediately delivered a sharp shot to the head and splatted Azule. Before anyone could react, he-too was splatted by none other than Shiore. The excitement of the match faded afterwards with the green team continuing to dominate until the whistle blew: the score ended 61-35 with the green team coming out on top. It was the last game for the high leveled inklings who all left immediately after their game. It turns out that that had been their deciding game of 15 rounds, with Shiore ending her set perfect, Sylvester with 3 losses, Carmichael with 5, and Royce with 7. Although the others didn't comment much on what happened in the match, Shiore exchanged a small smile at Azule as she glanced at him after the match. She saw his potential, but it wasn't the right time for them to interact, not yet at least.
Ending the session, Squidcom spent the day together hanging out as team wholesomely. It felt as though the friction that previously hovered was now released thanks to the team bonding of the turf wars. Tangie was shouting a victory chant after predicting Azule's victory while also apologizing to Violet and Reice for picking his team with Sally to win. Fuchsia couldn't take her eyes off of Azule after seeing that performance and remembering the same boy that she first met that day in Octo Valley, Kosami felt even more adjusted to be a part of the huge circle of friends, Sally breathed a sigh of relief having finally gotten the chance to see her team sharing a laugh like they used to, but as she turned her attention to the blue haired samurai that sat across from her, she noticed that although he was smiled and laughing much like the usual, the light in his red eyes wasn't the same as usual.
* A quick note for anyone who might not know but the asterisk* next to the level number means that the inkling has gone past level 100. This means that for Shiore, Sylvester, Royce, and Carmichael, they all are past lvl 100.
Also a special thanks to a personal friend of mine who wanted me to include his character in the story, can you guess it? Also, although I don't expect many to read this but this is a disclaimer for the upcoming chapter. I'm not too sure how any of you all may feel about lemons, limes, and all those other citrus stuffles, but I tend to veer away from that mostly because I rather not write about such stuff (Personal reasons, not that I'm uncomfortable, just care more about the comfort of you all) but for the next chapter, there will be some lime and a hint of lemon. My reason why is because I want to explore as much as possible and find growth in my work without going too far, so think of the next chapter as an experiment. Of course, skip the chapter if you feel comfortable about that-I totally understand and hope to see you for the chapter after 109. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you soon!
