That mention of Luigi was as cold as making Shovel Knight an assist trophy. I flipped out when I saw K Rool initially before DEDEDE pulled a ligma and then died when K Rool actually showed up. Donk and Diddy's reactions were priceless and reminded me of One Piece for some reason. As for OCtos in smash...Hmmmmm? I thought the race war splatfest put that to rest ( I still want them in too but they probably wont come in unless they bring in the echos or skins of the inklings from 2, and then we'd probably get the veemo squad). I'm stoked for smash even more but most of all, CHROM FINALLY CAME HOOOME! As a Fire Emblem guy (I know, they have too many characters on the roster and I personally don't think all the echo fighters are necessary but I'm not complaining) I wanted Chrom in before Lucina (One of my commons but never main, that was only Sonic and Zero Suit and Toon Link) and was heartbroken when he only appeared in Robin's final smash. But now I'm excited for if there might be any other echo fighters left to put in and of course, a subspace emissary type of story.
The morning breeze blew calmly like a fan as it journeyed across the yellow sands of an unknown beach, the palm trees sway gently but not from the nature's breath, but of a certain inkling's powerful exertion of energy. Taking place some distance away from the shoreline was the training of Azule and Luna, who fought in the wet sand close to the ocean. With sand flying everywhere, there was also a mixture of pink ink that flew as the blue haired inkling tried his best to dodge his mentor's attacks. Azule wasn't dodging only powerful kicks that'd take his head off, but also the splattershot of Luna who didn't have a limiter on her weapon. Hoping to simulate a shred of scenarios in the competitions by using a weapon, Azule maximized his use in his legs and arms as he acrobatically weaved his way around the pink ink, shifting into martial arts once he gained a close range. Creating a fist, he launches himself forward with a winding punch aimed at Luna's head.
Fwoosh!
"B-buwah!"
A breath of air shoots from Azule's mouth as a furious high kick lands directly in the chest of the blue inkling, sending him flying and crashing into the sand. Luna does a stretch of her legs as she waits for her student to rise, but he doesn't. Azule digs himself out the sand to catch his breath, but Luna landed that kick with such force that he got the wind knocked out him cleanly to the point that he struggled to even think thanks to the lack of oxygen. Callie and Fuchsia stand over to the side with great concern as Azule staggered, wiping the drip of blood from his mouth. He probably had internal bleeding again.
Azule struggled to keep his eyes open as he reeled from the pain, holding his chest as he breathed heavily. "Not holding back, Luna…"
"Pursuing the top of the mountain is not an easy task. If you desire to reach the levels where competitors such Jin, Gin, and even your sister, Sky, then, you'll need to fortify your mind and dig deeper. The pain is temporary while the lesson learned is permanent. Get up." she said roughly as she signaled for Azule to come at her; Azule was getting frustrated by the roadblock he was facing.
Azule's back on his feet and darts through the sand, leaving a flying trail as he zig-zags looking to avoid any shots from her, "Pay attention to your surroundings, and-"
A splat bomb appears from the corner of his eye, and immediately Azule shifts his body in anticipation-sumo punching the bomb a moment before it can detonate. He knew almost immediately that that was a curve throw that Luna just pulled, something Azule never expected to see from another inkling. It wasn't too surprising however, since that was just the type of skill Luna had. Callie and Fuchsia watched with focus as the master and her student went at each other. Fuchsia had come on Azule's request early that morning on the basis that he needed somebody to watch and assess on whether he was making any improvements and take detailed notes on his strengths and weaknesses. Part of the training Luna was doing was to better Azule's physicality for when he'd face opponents like Jin, who'd challenge his strengths as an inkling rather than just his skills on the turf; essentially this was fundamental training of movement, strength, and psyche. Callie came after being invited by Azule last night at Wahoo World to come and watch out of pure excitement to see her, but little did he know that she had a great interest in being present. As the two went at each other, Callie kept a strong gaze on Luna and how she reacted to Azule-studying her eyes and body language.
Azule grunts for a moment as his mind raced to find a way to land a hit, "Take this!" he shouted as he kicked up a pile of sand forward to create a smokescreen of some sort; Luna wasn't surprised by his tactics and watched the sand below to detect his footsteps. Though there was less mobility involved, sand helped with concealment since it was difficult to detect sound through the grainy texture. Azule darts around the distraction, coming at Luna from her right, but Luna's amber eyes sharpened with a dagger of light cutting through the iris as she counterattacked the speeding Azule with another ferocious kick-hitting him with a double strike of shots from her gun in mid-action of the kick and piling the damage on her student. Azule grits his teeth and lands on all-fours, his eyes sharp with a glow of determination as a wall stood in front of him; Luna raises her chin and looks down on him with arrogance, dragging her foot and creating a circle around her. She lifts a finger and points to the circle she made.
"If you think you can land a hit on me, step in this circle and try." she smirked, knowing that the irritated blue eyes leering at her had no intentions of backing down. "Show me why you're Agent 3's son."
Azule's eyebrows slanted with fury as his face darkened, his feet digging into the sand as his calves flexed to the point of veins showing. Getting into a runner's starting stance, Azule took a deep breath as he kept his blue daggers on his mentor-creating a heavy atmospheric pressure around him as he prepared to rush at her with everything he had, "I'm just getting started…" he said as his eyes began to glow.
Callie and Fuchsia took a step back as a gust of wind blows in their faces furiously. Azule was releasing it, he was unleashing his Midnight mode. Luna watched on with indifference, having overheard about Azule's surprise "evolution" from some people in the Inkopolis square when she came to visit him, she had wondered what this "Midnight" mode of his was, but upon just a quick glance at the concentrated inkling filled an insane enhancement, Luna knew…
He looks just like Sky did that day during the winter. A fiery aura that singes the edge of his tentacles, a mind that allows no distraction, and a skin that shines as though it reflects light itself. Show me your true strength, Azule!
Azule's narrowed eyes widen as he makes a rush for Luna, doing his same zig-zag technique to avoid the shooting inkling; pink ink shoots in rows as it misses its target, instead staining the canvas. Azule does an acrobatic dodge and punched the surface and sends a powerful force of sand at Luna; Luna notices the strange phenomenon and shoots down the attack, but soon she finds another issue. Azule's right in front of her face and about to land a hit, but Luna quickly smacks him away with the splattershot and shoots him; he dodges, but his speed is clearly maxed out because the way he maneuvered was faster than she could keep up without having to get serious. Luna knew the mystery behind his sudden speed, which was that Azule was able to channel the power in his calves and use them as a sort of jet booster fast enough to simulate the same effects as a double roll with the dualies.
"Not good enough." Luna said as she curve-threw another bomb to create distance, doing a sidearm throw as Azule went the opposite doing a sidestep and keep track of his gap to her.
Focused but inexperienced, he's faster than Sky in this mode. Although, Sky would still handle him easily if they sparred.
"He's looking more like his sister with each time he goes into that mode…" Fuchsia commented to herself without realizing that she was speaking loud enough for Callie to hear.
Callie nodded to the unsuspecting Fuchsia, "Indeed, he's almost the spitting image of Sky when he's Midnight. Only difference between them is that Sky bulldozes her way when she's Midnight and uses her alpha status to strike fear into the hearts of her opponents, while Azule seems to become craftier when he enters that state and produce results off of a seemingly spontaneous idea. Two different styles."
Fuchsia gasps with notice in the difference. It was true. Azule seemed way more focused and intelligent when he entered Midnight mode, a note Fuchsia had to made as she noticed a different glow to Azule, one that seemed alluring yet admirable. In this mode, Azule possessed enhanced abilities on all ends, resembling an inkling at full charge with his hair beginning to glow as he honed on another attack. Azule makes another beeline at Luna-who's still inside the circle and pulls a surprise attack. Doing a forward handspring that transitions to a downwards axe kick, Azule manages to catch Luna off guard for a second as she catches his kick with her free hand; this is where Azule can grab an advantage. Using his left arm, the upside-down Azule flicks sand into Luna's eyes to blind her. Luna doesn't let this dirty move faze her as she throws Azule behind her, and without looking, fires a round that perfectly traps him in a circle of pink ink. Azule knows he screwed up because Luna is still pointing the gun at him despite wiping the sand off with her free hand; she aimlessly trapped him like her prey and left him unable to counterattack. She was scary, which seemed accurate since her skillset as the legendary member of the military force and former Agent 4 were indeed comparable to the icon Agent 3 herself, though in this case the person indeed is Agent 3.
"If you weren't my student, I would've already splatted you like a burst bomb." she said in a plain tone, though it was clear she was upset by the underhanded tactic of her son and expected better of him; Callie giggles knowing why "Luna" was so heated. Though she clearly wasn't trying, for a shred of a moment, Callie could see remnants of the Agent 3 she knew from their younger days return, the Agent 3 that kept silent and wore that black cape proudly as the hero of this nation.
Afterwards, Luna told Azule what he needed to work on and then dismissed him; Fuchsia critiqued Azule on his performance and the two began to bicker like an old married couple, leaving Callie and Luna to be alone on the beach. Some odd minutes go by as Luna, stares off into the sea, going into deep thought; Callie joins her after giving an extended farewell to the young duo.
"You might be impersonating our late comrade but during that session I could see your maternal side showing like a card player bleeding his deck. You had fun, didn't you? Going up against your son? There's no doubt he's your kid. He has the same light in his eyes as you did when we first met." Callie smirked, knowing Agent 3 hadn't been the same since she met Agent 8 and immersed in the politics of this country.
Luna shook her head; her pink hair turning lime and growing instantly into two long flowing tentacles and her eyes returning to blue. Callie was always amazed by how easily Maya was able to change her physical appearance on a whim; usually Maya altered her appearance for any missions that involve her having to use trickery, and so much to the point that she didn't really have that much of an identity.
"I don't want him to end up like me."
"I know." Callie nods with a smile, "You can't deny it, though. He has your brains. The way he was able to think of way to counter you, and most of all, he nearly got you out of the circle. Part of your foot was on the line." She winked.
"Quit it." Maya blushed as she crossed her arms, proud that her son was getting better at remarkable pace.
Though she didn't want to admit it, Azule almost managed to beat her at her own game, and thus, the promised potential that he had was finally beginning to show. As the duo stare off into the sky that extends to the horizon like the sea below, another duo sit on a leather black couch inside of a cozy looking office with a black carpet floor and red walls decorated with old vinyls and awards. Through a window, it was clear that they were in downtown since tall building could be seen from the viewing space. Sally crosses her arm and folds her leg with discomfort, partially due to the sleeping Hatsunika who dozed off on her shoulder. Being dragged here by Hatsunika, Sally kept her calm as she'd been "encouraged" by Hatsunika to come to the studio after being invited by one of Hatsunika's acquaintances. Though she had no idea why, she felt an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Sitting in silence, she waited patiently to be welcomed by her host as she stared along the stylish walls that had records and album arts decorating the walls; her socked feet felt snug on the comfy black carpet floor.
Muffled voices are heard from outside, and Sally prepares for their entrance since this was probably them. A moment later, her expectations are met as a group of stylish inklings and jellyfish enter the room; the last person to enter was a pale skinned inkling with short platinum silver hair in a bowl-cut style with the back of her hair looking shaved with a heart sign, and a black heart under her left eye. Much like her entourage, she was dressed in all-black, wearing a frilly dress with a matching corsage, pinstriped thigh socks with a silver lining pattern, and high heels. Her glazed look had Sally feeling a bit intimidated as she looked over at the her and the sleeping Hatsunika.
"Huh? Even now she's sleeping…" she said with a mix of disgust and surprise as she lifted her chin condescendingly.
"H-hello…" Sally forced as she gave a nervous smile, feeling the weight of not only Hatsunika on her shoulders, but now this idol's stare on her.
The idol placed her hands at her hips and narrowed her eyes, "So you're the one Mika-chan always brags about? I expected something more grandiose of the girl considered to be her girlfriend." she said as if unimpressed; Sally's head went hot with embarrassment.
G-g-g-g-g-g-g...GIRLFRIEND!? Mika, exactly what are you saying about us!?
Sally waved her hand, "I don't know about girlfriend, but we're close, I guess."
She narrowed her eyes before crossing her arms and giving a smug grin, "hehehe whatever you say. The name is LeoR, a member of the group known as-"
"Diamond Dust? One of the biggest pop groups in music, popular in the genre on dance and hip hop."
Leor smirked, "Ah, I see you know your stuff. Yep, I'm her-the heart of Diamond Dust."
"As indicated by your heart sticker and design in your hair, I know. I'm an admirer of your team's work."
Leor seemed impressed, "Are you now?"
The two quickly hit it off and began to talk about a bunch of topics around the subject of music from the latest album releases by some of the biggest names in the industry, to the shift from happy pop and idols, to a more diverse taste in electronic dance and hip hop. Halfway into their discussion about a current rival artist in a band known as Cuttlefish Reef, Hatsunika wakes up, lifting her head off the shoulders of Sally who felt like a lead block had been released from her clutches. The sleepy idol rubbed her eyes and yawned before coming to her senses and seeing herself surrounded by Leor and her entourage.
"Aaaaaaaiiiieeeeeeee!" she squealed as she realizes that she'd been sleeping when Leor arrived; nervously shaking her head over to face Leor, she saw a scary smile on her acquaintance's face.
"Hmpf, waking up now are ya?" Leor said with scorn.
Hatsunika's beet red face looked as though she was about to burst from the embarrassment, "S-sorry! I just haven't caught up on my sleep yet…"
"Geez, sometimes you can be a child, y'know? Make sure to take care of your health."
"Y-yes Leor…"
"Seems like you know each other well." Sally commented as she rubbed a Hatsunika's back after she entered a gloomy state.
Leor nodded, "I've known her for years and then joined her label after I joined Diamond Dust. From there, I've been keeping watch on her; Hatsunika gets way too engrossed in her music for her own good. Some nights she'll stay up without ever having dinner and on mornings she forgets what breakfast means because of how busy she gets."
Hatsunika twiddled her thumbs, "No fair, you're exposing me Leorrin."
"Oi, I thought I told you not to call me that."
"But it sounds cute!"
Sally went blank for a moment before redirecting her attention to Leor, who had much curiosity about the ghost artist. "So Sally, I hear you're very talented. You can play a variety of instruments, you can mix on the turntables and produce? Can you sing as well?" Leor asked while raising her chin with a mixture of eagerness and wonder at her response.
"I can sing, I guess. I'm not a big believer in my vocals, though. I'd prefer to just stick to playing the piano or keyboard since they're my favorite."
"Hm…"
Leor continued her bombardment of questions to Sally, who had to answer as if in a speed round revealing more about herself with each question. Hatsunika soon became gloomy as she watched her musical partner get snatched away by a fellow song artist within the same label; Leor noticed the jealousy in the air and decided to turn it back to easing Hatsunika into involvement. Starting off by asking Sally what her plans were for Valentine's day, but Hatsunika detected where Leor was heading and quickly veered the conversation from there.
"The splatfests! What about the splatfests, Leorrin!?" A swirly-eyed Mika introduced.
"Oh, that."
"Wait, are you the other host for the Inkopolis news?"
Leor nodded, "I'll be teaming up with Mika to make things interesting at the square. We're supposed to have another splatfest coming out soon, but we haven't worked out the dates yet nor do we have a topic."
"Hm, guess it was harder than I thought?"
"Yeah, ever since they did away with the tradition of randomly printing away ideas. I mean seriously, Pulp or No Pulp? Ketchup or Mustard? What next? Shower or Bath!?"
Sally laughed to herself at the last one since that was something that'd make a popular splatfest topic. As the music heads continued their conversation from the cozy office of Leor's, another conversation was being raised with the streets of Inkopolis. After the latest hype being built off of the upcoming rank wars, the talk of the town was the excitement of the teams and players to look forward to, with even some of the sports shows talking about the coverage of the competition. One popular topic was Azule Royale and how he'd live up to the expectations placed on him now that his older sister wasn't competing anymore. Could he replicate her success? Surpass her, even? It'd be a monumental task since
Sky Royale was one of the best snipers in Inkopolis and arguably on the continent and was a terrifying opponent that even X ranked players feared going up against. If Azule was going to live up to her reputation, he'd have to make it known during the Rank Wars where all eyes would be following him for over a month before the Spring Invitationals came and showcased the other talent. Aside from sports shows and media that filled their headlines on talks of the Rank Wars, many of the top players in the community were taking notice of the event as well, and even some foreigners were showing interest in the big showcase with notable big names like Siot and Shiore from their respected nations appearing in Inkopolis to scout the competition.
"Seems like he's turning heads after all. Hey Shiore, that boy you mentioned earlier is worth something. He just made it to the S+9 in Rainmaker, and the rest of his stats have him at S+1 for his other modes." An inkling with a short bowl cut said as he looked at his phone; standing next to him observing the giant screen displayed was Shiore, one of the top players on the continent.
"I just spoke what I felt."
"Easy for you to say that, I hear your national rank is going to get bolstered once the Spring Invitational is over. You're projected to be in the top 5 with a fair number of people arguing for you to take the top spot."
Shiore narrowed her eyes, "No.1 player, huh?"
"Not excited?"
Shiore shook her head, "Rankings mean nothing to me. Look at Jin, the No.1 player in the nation of Inkopolis. He self-destructed and fell from grace when he crossed paths with the true No.1 of this country in Sky Royale. He was never fit to have that title since he was surrounded by high quality talent. Then there's Sky Royale, the most talented inkling to ever grace our era of Turf Wars and still manage to never capture any silverware for her school. Next sits Gin Ika, younger brother of Jin. He is portrayed as the next player after Jin and although he won against Sky and the Elites, he isn't that impressive to me."
"Hey now…" he muttered as he noticed where Shiore was heading, "The ranking I mentioned earlier wasn't for our country y'know? The rumors are you'll be ranked on the continental leaderboard. That means you'll be one of the best players in the world!"
"So?"
"SO!? It means you don't need to speak of these filthy inklings from the east! You're the pride and joy of Naphielle and will represent us-showcasing our true strength when we get to nationals!"
"You say that as if we aren't competing in any competitions with meaning such as the Spring Invitational."
"Well, we aren't. That's an invitational for a reason. Only the schools from the powerhouse nations will be there. Therefore nationals is what it is: the true battleground that allows every country to show their capability. The gem of this circuit of competitions, every school, every nation, everyone knows that Nationals is where it all truly matters…well, that and the Grand Tournament afterwards."
"Even if we didn't get invited to the Spring, we'll have our own battles leading up to the big dance in the early summer. However, something is concerning to me."
"What might that be?"
"Why is Siot of the prosperous nation of Tropicanos here in Inkopolis?"
"Maybe he's doing recon for Crystal coast high school? I admit, it's strange to see one of the six terrors of the west here in the far east."
Little did they know that Siot wasn't the only big fish entering into the pond known as Inkopolis; many other top players and members of other teams from around the continent and other islands were here to scope out the competition that'd await them immediately in the Spring Invitationals, or over the horizon at the Summer Nationals. Known for being the hotbed of talent in the eastern side of the supercontinent of Inkland, Inkopolis-the powerhouse nation of the east-had four teams that were top quality and contenders to strike it big at the joint events-Summer Nationals and Spring Invitationals that featured other nations. However, thanks to the retirement of the Elites and Octo Valley, 2 of the top 5 best teams in the country were gone, leaving space open for the schools to make their mark. It was also a big deal for the other nations since two terrifying big names in Sky Royale and Yeshiva Octavio were no longer in the mix, meaning the long list of dark horse candidates to upset the powers from other nations were getting in their favor. Everyone involved with the sport had this in the back of their head, and for some, was their reason for traveling this far to see it for themselves. Back at Squid Academy High School over in the suburbs, the campus already had decorations setup during the off days of school; even though there weren't classes for the latter half of the week, the campus was still open and accessible for students who were in clubs or anything of the like. From the main buildings to the gymnasium, everywhere in the school was decorated like a sports festival welcoming the Rank Wars with open arms, this also held true for the decorated dorms. While the dorms were the size of large apartment rooms that still managed to share only one room for the beds, there were other rooms from the bathroom to even extra space meant to be a mini office where a desk was. It was in that mini desk that sat a restless Azule who spent his late hours of Friday night and early morning of splaturday watching film from his previous rank wars, his local match highlights, and Fuchsia's notes.
