Chapter 7 :Whose Gonna Be Leader?
Monday
Luke was waiting at the door Catfish Cafe for his friends. They had promised to meet up to discuss how they were setting up their team here.
"Waiting for your team?"
He was jolted out of his thoughts by Aeolia who was leaning on a pillar with her arms folded, staring at him with piercing eyes as usual.
"W-wha-"Luke started before his unspoken question was answered.
"My teammates take the train as well from home. I'm spending time with family, so I'm always the first one of my team here."
"O-oh..." For moments, a uncomfortable silence hung in the air. She was still staring at him.
'M-maybe I should ask her to stop now...?' He thought to himself.
"Uh...C-could you...?" he began to sweat out of nerves. He stumbled and stuttered over his words with Aeolia cocking her head at him in curiosity.
'C'mon! Spit it out! It's not that difficult' he chided himself.
"C-c-could you stop looking at me, please?" he looked away as his face flushed with blue, blue eyes looking over at the yellow-eyed girl for reaction.
"Why?" she simply asked.
"Uh... c-cause it's kinda...uh um..." he began to rub his shoulder, "It's a little intimidating..." he looked away, closing his eyes in preparation for anything she did to him for making a request.
Silence, for a few moments she continued to look at him with her head held in its questioning position before returning it in its normal position.
'Should I ask again or-'
"Very well." she replied looking away from him and towards the station.
"H-huh?" Luke was surprised, both by the fact that she complied with no aggression towards him and by the nonchalance she showed period.
"I'll stop looking at you if that is what you wish." she explained.
His cheeks lit up at the awkward position he put himself in. "O-oh no! I didn't mean I didn't want you to look at me at all! I meant- that is to say... uh..."
She cast a sideways glance at him, looking at the pitiful state he was in. "If you are going to be in that state during our match, I think you will have difficulty with our match on Friday."
He bit his lower lip and lower his head in shame, she was right. How could he play against their team when he was locking his lips tightly in fear of what he might say that could potentially anger the leader of their team?
"Stop worrying about insulting me." she bluntly said.
He looked at her with surprise, not sure if he misheard her words. "What?"
She enunciated her syllables a bit more clearly for him. "Stop. Worrying. About. Insulting. Me."
'How does she know that I was-'
"I can tell by your expression that you are too worried. So I'm asking you to stop stressing yourself." Once again she was looking him in the eye, but hers had soften considerably.
Almost immediately, he started to calm down. His mental state even itself out and he started breathing normally when he realized he had his body tensed up like a brick.
"Ah, okay..."
"So... what are you doing today?" she said looking away from him again.
"Uh..." Should he tell her?
Noticing his uncomfort, she sighed and shook her head. "Nevermind, I apologize if that seemed too personal."
She got off of the the pillar she was on and walked away to the pair of twins with her yesterday who were beginning to approach the cafe.
/ \
"Greetings Aeolia." The steely blue-eyed twin greeted. "How are you?"
"Fine Concordia," she said. "And you?"
"Just Peachy!" Piped her exuberant sister, giving a thumbs up to her. "So what're the plans for today!"
"The plans are to practice up and play as usual. I'll discuss in detail when all of the team is here." She took a quick glanced at Luke who was eying the three girls curiously before turning back to her companions. "Let's go." They walked to the far end of the plaza to wait for the rest of their team.
"So that guy, the one you were just with, wasn't that the boy from yesterday evening?" the yellow-eyed twin asked with a smirk full of mischief.
Aeolia nodded in confirmation which she somewhat regretted.
"OOOOOooo..." Her smirk became a devilish grin. "I see love on the battlefield in your future~!" she purred teasingly. As stoic as she tried to be, Aeolia's disinterested expression was betrayed by the pink blush that managed to come to life.
"Enough Discordia." her sister commanded. "Aeolia has never shown amity to rivaling teams before, what makes you think this is different than any other time?"
Discordia rolled her eyes at her sister."Simple! She's blushing!"
It was true. Aeolia gained her reputation by essentially being callous towards others who weren't family or friends and being merciless to her opponents in the arena. However she finally managed to push away the blush building up on her cheeks returning her skin to it's normal color.
"I am not attracted to him in such a manner Discordia." she simply said.
Her friend simply turned it against her. "So in what way huh?"
"I do not know... but I do intend to find out." she said as the rest of her team showed up and they left to plan their next move of the day.
/ \
Deborah stepped out of the train with the rest of the group a couple of hours later, ready to go into the day with guns blazing. As luck would have it, Nova and Brodie had gotten on the same scheduled train as them despite being from different districts than her and Tytus so they were able to ride with them.
The ride was eventful to say the least. What with the two girls still being sour towards each other since yesterday and with Tytus on Deborah's side, Brodie was put through hell trying to keep them from tearing each other's tentacles off. Often he got sandwiched between the three squids' yelling, getting pushed and barely avoiding the girls' wrathful punches. Somewhere near the end they finally managed to calm down and, much to the confusion of the boys, started to converse in a more relaxed manner. In the end it still didn't save them all from the embarrassment of being stared down by the other passengers.
When they walked over to the cafe, the made out Luke already there with a dazed and tired look on his face.
"Yo! Luke!" Brodie called out, before Nova ran ahead of them, in a full sprint.
"Hmm?" he responded looking slowly in their direction. By the time Luke had shaken out of his stupor, Nova had tackled him to the ground with a hug.
"Nova..." he choked out with a frantic look on his face. "...crushing...lungs. Can't...breathe..." She just hugged him tighter.
Deborah just loomed above them with a smirk on her face and her arms folded.
"Honestly, I'm not sure if I should help you so we can start the meeting or let you just suffer here for getting us in that mess yesterday in the first place."
"Help... halp..." he wheezed, black dots were starting to form in his vision.
Brodie gave a disgruntled look at Deborah before bending down to the two friends.
"Uh, Nova..." Brodie tapped her shoulder, which finally gotten her attention. I think you're suffocating Luke, I'm pretty sure he's turning purple."
Nova look down at her unfortunate victim before realizing that she had clung to him like a boa constrictor would around its prey. She quickly released him so he could catch his breath. Deborah was snickering under her breath while Brodie helped Luke up.
"Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry!" Nova said her hands on her mouth. "I didn't hurt you did I?"
"I'm ok..." he said, his lungs trying to get oxygen back into his numb limbs.
"C'mon guuuyyyysss...!" Tytus whined, "I'm hungry! LET'S CHOW DOWN!"
"Fine, fine, stop your bitchin'." Deborah sighed and led her friend into the cafe.
"I don't like her one bit." Brodie said staring at the doorway where the twosome just were.
"Yeah, but we're stuck with her for the week." Nova reminded.
"What? Why?" Luke said his eyes laying on Nova with confusion.
"Simple. The challenge remember? If Deborah goes away, Tytus probably would too and I don't know about facing them with three members and a random person of unknown skill just going up against them." she answered
"Yeah, and if their reputation is anything to go by their gonna be really hard to beat." Brodie added, "We'll need all the help we can get."
The trio headed into the shop with uncertainty in their minds.
/ \
After the five had ordered their breakfast Deborah pulled their attention to her.
"Alright! Time for business!" she chimed happily, "First thing's first: We need a name, something that will turn heads... I was thinking something along the lines of the Speed Stingers."
"Nah! That sounds stupid." Tytus said, earning a venomous glare from Deborah, "How about THE DESTRUCTOOORRSSS!"
His shouting got the attention of some of the patrons, who looked over at their table in annoyance and intrigue, mostly annoyance. Eventually the other tables moved on with their business. That didn't save Tytus from Deborah though.
"Keep your voice down!" Deborah hissed at Tytus making him shrink back.
"Sorry..." he said quietly
'What do you know,' Luke thought in amusement. 'He CAN be quiet.'
"Oh! I got an name," the table's eyes turned to Brodie, "How about the Smokin' Salmons!"
Deborah laughed hard at that suggestion. "That's a stupid name! We're gonna be a team not the next dish of the day!"
Nova nodded her head in agreement. "As much as I hate to agree with her, she's right"
Brodie put his head on the table with a sad look on his face.
'Poor Brodie...' Luke thought to himself, looking at his friend. 'Can't really argue about the name though.'
"Alright Speed Stingers it is!" Deborah said. "Onto the next project-"
"Not so fast!" Nova cried out, with a slam of her fist on the table. "First of all, you're just gonna disregard Tytus's and Brodie's name suggestions?! Granted I don't like them as much as Speed Stingers but-"
"So you agree with me?" Deborah said, leaning back in her chair with her arms and legs crossed. Luke could tell she was trying to suppress a triumphant smirk.
"T-that's not the point!" Nova said quickly said, causing Deborah to raise an eyebrow at her. "You're asking for suggestions, so we shouldn't vote until their all on the table."
"Oh so you and Luke have suggestions for a team name?" Deborah asked as her eyes looked at Luke expectantly.
'Wait a second...' Luke was about raise an objection. He was going to just stay around and listen to them while they talk and argue with each other, until now he had not spoken and didn't plan to speak.
Nova, however seemed to have other plans.
"Of course we do!" Nova boasted a bit more. "In fact it's better than the name you came up with."
Luke couldn't help but groan and plaster his hands onto his face.
"Alright," She smiled arrogantly. "Let's hear it then!"
Nova went first, "How about Elegant Grace?" He liked that name, in fact it had a better ring to it than Speed Stingers to him. From what Luke had seen from the others, Brodie smile in approval while Tytus retched and clutched his stomach, presumably in an effort to show how much he didn't like the name.
'Guess he couldn't stomach to hear that suggestion.' Luke smiled to himself.
"Not gonna lie, it's an interesting name." Luke could already tell where this was going just by the fact that even though Deborah was still smiling, her eyes showing hardly hidden irritation. "But I don't think it'll fit the team if you want my honest opinion."
With a roll of her eyes, Nova turned her head to Luke,"C'mon Luke! What's your idea? I bet it's better than all of ours combined."
'I guess I have no choice now...' feeling a bit more confident but mostly cornered by his team.
With a nervous little smile from Nova's belief, he started coming up with possible names in his head as quickly as he could until a name popped up in his head.
"Abyssal Spear."
The table was still silent. It stayed that way for awhile before somebody broke it.
"That's your suggestion?" Deborah said with a somewhat angry tone. "That's a really stupid name!" With that she stormed off, attracting nearby tables' attention as she did so.
She walked out of the shop to pout. Tytus looked at her then his future teammates.
"Uh... Be right back..." he said, clearly still baffled at his friend's behavior. As he walked out he shouted back to them, "I like the name by the way!" and he went to comfort his angry friend.
"Well that happened..." Brodie finally said after looking at the two outside, mostly it was Deborah letting out anger on her taller friend and him just calmly staying there, although looking from the inside, it seemed like they fought like an old married couple from here.
Nova looked at Luke with eyes full of curiosity. "Why'd you want to name the after an old artifact anyways?"
Surprised and confused he asked, "There's a real Abyssal Spear?"
She nodded, "Like I said it's a really old artifact. It's said to be about 23,000 years old, give or take some years of course. They said it was found it pierced in the side one of the ancient species that once ruled this world."
Brodie joined in, "So if you didn't know about it, why'd you want name the team after it?"
Luke looked down, shyness making him fidget when he noticed they both were hanging off his every word now.
"W-well, I suppose it was just luck and stuff." he replied.
"Psst." Brodie whispered to the two, getting their attention. "Don't look now, but I think those two are more than just friends~." He subtly pointed to the two arguing teammates to see Tytus hugging Deborah.
"C'mon Brodie it's not nice to make assumptions." Even as she said this she had a blush on her face, as if she witnessed something intimate between the two.
'These two' Luke sighed. 'Can't say their wrong though. Those two probably would make a nice couple.'
His thoughts dragged themselves into another territory entirely.
'I wonder though... why did that name suddenly pop into my head? And my dreams, they've been getting weird lately. Why do they feel so real? Why do I get a bad feeling something's happening to me? Whose voice-'
"Luke? You okay?"
Deborah snapped him out his thoughts. She was now standing on the opposite side of the table genuine concern was plastered on her face as well as the other three.
"Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
"You had this weird, blank look in your eyes and you wouldn't answer anybody." she replied
"Sorry..." he mumbled. "I must have zoned out."
"That's alright." Luke looked at her with surprise. Was she showing concern for him?
"Now that we know you're fine, we need to start on-"
"Wait a sec!" Tytus interrupted, "We're forgetting one thing!"
"And what would that be Tytus?" Deborah snarled at him.
"Whose gonna be leader?"
Everyone stared at him, shocked that he came up with a competent question. He had a good point. A good team needs a good leader and at this point they had nothing of the sort.
"He raises a good point." Nova settled on saying.
"Very well, I shall be leader." Deborah stated.
"And why is that?!" Nova spat at her.
"It's simple really, I'm a higher level than all us. In fact I'm poised to be level 4 soon." her haughtiness returned in full force. "It shows that I'm more than qualified to be the leader of the Abyssal Spear Splatoon."
Luke caught what she said at the end and tried to suppress a smile "We're using my name suggestion?"
"Yeah, yeah, don't get all giddy about it, it's just a name..."
""Level aside, how do we know your even leader material?" Nova pointed out, "First of all a leader needs skill, not just the luck to stumble where they are." Deborah glared at her with fury in her eyes. "They need to be strategic, aware of both the movements of their enemies and team, calm and collected" she had, at this point gotten out of her seat and a foot away from Deborah's face with equal yet calmer fury of her own. "More importantly... they need to listen to their team and show sportmanship."
The boys watched the two ready to go at each others throats once more, "I like a good fight more than anything but do you think we should split them up before we're banned from the cafe?" Tytus asked.
Deborah was trembling with rage, grinding her beak together she said in low voice"You're say all this bullcrap because...?"
"Ask yourself this: Are you honestly able to carry the responsibility as leader or are you going to use it as a front to gain popularity?"
Deborah balled and began to raise her fist. Brodie started to grab Nova to restrain her when Deborah let out a drawn out, frustrated sigh. She gave a smile that was treacherous to her feelings, frightening everyone in the table save Nova who continued to stare her down apprehensively.
"Very well then, how about a test." Her confident smirk returned once more. "Let's see.." She paced around with a finger on the bottom of her lips. "How should we go about this..."
"How about the Battle Dojo?" Nova suggested, "We can have a mini-tourney to show off our individual skills at the very least. If you succeed then you can be our leader, but until then I wouldn't even think about being put in charge."
Deborah laughed at her menacingly. "I like that idea!" she glowered at her current rival competitively. "I wouldn't have it any other way..."
'Well that could have gone a lot worse.' Luke said to himself.
/ \
At the entrance to the Battle Dojo, the team had gathered up with their weapons in tow.
"So here's the sitch," Deborah said with her back up against the walls of the dojo. "Me, Tytus, and Brodie are fine with our weapons but they won't let you two carry those Splattershot Jr.'s in so you'll have to deal with using a completely different weapons set then your used to."
'Well I've only played one Turf War with this thing so I don't think it will affect how I play too much...' Luke thought to himself.
"I've already checked with them. They said me and Luke can use the rental Splattershots." Nova added.
"I can tell you some of the different things to expect from the Splattershots that the Jr.'s don't have." Brodie told the two. "Splattershots are more balenced then the Jr.'s, so expect the damage output and range to be better. On the downside, it doesn't fire shots as often so you'll have to deal with that. You also have burst bombs as your sub which will explode on contact with anything, they're weaker than Splat Bombs though. Finally, the special, Bomb Rush, basically supercharges your ink sac so you'll be able to throw lots of ink bombs. Just be sure to pay attention or else." Brodie shuddered. "Anyways that's about it for that little tutorial any questions?"
"You can have your little questionnaire AFTER I go over the mechanics of the tournament. It's bad enough I had let you drone on and on about the Splattershots." Deborah stated with a little more than a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Gathering everyone's attention, she cleared her throat. "So before I was oh-so-rudely interrupted by Newb Corner here," This earned her a glare from Brodie, which she ignored. "The way the tournament will work is this: Luke and Nova will go up against each other while me and Tytus squared off." A groan escaped Tytus' throat earning him a swift kick to the gut, courtesy of Deborah.
"Why?!" he moaned out.
"No complaints to that set-up, right?" she looked at Tytus who was now bawling on the ground clutching his stomach, smiling at her victim's pain. "Right."
Luke and Brodie were sweating nervously at this point. Both girls exhibited crazy personalities but Nova was less likely to send her teammates sprawled on the floor. This one, one the other hand, Luke was convinced, was absolutely insane.
'Do NOT want to be him right now.' Luke said, unconsciously holding his own stomach.
"While were fighting, Brodie will just relax by himself."
Brodie let out a sigh. "Forever alone..."
Deborah tightened her fist, "Is that a complaint?" Swiftly he covered his stomach and shook his head so hard, it looked like he could have gotten really bad whiplash from it. "Good."
"After Nova's and Luke's fight, the winner will face Brodie and from there the winner will face me... or Tytus."
"I, think I'm good now..." Tytus weakly said before becoming a shade of green and running over to the railing to empty his breakfast from his stomach.
'How hard did she hit him?!' Luke asked to himself, his eyes wide at the sudden display of sickness.
"Chicks be crazy..." Brodie whispered to him. Still focused on his teammate, who was still hunched over the railing
"Whoops, I think I might've overdone it." she said smiling and walking into the dojo casually as she heard the unfortunate screams of a inkling girl being on the other end of Tytus' gastrointestinal evacuation.
/ \
In the boys locker rooms, the guys were getting the Battle Dojo gear on. Tytus was up against a wall, clutching his stomach and trying to balance himself. Both Brodie and Luke were wearing Studio Headphones, white tees and pink trainers.
"Dude, you gonna be alright?" Brodie asked genuinely worried for his teammate now.
Tytus gave him a nod and slowly sat up as straight as possible. Luke could see some pain still in his eyes though.
"Why you put up with her in the first place man? I've tried wrapping my head around it and being nice to her but she's on the...," Brodie paused to find words that wouldn't offend the mentioned inkling's friend. "...easily provoked side."
Nothing was said for and awkward three minutes before Brodie sighed in defeat. "Y'know what, nevermind..." he said, closing his locker with his Splattershot in hand. Brodie had left Luke and Tytus to themselves.
Luke silently put his Splattershot Jr. in the locker he was assigned. He was about to walk away when Tytus put a hand on his shoulder which caused him to flinch.
"Good Luck out there!" Tytus told him. "I doubt you guys could beat Deborah in a 1-on-1 match. She's pretty vicious on the battlefield by herself. But I'm curious about somethin'"
"And that would be...?" Luke asked.
"Why're you so quiet? Out of the two days I've known you, you don't talk a lot, so what's up?"
Luke honestly couldn't answer that question. He just always kept to himself. Even at home he really didn't have any friends as he was usually too shy and no one ever approached him. He talked a bit around adults, and, in comparison to his peers, was a large milestone in and of itself, but it left him awkward around people his age.
Still Tytus looked like he was ready to pry the answer from him so he did make an answer up.
"W-well... it's just the way I am...I guess..." Tytus gave him a look that said "Seriously?" but he simply let go with a sigh and ambled over to put on the gear he was given: Retro Specs, a Baby-Jelly Shirt and Blue Slip-Ons.
Luke went out to meet the others in the lobby. Nova was also wearing the same gear as him and Brodie.
"You look good in that getup Novs!" Brodie exclaimed looking her over.
"R-really?" a rose tint came over her cheeks. "Maybe I'll buy something like this when I'm able to browse through the shops." She clasped her hands together and swung herself side to side.
'Uh... what's going on?' Nova blushing at Brodie's statement confused him. As curious as he was, however he decided not to question it and chalked it up to 'the weirdness of other squids.
"Alright, I'm ready." Tytus said as he swung the locker room door open, he looked a lot better than he was a couple of minutes ago.
"You're lookin' better!" Brodie said with a grin. "Let's get ready to Rumble!"
"I hope you guys aren't planning to play without me~"
They saw Deborah coming out of the girl's locker room with a Bobble Hat, a Green Zip Hoodie, and a pair of Moto Boots.
She walk up to the group with a Splat Charger in hand.
"You gonna try the Splat Charger again Deb?" A shocked Tytus asked, "But you could-"
"Forfeit my spot for leader by doing this?" she finished for him. "I know. But I plan to take risks as well. I want to use this opportunity to get used to this godforsaken charger. Even if I don't become leader, I DO plan on giving you all a run for your money." She winked with a cocky grin on her face before becoming a bit more serious. "Nova and Luke will go to Urchin Underpass for their fight since they only have experience around that stage and I doubt their even familiar with it. Tytus, me and you got Blackbelly Skatepark.
"Alright, then good luck!" Brodie told them. "I'm gonna grab a quick drink while I wait."
With Brodie heading to a nearby vending machine, the team split up into their respective arenas.
So with that I end this Chapter, I apologize with how long this chapter took... I've been a bit busy with real life relations and with orientation for college, which will be starting for me in exactly a week from now. Once it starts, I'll be very busy since the work is going to be time consuming. (I only imagine since it's an art school...)
Also I think it will be appropriate to mention two more things: This story will broken into parts/ arcs/acts/etc. the first part, I will admit is going to be the most tame out of all the parts I plan to write. Another thing is I am considering posting my concept art on tumblr for my characters(They intitially practice for blending and using color pencils). They are traditionally drawn so I would have to scan them onto my computer but other than that they're ready. If people are interested I'll put them up on a blog.
