Splatoon: Number's Game

Chapter 2

"You shoulda seen it, Marina! And then he has the nerve to smile at me. He was all, 'sorry not sorry' about it!" Pearl described to Marina.

"Oh wow! That sounds pretty cool actually!" Marina said honestly.

"It was so not cool! He splatted me like three times!" Pearl pointed out.

"Oh. Yeah! The nerve of that guy!"

"Yeah well, it was pretty cool. And he won quite a few battles for my team; he represented Team Chaos well. So I'll let it slide." Pearl said, sitting back in her chair.

"Oh. So, are you mad or not?" Marina asked, confused now.

"Stop just tryna agree with me and keep up, Marina." Pearl teased her.

"Well I don't know! I wasn't there!" Marina defended herself.

"Don't be so sensitive," Pearl chuckled a bit. "See? You should've joined Team Chaos too. With dudes and lady-dudes like that on our team, ya'll didn't stand a chance." She said, happy to relish in her team's victory.

"Well it isn't as interesting if we don't take opposite sides." Marina pointed out.

There was a knock on the door. Marina held up a finger to put the conversation on pause before getting up and answering the door. Inside walked an octoling girl wearing a black cut-off protective vest, a black penny skirt, and black heels.

"Ay, it's 8 up in the house! Wh-Wh-What's up?" Pearl greeted her, imitating the scratching of a record.

8 smiled and waved at her.

"Hi, 8!" Marina greeted her, hugging her from the side. "It's so good to see you again! How've you been?" Marina asked.

8 held out her hand and rocked it from side to side.

"Same, girl," Pearl said, throwing her legs over the armrest of her chair. "Marina and I have been in a real slump lately with trying to come up with new music." She said.

"Yeah, every artist has their blocks now and again. But we always get out of it." Marina said, inviting for 8 to sit down with them.

"You know what always helps me get out of a musician's block?" Pearl asked.

8 looked at Pearl and tilted her head inquisitively.

"A shopping spree!" Pearl cheered, throwing her hands up in the air. Marina smiled and rolled her eyes.

"You have way too much money to blow, Pearl, you know that?" Marina teased lightly.

"Yeah, I know. But hey, it works out today, 'cause we can get new clothes for ya, 8! We'll have you looking fresh!" Pearl said enthusiastically.

However, rather than share in Pearl's excitement, she held up her hand and shook her head. She then curled her fingers under the bottom of her protective vest and pulled it downwards a bit to readjust it comfortably.

"Guess she doesn't wanna let it go yet. If I looked that good in black, I'd probably wear it all the time too." Marina said with a giggle.

"Word to that. Hey, 8, are you going out again, or are you gonna stick around Inkopolis Square this time?" Pearl asked curiously.

8 stroked her chin thoughtfully between her thumb and forefinger before pointing down at the ground.

"Awesome!" Pearl grinned, "Well come by and visit anytime you want, alright? You better come visit!" She demanded. 8 smiled and nodded.

After visiting Pearl and Marina, 8 left their studio and made her way to Inkopolis Square. It wasn't her first time here, but she always had her breath taken away when she was there. She stood in the center, watching inklings and octolings go by.

The Square was always a pleasant place to be: inklings and octolings gathered in the center were usually chatting, eating, shopping, or getting ready for a turf war. 8 could smell the food from Krusty Sean's food truck smelling, which made her smile a bit more.

A particular inkling caught her eye just then. She was coming out from a corner of the square to the left of the turf war entrance dressed in a yellow track jacket and black shorts. 8 eyes widened in recognition, and she began to hurry across the square to meet her.

"No way…" The inkling girl said under her breath when she caught sight of 8 running in her direction. "Agent 8! It's you!" She exclaimed as the two met with a hug,

"You remember me, right? Agent 3?" She asked.

8 nodded her head with a smile.

"Wow, it's so good to see you here! I haven't seen you since everything happened out on the ocean. How are you? You look great!" Agent 3 asked.

8 grinned and held up a thumbs-up.

"That's great. So what brings you to the Square finally?" Agent 3 asked, not knowing that she had been here before.

8 simply shrugged and rolled her head around a bit.

"Oh, I see. Hey, do you have a place to stay?" Agent 3 asked.

8 paused for a moment and shook her head.

"Oh, man. Okay, uh, tell you what, if you give me some time, I can meet you back here tonight and you can stay with me! Does that work?" Agent 3 asked.

8 thought about this and nodded her head.

"Whew, okay, cool! I'll see you tonight then! Be here!" She said with a wave before walking off.

8 looked towards her and waved back, watching her go before going on her own way also…