The Inkopolis Training Grounds was filled with the sounds of exploding Splattershots, excited laughter and ink hitting practice targets as Inklings trained their combat skills.

Team SplatSquad, led by aspiring Splatfest champion Meggy Spletzer, was hard at work, training like anybody else would hear as they leaped around the area in their squid forms and splatted up the area like no tomorrow.

"Watch out, Kenji!" Sam yelled as he threw a Splat-bomb in his friend's direction.

"ON YOUR LEFT!" Meggy hollered to the guys.

A gruff howl alerted Kenji and he ducked just as Heavy Squid, a tall Inkling with a head-shape similar to Squidward and a burly body similar to Team Fortress' Heavy, came rushing in with an Ink-roller and inked up the area.

Kenji breathed a sigh of relief; that had been too close to call.

Meggy did a backflip and fired her Splattershot, striking several fake Inkling targets and a bull's eye in a swift motion. The beanie-wearing Inkling landed on her feet and observed her practicing crew, a timer then went off and Meggy looked at her team.

"Okay, guys!" She yelled, "That's it for training for today!"

"And I was just gettin' started." Sam quipped.

"I'll say, you're improvin' quite well." Kenji pat Sam on the shoulder, "Not bad, dude."

"Good shot." Heavy Squid told Meggy.

"Thanks." The young Inkling girl told her comrade.

"I guess we head down to the Plaza now?" Sam asked.

"We've been practicing for a week now." Kenji quipped, "And we got a match with 'em, but it ain't Splatfest season, it's a Turf War meet."

"Let's go, team!" Meggy raised her Splattershot, "We're gonna kick their butts."

Uttering excited clamors of agreement, the SplatSquad left the training grounds and made their way to Inkopolis Plaza.

They approached the large Inkopolis Tower and stopped by the Turf War lobby, the four of them stood around and waved to a couple Inklings. Judd woke up and mewed, Meggy turned and scratched the cat's chin in kind, saying 'hi' to him back.

Sam and Kenji looked at their watches, Heavy Squid inspected his roller and Meggy tapped her foot softly.

Just a couple of days ago, they'd bumped into the famous Team Blue and were challenged to a Turf War match, which Meggy agreed to in hopes that it would provide her team a test of skill.

They'd partaken in some Turf War matches and Meggy had performed pretty well, especially for someone who dreamed of becoming a Splatfest champion; just like the legendary One-Shot Wren himself.

Sloshing sounds perked the Inklings' ears and they turned, watching as a couple of blue Inklings arrived.

The first was an Inkling girl with a hippie hairstyle wearing headphones, the other was a boy wearing grey specs and the third was another girl wearing a bobble hat.

"Hey there, guys. So, how's it going today?" Headphones asked.

"Headphones, Bobble Hat and Specs." Meggy said optimistically, "Great to see you three." She frowned, "Um, where's your leader?"

"Runnin' late, again." Specs grunted, "Hopefully, when he shows up, there'll be no embarrassment and he will look his best. Believe me, our guy has a pretty weird habit of showing up in quite the not-so dignifying manner."

"But the less we talk about that, the better." Bobble Hat said uneasily.

"Sorry I'm late, guys!"

Another blue Inkling boy had arrived on the scene, wearing goggles on his head. One look at him and you'd cringe, had he not been wearing a speedo.

Meggy, her team and the rest of Team Blue started laughing and Goggles' face was red.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"You wear speedo!" Heavy Squid yelled.

"HEY, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" A green Inkling guy yelled.

Goggles put on a pair of black shorts and a white T-shirt with an Inkling symbol on it along with some Octoling battle boots and a belt. Everyone stopped laughing, now the leader of Team Blue looked dignified.

"So, who's ready to turf?" Meggy asked.

"Good luck, Spletzer." Goggles shook the Inkling girl's hand.

Both teams nodded to Judd and headed inside the Turf War Lobby, the door closed behind them and the two teams were teleported to their selected Turf War arena.

-Kelp Dome-

-Turf War: Ink the Most Turf-

Meggy and her crew materialized in their spawning pad, taking in the scenery of the Kelp Dome, the platforms glistened and the bushes surrounding the arena looked perfectly pruned.

It wasn't long before Team Blue appeared in their Spawning Pads, Meggy glared at Goggles from across the stage and Goggles stared at her back.

Both sides were filled with eager determination, one of them had this in the bag and they would fight hard.

A countdown began, the lights above flashing red. Then the light flashed green and a horn sounded; Go Time!

SplatSquad got a head start, they charged across the platforms, firing orange everywhere and inking up the arena.

Meggy hopped around to evade the incoming shots of blue from the opposing side, she came face to face with Headphones and ducked a shot from her, then Meggy splatted the blue Inkling girl and inked up the surrounding area.

Heavy Squid roared "INCOMIIIIIIIIIIIIING" and wiped-out Bobble Hat in seconds with his Roller.

Bobble Hat and Headphones' squid spirits floated back to their spawning pad and regenerated before regaining their weapons.

Both Inkling girls were impressed by how their opponents were doing so far, but while the SplatSquad was good, it was time for Team Blue to up their game.

Kenji and Sam fought side-by-side, splatting whatever inches of the Kelp Dome they could ink up.

They bumped into Specs, with Sam waving to him in a friendly manner, then they splatted him after an exchange of ink shots. Specs exploded and his spirit floated off, heading back to the Spawning Pad and leaving his... specs... behind.

Meggy dashed around a corner and fired at the wall, spraying it with ink. She ducked an incoming streak of ink-fire and found herself face-to-face with Goggles.

Goggles grinned at Meggy and the Inkling girl smirked at him, the two rivals stared at each other, Western showdown-style.

Goggles stared silently at Meggy and Meggy stared silently at him right back, her finger tapping the trigger. The tension built up, the suspense became higher, and the shot was fired.

With precise timing, Meggy dodged Goggles' shot and fired back, striking him in the face. Goggles fell and Meggy splatted him again, the blue Inkling exploded with his spirit retreating to the Spawning Pad.

The intrepid orange Inkling splatted up the spot where her opponent had stood a minute prior, she threw in Splat-bombs and let them detonate, spraying more orange ink into the Kelp Dome.

So far, so good, the SplatSquad had the lead with a good majority of the arena inked up, Meggy and her team had a massive amount of territory. Perhaps 75%, nobody was counting; maybe except for Judd and his cute clone Li'l Judd.

Kenji narrowly ducked behind a corner to avoid getting splatted as Specs made a comeback, the blue Inkling threw a Splat-bomb that landed near Kenji's hiding spot.

The orange Inkling made a swift pull-out in squid form before the bomb exploded with blue paint covering the spot where the bomb went off. Specs moved in, going for Kenji, who regained his courage and fought back.

KA-SPLAT! Meggy leaped in, shooting Specs point-blank in the face and splatting him again. She then took a splat to the back and turned, seeing Bobble Hat had come for her.

Meggy and Bobble Hat engaged in battle, firing on one another while evading shots left and right, morphing into squid form now and again to give themselves a chance at avoiding the incoming Splattershot fire exchanged between one another.

Bobble Hat pulled out a Splat-bomb and prepared to throw it, but Meggy fired a timed shot and struck the explosive, causing it to blow up in the blue Inkling girl's face and covering her in blue.

Meggy took advantage of this and shot at the blinded Bobble Hat, splatting her away like she was nothing. Meggy then splatted up the spot where she stood, leaving more orange all around the Kelp Dome.

"LEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOY JENKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!" Sam hollered, the orange Inkling went all out with his charger, unleashing more orange ink wherever there were no spots that had been inked.

He went after Headphones and tackled her, taking the Inkling girl by surprise when Sam pounced.

"Oooohhh, you're an aggressive boy." Headphones giggled, "Is this your first time you've made your move on a girl's splat zone or have you already gone far with that experience?"

"I'd make a move on a chick in Turf any day." Sam replied.

SPLAT! Regardless of the questionable and suggestive banter, Sam didn't let his opponent distract him. He took down the Team Blue girl player like she was nothing, even as her spirit floated back to the Spawning Pad for the Inkling girl to regenerate like usual.

Meggy ran by with Kenji and shot Sam a dirty look. "Hey, there's a time and a place to flirt around with girls!" The orange Inkling girl chided, "Did you think we didn't notice your little chat?"

"YAH! SO MUCH INK!" Heavy Squid cried, observing the majority of the Kelp Dome that was covered in either orange or blue.

The big Inkling smirked and swiftly turned to spot Bobble Hat and Headphones charging in with their weapons going off, Heavy Squid leaped out of the way of every shot and he ran towards the girls with his Roller spinning across the orange-covered platform.

"WATCH OUT!" Goggles yelled from a distance.

KA-BLOOSH! Heavy Squid ran over Bobble Hat and Headphones, splatting the girls into oblivion; their squid souls once again floated back to the Spawning Pad, slight tears rolling down their large eyes while the girls let out slight moans of pained humiliation.

Meggy, Sam and Kenji flashed Heavy Squid a thumbs up of encouragement, the tall squid nodded back with a slight grin. They'd performed quite well so far; even better than any of them had expected.

A chime sounded from above and the loudspeakers, which had been playing "Ink Me Up" by the Squid Sisters for the past few minutes, began blaring out "Now or Never", the second version.

This meant one thing; The teams had a minute left!

Meggy nodded to her crew, knowing they had to defend their turf and fend off their opponents. Any left-over blue spots; they would be taken care of.

"Sam, Kenji!" Meggy told her friends, "Flank them, ink 'em up. Heavy Squid, cover our bases!"

"Got it, Meggy!" Sam nodded. He and Kenji rushed off to deal with Team Blue, Heavy Squid chortled and smacked the ground with his roller. Meggy went for her target; Goggles.

Meggy ran up the platform to the middle of the stage and looked around, Kenji and Sam were covering up part of Team Blue's base with orange ink and took out Bobble Hat and Heavy Squid was taking on Specs as well as Headphones. But where was the leader?

The aspiring Inkling turned to see a few blue patches in the midst of her team's turf, the ink bubbled and a squid leaped out, morphing into Goggles.

Meggy rolled to the side as the enemy leader opened fire, she fired back at him and Goggles dodged, firing back at her. Meggy felt a strand of blue ink slap her on the arm and quickly morphed into squid before diving into the haze of orange ink.

Goggles looked around, trying to spot Meggy. He kept looking, then Meggy burst out of the ink behind him with her Splattershot raised.

Meggy's opponent turned around, but the orange Inkling was quick. She fired at Goggles, splatting him in the face and wiping him out, sending him all the way back to his Spawning Pad.

Meggy inked the spot where he stood, then splatted up the other blue spots; taking back another percentage of inked-up turf for the SplatSquad.

"Now Or Never" intensified, the Turf War game was in its final seconds, just ten seconds remained.

Meggy and her team regrouped, going on the defensive and fending off the Team Blue members as they came for them, keeping the blue Inklings from taking their turf, despite the many strategies that Goggles and his crew deployed.

An alarm soon buzzed. This was it; time was up and the match was over. Now, it was time for the results. Kenji and Sam gasped for breath, they had turfed so much and put up "one heck of a fight".

Teams Blue and SplatSquad gathered in the middle of the stage atop the platform as Judd and Li'l Judd came, gathering the results and tallying up the scores.

Goggles and Meggy looked at each other with the former giving the latter a respecting wink. Heavy Squid looked down at Li'l Judd and uttered, "Babies."

"Meow." Judd said after a time, "Meow, mrow. (Wow, that was a lot to look at.)"

"Meow." Li'l Judd mewed, "Meow, meow. (I think I stepped in a big puddle.)"

'C'mon, c'mon.' Meggy thought.

Judd bowed his head and raised a small orange flag, which then turned into a dark-pink banner with an Inkling head in the middle; the Splatsquad's symbol.

Li'l Judd raised an orange flag, then he fell over; The SplatSquad was the victor of the Turf War!

"OH YEAH, ALL RIGHT!" The SplatSquad exclaimed excitedly, taking in the sweet smell of victory.

Kenji and Sam high-fived while Heavy Squid chortled and Meggy squealed with happiness. Team Blue didn't look that upset, even though Bobble Hat and Specs groaned with disappointment. They had lost battles before, but they had their share of victories.

Goggles approached Meggy and shook her hand, giving the beanie-wearing Inkling a commending smile.

A short while later, both teams excited the Turf War lobby and Judd gave Meggy a pile of sea coins, many of which she shared with her friends.

Then Li'l Judd handed Meggy a Sea Snail, which the orange Inkling girl held happily and regarded its cuteness.

"You guys didn't do so bad out there." Specs said, complimenting the SplatSquad.

"I couldn't agree more." Headphones nodded, "Sure we lost, but that was fun."

"Let us know if you want a rematch." Meggy replied, "Thanks for the fight, you guys."

"You're welcome, Meggy. We're just glad that we had a blast out there and having fun is all that matters." Goggles said happily, "Now, my crew and I better be running along. See ya later, SplatSquad."

Saying their last goodbyes, Team Blue headed off, leaving Meggy and her crew alone in the Plaza with nothing but a few Sea Snails and some well-earned sea coins.

Just then, a chime echoed through the vicinity and all eyes turned their attention to the jumbotron above the Inkopolis Plaza studio.

"Hey, the Squid Sisters are on!" An Octoling exclaimed.

"Wow." Sam remarked, "They must have seen our fight."

Everyone gathered in the middle of the plaza just as the icon of the Squid Sisters cropped up with the scene of Callie and her cousin Marie in the studio appearing shortly after.

"Hold on to your tentacles..." Callie started in her squeaky upbeat manner.

"It's Inkopolis News Time!" Marie finished in her trademark dry tone.

"Before we reveal today's stages, we have some highlights from the latest Turf War event at the Kelp Dome; Team SplatSquad vs. Team Blue." Callie declared.

"Let's see 'em." Marie quipped, "I wonder how that went."

The jumbotron flashed, showing still-shots of the Turf War. One picture showed Heavy Squid wiping out Bobble Hat with his roller, which made the burly Inkling grin with pride.

Several Inklings in the plaza ooh'ed with amazement, then the screen showed Meggy's battle with Goggles and Meggy pumped her fist excitedly, the crowd clamored with intrigue.

"Whoa, these guys are good." One Inkling boy remarked.

"I think they'd be great in Splatfest." An Octoling quipped.

"Great jellyfish, I'll say..." Another Inkling said, "I gotta have their autograph."

More screenshots appeared, showing the SplatSquad at their best, inking up turf and taking out Team Blue left and right with another screenshot showing Heavy Squid rolling over the girls of the opposing team as the crowd gasped.

"Wow!" Marie said, "What an exciting battle!"

"Yeah!" Callie said, "I'm seeing a ton of Splatfest potential in the SplatSquad and their leader."

"OH MY GOSH!" Meggy exclaimed happily, "GUYS, D-DID YOU HEAR THAT? I-I-I think we have what it takes to be Splatfest champions. Th-Thank you, Squid Sisters, THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

"Congrats, Meggy." Kenji pat the excited Inkling girl on the back, "You deserve it."

"Heck yeah!" Sam nodded, "We really left an impression."

"Oh my goodness, can I have your autograph?" The same Inkling from just a bit ago said, he'd noticed Meggy and was holding out a notepad and a pencil.

"That's all the news for today!" Callie announced, the screenshots faded away and the scene of the studio returned with the energetic Squid Sister pumping her fist, "And until next time!"

"Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay fresh!" The Squid Sisters struck their trademark poses.

The broadcast ended, just as Meggy was signing the autograph, then Kenji, Heavy Squid and Sam signed their autograph. However, the autograph signing was a bit challenging as Meggy was pumping with happiness and her eyes were welling up with tears of joy.

Just after hearing Callie say she had potential, Meggy had been thinking back to the day she met Oneshot Wren all those years ago, when he'd gifted his beanie to her and told the young Inkling then that she had "the makings of a champion".

Now, all those years later; the signs were there and true.

After training every day, partaking in various Turf Wars such as the one with Team Blue, Meggy was ready and she felt confident than ever before...


-A few years later-


She sat in her room, looking at the picture of Team Blue.

Things had changed since that day, Meggy looked at herself in the mirror; an Inkling no longer, but a human with orange hair and dark-red eyes. She then looked at her shiny golden trophy sitting upon the desk; given to her by the Squid Sisters at the end of Splatfest.

Meggy sat back and took off her beanie. That day had been quite special, just like the day she met that silly red plumber.

She thought about Team Blue, wondering what they were up to. Turf Wars were still being held, perhaps a rematch after all these years was in order, but with the new SplatSquad.

'Good times...' The former Inkling thought to herself, she couldn't be any happier right now in her life, no matter what challenges she'd faced or what else life threw at her...

The End