Perry's PoV
Perry sat with his legs crossed on his bed, staring intensely at the computer screen. Inklings dashed across the video being played, all of them wielding Inkbrushes. Despite usually using sloshers, something was just so appealing about any type of brush. Ink was spread across the land with a few swipes, and it was pretty effective at taking out enemies, too. What he liked most, however, was how someone using a brush could simply start rolling along, running so quickly.
"Booyah!" The purple-haired inkling pumped a fist as the inkling the video focused on ambushed another inkling. Her target let out a screech as he quickly met his demise. Quickly, the girl in the video ran away, and hid again. The rest of the video was pretty predictable—the girl kept ambushing other squids, and soon enough, her team won. All in the while, Perry had a big smile on his face.
Now I gotta get some money! he deduced. He closed his laptop, jumped off his bed, and rushed out of his room. He ran down the stairs, calling for his father. He found him at a coffee table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper.
"Dad!" Perry called. "I need some money!"
His dad put the newspaper down and wiped the coffee off his beard. "How much?" he asked.
"I dunno, how much is an Inkbrush?"
The older inkling raised an eyebrow, but then he replied, "…I'll just give you one of my debit cards." He pulled a wallet out of his pocket, then pulling out a silver card out of it. "This should have about 500,000G worth of cash left on it. The PIN's 2019."
"K, thanks." The inkling with the king flip mesh swiped the debit card out of his father's hand and started marching towards the door. "See ya later."
"No problem. And, have a nice day!"
He didn't reply to that statement. Once he stepped outside of the mansion, he called for a taxi to take him to downtown Inkopolis. One came, and he used his own money, the money in his wallet, to pay for it. Some time passed, and the taxi dropped him off closer to the square. The driver said she couldn't take him any farther, to his dismay. Regardless, Perry strode through the streets of the city, all in pursuit of Inkopolis Square.
By noon, he arrived at the square, the sun high in the sky. He looked around. None of his other friends were here, it seemed. He shrugged. He'll find them later. Right now, he wanted to buy his very own Inkbrush. Immediately, Perry dashed into Ammo Knights.
"Hey, Sheldon, where are ya?" he called as soon as he step foot into the shop. "I'm lookin' for a weapon, here!"
"Coming!" Soon enough, the horseshoe crab came running out into the main area, his apron freshly stained with grease. "Sorry for the wait, I was working on a very special piece of tech for someone to use," he explained, adjusting his binoculars. Then, Sheldon greeted, "Hello! What are you looking for today?"
"An Inkbrush," the purple-haired inkling replied, standing tall.
"What kind? I have standard Inkbrushes, of course, but I do have a few extra Inkbrush Nouveaus and Permanent Inkbrushes in the back. I would need to modify their sets for you, though," Sheldon started. "The Inkbrush, by the way, is a super-light brush…" Perry did not bother to listen in on his explanations of each kind of Inkbrush. He found them boring. "…Sir? Are you still there?"
"Oh, oh, yeah," Perry muttered, shaking his head and wiping a little drool off of his chin. "I just wanna Inkbrush. A normal one, nothin' special or 'nything."
"Just an Inkbrush? Sounds fine by me," Sheldon said. "It costs only 2,600G! Yes, only 2,600G to give this lovely brush a home!"
"Do ya take debit?" asked Perry, pulling his dad's debit card out of his wallet.
"Of course! Not every inkling can afford to carry a lot of money around, you know," he responded. He then directed the pasty boy to the nearby POS system and tapped on the pad. "Slide your card through here, enter your PIN, and sign, and you'll be on your way with your brand new Inkbrush!"
"Sounds fresh." Perry completed the transaction, and Sheldon huddled over to the display rack. He took an Inkbrush off of it, and walked back over to him to give it to him.
"Thank you! I'm sure you'll give it a good home," the vender thanked.
"Don't worry." The purple-eyed inkling smirked. "It'll be under very good care." He took the Inkbrush and left the shop.
Holding it tightly, his eyes drifted towards the Deca Tower. That was where he would go next. He walked up to the entrance and leaned his new weapon against the wall. He pulled out his phone to see if anyone had texted him. Indeed, someone had. It was Yuri, asking him when he was going to record his next song. He replied that he didn't know and slipped the phone back into his pocket. He just wanted to have fun now.
The lobby was less active than he expected, but a healthy amount of inklings still flowed in and out the elevators leading to the arenas. Now, Perry had a decision to make. Did he want to just test out the Inkbrush in a normal turf war, or should he jump straight into a ranked battle? He stood there, his eyes moving back and forth between the two sections of the lobby. Soon enough, he found his legs dragging him towards the turf war elevators. He had made his decision.
He squeezed into a packed elevator, and quickly, it started to descend. None of the inklings seemed to know each other, as everyone just sort of stood there awkwardly. Perry wanted to break the silence, but he didn't know how. He could enthuse about his new Inkbrush, but no one at all held a brush in their hands. Perhaps it was for the best; he would forget about them as soon as he left. Soon enough, the floor opened beneath them to reveal the familiar grate, and the purple-haired inkling slipped through it as a squid.
A few moments later, he emerged from a pool of ink, a ship deck sprawled out in front of him. He felt nausea creep up on him. He hated any type of boat with a burning passion. It all started years ago, when he threw up on the deck of the family yacht. Later, he grew to hate seaside trips more and more, as he got seasick every single time. Now, his family never go on them. It was for the best, anyways.
"The Manta Maria?" the inkling next to him gasped. She had her hair tied into a bun, much like Bonnie's, and was clasping a Splash-o-matic in her hands. "I love this stage!"
Wish I could say the same thing, Perry commented silently. Though he had only played on this stage a few times, he still loathed it.
The clock started ticking as yellow ink started to fly all around his team. Clenching the Inkbrush, the inkling wearing the king flip mesh put the bristles to the ground and started running towards the center. He smirked. He could do this for sure! The sooner they claimed the center, the better. Within a few seconds, he reached his destination and started swinging his Inkbrush back and forth. Satisfaction bubbled in his chest as his color of ink covered the deck. He would paint the ship red…except it would be yellow instead.
Globs of deep violet ink started to push their way towards the center mast, so Perry decided to run towards the attacker. He could ambush them, just like in the videos. He jumped up to a raised platform and stuck a tongue out at the newcomer. This inkling had a black FireFry bandana tied around his head, making his slick-backed tentacles pop out more. He held a .52 Gal in his hands and, with a scowl on his face, tried to shoot Perry upon his taunt. Alarmed, the inkling with spiky bangs covering his face jumped out of the way and inked a path for him to hide in. Another inkling with a ponytail pushed past that inkling and started firing his Splattershot Jr.
"Not good," Perry muttered. He threw his brush to the ground again and started running away from them. Bullets of ink aimed at him as he ran, and the other two inklings pushed into the center of the ship. He climbed onto a wall and looked around. Where are the 'ther squids?
"Charrggeee!" someone suddenly screamed. An inkling wielding a simple blaster started pushing towards the enemy's turf, with the other inklings diving out of the way of her wrath. The inkling wielding the Splash-o-matic followed her, inking the territory left behind. The girl with the blaster managed to splat the boy with the .52 Gal, while the one with the Splattershot Jr. simply ran away. Seeing this as his chance, he started racing after the fleeing inkling, going deeper and deeper into enemy territory. He stopped when the enemy submerged into the ink, leaving no trace of his whereabouts. He swore and started to ink the surrounding area.
Suddenly, he had an idea. Swinging his Inkbrush to slowly create a path, he arrived at the opposite side of the ship, and looked around. It appeared that no one was around. Snickering, he started to draw something inappropriate on their turf. They'll really get a kick out of this! Once his job was done, he started swimming back to the center mast. However, he had to reemerge from the ink when he encountered an obstacle—more deep purple ink. He was about to wipe it away when a different inkling emerged from it. She lifted her Dynamo Roller, winding it up to prepare for an all-out attack. Frantically, Perry swung his Inkbrush back and forth to try to take her down. Before he could, she swung the roller down, squishing him.
A few seconds later, Perry was back at the spawn. Yellow ink covered their side of the ship, making him smile. He swam up to a wall and drew a smiley face on it. It was much less mundane, but at least it would be his team that would be seeing it. He gasped when he noticed that someone was standing on the wall he had just painted on. Hearing this, the previously unknown inkling looked over her shoulder to look down at him. Afterwards, she continued charging up her E-liter 4K, focusing back on the main area. Perry stood there, dumbfounded, for a few seconds before he shook it off and continued to travel to the main area.
Back at the central mast, purple and yellow ink flew all over the place. The girl with the blaster continued her rampage, now shooting the enemy inkling with the Dynamo Roller down. While the girl with the E-liter 4K shot beams of ink across the area, another girl with Enperry Splat Dualies continuously rolled out of the way. Perry looked over at his teammate. Her determined grey gaze focused on the girl with the dualies. Something about her made a blush creep up his face. Maybe if he could splat her target, he could impress her. With his mind made up, he slipped into the ink and swam over to the girl with the dualies.
She, who had a hair clip attached to her long hair, also inked the turf around her as she rolled around as fast as she could. Perry had to fall back a few times as the purple ink inhibited him. Soon enough, she ran out of ink and slipped into it to retreat. Ripples marked her movements, and the purple-eyed inkling followed her as far as he could. When he could not go forward anymore, he reemerged from the ink and chased after her with the bristles down to the ground. They arrived at the place where he had vandalized enemy turf, and the girl with the Enperry Splat Dualies gasped as soon as she reemerged.
"Who did that?!" she demanded, pointing to the inappropriate drawing.
"I did." The girl jumped and turned around to face Perry, but all he did was smack her with her brush, and she splatted within an instant. "Booyah…" he whispered, and then he ran away from the scene.
The girl with the Splash-o-matic came into the corridor, inking the purple ink with her own yellow ink. She looked at Perry and waved, and then moved on back into enemy territory. The inkling with the king flip mesh shrugged and followed her back. He walked up next to her, noticing that she became paralyzed at the sight of his drawing.
"Uh… You OK?" he asked. "We kinda have to… ya know. Ink turf." He, too, froze when she disappeared in a puff of yellow smoke. He shook off the shock and started to ink around his drawing. He did not want to ruin it, after all! Even though it was chipped with purple ink at the edges. As he circled in, a rain of violet ink suddenly came down on him. He squeaked and fell to the ground, the Inkbrush being knocked out of his hands. "No!" He rolled over to the brush to grab it, when a glob of purple ink struck him from behind, and he exploded into yellow ink.
He respawned, and soon enough, another inkling respawned alongside him. It was the girl with the blaster. If she was splatted, then the only logical conclusion he had was that the others were in trouble. Immediately, he swam through the ink as fast as he could. Superjumping was not really an option here, as he did not know if it was safe. Perry climbed up onto a platform, and suddenly, he had an idea. What if he climbed up on the center mast? He through a Splat Bomb towards the ground, hoping to create both a distraction and a path. It exploded, and the purple-eyed inkling leaped into the ink. He splatted a path onto the mast and began to climb up it.
Once he was on the grate that circled around the mast, he decided to draw another inappropriate image on the wood. He did so, and once again, he threw another bomb at the ground. As soon as it was deployed, Perry looked around. Purple started to spread across the land, probably as a result from one of his own team disappearing. He looked down at the ground. The girl with the Dynamo Roller moved around slowly, inking the turf in front of her with every step. The boy with the Splattershot Jr. helped ink it as well, using its firing rate to his advantage. The inkling with the .52 Gal, on the other hand, was walking towards Perry's team's side of the boat. He sighed. There was nothing he could do from above. If only he had his Sloshing Machine with him…
The inkling with the king flip mesh walked across the bridge to his side of the land and watched as the enemy team advanced. He then saw yellow rings of ink shoot towards them, exploding after a short distance. He turned around to see the girl with the blaster shoot at them, though it would be in vain. The boy with the Splattershot Jr. appeared from behind his teammate and started shooting at her. Quickly, she exploded into purple ink. Some of it splatted onto Perry's hoodie, and he had to wipe it off. He inked the platform he was on and hid in it, hoping that they would not notice him.
Suddenly, the boy with the .52 Gal threw a point sensor at the platform he was on, and a purple arrow began to circle around him. With his position revealed, he swam towards the grate to give him more time before they would arrive to splat him. As soon as he slid through it, he reformed and started swinging his brush to ink the ground beneath him. He hid in it for a second or two to recharge the lost ink, and then he emerged to continue inking. He drew a larger version of the image he drew on the mast beforehand, though. Just to taunt the enemies.
He heard another groan, and Perry turned around to see the girl with the Enperry Splat Dualies again, growling at his piece of art. She started painting over it, and then she made her way over to Perry. Realizing her intent, he started swiping his brush around, backing away from the ripples that became closer and closer to him. Then, he was ran over by a Dynamo Roller. Again?!
When he respawned, he saw deep violet spreading across their side of the ship, inching closer and closer. The girl with the blaster continued to fire it, albeit with little success. The girl with the E-liter 4K stood on a smaller mast, aiming the beam at the inklings below. Without much hesitation, Perry superjumped to the girl with the charger. Noticing, she stepped out of the way to allow him to land.
When he landed, he slipped down below the grate. "Here we go!" He started swinging it wildly, hoping to hit someone. Inking was not his concern here—it was splatting. Some globs of ink flew past him, and he looked around for the source. Suddenly, the boy with the Splattershot Jr. made himself visible once again. Perry charged towards him, and he swung it as hard as he could at him. He started swinging back and worth, ignoring the ink hitting his hoodie right now. Soon enough, the two splatted at the same time. By the time he respawned, a whistle blew. The game had ended.
"I can't believe it!" the girl with the blaster cried. She slumped against the railing of the platform the spawning point was on. "We were doing so good, and then we lost!"
"It be that way sometimes," Perry commented, walking up to her. "Ya win some, ya lose some. That's what they say, right?"
"He's right," a new voice agreed. Turning behind him, he saw the pretty inkling with the E-liter 4K. She stood it up, its tank against the yellow ground. "Doesn't matter if we lose. We'll just play another round."
"It wouldn't have happened if the other girl didn't disappear!" the girl with the bun argued. "She was so fresh, we could have won with her!"
"Well, there's nothing we can do now," the other girl said. She had rather straight hair, with the ends of the tentacles cut off. Her cycling cap shaded her eyes ever-so-slightly. "We just have to wait for the Judds now."
As soon as she said that, Judd and Lil' Judd arrived, hopping onto the mast on Perry's team. Everyone looked up at them, anticipating the results. The cats danced for a little bit, and Lil' Judd struck out a purple flag, while Judd fell on his back. No one was surprised; the purple team had dominated the match. Without saying another word, all of the inklings superjumped back to the Deca Tower.
When they arrived back in Inkopolis, they appeared in the dark room that detailed the match more. The map on the screen flashed, showing the crushing defeat Perry's team had. The inkling with spiky bangs looked over at the enemy team. They all high-fived each other. The inkling who had the charger crossed her arms and scowled at them. The girl who had the blaster walked over to the screen and pressed it, showing the stats of each player in depth. To Perry's dismay, he had not inked as much turf as he hoped.
"You know…" the girl with the Dynamo Roller started, walking over to him. "Despite the fact that you aren't that good, you actually did pretty decent."
"Thanks," Perry replied. He smiled. All those Inkbrush highlight videos really paid off.
"I'll admit, jumping into the ring to splat the girl with the dualies was pretty brave," the inkling with the E-liter 4K commented. The purple-eyed inkling felt his heart skip a beat, and he melted into an even bigger smile, heat creeping up his face once again.
"Even though you drew… that," the girl with the Enperry Splat Dualies added, bitterness ringing her voice.
"What… Oh, dear cod," the girl with the blaster realized, facepalming. "You drew those? That's gonna get you a suspension, you know." Her fingers parted to reveal a single red eye.
"Come on, just let me have fun," Perry protested. "Can't do that with a slosher, ya know."
"You use sloshers?!" the boy with the Splattershot Jr. marveled. "Dude, that's so fresh! I can't do anything with them!"
"Well, I specifically use the Sloshing Machine most of the time," the purple-eyed inkling clarified. "It's heavier than just a plain ol' Slosher, but it packs a punch!"
"That's even fresher!" the ponytailed boy enthused, his eyes sparkling with wonder.
"Yeah, yeah." He looked at his Inkbrush. "But I like this, too."
"Well, whatever," the girl with the E-liter 4K muttered. "I'm leaving."
Perry's eyes widened at her statement, and as she left to enter the main lobby, he chased after her. "Wait!"
She stopped and turned around to look at him. "What?"
"Umm… What's your name?" Perry gave an awkward, toothy smile.
"Lori," she replied. She crossed her arms again, her grey eyes staring down at him. "You?"
"P-Perry," he stuttered.
She held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."
He took it and shook it. "N-Nice to meet ya too." After the handshake, he just kind of stood there, fidgeting with the Inkbrush. "Can I… umm…" He looked up at Lori. Why did she have to be so tall? "Have your number?"
"Sure." She took a teal phone out of her pocket and displayed her phone number on the screen. Perry pulled out his and entered the phone number into his contacts. He sent her a quick text, and a message appeared on the screen of Lori's phone.
"Oh, that's me," Perry clarified. "Ya see, that's my number up there."
"I see." She slipped the phone back into her pocket. "I guess I'll be seeing you."
"Be seeing ya too." The two inklings went their separate ways, and Perry decided to head over to the interface that held the Rainbow Squids' weapons. There, however, he saw a familiar short, orange-haired inkling.
"Alexis?" he queried.
The inkling turned around, confirming his suspicions. "Hey Perry," she greeted. "Looking yellow today, I see."
"Don't worry, I'll change it back to purple," he said, smiling. "Yellow's a one-time thing."
Her eyes drifted to the weapon Perry was holding. "Why do you have an Inkbrush?"
"I bought it, duh."
"And you used it?"
"Yeah. Why else would I buy one?"
"You don't see me using a Splattershot, now do you?"
There was a pause, and the two inklings burst out into laughter. "Ha, that's true," Perry agreed. "But anyways, I met a hot girl today."
"Pearl?"
"Not Pearl. Her name's Lori." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pointed at it. "I got her number and everything!"
"…I guess that's fresh," Alexis admitted. "I'm guessing you wanna get in here?"
"Yeah, I wanna use my Sloshing Machine again."
"If you say so." The young inkling activated the interface, and the floor tile lit up, sliding to reveal the passage down below. The two headed down to the storage room. Perry found his Sloshing Machine and set the Inkbrush down on the ground. He heaved the Sloshing Machine up the stairs while Alexis followed him up with her Splat Dualies in hand.
"Since you're here… wanna play a ranked battle?" Alexis asked.
"What is it right now?"
"Splat Zones."
"I'm down for it." The two looked at each other and nodded. "Now, let's go."
"Right!"
The two friends bounded towards the ranked section of the lobby, all in anticipation for the next battle.
A/N: Here it is! Chapter 7, and now we have seen each Rainbow Squids' PoV once (except Geneva, but she's on vacation)! If you didn't guess, next chapter will be in Roy's PoV. Hope you liked this chapter, and Branchwing, out!