Inigo's PoV

"Hey," greeted Inigo, smirking. Leaning against the wall of the lobby, he rested one arm on his Carbon Roller, its wheel touching the ground. "Are you a siren?" He snapped his fingers. "Because you just serenaded me."

"Ew, gross," muttered the girl he was talking to. She crossed her arms and walked away.

The indigo-haired boy simply sighed. "Have I lost my touch?" he asked himself. Slouching, he walked towards the exit of the Deca Tower, his roller trailing behind him. He was about to step outside when he heard something beat against the concrete. Grey skies sprawled out in the distance, and water dripped off of metal surfaces. Oh, he realized. It's raining.

He sat down on a free bench inside the lobby and pulled out his phone. It had been one week since Callie returned, and now, everyone was talking about the Squid Sisters' new song, Fresh Start, that was released today. Inigo hadn't had a chance to listen to it, so he figured now would be a good time. He put in his earbuds and started playing the audio released—it lacked a music video as of now. He leaned back against the metal wall and hummed along to the song.

When the song finished, he immediately added it to his Bubblify list. That was sooo fresh! he said to himself. Inigo proceeded to make a post about it on Squidsagram, and after he finished, he noticed someone new standing in front of him. A pale-skinned inkling quite a few years older than him looked down at him with dark, almost black, eyes. Her long hair was colored red, and she wore a simple white sweater, black pants, and punk yellows. She closed a red, blue, and yellow umbrella and set it to the side.

"Hi, umm... do you need anything?" he asked the lady.

"I think the question is, do you need anything?" she asked back.

"Why do you ask?"

"You don't look happy."

"Well, one, it's raining, and two, I've been having love troubles."

"Love troubles?" A smile danced across her lips. "I can help with that."

He gasped. "You can?!"

"Oh, yeah. I'm a certified love expert." She pulled out her phone and showed Inigo a picture of her next to a certificate. "See?"

The boy with the ponytail examined it. "Tiffany Teuthis," he read. "That's your name?"

"Mhm." She put her phone away. "So, want help?"

"Yeah!" he replied cheerfully. Maybe if this lady helps me get a girlfriend, I can finally move on from Geneva! He leaped up from the bench and pumped a fist. "What first?"

"Well, describe your love troubles first." For a few moments, he hesitated. Should he really be telling a stranger something so personal? "Well?" Tiffany asked again.

He gulped. "O-Over a year ago my girlfriend broke up with me." He gripped the handle of his Carbon Roller a little tighter. "So, I've been flirting with other squids to try to get a another one and move on, but it hasn't been working." Fable doesn't count, he added silently. Though the girl clearly liked him, he saw her only as a friend. He couldn't see them getting together any time soon.

"I see. Could you show me an example?"

"An example? Of my flirting?" The red-haired lady nodded. "Well..." He scanned the lobby for a little bit and saw a girl with yellow hair styled into a double bun. Throwing his roller over his shoulder, he approached her and cleared his throat. The girl turned around and sighed at the sight of him. "I could stare at you for hours because you're so beautiful."

"That's creepy," she commented before walking away from him.

Inigo frowned and turned back towards Tiffany. "See?"

"Hmm... The problem is that you use pick-up lines. Sometimes words don't speak to people," she informed him.

"Really?" He couldn't believe his ears. Geneva liked his pick-up lines, but it seemed strange that no one else liked them. "What else could I do?"

"Ever heard the saying, 'actions speak louder than words?'" she started. "You need to do something romantic, not just say it."

"How would I do that?"

"How about when someone falls, you swoop in and grab them. Maybe gaze at them lovingly as well."

Inigo looked towards the exit of Deca Tower, only to find it was still raining. "That might take a while."

"Or will it?" Tiffany sat down on the bench and stretched out her legs, crossing them. An inkling girl started walking towards the exit when she tripped over the lady. Alarmed, the indigo-haired boy dropped his Carbon Roller and ran towards her and wrapped a hand around her waist before she could fall flat on her face. The girl let out a small gasp and turned to face him. Inigo smiled and try to display the most loving gaze possible.

"Uh..." She turned to a squid and slipped out of the fair-skinned boy's arms before reforming in front of him. "Thanks for saving me, but before you ask, I have a boyfriend already."

Inigo groaned and picked up his roller. "And nothing will change that?"

She shook her head. "I love him too much to let him go for a stranger."

"Aw..."

After the girl left, Tiffany cleared her throat, and the boy returned his attention to her. "Maybe the problem is something else?"

"Something else?" he questioned.

"Yeah. Maybe you're not fresh enough—some people do have high standards, after all."

"Wha- I'm S rank, and I'd been level 50 for almost two years before they raised the max last fall. How is that not fresh enough?!"

"Woah, you're superfresh," the red-haired lady complimented. "If it's not because you're not fresh enough, then maybe it's your looks?"

"My... looks?"

"Yeah. You look like a squid someone could beat up for lunch money with that outfit. Girls want someone that can protect them, not a weakling. The vocal dissonance doesn't help."

"I main the Carbon Roller, though. I could totally protect someone!"

"They won't know that at first glance, would they?"

"No."

"Exactly. So, we need to make you seem more attractive."

"How?"

"Girls also like bad boys. For whatever reason, they seem fresher and hotter than the average nice guy, even if the bad boy's super skinny and the nice guy's buff."

"So, you're saying I need to dress like a bad boy?"

"Yeah! What clothes come to mind when I say that?"

"Hmm... Leather jackets, satin jackets, pretty much anything by Annaki, punk boots, masks..."

"Alright! How about you wear some of that gear, and tomorrow, you can tell me what happened!"

"I'll try it." Inigo pulled out his phone and showed the lady a screen with his phone number on it. "This is so we can stay in touch," he explained, winking.

"Great." Tiffany put his phone number into her phone and stood up. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"You, too!"

The next day at school, Inigo walked in wearing a Forge mask, a rockin' leather jacket, and punk whites. He even put on some leggings instead of his usual shorts this time. He stood in the middle of the hallway and crossed his arms, his indigo eyes scanning the area. He got a few odd looks as people passed by him, but not much else. Soon, Roy approached him, bewildered.

"Inigo, what are you wearing?" he asked.

"Some 'bad boy' clothes," he replied. "It was recommended by a certified love expert."

"A certified love expert? Those exist?" the red-haired boy perplexed.

"Yeah." He pulled up the picture of Tiffany posing next to her certificate and showed it to his friend. "See?"

"Interesting..." He straightened and looked into Inigo's eyes with his red ones. "So, what plan did you come up with?"

"Well, my love expert said if I looked like a bad boy, people would find me more attractive, so I'm gonna try it and see what happens," the boy with the ponytail replied.

"Well, good luck," Roy told him. "Tell me if it works."

"Don't worry, I will."

Inigo strolled up to a group of inkling girls and put one hand on the wall and the other on his hip. "Hey, ladies."

The girls turned around to face him. "Inigo?" one of them muttered. Even more of them giggled at his outfit.

Turning his attention to the girl that said his name, he purred, "You are the light of my life, Molly. We could be together forever."

"Actually, you're my sleep paralysis demon. Goodbye." Molly walked away, and the rest of the girls followed her. Inigo felt a little disheartened by the failed attempt, but it was only his first try—he still had the whole day to go!

The indigo-haired inkling next approached a girl sitting on the ground, drawing something in a notebook. "Hey," he greeted, placing a hand on the wall again. The girl looked up at him. "I bet that drawing is a masterpiece, but do you know what else is a masterpiece? You." He finished his pick-up line with a wink. The inkling girl's only response was to scream and run off. "Oh..." he mumbled, shaking his head. No matter. I'll just try again! Inigo scanned the hallway again and spotted a girl wearing a black inky rider. Maybe a bad girl would like a bad boy.

He strolled up to her, moonwalking in front of her to make sure he got her attention. "Hey there," he greeted her.

The girl's pink eyes scanned him, and she asked, "Don't you usually wear a sailor outfit?"

"Yes, but that's not important—I'm a new me, with a new outfit to go with it. So, what do you say? Shall we go bike-riding into the sunset together?"

The girl stifled a laugh. "I don't ride bikes, and I'm certainly not interested in you." Inigo stopped and slouched over with a groan. She gave him a pat on the head before passing him.

This isn't going too well...

After school, Inigo found Tiffany standing outside of the Deca Tower. Immediately on seeing her, he ran up to her, calling her name.

"Tiffany, Tiffany!" he called. "This didn't work!"

"It didn't?" the red-haired lady blurted.

He nodded. "It went horribly, in fact!"

"Hmm... If even that didn't work, then I have one final idea."

"Please tell me, I'm desperate at this point!"

Tiffany began walking into one of the alleyways. "Follow me." Nodding, the boy with the ponytail followed the woman into the dark alley. They stopped in front of a dumpster that was presumably behind some sort of office building. She turned around, her dark eyes looking into his indigo ones, and pulled out a fancy-looking Carbon Roller. "This is yours."

Inigo took the roller and set its wheel to the ground. "What about it?"

"It has the speed of a Carbon Roller, but the power of a Splat Roller. With a fresh weapon like this, you're sure to impress any lady that comes your way," she explained. "But there's more." Leaning towards his ear, she began whispering her plan to the fair-skinned boy. "Think about it, boy. You could have everything. You'll no longer be treated like a joke. Ladies will kill to have you. Even better, you can have all the ladies you want. Nothing will get in your way. So, what do you say?"

"I..." Even to Inigo, her plan seemed a little extreme. If it failed, the consequences could be enormous. But, if anything, it's never to be indecisive. Go with the first choice, he reminded himself. And, to be honest, he quite liked this plan. Besides, the rewards were just too hard to resist.

"I'll do it."

A/N: You guessed it - we're heading into another arc. This one will span quite a few chapters. Now, I don't trust Tiffany... do you? Branchwing, out!