Octavia's PoV
"Woo!" Octavia cheered. "Only one more match before I can scrub this gear!"
"How you scrub the gear?" Yvonne asked her. By chance, the octoling ended up in her lobby, and the two ended up fighting against each other in the last match. Via ended up winning, but Yvonne did not seem fazed from the defeat.
"Oh, I don't scrub the gear myself," she replied. "I got to Murch for that."
"Murch?" Her head tilted in confusion.
"Yeah, that sea urchin that sits outside the tower," she elaborated. "For being a kid, he's surprisingly good at what he does."
"Ooh, sound fresh!" Her yellow eyes sparkled with a newfound determination. "Thank you, Via! I be check out now!" She started to walk out of the elevator when she bumped into a fair-skinned inkling wielding a Carbon Roller entering the room. "Sorry!" she apologized.
"Don't be," he said, adjusting his red-tinted shades. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
"But Vigilante..." muttered a feminine voice behind him. A girl with short, indigo hair, fair skin, and red eyes popped out from behind him. "It's not your fault she didn't see you."
"Hey!" Yvonne complained, lowering her Hydra Splatling. Suddenly, she then cried out, "Wait, the Vigilante?!"
"Yeah, that's me," confirmed the inkling boy. "I'm just not wearing my normal stuff; that's all." Indeed, he was not wearing the hero costume shown in pictures. Instead, he wore, along with his tinted shades, a black anchor tee and the N-Pacer Ag.
"He's my boyfriend," proclaimed the other girl, wrapping her arms around one of his. "So he's not interested!"
"I was no interest in the Vigilante," the dark-skinned octoling pointed out. "I no trust him, actually."
"Why not? I'm trustworthy," he argued.
"That's what you say," the wavy-haired inkling mumbled. Louder, she asked, "Where's that roller you carry, then? All I see is a Carbon Roller."
"It's not approved for turf wars," he explained, "so I'm just using a Carbon Roller instead."
"I see..."
"I thinked you are the Vigilante!" Yvonne said in a bubbly tone, though her word choice suggested she felt otherwise. "You suppose to be the superfresh!"
"Even I am bound by the law of turf wars," he lamented. "As much as I would love to bring my superfresh roller here, I can't here."
Suddenly, a female voice chirped behind them, "Wait, is that the Vigilante?"
Octavia turned around to look at the source of the new voice—a girl about a year younger than her, with long yellow hair and medium-toned skin. "Yeah, you didn't see him walk in?" It took a few moments for her to remember that she had been on her team in the last match.
"But he looks so different from the pictures," the girl noted. "He's usually wearing a hero costume, and now, he's not. He was so much hotter, too..."
The boy's girlfriend must had heard her comment, as she immediately stepped up to her and put a finger on her nose. "Look, he's my boyfriend, and he's perfect just the way he is!"
"Shh..." The Vigilante wrapped an arm around her and pulled her back towards him, into a hug. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He planted a kiss on her head.
"How long have you two been dating?" asked another boy, one with purple hair styled into a sidecut and dark skin.
"Since last night," replied the girlfriend, putting a fair hand on her cheek. "I walked up to him, we stared at each other for a few moments, and then he asked if we could date. And I said yes, of course!"
As they conversed, the elevator door shut behind the couple, causing Yvonne to groan and grumble something in Octarian. The room began to descend further and further, until eventually, a grate opened up beneath them.
"Good luck," wished the Vigilante. He lowered his shades slightly, giving a wink before pushing them back up the bridge of his nose. Everyone proceeded to turn into a squid—an octopus in Yvonne's case—and swim towards their next destination. Soon, Octavia formed on top of a spawn point, and she found herself facing a skyline, decorated by the numerous advertisements and signs that populated Inkopolis. Moray Towers.
It wasn't long before everyone started racing off the platform. It turned out the Vigilante ended up on her team, as he immediately put his Carbon Roller to the ground and started pushing it down the ramp, leaving a trail of orange ink behind him. His girlfriend jumped off the spawn point as well, turning into a squid and following him via the trail he left behind. Octavia, meanwhile, started heading down towards the center of the stage, with someone else not too far behind.
"Yvonne!" she gasped upon reaching the level just above the lowest point of the stage. The dark-skinned octoling had started to charge up her Hydra Splatling as soon as she emerged, a determined smile on her face.
"I am Yvonne, right!" she confirmed. "I on your team."
"I see that." She smirked. "Your hair's orange."
"And my hat?" She bowed her head, bringing attention to her camping hat.
"It's also orange."
"Exactly!" The girl with pigtails let go of the charge on her splatling, and a flurry of bullets flew out of it, raining down on the ground. The boy with dark skin and a sidecut dodge-rolled across the area, successfully avoiding the barrage of orange ink. He tossed a point sensor at them, causing a black arrow to swirl around the two girls.
"Sorry Yvonne; it's up to you now." Via put the bristles of her Octobrush Nouveau to the ground and started running down the ramp, taking a sharp turn towards the inkling boy at the bottom of it. However, with the point sensor marking her, he easily saw her coming. He shifted his attention from Yvonne to Octavia and pointed one of his Dualie Squelchers at her.
"Bold," he remarked. "I like that." The two started running towards each other, weapons in hand. Before the wavy-haired girl could swing her brush, he started firing, stopping her in her tracks and quickly splatting her. Just after her demise, an autobomb walked up behind him and exploded, splatting him as well.
Upon respawning, Via super-jumped to Yvonne and jumped right back down to the fray. Yet, no one was down there. The middle was almost completely orange, with specks of indigo ink dotting the area. The Vigilante was pushing his roller up a ramp, while his girlfriend ran behind him, holding a Splatterscope. The bronze-skinned inkling shrugged and placed a squid beakon near the ramp going up towards her team's base before following the other inklings.
As they headed up the ramps, a splat bomb suddenly dropped down on them. The group scattered in an attempt to avoid the bomb. Luckily, none of them splatted, though some indigo ink had splattered onto their clothes. The short-haired inkling looked up to the source of the bomb: an inkling girl with wavy hair and pale skin, carrying a Gold Dynamo Roller. She giggled and began to raise her roller, when suddenly, an orange beam pierced through her chest, splatting her with a scream.
"See that, Vigilante?" the Vigilante's girlfriend bragged. "I splatted her, just like that!"
"I did." He smiled. "Good job." He looked over at the ramp they were about to go up. "Let's keep going."
"Right!"
They continued running up the enemy tower, splatting anyone that came their way. Via even stopped to place another beakon along the way. Soon, they were at the platform just below the spawn point, with the short-haired girl splatting anyone who dared jump off it.
Yvonne caught up with them and asked, "This... I like no."
"Why not?" asked Octavia. "We're winning."
"It not fair. We splat the inklings when they spawn. There a word for it. But I no do know what."
"...Spawn-camping?"
"Yes, spawn-camping."
"Eh, it's not a big deal."
"I think it a big deal." She frowned. "I will pull back."
"Huh?" The wavy-haired inkling lowered her brush. "Yvonne-" Before she could finish her sentence, the dark-skinned octoling had already turned into an octopus, and a second or two later, she was flying down to the middle of the map, leaving a trail of orange ink behind her. "Ugh. She can be an idiot sometimes," she muttered to herself. "Can't she see this is working?"
"Ha ha!" the Vigilante's girlfriend laughed. "This is so much fun!" She sniped the enemies one at a time, with the boy with the ponytail finishing off as needed. Eventually, one slipped past them, dropping down to the level below.
"Hey, V-you," he started, turning to face Octavia. "Could you get that squid?" He paused. "Please?"
"Sure." She submerged herself in the ink and started swimming down the ramps in search for the runaway inkling. When she arrived at the next level, she quickly learned that the other team had slipped by their defenses... multiple times. The mostly-orange ground was streaked with indigo, all heading down towards the middle. "What...?" She looked over at her team's tower. Yvonne threw something, presumably an autobomb, before falling into the abyss and poofing into orange smoke. Standing where she once stood was another inkling with beige skin. He ran behind a box before making his way up the ramp, one powerful shot at a time. "I have to stop him!"
Octavia super-jumped to her used squid beakon and replaced it upon landing. From there, she pulled out the Tenta Missiles launcher and locked on to her target. With the press of a button, she fired some missiles and proceeded to run up the ramps with the bristles of her Octobrush Nouveau to the ground. Eventually, she encountered the beige-skinned boy, who was firing his Tenta Brella as fast as he can. Maybe I can try an ambush? She continued running, eventually coming face-to-face with his back. She started to swing her brush back and forth, hitting him in the back. He let out a surprised cry and turned around, but it was too late. He had splatted.
"Booyah!" she cheered. It was then the Vigilante dropped down to him. He scanned the area and frowned.
"They really did slip past our defenses," he noted, putting a hand on his chin. "Well, no matter." He held up his Carbon Roller, much like if he was holding up a sword, triumphantly. "As the Vigilante, I'll stop any no-do-gooders from getting in our way!" He turned into a squid and swam off.
"Wait for me!" his girlfriend called, swimming after him.
The bronze-skinned girl was about to follow them, when she remembered she had placed a squid beakon in the enemy base. She super-jumped over to it, only to be met by the boy with the Dualie Squelchers. She splatted instantly. Octavia respawned, jumped off the spawn point, and surveyed the area. Ever since their team had been taken out, the map was quite even. She heard the machine activate behind her, and she looked over her shoulder to see the boy with the ponytail respawn, shaking some orange ink off of him once he reformed. He started to swim back towards the middle.
"Wait, Vigilante!" she called. He reformed into a kid on top of the box and looked up at Octavia. "How much time do we have left?"
"Umm... I dunno." He shrugged. "Like, a minute thirty?"
"A minute thirty." She clapped. "That's more than enough time!" She and the Vigilante continued to swim down towards the middle, where there would certainly be someone waiting. A point sensor fell down on them, marking them both with the swirling black marker. The girl with medium skin and long hair from earlier dropped down on them, holding a Sploosh-o-matic in her hands. She pulled out a curling bomb and began to cook it, in which she proceeded to drop the bomb on the ground. It travelled a few inches before exploding in indigo ink. The two inklings fell back, and the boy with the ponytail lifted his Carbon Roller for a vertical swing. He scored a direct hit on her, splatting her instantly.
"Booyah!" they both cheered. They began running up the ramps again, and by the time they got up to the next level, they were met with the boy with the Tenta Brella again. He brought up the durable canopy, protecting him from enemy fire. The Vigilante submerged in the ink for a little bit before emerging and throwing out an autobomb at him. It did a little hop before waddling towards the Tenta Brella user, which forced him to drop to the level below, where he was splatted by a charged shot. On the other side, his girlfriend looked over at them and gave a thumbs-up.
"K, let's keep goin'," he commanded. The two continued running up the ramps, when a giant wave of ink suddenly crashed down on them both, splatting them. Upon respawning, they proceeded to super-jump—Octavia to Yvonne, the Vigilante to his girlfriend. They jumped back down, ready to fight again. So much ink flew across the battlefield, keeping the middle area contested. A minute passed, and a whistle blew, stopping them in their tracks.
"Did we win?" the girl with short hair asked.
"I don't know," Via admitted. "It looks pretty even."
Judd and Li'l Judd arrived on the bump in the road, surveying the area. They did a dance before the smaller cat struck out an indigo-colored flag, marking the other team as the winner.
"Bullhead!" Yvonne cried. "I thinked we would be the winning!"
"What happened, happened," the Vigilante said. "We'll win again next time!" He looked down at his girlfriend. "Right?"
"Right!" She leaped into his arms, and the two hugged.
"Aww... how sweet," Octavia beamed.
Everyone proceeded to super-jump back to Deca Tower, where they would view the statistics of the battle.
"Woo!" the long-haired girl cheered. "We won by 0.1%!"
"We losed by a 0.1%." the dark-skinned octoling echoed.
"Anyways, Imma head out." The bronze-skinned inkling started walking out of the lobby. "See ya!"
"Be waiting for me!" Yvonne called. "I am the leaving, too!"
The Vigilante chuckled. "Alright. But if you need a guy, y'know who to call."
A/N: It's hard to believe we're halfway through May not, isn't it? Anyways, here's a turf war chapter for ya! It's been a while since we've done one that's not a Splatfest. There's not much to see in this chapter, but prepare yourselves for next week - there's a ton of important information in the next chapter, specifically pertaining to two specific characters... Who? Wait until next week to find out! Until then, Branchwing, out!