Roy's PoV
"C'mon, push!"
"Go, go, go!"
"Almost there!"
Roy carried the Rainmaker, running as fast as his legs could take him. An alarm sounded, marking that the match had gone into overtime. He was stopped in his tracks when a girl with a Splat Roller jumped out in front of him, determined to splat him. She raised her weapon, and before he knew it, pain shot through his body as he was crushed under the weight of red-orange ink. The alarm stopped. Roy's team had lost the match.
When Roy respawned, he threw his Luna Blaster to the ground, growling. Stupid! Why didn't anyone see her?
"Woah there, tiger shark," Perry tried to calm him down, sitting on the ledge of the box the goal for the Rainmaker stood on. "You're not gonna lose your rank."
"I know," he acknowledged, crossing his arms, "but when you lose five matches in a row, it stings like a manta ray." He shook his head. "Enough of that! Where were you?"
"The roller splatted me, duh," he replied. "I splatted the charger, then that girl snuck up on me."
"Bon-Bon didn't get her? Or Alexis?"
"Nah. Guess they got splatted, too."
"Well, if they did get splatted, they left long after you showed up."
The two boys sighed, slumping down. Roy picked his Luna Blaster back up and started toying with it. He pressed the trigger, but nothing came out—the match's end deactivated it. He made a small noise of dissatisfaction and lifted his head, looking out in the distance. He just knew Judd and Li'l Judd arrived, making their final jurisdiction on the match. He thought about standing up and walking over to see them, but it was foiled when he saw some turquoise and red-orange trails, streaking the blue sky.
"Let's go," he told Perry. "They're waitin' for us."
The two boys turned into squids and super-jumped back to the Deca Tower, where their statistics were shown. Pressing a button on the interface would show the map. The spread of ink was relatively even, though the Rainbow Squids' team had an edge on the red-orange team. Only making it more shameful that Roy and his friends lost.
"Wow, Roy," Bonnie marveled. "That's a lot of splats!"
The tan-skinned boy looked at his stats. Twenty-one splats. He smiled.
"Not bad," he muttered.
"Not bad?!" Alexis cried out. "Dude, that's the most splats out of everyone!"
"Nah, he's still salty that he lost," Perry snickered.
"Saltier than the sea, aren't you?" the girl with the Splat Roller remarked, a smile on her fair-skinned face.
"Shut up!" Roy snapped at her.
"Anyways, we're going," said one of the boys on the other team. A Firefin Splat Charger was slung over his broad shoulders. "See ya." The group left the lobby, allowing the Rainbow Squids to plan their next match. Their league power had now appeared, listed next to the weapons they had equipped.
"1651?!" Roy cried out. "That's not good at all!"
"I mean, it's better than I thought," Alexis tried to cheer him up, scratching the back of her head. "I mean, this is the first time I've done League with you squids. So, who am I to talk?"
"I think we can get higher," Bonnie remarked.
"Too bad you have that eye doctor appointment," Perry pointed out.
"Oh! I almost forgot about that." She ran out of the room. "Thanks for reminding me Perry! I don't wanna be late!"
"Great..." Roy groaned. "Our league power's gonna be reset."
"You and Alexis can do pairs," the pale-skinned boy suggested. "I gotta go to some fancy dinner party. Sucks, but I don't really have a choice."
"Not you too!" he whined.
"What? I told you before we started all of this..."
He sighed. "...Oh yeah. Have fun."
"Don't think I will, but OK." Picking up his Sloshing Machine, Perry started to exit the room. "Buh bye."
"Bye!" Alexis called, waving. After he was gone, it was only her and Roy in the room. "What now?" she asked, looking up at him.
He patted the short inkling's head. "I'll find some squids," he announced. "Just ya wait."
The tan-skinned boy poked his head out of the lobby door, examining the crowd of inklings in the Deca Tower. Many were gathering near the ranked and regular battle lobbies, and in comparison, there were notably less around the league battle lobbies. Not many of them looked particularly friendly.
"Roy!" someone then called. Startling him, Oscar and Yvonne had popped out in front of him, seemingly from behind the elevator. "You are doing the battles of league?" the former asked.
"Y-Yeah," he replied. "Wanna join us?"
Carp! Why did I say that? he immediately regretted.
The two octolings were taken aback, but soon enough, they nodded. "Yes," Yvonne agreed. "We are- were to go to do pairs, but we will do the team now."
"Great," Roy said. "Come on in." He stepped out of the way to let them enter. When Alexis saw them, she jumped, scrambling against the wall.
"Octa Prisma!" she cried out. "What are they doing here?!"
Oscar frowned. "You no want us?"
"No! I want you here!" the tan-skinned boy spoke up, throwing his arm out to block the exit. "Alexis's just grumpy, that's all!"
"It's fine," the short-haired inkling assured them. "I just didn't expect you."
"Let us pick weapons!" Yvonne announced, pointing a finger up in the air, putting her other hand on her hip. "I claim Hydra Splatling!"
"That is the weapon you use," the boy with the afro pointed out, crossing his arms, to the point where he was practically hugging himself.
"So, we're just using the weapons we've been using?" Alexis asked.
"Yeah," Roy confirmed, pulling out his Luna Blaster. "Yvonne's pretty fresh, from what I've seen. She'll keep us covered."
The dark-skinned girl's eyes lit up. "You think I am the fresh? Yay!" She giggled. "Many of the thank you!"
"Uh, you're welcome." Roy turned to the interface that showed their league power and weapons and pressed a button, confirming that they were ready. "Let's go."
"Alright." Alexis rolled one of her dualies in her hand. "We'll outperform ya," she boasted, looking over at the octolings. "Just you wait."
"You want to be beating us?" Yvonne teased, leaning on her splatling. "But we just want the fun!"
"Hmph." The short-haired inkling crossed her arms, nothing more said between them as the elevator continued to descend. Suddenly, the elevator stopped, and on the interface, it displayed that the group had been matched up with a team. Roy didn't recognize any of the names—in fact, the names displayed on the screen mostly comprised of symbols. He sighed and turned into a squid, sinking into the grate that had opened up beneath his feet.
Instead of Port Mackerel like the last match, they were now on the other stage in this rotation—Camp Triggerfish. Roy's second least favorite stage, next to Blackbelly Skatepark. Flags flew in the air, totem poles shot out of the ground, and the Rainmaker glowed golden from the bridge that connected the two parts of the map. Readying his Luna Blaster as soon as he transformed into a kid, Roy launched off of the map, swimming in the ink trail Oscar's Inkbrush was leaving behind. They quickly got to the middle of the map before the other team, destroying the barrier as well. Oscar grabbed it and began to charge up the powerful weapon, creating an explosion some feet in front of him. It also created a path for the octoling to swim in, though the glow marked his position. Before he could get far, however, someone shot him, splatting him in one it. Looking up at the walls, Roy saw an olive-skinned inkling with garden gear, aiming a Splat Charger at the floor. His turquoise eyes noticed him, and he swung around, charging up his charger once more.
Roy jumped out of the way of the shot, the blue ink brushing his side. He gripped his arm, and with that hand, he tried shooting up at him, jumping up to get more range. The charger-user stumbled backwards, falling into the area behind the wall. Using this chance, the tan-skinned boy swam ahead, scouting the area for opponents. However, he had to ink the area, forcing him to pop out and shoot ahead. What he didn't notice was someone approaching from behind him, slashing his back with a brush and splatting him.
When he respawned, he super-jumped to Yvonne, who was on the edge of the wall overlooking the bridge. Her hands were steady, spreading the ink across the area. Finally, he could see who attacked him earlier—a funny-looking inkling with light brown skin was running over to them, donning an oddly-colored Octobrush. Wait a second...
"Maya?" Yvonne muttered, tilting her head. She began to speak in a difference language, making her words unintelligible. Maya stopped running as well, throwing her Octobrush over her shoulder, speaking to the dark-skinned octoling in the same language. The two seemed to be docile for now, until Roy's teammate jumped off of the wall and used a Splashdown against their opponent, creating a vortex of yellow ink. A round ghost floated away where Maya had once stood, marking that she had splatted. She shrugged and started walking towards the exposed Rainmaker.
Before she could reach it, someone on the other team grabbed it, the inkling girl now running towards Yvonne with the Rainmaker. However, grabbing it did not seem to be Yvonne's intention, as she stopped anyways, blocking the girl from using the bridge. The barrels of her splatling were spinning as she prepared a charge, though she quickly released it, splatting the girl and freeing the Rainmaker from her grasps.
"What?" Roy gasped. "Hydra splatlings don't charge that quickly!" he exclaimed.
The girl with the pigtails looked over her shoulder and winked. "Partial charge," she explained.
"Oh, yeah..." he sighed.
Oscar sped by him again, running up to the Rainmaker. Unfortunately, the boy with the Splat Charger had appeared again, squinting. Yvonne cocked her head up, and she started charging up her splatling again. With one shot, the boy splatted Oscar, but a few seconds later, he was splatted by Yvonne herself. After he splatted, she directed the bullets to the Rainmaker's shield, blotting it with yellow before it exploded.
"I no do know why Oscar be stupid now," the dark-skinned octoling commented. "He usually smarter."
"Doesn't matter," Roy said, tightening his grip on his Luna Blaster. "We have a chance." He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled, grabbing Alexis's attention. She was on the bridge that dropped off into the other team's base. Some blue ink dripped off of her clothes. He pointed to the Rainmaker, in which she grabbed it. He swam up ahead, running up with incline leading to the goal. Oscar super-jumped to him, though it was rather clumsily, as he bumped into Roy, knocking the two of them over.
"Agh!" the inkling cried. "What-" He looked into Oscar's orange eyes, which were panicked.
He stood back up and began apologizing profusely. "Sorry! Sorry! Did not mean to knock you over! Nor get you mad!"
"I'm not mad," he grumbled, getting up as well. "You just surprised me."
"Oh..." The octoling with an afro relaxed, lowering his Inkbrush.
"What?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing," he muttered before running away towards the goal, cheeks red with embarrassment.
What was that about? he wondered. He recalled Yvonne's earlier statement. Does he...? He shook his head. I can't assume things. Roy ran down the incline, where ink was biting at Alexis's ankles. She danced around it, but regardless, she was set on making it to the goal.
"Oh, no you don't!" Roy jumped in front of the bronze-skinned girl and dashed towards her attackers, aiming his blaster. He jumped over the inkrail and fired it, splatting the inkling girl from earlier, who wielded an N-ZAP '85. She let out a cry of surprise, her gear sinking into the ground as she burst into a puddle of yellow ink. "Who's next!" he declared, stomping a foot on the ground.
"That might be me." Maya ran up to him, lifting her Octobrush from the ground. She bent her knees, the bristles of the brush limp. Her black hair was tipped with blue, her eyes seemingly becoming a brighter blue. Tugging on her Annaki mask, she stood up straight and activated her special weapon. She launched into the air, blue ink trailing from the exhaust of the Inkjet. "Try this!"
A glob of ink hurled towards Roy, in which he swiftly dodged. In turn, Roy activated his own special—Baller. He circled her launching point, waiting for the Inkjet to expire. She shot at the Baller, though it was largely unaffected...until some of the wrapping on it burst, leaving Roy in what seemed to be a clear sac of ink. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he did not falter at all. In fact, it only made him more determined to splat Maya.
"Stop being a coward!" she snapped. "I thought you were Roy Blacktip! Always running ahead on baskfishball, I heard."
"I am not..." The Baller started to expand, yellow ink churning at his feet as his anger grew. "A coward!"
The Baller exploded, splatting Maya out of the air. Fueled by rage, Roy darted towards the enemy spawn point, inking the gate and climbing up it to see how his teammates were doing. A charger beam grew larger and larger, piercing Alexis through the back and splatting her as she climbed up the goal.
"You are not going to win today!" Roy roared, his vision turning red. Everything seemed to happen so quickly. He threw a bomb at the Rainmaker's shield, causing it to expand. He jumped to the wall and lunged at the charger, splatting him with a blast from his Luna Blaster. He stood up and looked behind him. Slowly, but surely, blue was covering the golden barrier. He swung around and approached whoever was attacking the Rainmaker. This inkling was male, with fair skin and hair slicked back. He was hurling ink at it with a Slosher Deco, not noticing Roy's arrival. Again, he splatted him, some of the ink from the small explosion affecting the Rainmaker's barrier. Without waiting for his teammates to join him, Roy popped the Rainmaker barrier by himself. He grabbed it and slammed it down on the goal, ending the game.
Roy leaned on the golden weapon, breathing heavily as he calmed down. Finally, they won. He turned around to see his teammates running up to him.
"Oh my cod, Roy!" Alexis exclaimed, eyes wide. "It's like I saw a whole new side of you today!"
"What?" The red-eyed inkling raised an eyebrow.
"You just destroyed the other team single-handedly!" she elaborated.
"You scored by yourself, too," Oscar added.
"You need...a medal!" Yvonne walked up to him and kneeled down in front of him, drawing a trophy in the ink. "There!"
"Thanks," he said, disinterested. I got mad again, he scolded himself. I really need to control that better. ...But it did lead to me winning. Hmm...
"Roy," the boy with the afro started, lifting his head. "I think...you are the most fresh today." He gave a small smile.
This time, the tan-skinned inkling blushed, and he looked away. "Again, t-thanks."
"Think we make a good team, yes?" He extended his hand, the sun reflecting off of his back.
Roy's red eyes trailed down to the bronze-skinned hand, and he turned to face him again, taking it. "Yes," he agreed. "We do."
"Ha," Alexis laughed, rubbing her arm. "I guess you two are good...for octolings."
"Of course we are!" Yvonne explained, jumping in front of the short-haired girl. "Me and Oscar, we a team!"
"Yes," the other octoling agreed. "We, uh, live together."
"Ah, so that explains it," the younger inkling realized. "You're basically the equivalent of Via and Bonnie in Octa Prisma. Or Yuri and Perry."
"They live together?" Oscar perplexed.
"Are you not the sister of Via?" Yvonne pointed out.
"I am!" she affirmed. "And no! They don't! They're just best friends!"
"I see..." The bronze-skinned boy turned around. "Oh, there Judd."
Indeed, Judd and Li'l Judd had arrived to judge the match. The two cats were standing on the edge of the gate, where no ink could be laid. They did their dance, and as expected, Judd struck out a yellow flag, marking Roy's team as the winner of the match. Upon sight of them, the tan-skinned inkling smiled.
"We might be on different teams," he remarked, "but that doesn't stop us from doing good together, does it?"
"Nope!" Yvonne chirped. "We did just as good!"
"Agreed," Oscar finished. "Agreed."
They lingered at Camp Triggerfish a few minutes longer than expected, admiring the blue sky, before finally jumping back to the Deca Tower for their next match, together.
A/N: Hey guys. Sorry this chapter is a little late. That's what I get for procrastinating... Anyways, the Rainbow Squids and Octa Prisma, battling together?! Scandalous! Just kidding. They may be rivals, but they can be friends, no matter how much Alexis complains. This is kind of like the calm before the storm, but not really. I think that's more for the chapter after the next one. That's really when things will pick up. Now, a small announcement. You may have noticed on AO3 that I changed the rating to T a few days ago. Well, I'm going to do the same here. Don't worry! I'm still going to write this like a K+ fanfiction! It just has a lot of heavy themes, that's all. I will make note of this in the first chapter. Well, that's all. Branchwing, out!