Anonymous reviews:
ika tako gamer: You're welcome! I'm happy to answer any questions I get. Yes, Perry's a bad cook. He's rich, and his dad usually cooks for him. His dad probably has a maid hired to clean the house, too. Now I'm tempted to write a chapter about Perry getting cooking lessons... That would be a while away, though. And yes, I'm aware of Horizon Zero Dawn and how Aloy's in Genshin Impact (I'm a PC player; I don't get her until 2.2 comes out). I've never played it, but I'm aware of it. Ashly Burch is an interesting choice for Geneva, though. I can see it indeed! I'm personally really bad at voice claims - whenever I imagine a character speaking, it's usually just a variation of my own voice. So, that's that.
There's plenty of SplatTubers other than OctoBoy and Viantastic, you'd just have to look a little bit. For example, there's Etce, Jaymoji, Vicvillon (the lady giving the Kensa Luna Blaster advertisement in chapter 104 is supposed to reference her), GG Gabriel Gaming, aSquidmin, and Alphastar716 to name a few. Competitive-wise, I know of ProChara, though there's probably more, too. If you want to look at the lore side of Splatoon, I recommend rassicas or rizirone. I gave a subtle nod to ClashB-Lizzy in chapter 104 (through the inkling talking about the Luna Blaster at the beginning - the inkling is supposed to look like her avatar), though she retired from YouTube last month.
I'm also happy to see you looked through my art ^^ Now you know what the Rainbow Squids (and Octa Prisma) look like outside of the silhouettes in the cover. The Rainbow Squids already know about Geneva's miscolored eye through "Into the Light," though they didn't know that she and Agent 3 were the same person until it was revealed in the story. She rarely shows it, anyways. Whenever she's at home or Agent 3 is the only time she doesn't wear her eyepatch. For Bonnie, I think I would have to say it's both. The personalities of each of the Rainbow Squids are derived from emotions their respective colors often symbolize. For example, red represents anger, so Roy has a short temper. Your personality is sometimes related to your upbringing, so I wanted to explain why Bonnie acts the way she does: she wants to please her parents, and doesn't want them (and people in general) to get mad at her. ...Which is kind of like me, in a way. I don't want people getting mad at me, so I do my best to make people happy. It's not necessarily the healthiest, though. You should be doing things for your own sake first, not anyone else's. So, that's my explanation.
Yes, Inigo has been through a lot. He loved being in a relationship, so breaking up with Geneva put him in a rather depressive state. His wish to be in one again, along with growing desperation for it, is what pushed him into becoming the Vigilante. He regrets that now, though. What will happen if Naomi breaks up with Inigo? I'm not going to answer that question just yet...
The Splatoon 3 news in the Nintendo Direct was more than I asked for, and I'm happy! However, this story is only intended to go up until the Finalfest (Chaos vs. Order), which is considered the 'end' of Splatoon 2 (the official website did state that Splatoon 3 takes place one and a half years after the Finalfest, after all). So, they won't be going to the Splatlands in this story. However, I do plan to write a separate story after Splatoon 3 comes out (I'm thinking about waiting until the DLC comes out, furthermore) that focuses on the new Agent 3, with Geneva as the new captain. Yes, that's canon - new Agent 3 is our Splatoon 3 protagonist, while the original Agent 3 became the captain of the New Squidbeak Splatoon after Cap'n Cuttlefish retired. I plan to have some cameos from the Rainbow Squids and Octa Prisma in that story, too. It'll be a while before that story shows up, but I hope you all will be excited for it.
Finally, the most interesting Octa Prisma member to write about was Oscar, actually. It probably has to do with me writing a 20k-word bonus story for him, but I find him to be a really interesting character, with his transition from being a cheerful octoling happy to do his job to a rather lazy one who's regretting most of his life decisions. Maybe there will be a more interesting character to write in future bonus stories, so stay tuned!
Now, after that long answering session, time for the story.
Yuri's PoV
At last, after a long, grueling month, the Splatfest had arrived. And Yuri couldn't be any happier.
As Halloween neared, so did the chance of getting treats. He already had plans for Halloween this year. He even went out with his siblings to buy costumes yesterday! Maybe he could convince Perry to come along this time, too. They were both on Team Treat, after all.
Most of the Rainbow Squids were on Team Treat, in fact. The only ones not to be on Marina's team this Splatfest were Alexis and Inigo, who sat awkwardly next to each other, wearing their black-and-orange t-shirts. Bonnie placed her bag on the table and pulled out its contents, revealing several chocolate bars, and handed them out to everyone, Alexis and Inigo included. Yuri happily took his, immediately opening it up and chomping down on it. He liked hard candy better, but chocolate was just so good!
Alexis unwrapped the chocolate bar and took a bite out of it. "Sure do live up to your team name, huh?"
"Yeah," the girl with the double bun agreed, beginning to eat her own chocolate bar. "Since I brought those vampire teeth last year, I might as well bring something again this year."
"Well, I think chocolate is a much better treat than vampire teeth," Perry remarked, licking his lips to remove the chocolate smears.
"Hey, the vampire teeth were great," Roy teased, smirking.
"Are you squiddin' me?" Alexis argued. "The vampire teeth were super uncomfortable! I'd rather eat DJ Octavio's socks than wear that again!"
"Does Octavio even wear socks?" Geneva pondered, putting a hand on her chin.
"I mean, he's an octoling, right?" the short-haired inkling pointed out. "He's just an octopus 99% of the time."
"Have you even seen him when he's not an octopus?" she questioned.
"Uh... No..."
"That's what I thought." She leaned back in her chair. "Hm, maybe Marie should add that to the Agent 4 Factopedia."
"Oh, I don't want that in there..." she groaned, exasperated.
Geneva snickered. Soon, however, her face fell, and she looked up to something next to her. Yuri proceeded to follow, his eyes focusing on the newcomer. There Iris was, the fair-skinned octoling holding a container with unknown contents in her hands. To the spiky-haired boy's surprise, she was on Team Treat.
"Hello," she greeted. "I bake cookies."
"Cookies?" Perry shot out of his seat, his eyes seeming to sparkle. "What flavor?"
"Chocolate chip," she replied. She pushed past the pale-skinned inkling and placed the container down on the middle of the table, next to Bonnie's bag. She popped the lid open, revealing her to be true to her word—there were indeed two dozen cookies inside, all baked to a golden-brown color. Even the chocolate chips were visible! Yuri began to salivate at the sight.
"Delicious!" Yuri exclaimed, immediately taking a cookie out of the container.
"Hold up," Alexis interjected before he could take a bite out of it. He lowered the cookie and placed his attention towards the younger inkling. "Iris made them. Who's to say they aren't toxic?"
Octavia blinked. "Why would they?"
"Yes, why would they be toxic?" Iris agreed.
"I know you don't really like inklings," she defended herself, "so, why not take the chance to kill us off first, then the rest of the school?"
"Alexis, that's a huge assumption," the wavy-haired girl scolded, shaking her head. "She's not that mean."
The poufy-haired girl shook her head. "You are saying like I am mean all the time."
"Yeah, I think these cookies are fine," Geneva spoke up. "Don't worry, Alexis."
"See? Geneva is endorsing me," Iris declared, smirking.
The long-haired girl then looked over at Inigo, green eyes narrowed. "Maybe if they really were poisonous, we can have Inigo eat them first."
Inigo frowned at her remark, falling silent instead of snapping back like he had been doing to other people in recent months. Instead, Roy stood up, slamming his hand down on the table.
"Look, Inigo's our friend. I'm not gonna let him eat some dubious cookie if you really think it's toxic," he snapped. "Why'd you even suggest that?"
"Hey, it was a jest," she defended herself, raising her hands up in front of her.
"Well..." Inigo started to mutter.
"Well, then I'm eating the cookie first," Roy interrupted him. Before anyone could object, he took a cookie out of the container and shoved it into his mouth. He chewed up the cookie and swallowed it, standing for a few moments before sitting back down. He took out a can of Tentacola, opened it, and drank a good amount of it, finally setting it down and wiping his mouth.
"See? He's fine," Yuri remarked. "Now that we got nothin' to worry about..." He looked down at the cookie again. He opened his mouth and bit down on the cookie. "Mmm..." He ate the rest of the cookie and reached in the container for another one.
"I..." Alexis leaned back in her chair, eyes wide.
"See? We were right," Via bragged.
"M-Maybe it takes a while for the poison to set in!" she countered.
"You are really intent on making Iris seem like a villain, are you not?" a new voice butted in. Brayden squeezed himself into the group, next to Iris. Though Yuri couldn't see his shirt at the moment, the orange color of his hair marked him as a member of Team Trick. He shook his head. "Somehow, I am not surprised."
"Well." Alexis stood up, kicking out her chair. "Let's battle," she challenged, pounding a fist in her hand. "Me versus Iris."
"If you insist," Iris accepted. She started walking over to the Deca Tower, gesturing for the short-haired girl to follow. She proceeded to follow her, and the two disappeared into the crowd. Brayden started to go after them, but Geneva grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back.
"Let them battle," she told him. "I think they'll sort things out there."
The tan-skinned octoling let out a sigh. "I just want to be by her side." His eyes narrowed. "Even if we are on different sides of the battlefield... It makes me happy to see her."
"You're really in love with her," Octavia commented. "Wish I had someone who loved me as much as you love Iris."
"Don't worry, Via," Yuri assured her. "You'll find that special squid some day!"
"I suppose you can say that," he agreed.
"Anyways, enough talking," Roy spoke up, drinking more of his Tentacola. "We gotta battle! We can't just sit around talkin' all day while Team Trick racks up more points."
"Hey, I want Team Trick to win," Inigo spoke up to counter.
"You're on Team Trick, Inigo," the wavy-haired inkling snapped. "Of course you want it to win."
"Well, Team Trick is the better team," Brayden added, perking up. "That is why I chose it."
"That's the spirit!" Yuri exclaimed. "We all want the team we chose to win, right? So, we just gotta fight, and maybe Team Treat will win!"
"No, Team Trick will win," the tan-skinned octoling butted. "I will make sure of it."
"No, Team Treat!"
"Team Trick!"
"Team Treat!"
"Guys, guys, enough," Geneva interrupted the two's argument, stepping in between them. "A Splatfest is supposed to be fun."
"Yeah, we can't just argue about which team is better all day," Bonnie agreed.
"Either way, let the best team win," Perry added. "Right?"
"Right," Yuri and Brayden both repeated the words of the pale-skinned boy.
"Now with that out of the way..." Roy started walking past the group, towards the Deca Tower, much like Alexis and Iris had done a few minutes earlier. "Let's go. I've waited around long enough."
The remaining Rainbow Squids proceeding to rise from their seats, them and Brayden following Roy into the crowd. He pushed past them, garnering a few rude looks from the inklings onlooking Pearl and Marina's performance. Perry stopped for a few moments to observe Pearl, who wore a black version of her outfit as opposed to her usual white one this time around, with only Yuri's tugs convincing him to stop watching her. They entered the lobby to find it packed, making it nearly impossible to navigate. However, Roy's height stood out against the crowd, and Yuri just had to keep an eye on him so that they could enter the correct lobby. Eventually, they approached the storage rooms, with Roy opening the one belonging to the Rainbow Squids. With Brayden waiting outside, they descended down into it to get their weapons. They walked back out a few minutes later, and the inkling with his hair swept to the side proceeded to close it. They then walked over to an elevator, Roy becoming the leader of the group once more. He stopped just outside it and turned to the group, crossing his arms.
"So," he started, "who's leavin'?"
"What do you mean?" Perry puzzled.
"Six of us are on Team Treat," he explained. "Two of us are gonna have to go." Everyone turned their attention over to Octavia and Bonnie. The beige-skinned girl rubbed the back of her head, blushing from embarrassment.
"Let me guess: it'll be us," the bronze-skinned girl said.
"Well, we usually battle together," she acknowledged.
"True," she admitted. She sighed and looked at the others. "Well, you boys have fun." She looked over at Geneva. "And you, too."
The green-eyed girl gave a thumbs-up. "Will do."
"Bye," Bonnie called as she and Via walked away. "Have fun! And get some points for Team Treat, too."
After they were out of view, Perry pumped a fist. "Booyah, squids and Brayden! Let's battle!"
"Right!"
They entered the elevator, separating into their respective teams. Roy, Yuri, Geneva, and Perry stayed on one side of the elevator, while Brayden and Inigo stayed on the other side of the elevator. The door leading inside remained opened, but still, no one came, and they stood in silence, with only the chatter of inklings in the background.
"So, Roy," the octoling spoke up at last. "I have a question for you."
He lifted his head. "A question?"
The boy with his hair swept to the side nodded. "Yes, a question."
"Well, spit it out."
"What do you think of Oscar?"
Immediately, he lost his composure, a blush spreading across his tan face. "O-Oscar?!"
Yuri looked over at his friend, surprised at the tone in his voice. Studying him for a few moments, he quickly came to a realization and smiled, putting his hands in his pockets.
It's been a long time since I've seen him like that.
Which was a good thing. Whatever happened that made him start hiding his crushes, he had finally gotten over it. ...Somewhat. He began imagining Roy and Oscar together, in a similar manner to how Geneva and Eight acted when they were together. The few times he had gone to Starfish Drinks to visit his red-haired friend, he and the orange-haired octoling seemed to get along well together. Even if he saw some tension between the two, he now had context behind it, if Roy's behavior was anything to go off of.
"Yes, Oscar," Brayden continued to speak. "What do you think of him?"
"W-Why do you wanna know that?" he spluttered, his brush growing.
"Just drop it," Inigo grumbled, looking over at the octoling boy. "He's not gonna say anything."
"How do you know?" he challenged.
"I've known him for a lot longer than you have," he argued. "So, I know these things." The boy with the ponytail then looked over to Roy, indigo eyes filled with anticipation. The tan-skinned inkling shook his head. In return, he dipped his head and looked back over at Brayden. "Just...don't ask that again."
"Fine, I will 'drop it,'" he conceded. "I will try to find an answer some day, though, even if it is not now."
"Good luck with that," Geneva deadpanned.
"I dunno," Perry snickered. "Maybe one day you'll walk into a room and find-" He cut himself short when he noticed Roy glaring at him, expression dark as he crossed his arms to hide his embarrassment. He shrunk away, giving an uneasy laugh as he hid behind Yuri.
He tapped the dark-skinned boy's shoulder, notifying him of the newcomers walking into the room. He recognized one of the newcomers as Jade—though they didn't share any classes with each other this year, they still talked occasionally. She wore a black-and-orange Splatfest tee with Team Trick's logo on it. The other newcomer was one of her friends, though he didn't know her name. She had umber-colored skin and wavy hair. She reminded him of Octavia, even wearing a skirt like she did, though she had purple eyes, and she wore an anglerfish mask over her head.
"Hey," Jade greeted, putting a hand on her hip. "It's been a while since we've battled."
Perry stepped out from behind Yuri and nodded. "Yeah, definitely."
"So, these were the squids you were talking about?" Jade's friend asked her. "The ones that were in your physics class last year?"
"Only Yuri and Perry were, but yeah," she confirmed. "They're fresh, aren't they?"
She looked over at the boys and nodded. "Yeah." She snickered. "Those earrings pretty boy's wearing makes him look pretty sick."
"Hey, why am I 'pretty boy?'" Perry protested. "There's better names than that!"
"Well, what else am I supposed to call you?" she defended. "I don't know you."
He opened his mouth to argue, but he shook his head, throwing down his arms. "Yeah, you're right. Ya don't know me." He smirked. "But you'll know me after the battle."
"Somehow I'm liking you a lot less now."
"Wha-?! Hey!"
The elevator door closed behind them, startling Jade's friend and causing her to turn around. Yuri felt the elevator shift under his feet as they began to descend. Jade and her friend continued to talk, while the rest of the people present still remained in silence. The elevator quickly came to a stop, and the floor paneling slid open to reveal a grate underneath. Everyone shifted forms to slip through the grate, swimming towards their next destination.
The area he found himself was appropriately Halloween-themed, sickly green decorations depicting various sea creatures being strung from pole to pole. The platform he stood on was wooden, with various wooden planks being scattered all across the stage. Neon stickers were plastered onto the floor, giving off a soft, glow-in-the-dark glow. Stars shined above them, and signs flashed all across the stage. This was the new Shifty Station for this Splatfest. It just had to be.
He transformed into a kid, and a few seconds later, the match began, allowing him to charge up his Heavy Splatling Deco as soon as he stepped off the spawn point. Around him, Roy and Geneva charged ahead, only inking paths for them to swim in, while Perry stayed behind and helped him ink the area around the spawn point. His pale-skinned friend didn't stay around for long ago, swimming towards the center of the map once he thought the area was sufficiently inked. He stepped towards the edge of the platform, eyes widening when he spotted something form—a dark grey rail, purple ink tightly packed around it. He spotted Perry hop on one, moving across it without turning into a squid, ink flying from the soles of his shoes.
"That's so fresh!" he exclaimed, running up to the place his friend had once stood. The start of the rail looked just like the start of an ink rail, except the propeller on the end of it was spinning with the rail itself. He turned into a squid, being sucked into the rail, and now he traveled along it. He emerged, looking down at his feet. He was moving! And he could attack while he moved, too. He started charging up his splatling, but by the time it was fully charged, he had reached the end of the rail, dropping onto the centermost platform. Immediately, he noticed Roy's clothes sinking into the ground, a squid-shaped ghost floating away from where he once stood. Inigo lifted his Carbon Roller, purple ink dripping off of his body. Noticing Yuri, he started running over to him next, allowing the dark-skinned boy to release the trigger on his splatling, proceeding to pelt the boy with the ponytail with ink bullets. He quickly splatted, and he used the remainder of the charge to ink the platform back up.
He climbed on top of two boxes, quickly inking the top of it so that he could refill his ink tank when necessary. He started to charge up his weapon again, yellow eyes scanning the area for any threats. So far, Team Treat seemed to be winning, with purple ink pushing into Team Trick's territory. Now that he wasn't in the heat of battle, he noticed something odd about the ink—it was pulsing, the edges of the ink glowing for a few seconds before it wasn't. He began to worry for a few seconds before pushing the worries to the back of his mind. The ink looked fresh; who cares if something was wrong with it?
He was so focused on the other team's area that he didn't notice someone approach behind him, a blast of ink exploding on his back. He fell off the crate, catching himself before he could fall off the platform entirely. He quickly got up to his feet, releasing quick bursts of his splatling as he scanned the area. It was then a figure leaped up from the crate, firing another shot from the Rapid Blaster Pro and splatting the dark-skinned inkling. He respawned a few seconds later, wiping his shirt clean of ink that wasn't there.
That was Brayden, right? He asked himself. How did he... His thoughts came to a standstill as he noticed orange ink snaking around the base of the center platform, two of the rails glowing with orange. The rails disappeared as quickly as he had noticed them, indicating that they had expired, just like an ink rail would when left alone for a certain period of time. Of course! he finally realized. Time to ink that back up!
He swam over to the strip of orange ink, promptly covering it back up using his weapon. After activating another rail, his hair began to glow, signifying that his special weapon was ready. He hopped on the rail and proceeded to ride towards the raised platform. He had an idea. Instead of charging up his splatling, he had turned into a squid, hiding inside the rail as he approached the platform, popping out into a small puddle of purple ink. Jade's friend had replaced Brayden, now standing on top of the platform as she lobbed bubbles using a Bloblobber. As soon as her hair started to glow, she pulled out an Ink Storm and turned towards Yuri's direction, breaking the container down on the ground and sending a cloud of orange ink up into the air, towards his team's side of the stage.
Despite the setback, he still could work with the circumstances. He emerged from the puddle, activating his special weapon immediately and causing a giant bubble wand to appear in his hands. He swung the Bubble Blower, creating a large bubble filled with purple ink. Instead of running away or being crushed, the umber-skinned inkling continued to swing her Bloblobber, small bubbles bouncing off of the walls. Yuri rolled out of the way and swung the Bubble Blower a second time, creating another bubble. Some of the bubbles dancing around the platform hit the first bubble, causing it to shrink. Now sweating, the spiky-haired boy swung the Bubble Blower a final time, creating the final bubble. After the bubble wand disappeared, he immediately started to charge up his splatling, hoping to pop at least one of them. He aimed it over at the newest bubble, which slowly expanded as he filled it up with purple ink. However, Jade's friend took notice, now swinging her Bloblobber towards the newest bubble instead. Thankfully, Yuri prevailed, the bubble blowing up and splatting the girl before she could successfully defuse it. He popped the other two bubbles, which proved to be just enough to ink the entire platform.
He wiped the sweat off his forward and looked back towards his team's side. The Ink Storm had just dissipated, drops of orange standing out against the purple turf. Yuri abandoned the central platform, hopping down to the open area and charging up his splatling again. He started to ink the area when he noticed Geneva respawn, the long-haired inkling proceeding to turn into a squid and swim down to where the Ink Storm ended, covering the orange spots back up. Seeing as Geneva would take care of it, he turned back to the raised platform, searching for a way up it. He spotted another rail, climbing up to the top of the platform it was located on. He hopped on it, charging up his Heavy Splatling Deco as he advanced towards the central platform. His smile fell, however, as he noticed that Jade had made her way to the middle of the stage, inking everything up with her N-ZAP '85. She paused inking for a few moments to activate her special weapon, an orange mist swirling around her before hardening into Ink Armor. Yuri bit his lip. He didn't have a good feeling about the situation, but he couldn't give up now. He had to keep fighting.
Before he hopped off of the rail leading to the middle, he released the trigger on his splatling, ink flying out of the barrel. He aimed it towards Jade, who proceeded to hide behind the boxes. His charge ran out, prompting him to hold down the trigger again for a brief burst of bullets as he approached the dark-skinned girl. Something flew past him, and he turned around to see a suction bomb sticking to the wall. It began to expand, and it was there he made a mistake—he went forward, allowing Jade to emerge from her hiding spot and splat him. Yuri exploded into a puddle of orange ink, his gear sinking into the ground.
He respawned once more, super-jumping over to where Perry was located on the other side of the Shifty Station, hiding behind a wall. They did a high-five as soon as Yuri landed, with the pale-skinned boy gesturing towards the open area, where Jade's friend lurked. She successfully splatted Geneva with her weapon, the long-haired girl unable to dodge her bubbles. The wavy-haired girl resumed inking the area, allowing the two boys to strike. Yuri charged up his splatling, while Perry threw out an auto bomb. She let out a startled cry at sight of the auto bomb, running away from it as it waddled towards her. It eventually stopped and exploded, inking just enough area to allowing Perry to use his special. The boy with spiky bangs pulled out a Sting Ray, aiming the giant laser towards Jade's friend. She screamed, running away from the Sting Ray. Once she was in range, Yuri fired, the ink bullets quickly splatting her.
"Booyah!" the duo cheered. After Perry's special weapon expired, they turned towards each other and performed another high-five. Their celebration proved to be short-lived, as a roller's vertical swing crashed down on Perry's back, the boy stumbling into Yuri. He helped his friend to his feet and threw out a splash wall, preventing their attacker from hitting them again. The dark-skinned boy stepped forward and looked down, seeing Inigo.
"Quite sneaky today, aren't ya!" he exclaimed, yellow eyes meeting with his friend's indigo eyes.
"Yeah," he agreed. "It works, so I'm doing it."
"Don't forget," Perry chimed in, "Team Treat's gonna win."
Inigo shook his head, a determined look on his face. "No, Team Trick will." He gripped the handle of the Carbon Roller harder. "I'm sure of it."
"Well, you gotta win this battle first," the purple-eyed boy jeered, putting a finger on his cheek and sticking out a tongue. "And a bunch of other battles after that."
"Give it your all, then," the inkling with the ponytail declared, his posture bent into a battle stance. "I'm ready."
"If that's your resolve..." Yuri smiled, charging up his splatling. "Charge!"
Perry jumped down to Inigo's level, swinging his Sloshing Machine. The fair-skinned inkling danced around his shots, swinging his roller whenever he could, orange ink splashing onto his opponent's clothes. From his perch, Yuri fired, ink raining down on the two inklings. Inigo looked up at him with a shocked expression for a few moments before being forced to move away from a purple projectile of ink. Knowing that it was a two-on-one battle, the dark-skinned boy proceeded to don a cheeky grin. Eventually, Inigo tripped and fell on his butt, and together, the duo proceeded to splat him.
"Booyah!" they cheered again.
"We make a pretty good team, don't cha think?" Yuri remarked.
Before Perry could respond, a blaster's shot hit him directly, causing him to splat. He jumped down to where his friend once stood and directed his yellow gaze towards his left, where Brayden stood on a higher platform. The octoling tossed out a vial of toxic mist, causing him to kneel over and cough as his strength was siphoned away. Yuri turned into a squid and attempted to swim away, only to be forced to emerge as an Ink Storm began to rain down on him. He winced as the droplets of orange ink fell on his skin, creating a burning sensation on contact. He turned around and watched as Brayden fired a final shot from his Rapid Plaster Pro, splatting him.
He respawned to see that Team Trick had pushed further into Team Treat's territory. Roy had engaged in battle with Jade. While he did manage to splat him, a suction bomb behind him blew up moments later, sending him back to spawn. An orange blob of ink flew through the air, landing where Jade had stood moments before. Inigo shook the ink off of him, roller in hand. He slammed the wheel of it down on the ground, pushing it along to create a trail of orange ink behind him. Jade's friend super-jumped to Inigo a few seconds later, allowing her to cover more turf with her Bloblobber. Yuri set up another splash wall, protecting himself as he charged up his Heavy Splatling Deco again. He fired, spreading ink across the area, though none managed to hit Inigo nor the wavy-haired girl.
An inkling emerged from a rail, ambushing Jade's friend and splatting her before she could retaliate. Yuri quickly recognized the inkling as Geneva, who now rushed towards Inigo. The fair-skinned boy whipped around on the sound of the wavy-haired inkling's cry, the two inklings now making eye contact. Instead of attacking, Inigo kept his roller's wheel on the ground, frowning.
"There you are," he said to her, hair tentacles drooping. "Are you going to finally talk to me?"
She scowled. "Inigo, this is a battle," she reminded him. "There's no time for chit-chat."
He didn't answer, raising his roller and throwing it over his back. Geneva inked a few feet in front of her and stepped up to the edge of the turf she had claimed, the ink pulsating as they stared into each other's eyes.
"...Are you gonna even fight?" she questioned. She sighed, shaking her head. "If you wanted to talk in the middle of the battle, you've had plenty of opportunities to do that." She folded her arms, fingers curled around her Hero Shot Replica. "So, what makes this one different?"
"Because of earlier," he confessed, rubbing his arm. "You literally told me to go eat potentially poisonous cookies."
"Inigo, that was one time." Her eyes grew even narrower. "And besides, you know perfectly well what you did."
"With the Vigilante stuff?" He grimaced. "I didn't even know Tiffany was bad before the whole showdown happened! Much less why you hated her so much!"
"You were warned multiple times about her once we found out!" she snapped. "And yet, you ignored that!"
Hurt flashed on his face, but he quickly regained his stern expression. "Well, you know what I regret?"
"What?"
"Being the Vigilante in the first place." He clenched the sleeve of his shirt. "This whole mess wouldn't have happened if I wasn't so dumb. And maybe, just maybe, we would still be friends." He let out a deep sigh, releasing his shirt sleeve and wiping his eyes. "You know what? You were keeping your own secrets, too."
"It was out of necessity," Geneva defended, her voice wavering at first. "You aren't even supposed to know about it."
"You disappeared for an entire year without a single trace," he countered, taking a step forward. "We kept worrying and worrying about you." He took another step forward. "Asher probably wouldn't even be alive right now if you hadn't shown up sooner. All because you didn't dare expose your secret, not even to your own brother!"
Geneva's face started to contort into fury. "Don't you dare bring him into this!"
"What? Are you just gonna keep holding onto that stupid grudge of yours?" Inigo spat, donning his own furious expression.
Perry walked up to Yuri and whispered to him, "What's going on?"
"I dunno," he admitted. Please don't fight, please don't fight, please don't fight.
"I have a reason to keep holding onto my 'stupid' grudge, thank you very much," Geneva argued. Though her expression remained angry, her trembling body suggested otherwise.
"How long are you gonna keep it?" Inigo demanded. "Forever?"
"Oh, shut up!" She raised her Hero Shot Replica and fired, catching the fair-skinned boy off-guard. He got some ink on his shirt before swinging his roller again, running up to the long-haired girl, aiming for her blind spot. She turned her head and jumped out of the way before he could splat her, orange ink brushing past her. The two continue to battle, orange and purple ink flying between the two.
"Should we step in?" Yuri then asked his friend, gulping.
"Nah." Perry crossed his arms. "Let them fight it out."
"Maybe, but..." The dark-skinned inkling frowned. "This is like when Roy and Octavia fought at the beginning of the year, remember?" He turned towards the pale-skinned boy. "What if this turns into another situation like that one?"
"I doubt it. They've been like this ever since the Vigilante disappeared."
"Yeah, but I've never seen it get this bad."
Perry chuckled. "Weird to see you worry this much, Yuri."
"Well, I don't want the Rainbow Squids splitting up. Do you?"
"...No."
"Exactly! So what do we do?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?!"
"Yep, nothing. This goes a lot deeper than just breaking sunglasses. Lots of personal drama. I don't think we can help them here."
Yuri sighed and sat down, Heavy Splatling Deco by his side, and continued to watch Geneva and Inigo battle, ink flying between them. Though both had sustained decent injuries, neither of them had splatted yet—a testament to their respective skill.
...He didn't want to see who would win.
Finally, the whistle blew, bringing an end to the match. Geneva and Inigo stopped battling, lowering their weapons. Yuri felt relief sink in. It was over.
...Or so he thought.
Still keeping their gazes on each other, they tossed their weapons to the side, clattering on the floor. At the same time, they lunged each other, now engaged in physical combat. The spiky-haired boy looked away, his anxiety spiking. How could this get any worse? Not in a million years could he see himself stopping this battle.
"Squids, squids!" he heard Jade's voice. He looked over towards the source of her voice. She had pulled the two fighting inklings apart, eyes still blazing with fury. Inigo's hairband had been torn out, letting his hair fall to his shoulders, while Geneva's beanie had been ripped off, revealing the turquoise mark on the back of her head that people did not normally see. "You're acting like children!" Jade scolded, looking between the two. "Stop it!"
Neither Geneva nor Inigo responded, still staring at each other, not breaking eye contact.
Yuri got up and walked over to the group. "If you wanna fight, do it in a private battle," he suggested. The dark-skinned boy's words prompted the two fighting inklings to look over at him. "Not here!"
"I..." Geneva frowned, expression softening. "I guess I went too far."
"Me too," Inigo admitted.
Jade let go of them. "You gonna apologize, or...?"
"No," the long-haired girl said bluntly. She glared at her opponent. "This isn't over."
He sighed. "Well, if you wanna talk, you can." He shook his head. "Though it seems like you aren't gonna do that any time soon."
"Well, you're on Team Trick," she pointed out. "You got some tricks up your sleeve?"
"No," he replied. "I just don't like super sweet things. That's why I chose Team Trick."
"Hm." At last, Geneva cracked a smile, closing her eyes. "And I don't like tricking people, so I chose Team Treat."
"See? You got some things in common," Jade commented.
"So be it," Inigo muttered. "But it's not going to be that easy."
The two inklings remained silent. Yuri stepped over at the dark-skinned girl, lowering his voice to talk to her. "Should we leave them be?"
Jade jumped, blinking in surprise. "Y-Yeah," she replied, pulling her shirt up to cover her nose and mouth. "Let's go."
The two inklings walked away, towards a rail, which was currently glowing orange. Yuri turned into a squid and climbed onto Jade's head, and she proceeded to hop on the rail, taking them to the center of the stage, where Brayden was waiting.
"Quite a battle, was it not?" he remarked, spinning his Rapid Blaster Pro around in his hand. "The one between Geneva and Inigo was especially exciting."
Yuri opened his mouth to disagree, but faltered. Instead, he shook his head, not wishing to talk about the fight any more. He sat down on the box, waiting for Judd and Li'l Judd arrived. A few minutes later, he heard a thump behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see the two cats. They surveyed the area before beginning to dance, with Judd striking out a purple flag, marking Team Treat as the winner of the match.
"What?!" Brayden gasped. "We lost?"
"Look behind you," Jade pointed out.
Yuri looked over at Team Trick's side of the base to find a surprising amount of purple ink covering it. He thanked Roy silently before looking up at the starry sky. Even if they did seem fake, it was still beautiful. Sometimes he wished he could come to a Shifty Station and lay down, watching the stars swirl around. Alas, they were restricted to Splatfests only. Perhaps one day, when he had the time, he would go to an empty version of a Shifty Station and relax.
He turned into a squid and super-jumped away, back towards the Deca Tower, reviewing the results. Back at the tower, Geneva and Inigo, with their belongings gathered, refused to look at each, backs turned. Perry gestured for them to leave, and thus, they did. Inigo waved goodbye, choosing to remain in the lobby he was currently in. Brayden stood next to him, waving goodbye as well. They stepped out into the main lobby, the air stuffy with the smell of body odor.
"There you are!" Alexis's voice called. Yuri looked over to see her rushing towards the group, her short hair orange from the latest battle. "I've been looking all over for you!"
"It took a while for the Judds to come," Roy pointed out. "Kinda boring."
Alexis studied the group. "Hey, where's Inigo? And Via? And Bon-Bon?"
"Via and Bon-Bon went to battle on their own," Perry explained. "Inigo..." He pointed to the elevator behind him. "He's in there. Didn't want to come out with us."
Geneva adjusted her beanie. "Things happened. I don't wanna talk 'bout it."
"Oh," she merely said. "Well, whatever happened, you can battle against me now, right?"
"What about Iris?" Yuri asked her.
"Iris? She went to join Octa Prisma after our battle," she replied. "I won, by the way."
"I can tell," Roy said.
"Yeah, I feel like you'd be mad if you lost," the long-haired remarked. "But you aren't, so I assumed you won."
"Well, anyways." She walked towards another elevator, gesturing for them to go inside. "C'mon! Let's battle!"
"Yeah!"
They went inside the elevator, ready to battle again. But still, Yuri worried about Geneva and Inigo.
Would things truly be alright again? He just had to hope for the best.
A/N: If you told me furry Octarians were going to be the antagonists of Splatoon 3 last week, I don't think I would've believed you. But hey, mammals are making a comeback! I'm really interested to see how they will justify this, especially when all mammals (except Judd and Li'l Judd) have gone extinct in the Splatoon world, barring sea mammals like whales and narwhals, if the Unicorn vs. Narwhal dialogue is anything to go off of. Well, tensions are heating up in "The Rainbow Squids," aren't they? See you next week, and Branchwing, out!