From the ramp that led to the Grizzco gate, Jade sat and overlooked all of Inkopolis Square. The hub was caught in the same warm glow of the evening as the Marooner's Bay was, the sky remaining a deep orange with hints of pink all across it. The cephalopods roaming the place were as cheerful as they've always been, though the number of players in the square was lower than usual. The atmosphere may not be as lively as it was when she first started her shifts, but Jade still found it pleasant. She basked in the sunset and let the nearby aroma of food fill her nostrils. It didn't matter what outside event was happening, for a few moments Jade reveled in and was grateful for the newfound peace and relaxation she achieved.
The same could not be said for the other inkling.
Jade started hearing loud, tapping footsteps that were getting closer and closer, and soon, from the corner of her eye, she saw Khal sit on the ramp alongside her. From his slouched shoulders to his deep frown, he appeared bummed out, moreso than earlier.
"Aren't you gonna leave?" Khal addressed the taller girl, "There's better things to do than sit around with me."
"What are you talking about? Don't tell me you already forgot what I told you!"
"No, it's just.. Forget it," Khal stood up, only for Jade to drag him back down. He looked sadly at the girl, confused by her action.
"Nuh-uh, We're staying here if you keep that face!"
"Yeah, right. I'm not needed.."
"What's gotten into you? Where did the eager and happy Khal go?"
"I guess he disappeared.."
Jade didn't know how to react or respond. After all that happened, the inkboy was now saddened, and for the life of her she couldn't understand why. Nevermind that, she had no clue on how to lift his spirits. No clue at all, until suddenly an idea popped into her head. She leaned closer and whispered something into his ear. What she proposed managed to revitalize Khal, who listened intently at everything the inkgirl said.
"That sounds nice, but-"
"No 'buts'," Jade interjected, putting a finger on Khal's lips. After some pondering, he nodded and leapt up, filled with confidence and determination once more.
"Nevermind. Let's do this!"
"That's the spirit!" Jade grinned. She quickly pulled on her gloves and her basic headband over her head, "I know for a fact that we are gonna sweep over the competition!"
On the blocky, rectangular central area of Inkblot Art Academy's Turfing campus, Jade was busy dodging a barrage of suction bombs, courtesy of her inkling opponent. She weaved her way through and around the proyectiles, sidestepping and hopping over and under them with ease. These fast and graceful movements along with her Dapple Dualies' dodge-rolling abilities allowed her to close in on the frantic inkling, who decided to haphazardly fire their main weapon once their special attack ended with no reward for their efforts.
"STOP MOVING AND LET ME HIT YOU!" The inkling bellowed.
"No can do, sweetie ~" Jade replied, throwing a capsule of toxic mist at her opponent. They were too busy coughing and stumbling out of the gas' radius to properly avoid Jade's salvo of ink, and the inkling was promptly splatted. The inkgirl giggled maliciously at her opponent's departing ghost, satisfied with her work. She didn't notice another inkling sneaking up behind her, revving up their splatling. Before the spinning barrel fired, the splatling inkling was hit by multiple slashes and globs of ink, quickly bursting into yellow ink once their body couldn't handle anymore.
When Jade finally became aware of the commotion and turned around, she saw Khal standing over the discarded clothes of the splatling user, looking fixatedly at the ground. It was only when he felt Jade's eyes watching him that he broke out of his stupor and returned to his usual self and greeted Jade with a small wave.
She returned the greeting with a thumbs up of her own and a grin. Khal opened his mouth, but couldn't make any sound due to the sudden yelling of one of their teammates through their radio.
"Ye better stop whatever sentimental garbage you're doing and get here now! We'll lose da Rainmaker!" His words were enough to bring the two inklings' focus back to the match at hand. They nodded, and together headed towards their objective and the opponents holding it, determined to claim victory at all costs.
Khal faced off against a duo of Roller users in the curved pathways of Humpback Pump Track, dodging and parrying their swings with his Inkbrush while also creating as much distance as possible between them. He eventually met up with his other teammates, Jade included, and helped them carry the rainmaker. They were advancing without much trouble, until suddenly the rollers from earlier jumped out of their purple ink and splatted one of Khal's teammates.
"Khal, defend the rainmaker!" Jade ordered, already facing off against one of the enemy rollers. Inmediately Khal sprang into action, blocking the other roller's swing. For some reason, he smirked, and Khal quickly discerned why when a crashing sound of a direct hit rang out. The boy saw that his other teammate disappeared and the rainmaker was neutral again, surrounded by it's protective barrier.
The rainmaker's shield exploded once again, and Khal and Jade were caught in it's purple blast. They respawned along with their teammates, and while the other two inklings rushed ahead, Khal stopped in his tracks after listening to a sudden and unnervingly animalistic growl, quickly realizing it was coming from Jade with only a glance towards her. Without a word, she headed off towards their opponents, Khal hesitantly following behind.
Unsurprisingly, the ally inklings were quickly splatted, and the enemies were closer to the goal. Khal lunged at him, but the rainmaker carrier sidestepped and let Khal crash into the ground. The carrier cackled as he dashed towards the green goal.
Jade's anger flared up, and without thinking she swiped her leg under the carrier, tripping him. As a result, the rainmaker slipped from their grasp and tumbled and rolled over close to the goal. Without skipping a beat, Jade splatted the downed inkling and jumped back towards the rainmaker, picking it up and preparing to charge.
"What- Is that even legal?!"
"Who cares?! Just shoot-AAGH!"
The remaining opponents were all caught in the rainmaker's blast and splatted, their discarded gear sinking into the patch of green ink. Khal saw Jade silently run deeper into the stage, weirded out by her actions. One question was prevalent through his mind: Just what happened to Jade?
Ink was flung on every direction, coating the wooden central deck of the Manta Maria in splotches of blue and pink. While various inklings duked it out over the rainmaker, Jade remained hidden in one of the side platforms and continuously threw Poison Mist cans to assist her teammates. She would've joined them and aided in the pushing of the rainmaker, but a particularly distracting smell that entered her nose stopped her from doing so. It was strong and foul, and no matter how much she tried to ignore it, the sensation was too much to bear.
It got to the point where she had to turn back into her humanoid self and cover her nose just to slightly block it out, and even that action barely worked. Just what was causing that disgusting stench, anyway?
Unfortunately for Jade, it got worse. Unbeknownst to her, ripples in the blue ink crept closer to her position and the smell simultaneously got stronger. Just as the hidden enemy jumped out of their ink, Jade instinctively fired at them without hesitation. The inkling was gone for now, and with him the foul smell instantly disappeared. Odd…
Even when she joined the battle proper, not only did she faintly feel the foul stench, but various other odors as well, flowing and dancing in and out of her nostrils. Some were more pleasant, others more repugnant. Outwardly, the inkgirl was set on winning this match alongside her new acquaintance, but inside she was deeply confused and fascinated by this new feeling.
"C'mon, squid.. come on, just get a little closer…"
Jade was once again hiding in her ink, near the elevated bridge on the Reef. She watched as a nearby player fought one of her teammates, slowly veering(change later) closer to her position. When he was backed to the inflatable lime-green box's wall, Jade popped out and leaped at him.
"Haha, Take this!" With few rapid shots, the opponent burst into a shower of lime green ink. "Nice one!" She giggled, flashing a thumb up at the lime green inkling. Jade continued swimming around the map, splatting any opponent she came across as the match progressed. Each splat she obtained brought her more and more joy, and she found herself brimming with excitement just by thinking about the ways she could eliminate her foes. She broke into a fit of laughter, and try as she might, Jade was unable to stifle her own hums of pleasure. Oh, it will be so fun when she chases her next target!
Yes, another of her opponents jumped down from their spawn platform and landed directly in front of her, almost as if begging to be splatted. Jade was all too happy to oblige. He lunged at her with his roller and swung, a hasty and foolish action that Jade easily dodged. She dashed towards the inkling and fired, yet no sooner had she closed in on him than the slimy brat ran away from her. A mere delay from his inevitable end..
After a short chase to the lower grass lot, Jade found that the coward had joined up with his companions, and were fighting against her teammates for possession of the golden Rainmaker. Jade was sure that even with his teammates' protection, the male inkling would never escape her.
"I'm not done with you yet, chicken! Get back here!" The seething Jade shouted, letting out a few cackles. The poor inkling was swiftly caught by the inkgirl and slammed in the ground, screaming in agony as they were promptly splatted and burst into a puddle of lime green ink.
This caught the attention of all players, ceasing their confrontation and turning their heads to the source of the screaming.
"Heheheh, what's wrong? Nervous about a little ink?" Jade dementedly slurred, standing hunched over the opponent's discarded gear. All players were left speechless, and the purple inklings backed away involuntarily, which just made Jade chuckle again.
"Don't wanna dip your toes in it?" She cooed, "That's fine… I CAN GIVE YOU A LITTLE PUSH!"
Jade leapt into the fray with a feral cry, forcing the inklings to move aside and proceeding to chase the purple team. Her teammates looked on, baffled by the girl's attitude, Khal showing concern on his face.
Jade laughed madly, her white Bubble Rain Boots kicking up ink as she ran and leapt after the purple team, snagging and splatting every member but one. She strode towards the remaining Inkling and rushed him, however he quickly reacted and fired a line of ink that made contact with her left arm. Jade let out a loud, pained scream and crumpled to the floor, clutching her wrist.
Indescribable amounts of pain overwhelmed Jade as she continued to writhe and squirm. The attacker rushed to her side and attempted to help her, but that coupled with his apologies did little to make up for the sleight against the girl. Her agony morphed into anger, and when the purple inkling touched her scar, Jade snapped.
With a furious roar, the inkgirl flipped over and slammed her provoker into the ground, then proceeded to mindlessly beat him to a pulp. Even when the rest of the players stepped in to break up the fight, their combined strength barely managed to restrain Jade.
"Jade, please stop! We won, you don't have to fight him anymore!" Khal's plea fell on deaf ears, however, for the girl still struggled against her binds. The scene only ended when a loud whistle rang out and was able to snap Jade out of her rage. She looked around confusedly until she set her sights on the badly beaten and crippled inkling, eyes widening in turn.
"What..-"
"Ya turned 'im into squid paste, that's what you did!"
Jade was struck speechless, and fearfully looked between the injured, almost liquified one and her horror-struck teammates along with the recently arrived Judd. Any excuses she might've uttered were meaningless now, and Jade was at a loss for words.
"I didn't mean to, I-!"
Jade was cut off by the puffy cat's meowing, and after a minute of harsh-sounding yowls and meows, the bipedal feline along with his smaller clone raised a red flag and pointed it toward her and Khal's direction. The boy whined disappointedly, and Jade could only look down in shame. They have been kicked out of the rotation...
Dusk had settled in the Square when the pair of inklings walked out of the Deca Tower, neither saying a word. While Khal looked normal and unbothered by their disqualification, Jade was deep in thought. The events at the Reef were still fresh in her mind, and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't wrap her head around them, most specifically her behavior. She had never acted that way before, never been so filled with euphoria and ecstasy at the act of splatting other players, so driven to hunt them down that all other thought processes were overriden and forgotten. Never consumed by so much blind rage at a singular person… and even then, all they did was shoot at her wrist!
Jade brought her bandaged arm up, gazing at the scar on her wrist. It's been throbbing ever since she ended her shift, moreso after the League rotation, and her mood swings and odd sensations didn't appear until after she received the bite. This mark was no ordinary injury, that much was clear to Jade, but why did it have such weird effects on her?
"Jade?" Khal asked, grabbing the girl's attention, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah… Sorry for what happened, Khal. I.. don't know what came over me back there…"
"Ah, it's okay. I don't mind being kicked out once!" Khal shrugged, "But even so, we kicked butt in all the other matches!"
"We sure did. Glad to have made you happy," Jade smiled warmly at Khal. The boy thanked her, but also noticed that her smile didn't look very genuine. Khal quickly saw through Jade's facade.
"Hey… it's okay, ya know? Don't think about the bite too much."
"I'm probably a faker to you, aren't I?"
"Huh?! What are you saying, you were pretty cool on those matches! I've never seen someone so skilled with dualies before!"
"There are more players, but… I'm flattered.." A yellow blush was starting to form on Jade's cheeks.
"Anyways, I know that your injury will be healed up without any problems, so let's relax for the moment, ok?"
Jade nodded. After discussing other topics while moving along the sidewalks farther away from Inkopolis Square, they reached a crosswalk and bid goodbye to each other, due to unexpected circumstances on his end.
"Hey Jade?" Khal said as he got inside an orange taxi, "Can we be friends?"
"...Of course we can. If you need anything, just let me know!" Jade cheered. They clapped their hands together in a high-five, and the taxi drove-off into the sunset.
Friends… It's been a long time since Jade knew what having them felt like…
Once she had set down all of her gear in her closet, Jade sat down on her blue bed, stripped down to her black undershirt and shorts. She slipped off her bandage and stared at the green bite wound on her left wrist, which had strangely sealed up on it's own?
"What?" Jade rubbed the wound, consequently feeling a twinge of pain on her entire arm, along with a sudden anger. However, both were momentary and disappeared as instantly as they emerged. This wound wouldn't stop acting up, and only seemed to be throbbing more and more, all because of her neglect. Maybe She shouldn't have kept going on Ink matches, maybe she should've listened to the medic, maybe it would've been easier if she just left the boys, maybe-
"No, you're worrying too much. It's just a bite with a few weird symptoms, nothing out of the ordinary. Just go to the doctor tomorrow and tell him about it, and everything will be worked out from there," She reassured herself, though her own words did little to ease her concerns.
With a huff and a brief massage of her temples, Jade tucked in her bed and allowed the warm and sweet embrace of sleep to overwhelm her.
As the night progressed, Jade's dreams were corrupted into shadowy nightmares, and by midnight, she was tossing and turning in her slumber. Her limbs laid splayed out, the afflicted arm twitching erratically while under the influence of the nightmare. From below the curtains, pale moonlight seeped into the room, and illuminated part of the bed and her body. However, as soon as the light shone upon her afflicted arm, the wound glowed and pulsed, causing the sleeping girl to gasp and spasm for a brief moment. Jade groaned as she subconsciously felt her body tremble uncontrollably and beads of sweat trickling down all over her skin. Amidst the searing pain and even in her dreams, Jade was oblivious to the symptoms affecting her body in deeper ways..
Her hands convulsed and trembled violently, skin turning gray and a sticky goop forming between her fingers. It's layers grew until tiny tendrils of the slimy substance shot between and latched onto her fingers, joining, expanding and solidifying until they were all tied together by translucent yellow-ish webs. Pressure and pain built up in the tips of her fingers, until sharp claws tore through the flesh. Reflexively, Jade's hands gripped the sheets tightly as they grew and shifted until they, combined with the claws and webbing, resembled something more befitting an aquatic creature.
Her feet experienced a similar mutation, individual toes being seamed together by webs and gray talons bursting from them, all the while they grew and changed into monstrous, aquatic forms.
Jade's breathing quickened, and the girl twitched as her muscles grew and swelled in seconds all over her body, straining the fabric of her garments. Gray continued to spread, overtaking the soft white skin and taking on a rougher, harder texture, with scales even forming on the changed limbs. Jade grunted when she felt a peculiar pressure build up at the end of her spine, until a salmon tail broke free and tore through the shorts.
The changing girl involuntarily moaned and yelped in pain as her body continued to swell and shift, until her head was assaulted with a constant surge of pain. All at once, gills emerged in her neck, ears broke apart and reformed with webbed skin, teeth split and grew into fangs, tentacles dissolved into green ink and fell off, with orange strands growing in their place and forming kelp-like 'hair' along with a mohawk 'fin', all the while the last remnants of normal skin were swallowed by the gray.
Jade subconsciously felt as if her head was about to explode, for on the outside world the inkling's face slowly pushed forward little by little, nose becoming pointy as well. Her groans deepened into animalistic growls, and with a final push, her face elongated into a small fish-like snout, it's sickening snap rousing the changed girl from sleep.
She looked around frantically and calmed down once she recognized her room. Her gasps for air were heavy and raspy as she regained her bearings on the physical world.
"Just a dream, oh thank goodness. I'm not underwater, and certainly not being ripped apart by Salmonids. Though.. why do I feel so…
Are my fingers glued together? Why does everything look so clearer if it's still night?
Wait.. I smell something… It's actually really nice..!"
The female prowled closer to the window, letting a sweet aroma fill her small nostrils. She sniffed repeatedly until she managed to trace the odor to something down in the streets. Something moving and gelatinous-like.. Living prey! Even from afar it looked so…
"So, so delicious… I... I'm..."
...
Author's Notes
Little fact: These first 3 uploads were all going to be one chapter originally, but I couldn't help but stretch and lengthen things out, sometimes more than it is really needed..
Still appreciate any visits and favorites/follows from fellow readers, but it feels like no one's really reading this. Not when there are any reviews, that is. My ego would say this means that the story is of acceptable quality to some of you, but that's clearly not the case for all..
And if my spread out and hopefully-not-vague descriptions of the characters' physical features were too confusing to keep track of, I'll spell them out here incase you'd like to have a clear-cut reference to them, good reader. Here:
- Jade: Standard white skin, dark green eyes, yellow Tentacles in the 3rd Female Hairstyle (bun tie). Clothes consist of White Headband, White V-Neck Tee, 5th legwear option (loose shorts) and Bubble Rain Boots
- Khal: Dark skin, purple eyes, orange tentacles in the 2nd male hairstyle (spiky). Clothes consist of Squidlife Headphones (only in Turf War), Pink Hoodie, 2nd Legwear male option (short pants with inner leggings) and Moist Ghillie Boots
-Salem: Fair skin, orange eyes, blue tentacles in the 6th male hairstyle (swept bangs). Clothes consist of Hickory Work Cap, Vintage Check Shirt, jean pants and Orca Hi-Tops.
-Yzel: Tan skin, gray eyes, lime green tentacles in the classic male hairstyle. Clothes consist of a green Striped Beanie, Matcha Down Jacket, baggy shorts and Squid-Stitch Slip-Ons.
If there's anything of note about my writing, please leave a review (Though most of you likely won't..)and hopefully you enjoyed this. Sorry if some parts seem a little rushed.
Until next time...