Author's Note: This chapter is where the proposals to a future Splatoon title start to show, especially with you being able to choose Octoling or Inkling at the start, and a new newbie shirt. Also, this details what the start of my envisioned Splat3 would look like.
PS: More hairstyles for both Octo(especially) and Inklings plz. Also, some vulgar language involved.
Without further adieu, enjoy.
The whole society of Inkopolis was rocked by Marina's bomb a few hours earlier, some even forgot what stages the modes are on, leading to some going into Ink Battles with the wrong loadout.
(A few hours earlier)
"Alright kiddo, put these on.", said the jellyfish to a blue-tentacled Octoling. This one had three tentacles extending from near his forehead, up to the top of the back of his head. A lone tentacle arched over his forehead in front of the 3 tentacles. The jelly gave a shirt to the Octoling: a white basic tee, with "fresh" written in Inkling, and a stylized octopus in the back.
"Now then, young Octo, onto your crash course on Ink Battle 101.", the jelly said, handing the Octoling a Splattershot Jr. & the accompanying Splat Bombs & the switch to activate Ink Armor, the special. "First up, some target practice!", the jelly spoke over the intercom, releasing some balloons. He immediately disposed of the balloons, having experience on something more... complicated.
The rest of the tutorial program went smoothly, only encountering a few minor snags across the way, particularly with the part about enemy ink and destructibles. After 20 minutes, the Octoling finally approaching a swirling mass of ink, appropriately switching color to match his shade of blue.
"Now then, Joshua Catfish, go forth and make your mark at the Square!", the jelly bade farewell to his tutee, the Octoling super-jumping into the distance, into the bustling city of Inkopolis that lay a few meters from the tutorial site.
Said Octoling landed a few seconds, right on cue for the 12'o clock broadcast. He then trained his eyes up to the screens of Deca Tower, ready to hear useful news. Based on the large amounts Inkling he knew about, thanks to him watching Inkling commercials in prop class, the two admittedly lovely ladies on-screen were named Pearl and Marina. Right then & there, Joshua knew something was up with the lady on the right, as she was really different to her partner on the left.
And then, it dropped. The girl named Marina dropped her bomb. "I am an Octoling", she said. Joshua then wondered...and then something clicked.
"Is this girl... the Marina Ida some soldiers were talking about? The one who went AWOL after Octavio engaged the New Squidbeak Splatoon?", he wondered aloud to himself. "I...may have heard about her... " he trailed off.
"Look beyond race. Help them understand Inkopolis.", Marina's words echoed in his mind, with him still holding on to his Splattershot Jr, because some Inklings were looking at him menacingly, while some were having wondrous looks. Most of those "fad hairstyles" only involved a mohawk with only a lone tentacle or a blob resembling an octopus mantle.
"Don't get cooked, stay off the hook!", the duo announced, concluding the broadcast. There was a lot to take in in this new world he was witnessing, so he gathered some courage, and asked a few people, starting with a gaggle of Inklings hanging out near Shella Fresh.
"What's up with this place?" Joshua asked.
"Yo, stuck under a barnacle?", an Inkling girl with a side-cut tentacle barked at Joshua.
"Hey, don't be like that! " an Inkling girl with pig-tail tentacles chided her friend.
"Yo, newbie, to answer your question, everything.", an effeminate Octoling with a big dark purple bun for a hair answered Joshua's question. "But you may wanna try out the first thing about Inkopolis; Turf Wars."
"And be forewarned: these shops don't sell until you are level 4", chided the pig-tail Inkling girl.
"Yeah, git gud if you wanna get better gear.", said the side-cut Inkling girl. "Yo, that be a new hairstyle, man!", she said. How come our friend here dunno about that?", she wondrously exclaimed.
"Hey, Rita, he's not a specimen to experiment or something! Although, she does bring up a valid point.", said the pig-tail Inkling.
"Those existed where I came from.", the afro-Octoling said simply. "I only chose this because this is FABULOUS!", he said, confirming his sexuality to Joshua.
"Now you know what he actually likes...he's.", the side-cut Inkling joked in a deadpan manner. "If your nice enough, he may loan you some moolah for gear!", she said. "And maybe more...!", she teased her gay Octoling friend.
"Hahahaha, silly!", said the gay afro Octoling ."I'm no sugar momma!", she reminded her friends.
"Hey, I don't look sexuality you know.", said Joshua. "But still prefer the traditional way, if you ask me." he said. "No offence, fellowman.", he said to the afro Octo.
"Hey, none taken. Now go get em tiger!", cheered the dark purple Octoling.
"Oh that reminds me. I gotta get going!", said Joshua, still holding his Jr. with one hand, looking over at Deca Tower.
"Going to Turf now newbie? Don't forget to aim, octoboy!", said the side-cut Inkling.
"Hahahah, come on now, Rita!", chided the pig-tail Inkling.
"Relax, Tina, I was just pulling his leg!", she said, unawares that Joshua was still within earshot.
"I know.", Joshua said with a smile, looking back at the trio, already making for Deca Tower's lobby. He then jogged the short way, avoiding several hurried Inklings along the way. When he was in the lobby, the security scanned him, & knew that he was a newcomer.
A lady jellyfish immediately attended to Joshua, upon the security detecting him as a newbie.
"Please proceed to the New Players area for Turf War eligibility. You will be issued an electronic card that tracks your progress and freshness!", said the jellyfish. Joshua did as he was instructed.
He then went to the New Players counter, upon which a jelly in grey polo with neon green accents handed him a form, which he was instructed to fill with the necessary information. He went to an area with several mismatched couches and a table. A few Inklings and Octolings were buzzing about, talking about the newscast earlier.
He settled in the last free space near the employee's entrance to the counter. His mind still raced through all he experienced so far. The newscast, those girls...he was taking it all in. He wrote in the details in the short form, which was updated to accommodate Octoling. His newbie form read like this:
NAME: Joshua Catfish
AGE: 14
GENDER: M
EYES: cyan
RACE: Octoling
His breath heaved at the sight of the last entry, but put his thoughts aside, as he was more focused on getting his reputation and cash reserves running.
After five minutes, he finished his form, with his signature and his printed name below, as he and an Inkling both passed their forms.
"Tentacle print and fingerprints please!", said another jelly, handing over two devices, a tentacle identifier and a ink pad that detects anyone's primary color. Joshua opted to let the Inkling through, thanking him for it. She clipped on the identifier on one of her long tentacles to the left of her face. The jelly then transmitted the results by tapping the identifier unto the space indicated for tentacle print. He then passed the ink pad to the Inkling, the pad changing into a pink shade once her finger made contact. She, as instructed by the jelly, popped her finger into the indicated space on her form. The jelly gave the form to another jelly on a printer like device. She then waited for her card to churn out, while Joshua did the same steps, although this time, he clipped the device into the front tentacle. While the jelly was transmitting his tentacle print, the Inkling happily accepted her card, making her way to the battle lobbies.
A few more minutes, and Joshua was cleared to do the same. He followed the same Inkling he saw earlier disappear, finding her in the same escalator sets. One read: "Lobby A-D, Turf War", and the other read "Ranked Battles, Lobby E-H"
"Hey there!", said the Inkling, recognizing him. "Have you heard the news? Marina exposed your kind around here!", she said.
"Yeah, that blew up right as I arrived here.", Joshua replied to her.
"I am Celia by the way", she introduced herself, extending her hand that wasn't holding her Jr. & her gear bag.
"Joshua here.", the Octoling replied.
"My sister came here first, back when Squid Sisters were still doing Inkopolis News! I am so happy I finally get to Turf with Inklings around the block! ", she said giddily.
"What does your sister main?", Joshua asked.
"Oh, her? Man, you should see her E-Liter collection.", she said gushingly. "Her current pet weapon is the 4k Scope. Helps her heaps with Ranked with what I hear.", she related to the Octoling while walking, looking for a not-fully occupied lobby.
"Whoa, that's a pain for the enemies!", Joshua said, astounded.
"I think Lobby C is open.", said Celia, noticing the LED pad only displayed two names: an Evan, Inkling,male , and another named Julianne, Octoling, female. Both of them curved right where Lobby C was, joining the two waiting.
"Hey, more people!", the Inkling named Evan perked up. "It was kinda getting lonely here. My usual squad needed more bread for their weapons and are now off to GrizzCo's", he stated. "Looks like this be your first match, kid.", he said to Joshua, noticing his newbie tee.
"Yessir, It is.", affirmed the Octoling. "Along with this Inkling right here.", he said, patting Celia.
"I'm really excited to do this!", squealed Celia happily. "I always wanted to follow my sister's footsteps, and now I'm on my way to Rank S!", she exclaimed happily.
"Whoa there, kiddo!", Evan said in surprise. "First of all, you can't do Ranked until you're on Level 10.", he gently said to Celia. "And then, there's the problem of weapon-gear loadouts. Yes, the very things we wear into battle give us benefits.", he narrated to the two newbies. "Then, thee are different flavors Ranked comes in: Splat Zones, Tower Control, Rainmaker, and Clam Blitz.", he said. "Yo Octo, you hearing all this?", he said to Joshua, busy studying the screen.
"Yeah, heard all of that mate.", he replied, his eyes still on the match unfolding in Skipper Pavilion, which just hit the 1-minute mark.
"Hey, not long before we get a match", the female Octoling spoke up suddenly, seeing the time. "I am Julianne by the way", she said, stating her name, while a Custom Jet Squelcher lay beside her.
"Oh, nice to see more of my own.", he off-handedly said to the gal Octoling.
Evan felt compelled to do the same thing as Octoling did. "Oh, right, where are my manners, silly me.", he said, scratching his mantle in jest. "Evan Current BTW. Hero Shot 2 Replica main, S rank, level 94", he said, completely introducing his whole career so far.
"Celia, sister to Jesse Seaspray, probably the best E-Liter main I know!", the female Inkling said excitedly.
"You really look up to your sister that much, hmm? ", said Evan. "Well, it ain't that difficult to do so.", he said, careful to not let anything slip.
"You had played with her Mr. Evan?", Celia said.
"That and much more.", he said, feeling the pressure to not let anymore on.
The quarter decided to exchange anecdotes about their lives before being rudely interrupted by a crazy group of Inklings practically busting through the door. They were comprised of: one with a bun behind his head and had tentacles to the side of his head, orange, wielding a Heavy Splatling. His two lackeys in either side had spiky Mohawks, one cyan, one blue, left one holding an Octobrush, while the other had a Clash Blaster. The silent one in the back, with the classic ponytail, colored yellow, has a simple N-Zap 89 with him. The one at the front spoke first.
"Humph! Two newbies! This should be easy money, right Jeremy?", he said leering at the two newbies in the room.
"Heh, if weren't resetti-ed, I could just spit ink at these fools and still win.", the guy named Jeremy said. We're better than X, some wimp just reported us to the authorities and reset our rank."
"Like, it was a just a love tap.", said the blue-mohawked Inkling. The dark purple Inkling only stared at his competition with pure disdain, deeming them unworthy.
"Hahahaha! Yeah, so good that he bumped his head into a post and got splatted!", said the leader. The others guffawed with them on cue, even the silent guy.
"If it ain't you slime...", said Evan, realizing who just came in. "You muthafuckers are bad news you know? You ain't fun in Ink Battles.", he said, dissing the orange boy.
"Who do you think you are, Agent 4?", the orange boy said, catching sight of the weapon he has brought. "Haha, you're too stupid to be Agent 4!", he boasted. "I, Luke Crowley, AM AGENT 4!", he yelled for the room to hear.
"You're sure high on coke again.", said Julianne the Octoling, noticing the absurdity of his claim. "Yeah, I watched that interview with Pearl, and you squits are the reason she got into drugs.", she stated simply.
"Ha! Pearl? That bitch? She owes me coke, that damn gremlin!", Jeremy said indignantly.
"And she owes me a sucking!", said the blue inkling.
"Yeah, every girl to you owns a sucking, Connor.", Luke said. "Oi, that octopussy is mine, asshole.", he warned his lackey, who was already eyeing Julianne.
"How about we settle this in the battlefield, Crowley?", challenged Evan. "We're up next you know.", he simply stated.
"Then that octopussy is good as mine, boy!", Luke said to Evan, inching his face to taunt him. Evan was unfazed, this was minor compared to what he faced. "And maybe that girl over there too for Jeremy!", he said, referring to Celia, as they assembled themselves to battle. "Two newbies, and two girls on a team.", he said, mocking Evan and his team.
"Rrrrgh.", was the only thing Joshua said. He hated being underestimated by anyone.
"Relax, mate, we'll win this.", Evan said, boosting his team's confidence.
"But, they got all that gear! And their weapons!", Celia said, panic in her voice. She was already onto what they planned to do to her if she lost this.
"PLAYERS, PROCEED TO THE JUMP PADS TO COMMENCE BATTLE.", an automated voice came to being to signal another battle to begin. Evan, Julianne, Celia, and Joshua formed a line, while Crowley and his goons formed another. An ink screen showered both groups to be of a single color; Evan and his team were cyan, while Crowley and his goons were yellow for this match.
All eight players Super Jumped to the battlefield, landing on opposing ends. Evan's team, with a little tutelage from him, formed themselves into the standard start formation: Evan took the outer left, Joshua took the inner left, Celia took beside Joshua, and Julianne rounded up the squad, all submerging to confirm the temporary color change.
Luke took the center left, with his two cronies beside him, leaving the fourth guy beside Jeremy. They too submerged to squid to confirm the colors for the match.
An announcer's voice came to life, indicating the match was about to start.
"Welcome, to Skipper Pavilion!", he greeted the motley crowd enthusiastically. "We have another exciting Turf War match right here at Skipper Pavilion. To your left, the Cyan team! ", he announced, as two Inklings and two Octolings reformed back to humanoid upon being announced.
"And their opponents: Team Yellow!", he bellowed, Crowley's goons surfacing. The three of them had maniacal looks on their faces, thinking of the pleasure to be had if they won this one, which should be easy, considering they had the equipment to do so.
And soon the match began, after a few statements of Turf War rules.
"THREE!" Joshua held his Jr. more firmly in two hands, determination in his eyes.
"TWO!" Luke was already cocking his Heavy Splatling impatiently.
"ONE!" Both teams were eager to start this battle.
"And GO!"
Both teams splashed their color right off the bat. Joshua went left to fill out the blank crevices along the way. Julianne saw him and beckoned him to stay close.
"Yo, get close to me.", she called to the Octoling. The Octoling immediately followed, still spraying ink whenever he saw fit. Joshua already saw the N-Zap '89 already seeking both of them, squidding to avoid detection.
"Hmh, this guy should take care of this fool on the N-Zap.", said the female Octoling, and not without basis: the Custom Jet Squelcher was known for long range among shooters, sacrificing firing speed for range.
Meanwhile, Evan and Celia were busy covering the center, and was being harassed by Luke and Connor. The Clash Blaster was short ranged, but it did hurt when it did hit. Evan's black shirt was already sprinkled with the enemy's ink. The Heavy Splatling was making matters worse, as it shot a deadly river of ink at the duo. Suddenly, Celia's tentacles glowed up; she had a special ready.
Over at Julianne and Joshua's side of things, the N-Zap was dancing with the duo when an even more unwelcome guest appeared: Jeremy and his Octobrush.
"Silly Octosquit! Do you think you can beat Shimano!? Ahahahahaha!", he maniacally said, as he slapped his Octobrush in front of him rapidly. Joshua responded in kind with his Junior, diving down into friendly ink to refill. That was all Jeremy was waiting and instantly splatted Julianne, her gun clattering into the wooden floor, before sinking to rejoin it's master.
Over at Evan and Celia's, Luke was throwing boisterous invectives and obviously vulgar language at both Evan and Celia. Connor re-emerged out of the ink to backstab Evan with the Clash Blaster, but Evan squidded in time to avoid that, swimming away.
"Swiggity swooty, coming for that pusseh, hahaha! ", said Luke to Celia.
"Not today, creep!", she said defiantly, combating him with her Junior.
"Your fucking ass is mine, ya woomy!", Luke blared. "Imma rip it open with my D and you'll like it so much, you'd beg me for more!", he boisterously blared to the girl Inkling.
"Surprise, mothafucka", suddenly said Evan, before firing upon Luke out of squid form, which Luke countered with his Heavy Splatling, but he caught a Burst Bomb directly onto the chest, swimming away, then resurfacing to do the job, splatting Luke. Celia was still blindingly bright, as she hasn't unleashed her special yet.
"Your special, Celia, now!", Evan instructed forcefully, upon seeing the confusion on the younger Inkling's face. Unsure of what to do, Celia clenched her fist, only now noticing the small switch in her palm, coating her head to toe in cyan ink. Evan also received the coating, as he was near him.
Over at the other battle theater, Julianne had already respawned, only to see Joshua engaging both the N-Zap and the Octobrush in her absence, with Joshua seemingly covered head to toe in cyan ink.
The girl Octoling used the distraction to target her splatter: Jeremy. The range on the Custom Jet Squelcher's range to her advantage, the intended target catching on to her intentions, squidding to re-engage the Octoling.
"Hey Octo-bitch, I ain't done with your Octo-ass just yet!", he wildly yelled, as he swung his Octo-brush wildly. This time, they were having an intense duel. Joshua's Ink Armor has worn off, and was at the mercy of the N-Zap. And soon after, Joshua was immediately splatted.
"That's Shimano to you.", he declared in a steady voice, victorious over his Octoling foe.
The battle raged on, with the map being harder and harder to tell who was winning.
*After-chapter bits:
So there. My OC is upon us all. Say hello to Joshua Catfish, an Octoling. I based his tentacles on my IRL hair I have now. His surname is a parody of my real surname, matching it to the "maritime" theme. Also... uh-oh. Some bullies want some of that puss! Will Evan and his rag-tag team deny Luke Crowley and his gang's sick pleasures? Find out.