Thank you for the reviews!
ThePizzaDragon: Whoa, you want to see the manga adaptation of this story? Uhm... well, that seems something really cool to do! Finally people would see the characters instead of just reading the occasional descriptions. Although, doing a manga would mean to adjust the story, so it could utilize all its features. With that, I mean that cuts and adds will certainly come... especially considering how the first chapters feel so different from the newest ones. I'm sure the story will not change, so you'll not see something totally different. Now, who's going to draw the manga? I don't have friends who can draw one...
Are you a good drawer and have some experience with the manga format? Send in a review and we are going to talk about this. If someone is interested in dubbing this fanfiction, please let me know with a review too!
For the rest of the readers, write in a review if you are liking the story so far.
Jumping over a small fence, Mirii lands on her feet as she starts sprinting.
"As I suspected, my gadgets all arrived at the treehouse via the mail system I excogitated." She smiles a bit. "Unfortunately, I still didn't find a way to receive those gadgets in a better location… since they come from an unpopular Inksite, they might be seen as dangerous."
Mirii runs on the road, reaching the sidewalk in front of her and jumping on her right, passing an Inkling man walking while carrying a black briefcase.
"... I'm running as fast as I can… like a criminal who's escaping the police." Her eyebrows rose. "I'm violating all pedestrian rules, I'm jumping all fences and climbing on small walls." A pain in the stomach forms out. "What am I doing sprinting for all Inkopolis?! No wonder everyone is staring at me… if only they would know the reasons behind this."
Mirii jumps on a wall on her left, then she jumps forward grabbing a brick wall's edge: the girl jumps from above, landing with a forward roll.
"I'm a Ranger who is about to raise her own rank with a serious mission." She rose her head a bit. "The previous briefing explained who are those dealers and which technology they will use… if we get caught, that's."
Her eyes tracked down Hun, Grina and Bars standing near a large car with metallic parts on the car doors and an antenna on the car roof. Hun points at Mirii, as Grina turns her head behind.
"This mission could be easily complete by just arresting those dealers before they even have a chance to fight back. Hiding behind strategic positions and operating in the shadows are a favorite maneuver of mine, which I'll definitively use for this mission, since I'm the leader of the team."
Mirii stops with her right foot in front of her. Grina lifts her right wrist, which had a wristwatch wrapped around, as her eyes immediately looked at it.
"You know, you took 35 seconds more than usual." She grins.
"Shut up, Grina." Mirii frowns, as she folds her arms. "I finished my commission, which means the mission will truly starts now."
"Finally!" Bars opens his arms, as he turns over the car and smiling widely. "Like, just look at this car! It has so much power, that it could destroy walls by just running them over!"
"This is not a destruction tool, Bars." Mirii rose her head a bit, as she squeezes her eyes slightly. "Its role is to protect the team, safely bringing them inside the dealers' area."
"Actually, it's just exploding from the awesome technology it has!" Grina pats the car roof, as she walks around it. "It has a satellite television, a fridge full of yummy food and drinks, Inknet capacity of over 5 Kilometers… and the seats even activate relaxing massages!" She stops in front of the front-right door, while grinning and shrugging. "Screw my puny room: I want to see monster movie marathons while relaxing on my seat!"
Mirii frowns, as she lowers her head.
"Why you keep thinking this vehicle is used for egoistical purposes?!" She growls. "This technology is essential to help Agents relaxing and relieving them from excessive stress!" Her right hand pulls the bottom-left door handle, pulling the door to the left as well.
"Well… I'm tired and I'm full of stress!" Grina grins, as she pulls the door and enters inside the car.
"Lies!" Mirii bends down, sitting on a comfy white seat and jumping sideways to the middle seat. "You just want to take advantage of the situation…"
"So? Let her have some fun, Mirii."
The girl turns her head to the right: Tonna was in front of a laptop, while wearing earpieces like those seen with the full Hero Suit.
"Did you know that a happy Squid will most likely complete all the task assigned?" Tonna closes her eyes, while keeping her smile. "To tell you the truth, when I heard that you also got the Armor Car for the mission, I almost cried from joy: once Bars starts up the engine, I'll quickly activate the massage mode and get some nice relaxation…"
She falls with her back on the seat backrest, while sighing loudly.
"Whoa! Totally fresh!"
Mirii turns behind, seeing Bars sitting on the driver seat, holding the steering wheel.
"Like, the darn steering wheel is telling me to smash some tiny walls!" He grins, as he briefly laughs.
"DON'T YOU DARE, YOU INGRATE!" Mirii bends forward, while frowning a lot. "You could cause a disaster with your maniac wish to demolish the environment!"
"Naaah, I don't really wanna do that neither, girl!" He shakes his head, as he turns behind with his shoulders, while lifting his mouth a bit. "Like, it's just me giving some funky comments about this powerhouse of a car. The only thing I wanna do for real is to just drive around, especially in front of people: they would ink themselves once they see this beast roaring on the road!"
Mirii kept staring at him, for a while.
"… something tells me, you wouldn't mind cause damage with this vehicle by just driving around." She rose her head a little.
"Ah ah, nope!" He shakes his head, as he returns his head forward with his right forefinger pressing a button with the word -Engine Start Stop- on it. "Like, you gotta chill out a bit Mirii! You are gettin' nervous…"
"I'm NOT nervous!" Smoke came out from Mirii's ears. "I just wanted to make sure you don't have any childish ideas about trying unnecessary stunts and sending this car flying!"
"Actually that last part sounds so fun!"
The girl turns to her right, seeing Grina with her eyes closed, resting her head and back on her seat, while grinning.
"Add some explosions behind the vehicle and us shouting out of the windows… pretty much you got those action dreams as true, as a movie could even wish to achieve." Her hands rest on her stomach.
"Hey, maybe that would truly happen!" Bars' eyes were on the road, as he chuckles a bit. "Like, those dealers mean turfing business with those crazy technologies and stuff! I mean, they would charge at full speed while shouting insults at us!"
"Pffff! Probably they are gonna say kindergarten stuff!" Grina chuckles briefly, as her head turns over Bars. "Or maybe they could be creative enough to give us the most colorful insults yet! Now THAT would really make me laugh hard!"
Grina kept forming words from her mouth, while Mirii's sight was on the girl: she slowly moves backwards, as her back rests on the seat backrest.
"Greta Inkolina… the female protagonist of one of the most famous kid show of all time…" She shakes her head, while folding her arms. "Reduced to be a living joke of herself."
Mirii's fingers press on her arms.
"This is unacceptable on so many levels…" She grits her teeth, while gradually frowning a lot. "She's responsible for giving inspiration to the younger generation having a passion for acting… if they saw what Greta would become in the future, the entire entertainment industry would only focus on cheesy jokes and generally very stupid movies."
Mirii growls faintly, as she lowers her head. Grina was laughing loudly, together with Bars.
"How could she abandoned her acting career for a miserable life of joking…?! She knows everything about acting, she even knows what determinates quality in a movie, SHE COULD HELP THE NEW GENERATIONS UNDERSTANDING BETTER THE JOB OF THEIR DREAMS!"
Mirii bends forward, letting out a short growl.
"GRETA INKOLINA, STOP ACTING LIKE A FOOL!" Her eyes were wide.
Grina immediately turns her head towards the girl, as her mouth opened. Silence kicked in for a moment.
"… girl… like…" Bars' expanded eyes were on the road. "Tonna is here…"
Mirii instantly turns to her right, seeing the woman staring at her.
"… you called Grina, Greta?" Her fingers were over the laptop's keyboard.
"Nnnggghhh!" Her eyebrows rose, as she shakes her head. "N-no! No"
"Relax Mirii, she knows." Grina smiles a bit. "I told her my real name, after I told her about Mike."
Mirii returns seeing Grina: her head lowers a bit.
"Even Hunry knows that… not that changed much, right?" Her eyes were glued on Hun's face.
He nods, while smiling: he was sitting right next the bottom-left door. Mirii frowns a bit.
"Greta…"
"Yes?" Grina looks at Mirii, smiling a bit.
"… I… I don't understand…" She frowns a bit more.
"You don't understand why I gave up my acting career? Heh, that's sure an original question!" Her head rests on the seat headrest, with her hands slipping behind her head as her eyes closed.
"Don't try to joke on this question too, Greta!" Mirii rose her head a bit. "Do you have any idea what people would think of you, if they see you in such ridiculous state?!"
"Meh… as long as I don't get paparazzi buzzing around me, it's all fine." Her right arm moves forward and her right hand rotates clockwise.
"It's NOT fine, Greta!" Mirii's fists clenched. "People who have this acting passion are working hard day and night to achieve their career of their dreams! You worked hard too in the past, Greta… your efforts let you receive the fame you deserved! Why abandoning all of it to become a mindless joke of yourself?!"
"Miriii…"
The girl turns over Tonna, which mouth was flattened and her eyebrows were slightly down.
"Please, don't bash Grina like"
"No no, Tonna: let me do this."
Mirii returns her head over Grina, which was still standing in the same position.
"Sigh, Mirii, Mirii, Mirii…" She opens her eyes. "I think it's about time to tell you something about my past."
"You mean, the events who made you decide to leave your acting career?" Mirii rose her head a bit.
"Hmm… come to think of it," Grina turns behind, as she looks at Mirii. "didn't I mention it already before?"
"… when?" Mirii's eyebrows lowered.
"I think I said something back at the treehouse: you know, how gullible I was about the acting job and all that." Her right hand rose, turning upside down.
Mirii kept looking at Grina: she closes her eyes, while chuckling once and lowering her head.
"Yeah… I was indeed as gullible as a child could get. Thinking only from a mere appearance…" She rose her head back, opening her eyes. "When I was little, daddy sometimes would brought me with him to the studios: the back stage people kept flying back and forth at high speed, while not sweating once at all!"
Grina returns with her back on her seat backrest. Her eyes looked up.
"Believe it or not, I managed to completely ignore the chaotic people… instead, I often look at the actors and actresses preparing themselves with the script and everything."
She smiles.
"They were always smiling… always so gentle with me too… I often mentioned that to my dad, asking if it was true that acting would make you smile." Her left leg went on her right one. "He said that indeed such job makes you feel good! From there he kinda asked if I wanted to be an actress too… well, the answer isn't much of a surprise, that's for sure."
Suddenly, her face gradually frowns a bit.
"That moment signed an era which I prefer to forget… but since Miss Perfection thinks to know the right solutions, then it seems I do have to dive back inside my nightmare."
Turning behind, Grina frowns a bit more: Mirii moves backwards, as her eyebrows slightly rose.
"At first I thought it wasn't so bad: I had some courses to follow, some studio visits with my dad… those moments were rather short, because people kept saying that acting was like second nature for me. From there, here we get into the real deal… the DARN, TURFING real deal!"
She rose her right fist, shaking it, while gritting her teeth. Mirii's back fell on the seat backrest, as her eyebrows rose even more. Hun swallows silently.
"I was casted for the Ink, Turf, Splat show: once I was accepted, I had to work for almost the entire day to just release the first episode. When I was done with the recording, guess what? Since I also attend school, I had to do homework too! Long story short: once I finished, it was already bed time for me!"
She growls a bit, as she lowers her head and squeezes her eyes.
"Now… that was rather annoying wasn't it? Oh, but guess what… the following days were ALL THE SAME THING OVER AGAIN!" She throws a punch on her seat. "Greta, go to school and right after that, get to the studio! Greta, we changed our mind with the script: we have to REDO EVERYTHING AGAIN! Greta, try eating more vegetables, since you must be in perfect shape. Greta, right after the recording, you have to reach the library to sign off some autographs. Greta, don't forget you have the solo show, interview and meeting in Inkopolis' main studios."
She took deep breaths.
"In other words… work, work, work, work, WORK, WORK, WORK, WORK, EVEN MORE DARN TURFING WORK!" She stomps the car floor with her feet. "Ever since I became famous, I couldn't play with my friends, I couldn't eat all the sweets I wanted, I couldn't even spend time with my grandpa! I WASN'T SMILING IN THE DARN LEAST!" Her eyes were getting watery, as her mouth was a bit wavy.
Mirii turns her head over Hun, as her mouth was left open. Hun's mouth was downturned.
"No wait… I did smile in those days… well… only when I was on camera. For the rest of my time, I was stressed, annoyed and sad… there was a moment where I couldn't stop crying each night. I…" She sniffs loudly. "I hated that job with all my heart… I wanted to scream at the whole world, how I was so sick of this and wanted to quit for good. I knew I couldn't…"
A tear drops from her right eye.
"Because… my dad was so happy about me… and my mom… even my grandpa was very happy about this! If I said those words, I would make them sad… and I didn't wanted to see that. I-I was already sad myself…" She rubs her right eye. "At least seeing their smiles, kinda made up for all the frustration I was passing through…"
She sniffs loudly.
"Despite their smiles, my results and all the awards I received… I was still sad as a drenching towel. I kept seeing blue everywhere… I-I didn't even had the energy to dream about something better than the endless work I had to do… until it happened."
She sighs loudly.
"One day, when I was with my dad… I got on a crate and shouted many bad words about the studios. I exploded in a huge cry, while running off in my personal room. That day I was so stressed, that I didn't even care: if I wanted, I could just throw everything up in the air and causing a darn ruckus."
Grina trembles a bit.
"At the same time, I was trembling like a leaf. Well… you know, since I said all those things out loud… I imagined my dad coming to me and giving me a slap on the cheek. I… I kinda wanted that slap, actually. I was out of control… so much, that it even scared me."
Her eyebrows were up, her eyes were full of tears.
"Entering in my room, it was my dad… and… … he hugged me." She lowers her head, smiling a bit. "From there, I understood the situation. He was the one telling me about the 14 years old trick: since you grow completely out of that age, my dad informed the media that I was going on an airport, with the intent of candidate myself for another movie. Truth is, exactly at my 14th birthday, I escaped that island by pretending to go at the airport, just to sneak out of it and getting on a ship."
Her smile grew.
"There were people on the ship… none of them recognized me." She closes her eyes. "That already made me smile. I started from there to dream… and my dream was to follow my grandpa's promise: form a Turf War team and kick some butt under the name of Grina Inkol!" She grins.
Opening her eyes, she sees Mirii and Hun: both smiled too.
"That's why I don't want to even think about acting… it's boring and so heavy, I can't even take some breath!" She turns over Bars. "In Inkopolis I met all of you… and from there, my life certainly took a huge fun side, which it's something I'd guard with the soul."
She returns her head over Mirii, as she opens her arms.
"That's the true treasure for a living being: having fun! That's all I'm seeking! I want to laugh with my friends, I want to laugh at insults, I want to laugh just for the sake of it! Ah ah ah!" Her smile expanded. "Smiles follow laughs! When you smile, you already got the best achievement you could ever imagined. With a smile, I could climb a mountain with just my bare hands! The cold? Pfff! A pushover when I laugh at it! Height frights? They fear laughs more than anything!"
She shook her head quickly, as her arms went down.
"So, do you still think I should go back inside that work pond of a nightmare?" Grina grins.
Mirii rose her head a bit, as she slightly squeezes her eyes.
"You certainly didn't had an easy time dealing with your acting career… although, I wouldn't give it up that easily."
"Hmm?" Grina sealed her mouth.
"Hmpf." Mirii folds her arms. "It seems you got an addiction for laughing… using it to rely you from the endless stress you suffered in the past."
"Wow, really? Laughing is now an addiction?" Grina's eyebrows lowered, her smile increases. "What negative effects I receive from it? Come on, psychologist: tell to us a good joke!"
"Laughing per se isn't the problem…" Mirii's right forefinger moves in front of the girl. "The real problem is your relation with the word Work."
"Hmm? Work?" Grina's right eyebrow rose. "What do you mean?"
"… it all makes sense now…" Mirii slowly nods. "I'm sure you remember the moment when I was searching on my laptop and you begged me and Bars to take a walk out."
Grina's mouth flattened, as her eyebrows lowered a little.
"You were getting desperate seeing me working… I claimed you were filled with strong nostalgia… I was wrong." Mirii bends forward, as she frowns a bit more. "You never cared about nostalgia at all! You… you generally don't like working, hmm?" She rose her head a bit. "You are scared to work again… am I right?"
Grina growls.
"You fear that if you get a job… you would return in the same situation as you were before. Or maybe… in an even worse situation than that!" Mirii lowers her head.
"Fffffff!" Her hands rotates towards the car roof.
"Is this true, Grina?!" She folds her arms. "You keep thinking about laughing, just to stay away from any future jobs you might get?!"
Grina took a deep breath, as her left hand grasps her seat.
"… heh…" She smiles a bit. "… there is a reason why the chief sees in you potentials, Mirii…"
"… Grina, why you didn't told this to Tonna earlier?" Mirii frowns a bit. "You do realize this mission is"
"If I told her that, then I would pretty much say all my backstory…" Grina returns forward, with her back on her seat backrest. "Mirii… there is nothing you, Hunry, Tonna and Bars can do about this…"
Bars downturns his mouth. Grina lowers her head, as her face got darker.
"I… I decided to not take another job… unless I see that as a fun one." She sighs loudly. "It ruined part of my childhood, Mirii… I don't want to end up like I did before… th-that was so horrible, Mirii!" She sniffs loudly. "I-I was seeing blue… I-I desired to puke all the words I wanted to say about that job… sniff… th-that's it, I don't want to talk about this anymore!" Her hands covered her face.
"Whoa, whoa! Like, girl!" Bars' eyebrows were up, as he turns briefly over Grina. "That thing is miles away from"
"SHUT UP, BARS!" Grina's face was still covered by her hands. "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
The boy grits his teeth. After half a minute, Grina started to sob a bit.