True Smiles
Deca Tower, Inkopolis Square
Just as planned, Neon and Kal waited for Sky at the Deca tower.
It was almost five, Sky would be arriving any moment now.
"Hey, whoever Sky brings, leave them to me okay?" Neon suggested.
"Can't bring yourself to face Sky? Then why don't we just give it up already?" Kal asked
Neon shook her head "Not yet…"
Part of her wanted to win against Sky and see just how far he would go for her.
Another part wanted to stop pushing him any further and just reconcile.
Sure Sky was blind to Neon's feelings, but that didn't put him at fault.
Neon had realized that and was beginning to feel just a little guilty.
"Well alright, I can handle Sky." Kal agreed
For this private match, Neon would be using a custom E-Liter as always.
Kal had a few choices, but in the end he chose the Slosher he had been using for quite some time now.
One long ranged Charger and one close ranged Slosher should make a decent pair.
At 4:55, Sky arrived at the Deca Tower.
Following behind him, was an Octoling.
At first glance one might mistake her for one of the Octavio supporting Octolings, as she had red hair and wore a full set of Octoling armor, but the armor and goggles were a different model no longer used by the Octarian army.
When Kal realized who this was, he stood shocked and stared with disbelief.
Didn't Victoria say she was too busy to come to Inkopolis? What was she doing here?
She looked angry, very angry.
Neon, not caring who Sky had brought, simply said. "Five minutes early, as expected of mr perfect."
But as she said that, Victoria charged into her, lifting her up by the collar and pinning her against the wall.
"I thought we were friends! When did you turn into a two timing hussy!?"
That attracted quite a bit of attention, as they were still in the square.
Kal and Sky rushed to pull the two apart, but soon found themselves glaring at each other.
"To think that you would parade yourself in front of Kal while I'm gone!" Victoria continued "You too Kal! How can you let Neon use you so easily?!"
"Hey don't just blame her! It wasn't completely her idea." Kal replied
"Are you saying you aren't innocent in all this?! That makes it worse!"
"Can you blame me?! You always say you're busy with this and that and never have time for me! I don't even know if I matter to you anymore!" Kal retorted
"You… I'm a soldier of New Octopolis! I have my duties! Did you really think I was just making excuses not to come see you?!"
It wasn't Kal who spoke next, but Sky.
"Calm down Victoria, please don't start a fight in the middle of the street." he said in a calm manner
Victoria realized their situation and did just that, but then it was Neon's turn to complain.
"Why are you so nice to her!? Whenever I make a fuss you never say 'please don't' you just shout!" Neon complained
Now it was Kal's turn to hold her back.
"Hey save it for the battle! You'll have plenty of time to vent there."
"Oh right! The battle! I almost forgot!"
"Well we are all here, so we might as well begin."
"Yes, we will keep it simple, one regular game of Turf War on a random map. Sound good?" Neon asked
There were no complaints.
Even so there was a lot of glaring.
Nobody spoke to each other as the four made their way into the Deca Tower's private lobbies.
As their two teams were separated, they finally broke the silence.
"I didn't expect that…" Kal said.
Neon tilted her head "Hmm?"
"I thought for sure Sky would bring Inker, I didn't expect him to team up with Victoria…"
"That won't distract you, will it?"
"I'm not sure… But i'm going to have to go back on our plan. I'm leaving Sky to you."
"What? But… Nevermind I think I can guess."
"Thank you."
Neon and Kal were in the same boat.
They both had things they wanted to get off their minds.
The plan was to leave the weaker Sky to Kal, while Neon would take on whoever Sky brought.
But now that had changed.
Kal had much to explain and much to complain.
So did Neon.
As for Sky and Victoria.
"When we begin, leave Kal to me." Victoria said.
"What? But there's no way I can beat Neon!"
"Well figure something out! I didn't come all the way to Inkopolis just to lose!"
"Why are you leaving Neon to me?"
"It only makes sense right? Besides after hearing what Kal said, there's no way I can let him off so easily."
"But Neon.. Neon's never dropped out of the top500s ever since rank X was introduced… I don't hold a candle to her."
"Then just don't fight her directly. Turf war may be a game, but it is still based off an actual war. As an Octarian soldier I can tell you that there are much more ways to fight a war than just with weapons and ink."
Sky nodded
"Besides, this isn't just about winning is it?" Victoria asked
"Well… I'm not sure…" Sky didn't want to lose, but what exactly he didn't want to lose was not yet certain to him.
Was it the battle? Pride? Or Neon?
Maybe some of each.
Wahoo World, Inkopolis
As they had selected a random stage, neither side knew where they were going until they reached their spawn points.
It was Wahoo World, a amusement park-like map with plenty of walls and moving platforms.
While most battles begun with happy expressions on the faces of both teams, there were none of those here.
Victoria and Sky were recoloured Neon Pink, they had determined looks on their faces.
They weren't just here to win the battle after all.
Sky brought a basic Splat Roller as his weapon, while Victoria had taken a liking to using Blasters.
On the other side, Kal and Neon were recoloured Neon Green and looked equally determined.
Looking around the map, Neon was already trying to find places for placing squid beakons, while Kal wondered how his Slosher would fare against Victoria here.
Both sides waited eagerly for the start, and when it came, both sides surged forward.
Rapidly shooting her way to some decent cover, Neon placed two Squid Beakons down while she considered her next move.
Kal Sloshed his way towards the center.
On the other side, Sky came rolling towards the spinning platform in the middle, while Victoria attempted to approach from the sides.
The two boys met in the middle, they glared at each other.
They were not the ones they were looking for, but this was still a battle.
"Rahhh!" Sky charged forward with his Roller
In response Kal lept off the platform and using the firing arc of the Slosher, he sent ink flying up onto the platform.
Sky, seeing a torrent of ink flung upwards, quickly threw himself back.
He retreated back to his side of the map and hid in some ink, while Kal covered the center platform.
When Kal came down, he was weary of the pink ink, as Sky was predictable, Kal knew he was hiding somewhere.
But then came a barrage of Blaster shots.
Kal stumbled and jumped, seeing Victoria firing from higher ground.
Victoria's Blaster was perfectly suited for this map, which featured walls everywhere.
Kal struggled to dodge Victoria's Blaster shots, while Victoria spammed the trigger through gritted teeth.
At this moment, Sky popped up, intending to surprise Kal, only for a quick and precise shot from Neon to splat him instantly.
Neon, watching Kal from afar, smiled and mouthed to him 'Go for it!'.
She was going to leave Victoria to him, while she covered more turf.
Kal nodded, first he had to get out of Victoria's sight.
Victoria, moving carefully, did not hop down to the lower parts of the map, she moved to the center platform and retook it for her team.
Once again, Kal flung ink onto the platform from the lower ground onto the platform.
Seeing this same trick again, Victoria rolled her eyes and circled around to flank Kal.
"There you are!"
Kal quickly climbed back onto the platform, and Victoria followed.
Expecting this, Kal waited by the edge of the platform, intending to dump a load of Ink of Victoria as she climbed up.
But Victoria, being a trained soldier, was too quick for Kal.
Immediately noticing how close they were, Victoria opted to go for a more direct form of combat.
Knocking Kal's Slosher out of his hand, Victoria locked one of her legs around Kal's and punched his upper body, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"Urf" Kal cried out in pain "That's cheating!"
"Oh? But it's okay for you to cheat with Neon while I'm not around?" Victoria shot back.
Kal felt anger swelling once again.
Why was he being treated like the bad guy?
To him, he didn't do anything wrong.
The only reason Victoria jumped to such a conclusion, was because they had been separated for so long, only keeping in touch by phone.
Kal threw himself back up, tackling Victoria off the platform.
"Don't act like I'm wrong here!"
They fell, Kal landed on top of Victoria, but she quickly turned that around, flipping Kal over and pinning him to the ground.
"And how are you not? You two faced sleazeball! You sounded sooo supportive over the phone but then you put the moves on Neon?! How do you think I feel when I heard that?!"
"How you feel?! Is that all you care about!? What about me!?" Kal struggled to move his arms and legs, but could not, luckily he could still change form.
He switched to squid form and lept up into Victoria, giving her a powerful headbutt.
"Everytime I call, every time I try to invite you over, you're always busy!" Kal continued, as he and Victoria locked arms attempting to wrestle each other to the ground.
This was no normal match of Turf Wars, they weren't just trying to cover the most ground.
"And it's always me! I'm always cheering you on, leaving you to whatever you do in Octo Valley! While you never call back! Do you know how that feels!?" Kal shouted
"Oh please! I have way too much on my hands to worry about that stuff!" Victoria replied
"And how do you think I feel because of that?!" Kal shot back "Neglected! Ignored! I love you yet you don't seem to care at all! Do I even matter to you anymore!"
Victoria gasped, as if she had not realized it.
In doing so, her hold weakened. Kal felt it, if he was going to make a move, now as the time, he copied the move Victoria used earlier, he locked one of his legs behind Victoria's and shoved hard, sending her to the ground.
Caught off guard both by Kal's words and his counterattack, Victoria lay in a daze for a moment, before collecting herself and getting back up.
That was all the time Kal needed to retrieve his Slosher and splat her.
Victoria quickly respawned, unhurt physically, yet she didn't want to fight anymore.
She never realized how much she neglected Kal.
As that was happening, Sky snuck over to Neon.
When she splatted him the first time, she revealed her position.
Normally Neon would never stay in one place, but she didn't relocate yet.
Sky took this opportunity to get the drop on her.
Or so he thought.
Neon could spot him coming a mile away.
"Gotcha! I'm not going to lose here!" Sky shouted, raising his Rolled high preparing to hammer Neon with it.
"Hmph." Neon snorted
She held her E-Liter sideways and thrust it into the handle of Sky's Roller, effectively parrying it.
"Is all that matters here? Winning?" Neon asked, trying to remain calm.
Sky pulled his Roller back, this time he rolled it on the ground and charged towards Neon.
Neon, being much more athletic and physically fit, simply leapt up and backflipped over Sky.
"You seem determined, why don't you just give up? It's easier on you isn't it?" Neon asked
"You…" Sky muttered before raising his voice as high as he could "You know very well I won't give up!"
He swung his Roller at Neon again, who expertly dodged both the roller and the ink that flung out of it.
"And why?"
"Don't make me state the obvious."
"Go on, I want to hear it."
"Fine then." Sky took a deep breath. "It's because I love you dammit!"
The corner of Neon's mouth lifted just a tiny bit.
"You say that… yet…"
As Sky went for another swing, Neon parried it again with the long E-Liter.
"It doesn't feel that way at all!" Neon said
"Oh no?" Sky asked
"Of course not! You're always telling me not to do this, or don't do that!"
With little care for the integrity of her E-Liter, Neon swung it against Sky repeatedly.
Even though he wouldn't be splatted by it, being whacked by an E-Liter really hurts, so Sky panicked and did whatever he could with his Roller to stop it.
"If you have such a problem with it! Then tell me!" Sky retaliated
"What? You really need me to say something so obvious!?" Neon snapped.
"Of course!" Sky said, continuing to block Neon's wild swings.
He felt that he was somewhat to blame for where they were now but...
"Just how am I supposed to know you're feeling down when you're always skipping around with a smile!" Sky continued
In response, Neon went "Huh?"
"I'm not psychic! I can't just read your mind like a book and know what's bothering you! Did you think that by holding it all in everything would be better?"
This wasn't meant to hurt Neon, it was just Sky trying to give a straight faced rebuttal.
"Was it really not obvious?" Neon asked
"Of course not! How in the world could I tell you're sulking when you're always so perky?!"
"..." Neon had come to realize that Sky had a point.
And in that moment, Sky swung his roller again.
Neon was too busy thinking to block it this time.
She was splatted.
A top Rank X player was just splatted by a rank C+.
To Neon the blow to her pride was painful, but not as painful as the realization that she might be completely in the wrong.
This battle was supposed to be a chance for her to release all the frustration that had been building up over the past year and make Sky realize his faults.
Yet Neon was also at fault for how things ended up here.
She respawned and sat on her spawn point, setting her E-Liter to the side, she had zero intent on keeping up the fight.
For half a minute, Sky and Kal ran about trying to cover turf on their own.
Then Kal noticed Neon was missing.
Hurrying back to his spawn, Kal found Neon sitting on the ground with her head buried in her arms.
"Neon! What happened? I can't do this alone you know."
"Forget it." Neon said
"What?"
"Just forget it."
"What happened."
"This isn't right… It's not Sky's fault, it's mine."
"What? How does that work?"
"I should have told him, if I had just told him he would have understood. Why did I tell him?"
"Tell him what? That you were crying?"
Neon nodded
"It's not his fault…"
"Well maybe, but it wasn't your fault that you felt alienated in the first place."
"Hmm?"
"Even if you had told Sky, he still doesn't realize how left out you became once he started speaking Octarian. Isn't that why you were crying in the first place?"
Neon sat up.
Kal was right, this wasn't completely her fault.
Even if she hadn't said anything, Sky should have noticed how Neon went quiet and said nothing whenever he was chatting it up with Octarians.
You didn't have to be a mind reader to tell when someone is left out.
Silently, Neon stood back up and grabbed her E-Liter.
"Oh you're back in it?" Kal asked
"Yep! I'm not done yet!"
As for Victoria, she searched for Sky on her own.
Sky was running around inking turf while Victoria was just wandering the map.
Without firing her blaster, or caring that she was stepping in enemy ink, Victoria trudged over to Sky's side.
"Victoria? What's wrong?" Sky asked.
Victoria answered Sky's question with her own. "Did Kal ever seem sad to you?"
"Uhhh, no, why?"
"He was, you know."
"Really? I couldn't tell."
Victoria sighed.
Sky, noticing something was wrong, halted his progress on the map to see just what was bothering her.
"What did Kal say?" Sky asked
"He said he feels neglected, ignored. I mean I know I was busy, but I should have at least called him now and then."
"You didn't?"
Victoria shook her head.
"No, it was always him calling me." She let out a wry laugh "heh, and here I was blaming Neon and Kal… yet it all happened because of me. Some girlfriend I am, I don't even have time to speak with Kal..."
There was a quick beeping noise, Sky glanced around rapidly and saw Kal locking in with a Tenta Missile launcher.
He hurried to his feet and grabbed Victoria's hand, trying to pull her up.
"Come on! Come on! Don't just sit there!" He shouted
"Forget it, let them win.. They deserve it." Victoria muttered.
She and Sky were pulverized by Kal's Tenta missiles, leaving Kal and Neon free to retake the map.
Sky respawned quickly and so did Victoria, but only Sky left the spawn.
He looked back, realizing Victoria really was planning on throwing the match.
"Hey come on! I can't do this on my own."
"Forget it, I can't bring myself to face Kal anymore."
"Why? Just because you were a little busy in Octo Valley? It's not your fault that you're a soldier."
"Maybe, but I still should have paid more attention to Kal."
Victoria wasn't getting back in the fight anytime soon.
Meanwhile Neon and Kal were making progress again.
Sky had to get Victoria back in the game quickly.
But how?
He wasn't an Octarian or a soldier, what did he know about Victoria's everyday life?
'Wait that's it!' Sky thought
"Victoria, does Kal know what it's like, being an Octarian soldier and all?"
"I don't think so."
"Well then why is he complaining about being neglected? He doesn't know what you need to do!"
Sky had a point and it was enough to bring Victoria back up.
"Right, he doesn't."
Victoria still felt some shame in neglecting Kal for so long.
But that was out of her control! It wasn't her fault she and her fellow soldiers were getting into skirmishes with the Octarian army!
She and Sky hopped back out of their spawn.
Using the blast radius of her Blaster to deal splash damage off the walls, Victoria took out an unsuspecting Kal, Neon on the other hand was much tougher to splat.
She fired mercilessly upon Victoria and Sky, buying Kal more than enough time to return.
Kal and Neon had to stick to the raised sections of the map now that Victoria was back in and using her Blaster to full effect.
Sky and Victoria remained on the lower areas, avoiding Neon's sight as they would be sniped if she saw them.
There was still a fight to come.
But first, Victoria wanted to confront Kal again, in order to do so, Kal and Neon had to be significantly far away from each other.
Finally that time came.
Kal had moved to the lowered areas of the map to cover more turf.
"Leave him to me!" Victoria told Sky as she hurried to confront Kal.
Sky, left alone, listened for the sound of E-Liter fire.
'Guess I'll try my luck against her.'
Sky made his way over to Neon, but as soon as Neon caught a glimpse of him…
BLAM, Sky was splatted.
With an emotionless expression on her face Neon fired round after round at her boyfriend.
Sky found himself being spawn camped by Neon, and in Wahoo World of all maps.
Everytime he tried to leave his spawn, no matter which way he went or how close he was, Neon's targeting laser snapped onto him and blasted him.
It was starting to get on his nerves, especially when he noticed Victoria get splatted, respawn and Neon let her go.
"You troublesome girl!" Sky shouted towards Neon "Just what's your problem!? Do you want to win that badly!? If you have a problem just say it!"
In response Neon hopped over to Sky's spawn.
They were still in a battle, so Sky naturally attacked with his roller, but as usual Neon avoided it with ease.
"You… You said you couldn't tell how I was feeling if I didn't say anything…" Neon muttered
That didn't mean it was her fault.
After all, Kal could tell right away that Neon was being left out.
In fact, anyone passing by would have noticed.
"How could you not know?! Did you never realize how I'd go silent everytime you start chatting in Octarian?! Did you never realize how I'd take a step back?!"
"Wait, really?"
"You never noticed, did you? It was so blatantly obvious yet you didn't know!"
"Now that I think about it…" Sky realized Neon was telling the truth.
He did stop hearing her voice whenever he met any Octarian acquaintances of his. Since Neon is always loud and full of energy it was easily noticeable. Yet Sky didn't think too much about it since he was too distracted.
"We've been together for a year and have known each other for even longer. How did it slip past you!" Neon continued.
"Oh come on! Was it really that obvious!" Sky shouted, as he swung his roller at Neon again.
"Yeah! It was so obvious that Kal noticed right away!" Neon said, once again blocking Sky's roller with expert precision.
"N-no way… B-but if it was that bad, why didn't you say anything?" Sky went back to his original point.
"Because you looked happy." Neon replied, now in a much calmer tone. "You looked so happy being appreciated by those Octarians. I love you Sky, I want you to be happy, that's why I never said anything, I didn't want to get in the way."
"..."
Neon was right, Sky was happy.
He was so happy to see that learning the Octarian language could help so many Octarians adjust to a new life in Inkopolis, a life where they weren't constantly being taught to hate Inklings and sent to war, a life that they could enjoy for themselves.
Maybe Sky was too happy to realize what the one closest to him had been going through.
"What can I say except; I'm sorry." Sky let his Roller fall to the ground as Neon's E-Liter charged up.
Neon enjoyed Turf wars just like how Sky enjoyed his work.
Perhaps this match was Neon's to win from the beginning.
Once Sky was splatted one more time, Neon left to cover turf and check on Kal.
While Neon fought Sky with both words and ink, Kal was taking turf on the lower areas of the map, as he and Neon had already inked pretty much all of the higher areas.
But of course, now that Kal was down there inking the lower areas and Neon was spawn camping Sky, Victoria was left free to take the higher ground.
At first, Kal didn't realize it, but he soon noticed that Victoria was standing above him.
"Back so soon?"
"Of course, don't think I'll let you off so easily." Victoria took aim with her Octarian Blaster, making Kal scramble to get away from any walls and onto higher ground.
"Still mad that Neon took me out while you were doing whatever it is you do?" Kal taunted, hoping that could at least throw off Victoria's aim a bit.
"Oh I'll admit i'm quite upset, but not for that reason." Victoria shot at Kal, though she didn't aim to splat him.
The projectile exploded with Kal just barely out of its radius.
"Gahh!" Kal hurried to the side as Victoria fired again.
Kal was right, she was pretty angry.
Therefore she wanted to see Kal scrambling to avoid this barrage of ink blasts.
"St-stop it! What's wrong with you!" Kal sputtered
"Me?"
"Yeah you!"
Victoria fired another shot which passed by right in front of Kal's eyes, making him freeze.
"You've been talking a lot about me! What about you! You're acting like a selfish, insensitive squid!"
"What! me?!"
"Yeah you!"
Victoria stepped back as Kal flung ink at her position.
In response, she tossed him a Splat Bomb, forcing Kal to quickly leap away.
"Do you really think you have the moral high ground just because you feel lonely?! Haven't you realized that maybe I feel the same?!" Victoria continued.
"How would I know!? I barely even see you now!" Kal retorted as he climbed to meet Victoria face to face.
"Exactly! You don't know everything! How dare you act as if I wanted to stay away!"
Victoria withdrew her Blaster and prepared to dodge and roll in case Kal attacked. She was a soldier after all, she didn't need to use Dualies to be able to dodge.
"Kal, let me remind you that I'm a soldier of New Octopolis, I have a duty to protect the free Octarians in Octo Valley from Octavio's army."
"I know that, you don't have to remind me!"
"Then do you know that the Octarian army has been probing Octo Valley for months now!?"
Kal stopped just as he was about to fling more ink at Victoria.
"Huh?"
"The New Squidbeak splatoon isn't the only one fighting the Octarian army, they see us as traitors, we see them as oppressors. Octo Canyon and Octo Valley are constantly at odds nowadays. Did you really think I was purposely avoiding you? How could I ever do such a thing? I love you Kal, I wanted to see you too, I really do, I missed our time in Inkopolis, but sadly duty had to come first."
Victoria always did feel attached to Octo Valley, Kal should have known.
No, Kal did know, he knew that Victoria didn't want to leave her hometown behind, he knew that Victoria wouldn't say she was busy unless she really was.
But the moment he saw Neon in what he thought was a similar situation he seemed to forget all that.
Now, Victoria was finally here in person.
She still wore Octoling armor, goggles and boots, but that was normal for her.
Behind those goggles were a beautiful pair of green eyes, ones that could be filling with killing intent once Victoria was in battle, but would change to a more gentle and lovable gaze when Kal was around.
This was the girl Kal fell in love with, at that moment Kal wondered why he even agreed to this battle in the first place.
After all, he just really wanted to see Victoria again.
"I'm sorry… I guess I just missed you a little too much." Kal said.
He slowly closed the distance between them, leaving his slosher behind.
Victoria was right, it wasn't her fault that she was too busy to see Kal.
But it didn't matter, Kal was glad she was here.
A happy reunion and embrace was in order.
"Huh?"
As Kal hugged Victoria he felt something pressed against his side.
He then noticed that Victoria had taken her Blaster with one hand and had it poking into him.
Victoria smiled playfully.
"A little payback for splatting me earlier."
SPLAT
The match hadn't ended yet.
Kal respawned.
'Did Victoria forgive me?' He wondered as Victoria hadn't exactly said so yet.
Was he actually in the wrong here? Victoria had no control over when she had free time.
'Why are we having this battle? what did Neon hope to accomplish again?' Kal wondered 'Oh wait, I'm the one who challenged Sky.'
The challenge was that if Sky could beat him and Neon in a 2v2 Kal would back off.
Back off from what exactly? Kal never saw Neon as anything more than a friend.
Plus Neon just wanted to see how far Sky would go for her right?
'If that's the case, maybe I should just let them win.' Kal decided.
However Neon came hurrying back.
"Hey why are you just standing there? We still have a minute left!"
Kal waved his hand, "Nah, It's not like Victoria or Sky were in the wrong, we may as well let them win."
"Wait, wasn't it you who said that Sky was wrong for not noticing how I felt?"
"Yeah but, maybe that is because I thought the same about me and Victoria. You don't actually have anything against Sky do you?"
Neon pondered.
Sky did not realize she was being left out, but that was all right?
Now that he knew how she felt everything was fine again right?
"No…. There's more." Neon said.
"Well then it's all on you now. I got nothing against Victoria…"
'Why doesn't that sound right? Am I missing something here? Or am I overlooking something?' Kal wondered
Something didn't sit right, just like with Neon, perhaps there was something else still lingering on the tip of his mind.
"Maybe we are looking at it incorrectly…" Neon guessed "I mean we both felt kinda neglected so we both focused on that, but there is more to it isn't there?"
Kal and Neon sympathized with each other because both felt ignored.
But just that alone wasn't enough to make them drop their fake smiles.
"Well Victoria is here now so I can't exactly complain, I honestly didn't expect to see her today since she said she wouldn't be able to…!"
That was it.
"Wait a second! Why is Victoria here if she said she couldn't visit Inkopolis today!"
Kal knew something didn't sit right.
"We haven't lost yet!" Kal declared as he headed back out into battle.
As for Neon she hadn't realized what else she had against Sky at the moment.
Oh well, maybe just enjoying this like a proper turf war would jog her memory.
With a bubble blower and some well tossed bombs, Kal and Neon took control of the majority of the map yet again.
Since she was using an Octarian made weapon, Victoria had no special, only her Blaster and some Splat Bombs.
Even without a special she could handle Kal now that he was knocked off his high horse.
With Neon taking aim from afar and Kal closing the distance, Victoria readied herself.
"Wait, just a minute." Kal said.
He waved at Neon to stop, so she did and moved on to hunt down Sky.
"What is it?" Victoria asked
"Why are you here?" Kal asked
"To get even with Neon."
"No, I mean… How are you even here in the first place?"
"I had Lynn do me a favor and finish my paperwork."
"Wha…"
It was that simple?
Kal expected much more than just that.
If Victoria could make time so easily, why did she not do so earlier?
"Then why didn't you do that earlier!?"
"I was busy!"
"But when Sky tells you I slept on Neon's lap you drop everything and rush over?"
"What's your point?"
"My point is…"
Kal leapt forward with his Slosher
"If you can leave so easily you could have made time for me!"
She could not take on both Kal and Neon at once.
Before long they were bearing down on their spawn.
"Sky, don't just sit there! I thought you wanted to win!" Victoria called out to her teammate.
"..."
Sky hesitantly tried to make up some lost ground.
Except he couldn't get far without being splatted.
"I'm not very good at this…" Sky muttered
"Come on! Pick it up! You got a close ranged weapon so close the distance!" Victoria ordered
In response Sky ran outwards and made a beeline for Neon, only to be splatted easily.
Victoria glared at him.
"But you said close the distance…." Sky muttered
He was never very good at battling.
Considering he was currently nothing but target practice for Neon and Kal, that was proof of it.
This was out of his control, just like how he was too late to notice Neon feeling left out, there was nothing he could do here.
At this point he was just waiting for the match to end so he could properly apologize.
"Sky!" Neon called out from her side of the map. "You are weak! How about you just give up this match and team up with me to train together?!"
Unlike Sky, Neon put all her time into Turf Wars, she was talented, skilled, quick on her feet.
And yet…
"What's this about training? It's always Turf Wars with you!"
Sky had his own complaints.
"What do you expect? It's Inkopolis!"
"Don't just use Inkopolis as an excuse!"
There it was again.
"Don't do this…. Don't do that. You're always telling me what not to do!"
"Of course! You're an odd ball and the only way to change that is by holding you back?"
"Change? You want me to change?"
"Wait… bad wording."
"Alright then how's this? Once you lose this match things will change for both of us!"
"If that's the case, then I can't lose now!"
Forgetting all his mistakes, Sky picked his Roller back up.
He was never good at battles, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying…
Where did all this sudden motivation come from? Well it was simple.
Sky didn't want to lose Neon.
As soon as Sky had an opening, he used his splashdown on Neon's position.
Neon being quick on her feet was able to get away from Sky, but in doing so left herself open to Victoria.
Victoria landed some hits with her Blaster but before she could finish her off Kal attacked.
Both sides had said their pieces, all four felt guilty of something.
Yet they were each giving it their all.
Kal hopped between the lower and higher areas of the map, taking advantage of the Slosher's firing arc.
Neon easily secured the higher, more exposed areas with her custom E-Liter.
Victoria made use of walls and narrow paths to catch Kal in her Blaster's blast radius.
And Sky, well he didn't have much strategy, but he didn't want to lose.
While the two sides exchanged inkfire, an equal amount of words were traded as well.
"If you say nothing how can I know you're feeling down?" Sky said
"It's not just that! If you want me to change then you should just find someone else!" Neon shot back.
As she rapidly glanced around picking off Sky whenever he revealed himself, Kal and Victoria fought their own battle on their part fo the map.
"It's not my fault I have so little free time!" Victoria argued
"If you're here then that just shows you can make free time!" Kal retorted
They were fully invested in the match now.
Kal's earlier thoughts of losing on purpose faded as he was drawn into the heat of battle.
So did Sky.
And Victoria.
And Neon.
Yet it was Kal and Neon's team who were winning.
"You keep ignoring me as if I could just wait forever!"
"You never compliment me! All you do is tell me not to act like myself!"
Sky and Victoria, had less to say.
Aside from one similar point.
"How was I supposed to know!?" They shouted in sync.
'STOP BATTLING!'
"Huh? It's over already?" Kal asked
They were so absorbed into their quarrel that they lost track of time.
"Did I… Did we do it?" Sky looked at Victoria.
Victoria didn't say anything, she was focused on the results.
But once the map was shown all hope was lost.
63 to 37 of the map covered.
Neon and Kal ended up winning.
"Hooray! We did it!" Neon cheered
"We did!"
"Up high!"
Neon and Kal high fived, cheered and chest bumped in celebration, in front of the now distraught Sky and Victoria.
They had lost, which means…
Victoria looked somewhat annoyed seeing Kal and Neon celebrate their win, yet she remained quiet.
Sky watched, noticing how happy Neon looked.
Did she always look this happy when she won a battle? Or was this the first time?
Silently he approached Neon.
Now that the battle was over and he had lost, he could really focus on the points Neon had brought up.
He had been leaving her out, excluding her far too often.
Plus he always seemed to be against everything she did.
Yet Neon always smiled, Sky thought that meant everything was fine.
Kal and Neon stopped celebrating as they noticed Sky getting closer.
He stopped only a few steps away from Neon.
Without raising his head, Sky said.
"I'm sorry…"
What else was there to say at this point?
"I really had no idea, even if you went silent and took a step back, even if I called you a troublesome girl and complained about everything you do, you would always skip around with that smile on your face. I thought that meant everything was fine… Guess I was wrong."
He looked up to the face of Neon.
"But the truth is, I love you like you are, I was just speaking out of habit. I don't care if you are a troublesome girl, I don't care if you make a fuss everywhere you go and I would never go out of my way to exclude you."
Neon looked happy, relieved, as if a lot of weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
"If you really are happier with Kal instead of me. Then I gues-"
"Shh" Neon placed a finger on Sky's mouth.
She never wanted to give that impression.
She just wanted to see if Sky still loved her.
Seeing him go this far, was proof enough for her.
Besides, she wasn't completely free of fault either.
It was probably a good time to explain everything now.
"Kal and I understand what it's like wearing a fake smile, we have that in common. But we are just friends, friends who help each other out."
"Then you and I…" Sky began
"...Are still together." Neon finished his sentence.
Beside her, Kal silently nodded
"After all, this was just a test." Neon continued
"A test?" Sky wondered
"Yeah" Kal said "Neon wanted to see just how far you'd go for her even if the odds weren't in your favor."
"What?!" That came from Victoria "Are you telling me, I came all the way out here because of some stupid prank?!"
"Hey come on now, let's not ruin the moment." Kal said. "Let's leave these two alone."
"Where are we going? I should be getting back to Octo Valley, you know?"
"Ahh come on, you're already here and it's Valentine's day. Let's spend the rest of the day together."
"...Fine."
He took Victoria and led her out of Wahoo world, promising to explain everything to her himself.
It was just Neon and Sky left.
"Sheesh what a mess, all this because of some pent up feelings. You can't blame me for calling you troublesome girl now." Sky joked
"Well at this point I don't mind, you call me that so often, I've gotten used to it." Neon laughed.
"Hey, from now on, if something is wrong, just come out and say it okay? I won't hate you for it or anything."
"Yup! Got it!"
"And uhhh, sorry I ruined that surprise meal you had planned for us."
"Oh don't worry! We can still go for dinner!"
"Really? Well it is almost time for that… it will be my treat then."
"Hah! No way! I'm taking you to the Harbour Ten Steakhouse just like I planned. With how much money you make there's no way I'm letting you pay the bill!"
"At least let me pay a part of it."
"Meh, if you say so. Come on! Let's go!"
"Ow! Don't pull so hard! I can run on my own!"
Things were back to normal, maybe even better now.
As Neon went back to the usual routine of dragging along Sky while running at full speed, Victoria and Kal toured Inkopolis on their own.
"Don't tell me everything you said was just playacting…" Victoria muttered
"No… actually that was all true." Kal admitted
"But then, why didn't you say something earlier?"
"I don't know… I guess I thought it would be better to not say anything and I just couldn't take it anymore."
"Well… I guess I can forgive you this once."
"Hey! It's not my fault that-"
"I know, I'll apologize too…You were right, I could have made time for you if I tried. I guess I figured you'd always be there for me."
"You know I will, I'll still love you Victoria even when we are cities apart."
Victoria smiled
"Great, I promise from now on, I will find more time for us, in return can you promise me one thing?"
"What is it?"
"Don't ever think that you don't matter to me, ever again."
"Deal."
During this time of the year, the sun sets early.
Kal and Victoria found themselves sitting on that peaceful hill that Neon loved to visit everytime she needed some peace and quiet.
Well actually only Victoria was sitting, Kal was lying in her lap.
"What is the meaning of this?" Victoria demanded
"You said you wanted to get even with Neon right? Well this is just that."
"Didn't you two also go to a fancy high class restaurant?"
"I'll save up some money and take you there some other time. Besides, you can't go wearing Octoling Armor can you?"
"I don't really have anything else, aside from that Satin Jacket you gave me… Oh well, I did want to go shopping in Inkopolis sometime."
"Just avoid the stores that judge you based on Turf War levels and you'll be fine."
"You're not coming with me?"
"And become a pack mule? No thank you."
"A pack mule? I'm not some high maintenance woman who needs to buy tons of dresses and makeup. I'll just pick something for the occasion."
"I can't wait to see it."
Things turned out great after all.
In the morning, Kal thought that he wouldn't even see Victoria's face today.
Yet now here he was, lying in her lap.
"Hmmm, this feels much more comfortable than Neon's lap."
"Huh? Are you saying i'm fatter than her?"
Kal smiled "No, I'm saying you're perfect."
In the end, everything worked out.
Neon took Sky for a fancy dinner and Kal got to see Victoria again.
Plus they managed to get everything off their chests.
They were both happy.
No more fake smiles for them.
Sky and Victoria knew where things went wrong.
From their respective places in Inkopolis, each of them reflected.
'I didn't notice you were feeling down.' Sky admitted
'I didn't notice you felt so ignored.' Victoria conceded
'I thought that if you were smiling, then everything was fine.' Both of them thought at once.
'Neon'
'Kal'
'Please.'
'Show us your true smiles from now on.'
A/N: Happy Valentine's day to you all. As usual i'm not too confident in this theme so any feedback is appreciated, I hope you enjoyed this two shot. Now, I should get back to working on other stories.