Chapter 3 – Team Bonding
"One minute left!" The automated speaker said as the match time is ticking down.
The centre has become a warzone of colors, with the opponent team goes all out offensive on the Masquidteers, making them struggle to defend their only zone that prevents the opponent team's timer to go down. The game is pretty close, as Green has 21 seconds left on their timer, while in the other team 25 seconds left on theirs. They can't afford to lose all of the control over the zones, or else this match will take like an eternity to finish when things get intense.
"K, hurry, we need to recapture 'ze zone!" Verique shouted as he swims up to an elevated structure, attempting to dodge E-Liter shots from the opponent sniper.
"I'm trying to, I'm busy-" Kthulhu, being held at bay by the Inkbrusher, jumps backwards while he flings ink in a vertical straight line with his Carbon Roller at the Inkbrusher, hitting him directly to the chest, stunning him for a brief moment and made him stumbling backwards, "-at the moment."
A moment later after he successfully lands a hit, Yeran, who is on top of the tower, fires a fully charged shot at the Inkbrusher, finishing him off, "Alright, you're free, now help out Raei! He's the taking the zone right now-" Before she can even finish, she was splatted by the E-liter Sniper from the opponent team.
"Go, now K! I'll hold off 'ze opponent from here!" Verique yelled as he goes back in his Inkling form, and activated his special, Echolocator, as black squid-like spirits swirl around him for a second, before going off to locate the opponent team, "Take out 'ze sniper first, he's on 'ze grate again, defending 'zeir zone 'vwith Zayd and Eica! Raei 'vwill take care of 'ze others by firing an Inkstrike at 'zhem! Now go!"
Kthulhu nodded, as he swims the ink path up to the top of the tower. Along the way, the Echolocator took effect, revealing the locations of the opponent team except for the Inkbrusher. As soon as he gets to the top, the sniper immediately gets on his sight, as he is standing on the grate platform, firing off shots at Kthulhu's right, assuming he is shooting at Raei. Eica is swimming away from the zone, maybe going to Kthulhu's, and Zayd is firing barrages of ink at the same direction the E-Liter sniper is facing. He then crouches in the floor to avoid the risk of getting detected, while maintaining his sights on the two defenders.
He ignores Eica, and focuses on the two defenders in their zone. He then looks at the direction the both defenders are firing at, and the first thing on sight is Raei in squid form swimming up the ramp and up the wall, trying to avoid fire from the defenders. As he got up to the elevated structure, he took cover.
Now he finds a good opportunity to signal another full out offensive. He calls out for Raei by signalling Booyah! at him. His ears perks up, hearing the signal, and glances at the tower. He saw Kthulhu crouching at the top of the tower, looking at him. Kthulhu then mouthed the word Inkstrike, and then points his thumb at the zone. He immediately picks up the plan, and horizontally flings ink to his right, which is previously painted with Pink ink. His hair now boils up with bubbles, Inkstrike ready to fire.
He then points his index finger upward, telling Raei to stay hold for a moment, as he looks at the opponent zone. Zayd is grinning like a madman, as he stays at his position playing defensive. The sniper is being alert, as his dark emerald green eyes are looks at his surroundings, as if he's on overwatching over the zone and Zayd. Bad thing is, his hair is boiling with bubbles.
"Come out, come out, Raei, y'know you can't hide, you slimy squirtboy," Zayd said with a crazy and dangerous tone on his voice, which can be enough to scare off whoever he is chasing after, "You know you can't hide from our sniper's sights! See if you're ninja squid will help you now!"
Zayd then slowly approaches Raei's location cautiously. This is Kthulhu's cue, as he immediately snaps his fingers to signal Raei to fire the Inkstrike. He complied, as he took out his Inkstrike, and launched it at the zone.
A swirling marker appeared on Zayd's foot, which is out of the zone and near the tower. Zayd's eyes widened at the sight, as he turn into his squid form, and swims away from the zone. The sniper also noticed it, as he runs a few feet away from the zone to avoid getting himself splatted by the Inkstrike. Kthulhu then backs away to the edge of the tower to get a running start before the Inkstrike lands on the mark, readying his Carbon Roller for the splat.
Another second after it is launched, it landed on its designated location, expulsing a large tornado explosion out of the Inkstrike. Thanks to the ink tornado obscuring the sniper's view of the tower, Kthulhu then quickly sprints on the tower, runs into the direction where the sniper is at, and jumps off the tower and towards the sniper and into the ink tornado, winding up his Carbon Roller. Thanks to the running start, and the fast speed he attained, he was able to make a long jump that is high and long enough to reach the sniper.
Mid-jump, he saw black spirit-like squids circling around him, Opponent Echolocator activated. A moment later, Kthulhu comes out the ink tornado out; his Carbon Roller is about swing it at the sniper. He didn't let the sniper react further as Kthulhu swings his Carbon Roller and slams it at the sniper, instantly splatting him in one shot.
He landed on the grate after he splatted him, and the ink tornado has dissipated. He glances at where Zayd is at. As soon as he turns to that direction, there's a Suction Bomb that is planted beside him by the grate. He immediately squid-jump down to avoid getting exploded by the bomb, landing near the zone, but as soon as he landed, he was immediately barraged by Zayd. He is now holding his own ground with Zayd by blocking the barrage with his Carbon Roller and moving.
After one barrage, Kthulhu quickly raises his Carbon Roller like a sword, and bring it down, flinging a vertical line of ink at Zayd. He dodged it by turning into his squid form and swims to the side and out of the zone. The zone is captured in the process.
We took Control!
Zayd then resurfaced, Mini Splatling charged that is about release another barrage at Kthulhu. He released the barrage, but it wasn't directed to Kthulhu but to the other side of the zone. Raei came out of nowhere and used his roller to slam the Splatling and redirect the barrage.
Kthulhu then threw a Burst Bomb directly at Zayd's face, making him stagger backwards and completely change the direction of where his ink barrage is about to fire. Raei, no longer trying to redirect his line of fire, jumps forward to Zayd, his Golden Dynamo Roller raised. As he about to land, he brings his Dynamo to Zayd, splatting him.
"Wow that was quick…" Raei said, kinda disappointed.
"We only have a minute, so no need to be showy, Raei," Kthulhu said, as he submerged to his ink to refill, "Go to our zone, and help out Verique. I'll take care of defending this zone."
"You'll defend this alone?" Raei looked at Kthulhu sceptically, "Are you sure you can handle it?"
"I've already fought three Inklings alone in a certain private match, and can still kick ass, so I believe I can handle myself defending this zone."
Realization hits Raei hard. He then scratched the back of his head nervously, "Oh, right…" He then muttered, "But you were very angry at that time…"
"Trust my judgement, Raei, I got this. Now go, before Eica and or maybe that Inkbrusher can capture our zone… I'll watch this one over."
"Ok, Captain, good luck," Raei said, before he turned into a squid and super-jumped off to assist Verique.
Let's just hope that they don't go all out there, Kthulhu thought, as he glances at the direction of the opponent team's base. The whole match was a mess of a warzone, with Control goes back-and-forth to the two teams, with the penalties making it worse. So this is how Ranked Matches really look like when you are fighting high-ranked battlers in the roster… sounds and looks like fun, I guess…
So this is where all my training will be tested; Ranked Matches… He was half-glad that his Kyro, his father, trained him for at least two years, or he wouldn't be able to go this far. He'll be in a shet show without him.
Well, better stay alert now… He then hides in his ink, preparing to ambush attackers who are trying to take their zone back.
"30 Seconds left!" The automated speaker said one more time. The Last Ditch Effort has kicked in, and that usually means he is ready to kick some ass
Another minute later
Green – 0
Pink – 14
Well that took longer than we expected… even with the Last Ditch Effort on…
Kthulhu, exhausted, is using his Carbon Roller for support; his left knee is slightly aching. Raei is sitting on the floor, really exhausted after the match. Verique is leaned forward, hands resting on his knees, panting. Yeran is holding onto her Charger for dear life, her knees are buckling a little. That is one freakin' exhausting First Ranked Match, and the Overtime makes it a little worse.
"I never thought I… would get this tired… on a Ranked Match… freakin' merde…" Raei tiredly said, panting, "Ranked Matches are not usually this physically tiring…"
"I disagree, Raei," Verique objects, "Ranked Matches… are always… tiring…"
"This is a different… level of tiring…" Yeran weakly said. She is as tired as the rest of the Masquidteers, "Freakin' overtime…"
"Yeah, it's just because… Eica is in the-"
"Shut the hell up, nerd!" Yeran retorts. Getting mad sure get backs you're energy for only a few seconds.
Kthulhu then offers a hand to help Raei stand up, which he gladly accepts, "Our First Match sure is something, huh?"
"Yeah, it is," Raei agreed, as he cracks his back in relief, "You're not wee bit tired, aren't ya, Captain?"
"You're not raeight."
"Please stop…"
"Then stop calling me Captain."
"Negative, Cap'n, that name will be stuck until the end of the Masquidteers…"
Before the friendly banter continues, they saw the opponent team approach them, with their tentacle hair birth colors fully painted their tentacle hair. Zayd has Cyan tentacle hair, Eica has Golden Yellow tentacle hair, the Sniper has Dark Jade Green tentacle hair, and the Inkbrusher has Purple-Blue Tentacle Hair, like Raei's birth color.
Kthulhu quickly glances at Yeran, who is expectedly turning red as tomato again at the sight of Eica. He then looks back at their opponents, Zayd waving at them.
"Guten Morgen," Zayd greeted the Masquidteers in a smooth Lichten accent, which is like Verique's accent. In fact, he oddly sounds like Verique when he is not battle-crazed like in the match earlier, "Good game, lads, didn't knew you are all so strong together."
"You bet we are, Zayd," Raei proudly said in a proud tone, "Like the new team I'm in, now?"
"You're new team, eh? I thought they we're just bunch of friends playing Ranked together."
"A bunch of friends, that too, as well…"
"The new team?" Eica repeated, an eyebrow rose, "It sounds like you are saying that you joined the team."
"I am invited to be in the team…" Raei confirms, "I'm not the captain."
"Let me guess; Kthulhu, the fine lad beside you, is the captain and founder?" Zayd guessed. He is right about Kthulhu being a captain, but he is not the founder of the Masquidteers. A certain lesbian is the founder, he was just appointed as the captain.
"Well, he is our captain," Raei said. He then approaches tomato-faced Yeran, wraps his left arm around her shoulders lightly, and lightly drags her back to his original position, "This girl, Yeran Murchadha, is the founder of my team."
Yeran stifled a yelp, either at the sight of Eica, or to avoid embarrassment. Still red as tomatoes, she bashfully scratches the back of her head.
Raei continued, "Without her and that nerd over there-" Verique shot an annoyed glare at Raei, "-I wouldn't be in a team sooner."
"Ohh, the founder is Yeran?" Eica asks, audibly and visibly excited, "Oh my cod, how awesome could that be!"
Yeran couldn't even speak, just like her first encounter with her, and just hides herself in her bobble hat and hoodie in embarrassment. This surprised Raei, much to the amusement of Zayd and Verique, and glances at Kthulhu, "Is she like this when she talks with Eica?"
"Maybe…" Kthulhu answers. He doesn't really know what answer he can give to him. The only time he saw her talking to Eica is after the first match against her and the sniper, and recently just now. He is unsure if she ever has run-ins with her during his hiatus, "We somehow matched up against her in one of our matches before we form our team."
"Ohhh, but why is she like this though?"
"Don't ask that to me when she's around, or she'll probably gonna punch in your squishy gut."
Zayd flashes out a smile that is brimming with pride, while looking at Verique, "Never knew that Ricky boy would be creating another team with Yeran, and have Raei and the legendary Kthulhu on it. I thought that you two are already a part of another team."
Another team? And legendary Kthulhu? That's sounds a little exaggerating… Never in Kthulhu's life has he ever given such title.
"Yes, we know 'zat," Verique replied, as he walks by the flustered Yeran's side, "'Zey are out of town at 'ze moment, so having a team while 'zey are away can keep me sane enough."
"Well, at least you are quite content with them," Zayd adjusts his Octoglasses that he is wearing, "After all, I know you too well to know, right, Verique?"
Verique let out a small chuckle before replying, "Yes, yes, you know me too freakin' well, brother."
Surprise!
This got the attention of Kthulhu, Yeran, the Inkbrusher and the E-Liter sniper. Yeran is out of her shell; she took off her hood, and adjusts her bobble hat, donning the surprised and shocked expression. "B-Brother?! He's you're brother?!" Yeran said with a very surprised tone. She's not expecting that the crazy guy with an eccentric hairstyle and crazy personality would be her best friend's brother.
"Ja, Yeran, Zayd is my older brother," Verique repeats, "He's 'ze one who forces me into playing Turf Wars. Sorry for not telling you guys sooner."
"The only thing that encouraged him to play Turf Wars is Yeran also gonna play Turf Wars, because Verique used to have a crush on her until she rejected him." Zayd said, slightly amused, while making his brother blush in annoyance and embarrassment.
"Geez, Zayd, you just did a low blow 'zere," Verique said in annoyance of his brother, but also tinted with some sadness in his tone, as if he didn't took Yeran's rejection well. Yeran then pats him in the back.
"Don't worry about it; like I said many times over, at least we can still be friends," Yeran said reassuringly, "It's better than losing your friendship with me just because of this silly little crush that I have denied. In fact, I'm surprised that you somewhat took it well,"
Verique looks back at Yeran, who is not a blushing mess anymore at the moment, lets his lips form a smile, "You know how I feel about that, lad, it's still hard to get over a rejection, especially when it is your crush or someone you fall for that didn't reciprocate those feelings. Y'know what I mean, right, Yeran?"
"Yeah, I know, I know," Yeran answers, as she patted his back once more, "And even if I didn't reciprocate your said feelings, I'll always be here for ya', mate!" She then offers Verique a fist bump, in which he immediately accepted without hesitation, and with glee. Eica seems to love the sight.
"Aww, they have a strong friendship, don't you agree, Zayd?" Eica asked, genuinely warmed by the two friends.
Zayd didn't say anything about it, but manages to nod in agreement.
"I'm surprised that you're so open about this, Verique," Kthulhu said. He has not met any people that would be talking about their attempts on courting someone and end up getting rejected by them for whatever reason they have, "People will usually keep this kind of information only to themselves. It's unusual to see someone like you to share said information so casually…"
"Well, everyone in 'zis lobby already knows about it, so why not?" Verique replied in the most casual manner possible. This guy sure is something…
"I think it's enough of the love life and stuff, lads. How about we introduce ourselves to each other, no?" Zayd proposes, but Raei puts hand up, saying to halt whatever he is trying to say, and proposed something different instead.
"How about we continue the talk later, and we'll treat you guys food in Cephalon Haven, si?" Raei offered, "That match surely took a lot of us, am I right, K?"
"Yeah, sure," Kthulhu nodded, agreeing, "After all, a girl beside a certain nerd really wanted that date with Ei-"
He was interrupted by Yeran slapping him in the back of the head, "Shut up, you takoyaki! I had enough of your shite already!" She then turns to face Zayd's team, while Kthulhu rubs the back of his head. That was one mean slap, "Tá an-leithscéal orm, what he is about to say is not true-"
"Are you sure about 'zat?" Verique interrupted, mischievously grinning, with his thumb and index finger firmly presses on his chin; the word in sign language that would annoy her for eternity.
Yeran is fuming with anger and embarrassment, really flustered. It didn't really take long before she got back to her flustered self again. Zayd is grinning with pride, and Eica is trying to hold off her chuckle from coming out of her mouth. She was about to punch the nerd right in the face, but Raei got in between them, albeit trying to controlling his amusement right now.
"Alright, alright, enough with the banter," Raei said, attempting to calm down, "Now, let's get to the Cephalon Haven and chill before shite escalates quickly."
Well at least shite didn't escalate at all…
A few minute walk is enough to reach from the Inkopolis to Cephalon Haven on foot. They entered, and most of the people in the group got immediately enamoured by the atmosphere of the café, and also relieved to know that there is not much people inside the café. It's not a surprise to see the café this almost empty, as 8:14AM in the morning is still kinda early for the Inkopolis Inkling standards.
They found a table set that has a long table, enough to fit in eight seats; four in each side of the table. All of them take their seats; each team sat opposite to each other, with Kthulhu sits in the far right side, Raei and Yeran in the middle, and Verique in the far left. On the opposite side of the Masquidteers, the sniper is facing Kthulhu, Zayd is facing Raei, Eica is facing Yeran, and the Inkbrusher is facing Verique.
Zayd is looking around the place, intrigues about the design of the café; traditional, like those in the Ancient Japan, according the history book made by Historians, but in a modernize version. While he observes, an Inkling waitress in her work uniform; black pants, black vest, light blue long-sleeved shirt and bow tie, and black shoes, approaches the group, with four menu books for the group to find what they want to order. Her uniform somewhat contrasts on the traditional atmosphere of the café. Then again, this café is quite fancy, in a traditional way possible, so why not have their waiters and waitresses wear something fancy.
Everyone glances at the waitress as she approaches.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," She greeted the group in a smile on her face, "Here's the menu book," She puts the menu books down to the group's table and also getting greeted back by them. As she puts down a menu book in front of Zayd, he inspects the traditional look of the book, which fits the overall beautiful design of the café. He then glances at the waitress, who just puts down the last menu book to Raei.
"Interesting… I didn't know this place has been built." He commented, while looking at the waitress, "This establishment must've recently made."
"Yes, sir, Cephalon Haven is built two months ago, around the time of January," the waitress replied, "There's not much customers coming here, but I tell ya', we have good stuff here, you'll instantly be a regular here." She said it with such optimism Zayd is almost convinced about what she said.
"We certainly hope so," Zayd then opens his menu book and looks through the items, as the waitress, goes back to the counter to help out the other waiters and waitresses on other tasks.
"Alright let's see what they have on the menu," Eica said as she as well looks at her menu book with the Inkbrusher dude. Watching her eye movement, every time she goes from page to page, her eyes ever so slowly widen, probably she is seeing so many items that she liked/loved so much in the menu, "Would you look at this, Theo!" She then points an item of her interest for Theo, who seems to be the Inkbrusher, to look at.
Theo let out a small whistle, seemingly gets what Eica is pointing at, and spoke for the first time, "They have them special Mocha Frappe in the menu," He said in an Iberian accent, just like Raei's. In fact, he definitely sounds like Raei, just with a higher voice, and it's easy to assume that Theo and Raei are brothers, "You like to try, Eica?"
"A good Mocha Frappe would be nice," She said enthusiastically, as she flips another page of her book.
As she is going through the rest of the book page, Kthulhu shifted his attention back to Raei's menu. Raei is going through the Coffee and Frappuccino Section, "So, Cap'n, what do you wanna order?" Raei asked, putting down the menu to get Kthulhu a better look.
"Dunno," Kthulhu answered as he looks through the section, "I could go for a Latte Machiatto and a slice of Cookies and Cream cake."
"Ain't that specific," Raei muttered, as he looks back at the menu book, "Is this what you always go for every time you enter this place?"
"Nah, I eat a variety of food in the café," Kthulhu then flips over a page, which now contains a variety of desserts; cake slices, shakes, ice cream, banana splits, and many more delicious desserts in the menu of Cephalon Haven.
"That's a lot of desserts now that I think about it," Raei commented in a surprised tone, "With such low rate of customers in the café, I wonder how they could ever keep so many ingredients in order to make these foods for the people who eat here."
"I believe that there are fair amount of people that come here every afternoon and night, maybe enough to keep this café alive and in shape. This is a perfect place to chillax and rest after a whole day of Turf Warring, after all, especially after hours of Ranked Matches."
"True that," Raei nodded in agreement.
"Alright let's see what you can order," Kthulhu then passes the menu book to Raei, and looks at Zayd and the sniper, who is looking at the menu book that the sniper is holding. Despite the bored look on the sniper's dark emerald eyes, he seems to be intently looking for items in the menu, as if he's interested with the café's choice of foods that they have put in the menu.
"You found something you like, lad?" Zayd asked the sniper. The sniper answered by shaking his head, without uttering a single word. What a silent type. Zayd seems to notice Kthulhu watching him and the sniper take their order, as his eyes looks to the direction of Kthulhu, "Oi, lad. Can I ask something from ya?"
"You already did." Kthulhu flatly answers. This made Zayd let out a small chuckle from his lips because of how blunt Kthulhu can get.
"Har, har, Touché, you squirt. Anyways, I have to ask you something."
"Shoot."
Zayd forms a gun out of his right hand and points it at Kthulhu, "Bang!"
Kthulhu strangely and blankly looks at Zayd, before he lets out his tongue a little, before his face comes flopping to the table so lightly no one could notice except for Raei, who is watching Kthulhu and Zayd's interaction strangely, slightly weirded out. Kthulhu then pulls out his face off the table and sits straight.
"What the crab are you guys doing?" Raei asks, confused and still weirded out by the whole thing.
"Don't worry about it," Kthulhu answers, "Just look back at your menu book." Already confused and weirded out enough, he looks back at the menu book he is holding, as if he didn't noticed anything weird and strange that is going on with Kthulhu and Zayd. With that note, Kthulhu looks back at Zayd, said "What do you wanna ask, anyway?"
"As I was about to say, this place looks interesting. Are you regular here?" Zayd asked curiously.
"If visiting this café for over four days counts as being a regular, yes, I am a regular here. I usually go here during breakfast, or with my team," Kthulhu answered. He is not always holed up in the Ammo Knights helping out Zrix and Sheldon with the shop, as he always go to the café to either refresh, and/or meet up with Anthur and Leili here.
Speaking of Anthur and Leili, he hasn't seen them in the café today. They are usually here to get breakfast, and they say their orders are always on the house because the manager is one of Anthur's good, good friends. Lucky freakin' love flowers they are…
"Ahh, you've been here ever since the Duel, correct?" Zayd guesses.
"Err, yeah, I somehow found this place by chance when I was wondering off the Plaza trying to find somewhere to refresh myself before the match."
"That's a bad time to find out about this restau- I mean, café. Because you never know if the first time here will be the last time you'll be eating here because of the Duel. That duel was horrid…"
I couldn't agree more… Kthulhu thought. He completely despise the Duel because of what Yudius have done and said; tampering with the rules, playing dirty, and worst of all; plotting against his sister. Oh, that's what made him despise the whole thing, as well as Yudius himself.
"Oh, my apologies, Kthulhu, I didn't mean to bring back bad memories," Zayd apologises. He seems to notice his change of behaviour, and it made Kthulhu snap back from his trance, as he looks at Zayd, then at Raei, whose expression darkened. He also noticed his other friends' reaction, which not so different with Raei's. It looks like he is not the only one who is having distaste with the mention of the Duel.
He looks back at Zayd, who seems to be looking at Raei too, eyebrow raised. To avoid any further discussion about the Duel, he finally said, "Don't worry about it; I've always here squids talking about the Duel like every single day ever since the said event started. You mentioning it are no different about other squids talking about it."
"Oh, then I'm glad," Zayd sighed in relief, "I think we have enough about the Duel, I'll ask something else.
"How come you met my brother and Yeran?" A question that seems simple enough to answer. Eica seems to be interested on knowing as well, as she passes the menu book to Theo, and slids her chair slightly closer to Zayd, and looks at Kthulhu with a curious look.
"I've been wondering that as well! I always think how lucky Verique have such a great friend like you." Eica said to Kthulhu, "How and when did you meet him?"
"You seem to be oddly interested," Kthulhu noted.
"She admires you a lot," Zayd added, with a grin on his face. This made Eica's cheeks slightly lightens up with golden light, which made her look cute and adorable.
"I told you not to say it, Zayd, geez! No respect on one's privacy." Eica pouted, as her face starts to light up as well. Suddenly he felt a big wave of the feeling of déjà vu, as he remembered about his first time setting foot to the café, when Anthur was about to say something to Kthulhu about Leili, but was stopped when she frantically covered his mouth.
Except Zayd just outright tells Kthulhu how much Eica admired him and she didn't cover his mouth…
Out of curiosity, he glances back to Yeran, who seems to be blushing cyan, with Verique looks at Yeran with the same mischievous look that he gave her ever since the first time she talked to Eica, making it look identical to a sight that he is seeing before he looks at his two friends. He then glances back at Eica, who is still pouting but she is not much of a blushing mess like a few seconds, and at Zayd, who still wears the mischievous grin, like Verique wore earlier.
Good gracious, the siblings has the same freakin' grin, He thought. Genetics really passed on to one another…
"Anyway, back to the question," Zayd changes the subject as he clasps his hands together and looks at Kthulhu in the closed eyes, "How come you met Verique and Yeran? The time he went home, he was oddly happier than he usually is. I thought he got Yeran as his girlfriend, but that doesn't seem to be the case."
"Well, I first met them when I had my first ever Turf War match," Kthulhu finally answers, as he reminisce his first day on Inkopolis and his first match. There are good memories, "Got to battle with them the first time I step in to the lobby, and got to battle against Yeran-" Behind his closed eyelids, his eyes looks to Yeran, who is frowning at him, remembering what happened to her that match, "-and destroyed her, and we won."
"Ohhh, you rekt Yeran that match?" Eica said, seems to be impressed, "When was your first match exactly?"
"March 9, if I remember correctly,"
"Oooh, I think I just remembered that Yeran has drastically improve before that day, according to my brother," Zayd noted as he strokes his chin, as he glances to Yeran, who is still frowning and pouting, "What happened to you back there? Verique just said to me that day that you have the aim of an S Ranked player."
"Kthulhu's too freakin' fast, I can't hit him and his stupid stone face!" Yeran reasoned with a pinch of salt, as Eica and Zayd looked Kthulhu, just to see his expression changed from a serious and idle expression to the goofiest possible blank expression he could make, "He's avoided my first shot at him when the laser is already pointing at his face, and just dodged it no problem!"
This got the attention of the sniper, as he broke his gaze off the menu and glances at Yeran, still with the bored, half-closed dark emerald eyes. Yeran continues, "And then he started to hop, hop, and hop like a freakin' rabbit with them two bounceh' shoes stuck on 'em like glue!" Her accent quickly changed from Common to Southern Lochish during her rant, "He also survived meh' Bomb Rush because of that damn Bubblah' and used one of meh' Splat Bomb to get near meh' and he splatted meh! How's that fair?! I got humiliated by a newbeh' who uses a Splattah'shot Jr. durin' his first match, while I use the vanilla Chargah', and still lost to that BOI! Oh my she-"
She stopped mid-cuss because she notices Eica is holding back her laughter with her two hands, Zayd is covering his mouth hold a chuckle, and Kthulhu stares at her with the same goofy blank look. Her face immediately lightens up with cyan color in embarrassment, as she glances at Verique, who is chuckling with delight, his evil grin of mischief haven't faded yet.
"Oh gal', ya' certainly sounded different 'zere, didn't ya', lad" Verique said with his horrible attempt on impersonation Yeran's Lochish accent. It's a hilariously horrible sound you don't hear and you don't want to hear every day.
"Salt so strong happy-geeky-gal's accent suddenly turned to Lochian for a second there," Theo added between fits of chuckle, "Just another pinch and she'll be spittin' Lochian fire and maybe salt water out of her mouth."
"Guess 'zat happens when you absolutely rekt by a newbie who just got started- oof!" Before Verique can continue, Yeran quickly grabs him by the neck with her left arm.
"Oh yeah, nerdy boy!" She then drags his head below her waist level and rubs her free hand on top of his head, giving him a noogie, "You would've lost that match if you and the two other of your dunce teammates rely on Kthulhu there! You've been inking your pants ever since I improved with my aim! I've also beaten you after I challenged you after Kthulhu's first match!"
"Owow! 'Zat was just a warm up match, you anime geek!"
"In your dreams, techno nerd!"
Now that's friendship for ya', Kthulhu thought once again. He doesn't know how many times he said that in his mind, maybe a hundred times already. He then looks around at their table; Theo over there is slumped on to his arms, maybe unable to hold his laughter and just laughs out loud, using his cardigan to muffle his laughter, in which he even can hear over his position. Eica is still holding her laughter, albeit with more difficulty, Zayd is grinning proudly again, Raei is biting his lip to push his laughter back, and the sniper unexpectedly had his index finger pressed on his lips that his behind his bandana, probably preventing him from releasing even the slightest chuckle, which makes him the only one who is not laughing.
I feel kinda bad for not having an immediate sense of humor, Sadly, half of his sense of humor has been lost a long time ago, and it won't return to him anytime soon in the future.
While they playfully bicker there, he looks at his watch; it's 8:27AM. Crap, we're taking a little too long to order, Shenanigans sure eats up your time, eh? To be real here, they are actually pass order time already, because they're in the café, not on a restaurant. So to not waste any more time, Kthulhu uses his usually way of shifting someone's to him; clapping his hands.
Kthulhu claps his hand, like he always does to catch attention, albeit more loudly for the whole group to hear. Everyone's shifted their gaze to Kthulhu, Yeran stopped giving Verique the noogies, Verique glances his head from Yeran's arm lock position, Theo his head up while his arms are still placed above the menu book, Eica wipes off a tear from her eyes, Zayd simply looks at Kthulhu with his grin is still attached to his lips, Raei glances at him as he puts down him menu book, and the sniper simply just looks up at Kthulhu. Everyone in the table is looking at Kthulhu now, expectantly waiting for him to say anything.
He began to speak, "Are everyone's orders ready?" Kthulhu asked everyone, as he shows his phone to them to show what it is, "I think it's time to call the waiter or waitress."
Zayd squint his eyes, maybe to have a better look on Kthulhu's phone, "Damn, we've been ordering for like thirteen minutes, geez."
"Let's ring the bell, then," Raei suggested, as he pressed the bell in the center of the table, calling out for a waiter or waitress.
A second later, the same waitress that welcomed the group, but now brings a pen and list on her hands this time, "Alright ladies and gentlemen, may I take your orders?"
"Who goes first to order?" Raei asked the group. Eica immediately raised her hands.
"Ladies first. I'll have…"
A minute and a half later…
"Alright, thank you ladies and gentlemen! I'll be back in a few minutes to get your orders, so have patience everyone!" She said as she walks away with the list of orders she got from the group. As soon as they gave their orders to her, Zayd proposes an idea that they should've done a fourteen minutes ago.
"Alright, as we wait, how about we start over and introduce ourselves to each other?" Zayd suggests.
"We could've done that before we order our food," Raei said, "It's already past introduction time, Zayd."
"It's never too late for an introduction, right, my friend?" He then glances at the sniper, with an expectant expression on his face.
The sniper just shrugs, not saying a word.
"Silent as always," He then looks back at Raei, "My reason is that, there are two people in your group that doesn't know me or any us yet, other than me being Ricky's brother."
"I guess you're right," Raei agrees. Looks like Kthulhu and Yeran has to go through a late introduction for breakfast, "You go first, though."
"If you say so," Zayd then adjusted his glasses, making it shine. Then, he did something… bizarre, to say the least; he puts his right hand in front of his face, covering the mouth and the nose bridge, fingers completely spread out of each other, in the most fabulously ridiculous way possible, all while introducing himself, "The name's Zayden Axl Schneider, you're every day, friendly neighbourhood DJ fashionista in the city, at your service!"
BOOM! FABULOUS!
…
…
Silence…
…
…
Kthulhu just stared at him blankly; Raei's palm is planted on his face while shaking his head, really unamused; the sniper is looking away from the conversation with his face resting against his hand that is placed on the table, uninterested; Eica covers her mouth with her fingers to hide her amusement; Verique plants his face onto his hands in complete annoyance and embarrassment, while Yeran's cheeks are slightly puffed up, trying so hard to control he laughter; and Theo over there is also blankly staring at Zayd.
Another two second of awkward silence ensues, Zayd finally speaks something, "Eh, you guys got anything to say? My hand's getting tired…"
"That's the most ridiculous introduction I've ever seen in my life," Raei bluntly criticizes Zayd's introduction, "No man in real life would do that while they are introducing themselves to someone, you freakin' anime nerd."
"Ouch, Raei, that was uncalled for," Zayd said in a fake hurt tone, as he puts down his hand back to the table.
"I didn't know you watch JoJo, Zayd!" Yeran remarked. This made Verique groan in displeasure, as he mutters, "Oh cods, the otakus has clashed…"
"Aren't you one yourself, Verique?" Yeran retored.
"Yes, I know 'zat, I just don't mention any subjects that are related to anime in public."
"Oh, come on, Raei, I know I did a good job on my fab introduction." Zayd tried to convince Raei, who is still really, really unamused. He is not a big fan of anime apparently.
"It's not that you did a good job, it's how you do your job," Raei replied, real unconvinced, "How about we let Kthulhu judge your introduction." He then glances at Kthulhu with a serious expression, "What do you say about it?"
"Fabulous." Kthulhu straightforwardly answers with a straight blank expression on his face, unfazed by the glares he is given by both Verique and Raei after he tells them what he thought about Zayd's introduction.
"HA! The mighty Kthulhu said it himself!" Zayd triumphantly shouted, as he thrusts his fist into the air, "Take that, Ra-"
"Whatever! Next person, next!" Raei interjected. He's done with his fabulously ridiculous shite. He, Zayd, and Kthulhu then glances at Eica.
Silence ensues for five seconds, until Eica noticed that the boys are looking at him, "Hmm? Me?"
"Yeah, you…"
"Oh, uhh, I thought you guys already know me."
"Well, I know you by name," Kthulhu pointed out, "and other than that and that you're the girl Yeran has been crushing on, I know nothing else about you."
"So you mean you want me to know better?"
"Yeah, as well as for a certain girl that is somewhere in my left," Kthulhu receives a burning glare from said Inkling girl, who is now currently blushing again, "Just with add something more about yourself.
"Oh well, I guess it doesn't hurt to do it again," Eica took a deep breath, before she continues with her introduction, "I'm Eicarin Chelfinn', I'm from Seine of the Northeast Region, and an aspiring model for this beautiful specimen over here." She then pats Zayd in the back, as he wears his grin of pride once again.
"I take pride of my works."
"A model, eh?" Kthulhu noted, "By your looks, you sure fit to be a beautiful model."
"Aww, thank you kindly, Kthulhu," Eica bashfully smiles at his praise, "Glad to hear from a great battler like you, Kthulhu."
"Don't mention it," He then glances at Theo, who is waiting for his turn, as he places his chin on top of his clasped hands, like a boss that is waiting for a meeting to start, "How about you, mate?"
Theo notices that Kthulhu is pointing at him, "Hmm, me?" Kthulhu nodded in confirmation, "Oh ok, I guess it's my turn; Yo there, Kthulhu and Yeran, the name's Theodore I. Savimbi, just a regular guy playin' Turf Wars and your friendly B-Ball homie, and call me Theo. Came with the homies in my left because I ran into them and they said my bro is busy with his team."
"In which he means me," Raei added, adding to another sudden reveal of relation. This made Yeran gasp dramatically, "Yes, I am that dude's older brother; my name's Raeidhen E. Savimbi."
"Oh I am glad you still remember me, bro!" Theo happily remark. He can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not with that expression of his, "Thought you forgot about me while we were battling against each other."
"Why would I? I just don't wanna spoil the surprise."
Before anyone could speak, Yeran suddenly exasperatedly groan loudly, gaining the attention of others, except for the sniper, who has yet to have an introduction, "Geez! Am I the only one that is being surprised during these random surprises?! What now for the reveal, the sniper over there is the cousin of our boi, Kthulhu?!"
That caught the snipers attention for sure, as he glances towards Yeran. At the same time, everyone glances at the sniper; all except Kthulhu are very expectant. Confused, the sniper glances back and forth between the Masquidteers, and his team.
"…what?" For the first time, he spoke in a low (as in, low volume) and odd Yangtzen accent, slightly muffled by the bandana she is wearing. Yep, he's definitely a Yangtzen. Awkward silence ensues once again, as everyone in the table stares at the sniper. They are waiting for the sniper to say something about the whole 'him being Kthulhu's cousin' guess of Yeran.
Five seconds has passed, the sniper, who is getting uncomfortable with every second of the silence, decided to break the silence by confirming Yeran's guess, "No, I'm not Kthulhu's cousin." Yeran let out an audible sigh, relieved. Eica and Theo look down in disappointment, while muttering 'aww'.
Kthulhu, who is still deadpanned and blankly stared at the sniper, "How about you say you're name to us, mate? You seem to be playing Turf War for a long time."
The sniper glances at Kthulhu before answering, "I'm still pretty new here, like two weeks ago. And the name's Jhay, Jay with an 'H'."
"So you're name's JH?"
"…" Jhay looks at him deadpanned.
"Just kidding. Anyway, still two weeks here, huh? I gotta admit, you're like Yeran; still a recent player, but plays like an S rank player."
"Well, I was taught and trained to use the charger before I start Turf Warring."
So he's like me… just a lot more skinny than I am…
"He's basically Kthulhu, except Jhay's a charger user, and a lot skinnier than he looks," Yeran noted, "And Kthulhu is can still kick your ass even when you use a charger and even you have more experience than him."
"His reflexes and speed sure are impeccable, especially with the Carbon Roller." Jhay remarked.
"You're accuracy and perception is just as deadly with your E-Liter," Kthulhu returned the favour. He somehow saw Jhay's cheeks move up a little, probably smiling.
"Duo xie, Kthulhu," Jhay thanked Kthulhu in Yangtzen.
"No problem, Jhay." He then offered a fist bump to Jhay, in which Jhay accepted by bumping his own on to Kthulhu's.
"Looks like us and your team will be close from now on," Zayd noted, as he adjusts his Octoglasses, "You sure know how to get into a good team, don'cha Raei?"
Raei didn't reply immediately, as he observes the interaction between Jhay and Kthulhu. He then looked at Yeran and Verique who are now talking to Eica and Theo. Looking at his team interacting with his other good, good friends sure is a lovely sight to behold. He then glances back at Zayd, "Yeah, Zayden, I can agree with that. Who knew that we would meet you guys in battle…"
"None of us know, except for the one that is behind the papers, writing our destinies."
"What a weird way to shatter the wall…"
"Don't worry; they still have money to pay the repairs for it." Zayd then winks. Geez, we are broke Zayd, y'know how expensive the fee is for repairing the wall?!
Another minute has passed, the waitress from earlier returns with the orders they have given to her that is placed on a tray she is carrying, "Here are your orders!" She then puts a glass of blueberry smoothie with a long straw down to Verique. Then, she put down a plate of three pancakes stacked to each other with maple syrup and a fork and a small knife (not the kitchen kind) on it to Theo, whose mouth's starting to water how appetizing it looked. After that, she puts down a small glass of caramel milkshake with cherry on top to Yeran, who silently muttered "Yes!"
She then moves to Raei, and puts down the food he ordered; a plate of a slice of blueberry pie and a strawberry pearl shake. She then grabs a plate that contains one of Kthulhu's ordered foods; a slice of cookies and cream cake, and then she puts down a Latte Macchiato to Kthulhu. Oh, he loves a good smell of coffee macchiato on the morning.
"There are still other foods in the tray that I haven't brought for Mr. Zayd and Ms. Eica, so stay put for a moment, I'll get it for you two," The waitress then goes to the counter with an empty tray to get the last few orders.
"Alright!" Theo then grabs his fork and knife, about to slice a piece off a pancake from his plate, "Chow time!"
"Ehem, Theo," Before Theo could even get one piece, he was stopped by Kthulhu. This made him look at him, confused, "Not to be rude, but manners. How about we wait for Jhay, Eica, and Zayd's food to arrive, so we can eat together? Don't worry, the waitress will arrive shortly with their order and you can eat on whatever pace you want."
Theo then glances at his pancakes, and contemplated on what Kthulhu said. After a moment, he puts down his fork and knife down back to his plate, "Ok, then."
Thirty seconds has passed, Jhay, Eica, and Zayd's food has arrived. She goes to Jhay first, and puts down a Buko Pandan pearl shake. Then to Zayd, she puts down a plate of a big chocolate coated donut and an espresso coffee. Lastly, to Eica, she puts down a long dish that contains the banana split dessert, and a Mocha Frappe Cephalon Café Edition.
"Here are all of your orders, ladies and gentlemen! If you are finished eating, just call us and we will give you your tab. Enjoy your stay!" She then returns back to the counter for other tasks. As she leaves, Eica started to excitedly giggle, which almost made Yeran faint.
"Oh my, they have such a good looking Banana Split here!" She excitedly noted, as her mouth waters in delight.
"Welp, I guess its time," Kthulhu then grabs his fork and knife, then spins them like drum sticks, "Alright, mates, its chow time."
"Yeah!" Theo, Eica, Yeran, and Verique shouted in unison, as they proceed to eat/drink what they have ordered.
This time felt nice…
Meeting new faces and new friends, hanging out with them, and have a good time. What truly a nice time to do such things with them, after a tiring first match and somewhat tiring hiatus, finally back together, doing what friends normally do in a normal day. Kthulhu has finally felt a big wave of relaxation washed inside him like a small tidal wave, having fun with his friends in and out of Turf Wars.
Well… better enjoy this moment while it lasts… after all, they still have work to do in Ranked.
A/U – And that's it for today's chapter! After the victory of the Masquidteers against Zayd's team, they decided that they should go have a sweet breakfast in Cephalon Haven, the meeting spot of the Masquidteers, while Zayd introduce his team to Kthulhu and Yeran, who was yet to know them. In the next chapter, we will go through four perspectives of four certain people, and let's see what events will unfold in their eyes.
Alright! It's finally finished! I'm sorry if you found this chapter boring because it was a little longer and maybe boring, but personally, I freakin' love this chapter! Writing my characters here are so much fun to do. Hope this chapter is worth the wait. :D
Also, I'll try to make the next chapter short as possible, maybe around 2,000 – 5,000 words. I wanted to get to the main point of the story as fast as I can, while keeping a little slow and moderate pace of storytelling before that said point of the plot, so if you want to get updated on the story progression, be sure to follow this story! If you like the story, press that heart button and favourite the story! And let me know what you think about this story by leaving a review for this story! Thank you for reading the chapter and the story, and I'll see you guys, in the next chapter!
.:Preview for the next chapter:.
This is not going so well for me…
I'm having this headache again…
Ever since I got in the train from Karaga to Inkopolis, I get the same short headache every other minute or hour so, and it is cracking my brain apart. I don't know how this happened, but my cousins said it was just overthinking. I tend to agree on them, the problem is even if I tried to relax my mind, this headache just comes back.
I tried the medicine I just bought after I return back to Inkopolis, Advil. It lessens the pain, but it doesn't really help take it away.
What is going on with me?
Another minute passed, the headache dissipates. Sadly, I know that this will come back in the meantime. I suddenly felt tired again, or worse, hot. This usually tells if an Inkling is ill, and if they have a fever. I touched my neck with the back of hand; slightly hot. Then I touched my forehead; same temp as my neck. No, not fever, just really tired.
Even if I'm not sick, I don't think I am in condition to play Turf Wars. My headaches will just come back during Turf Warring, and I'll just be a big burden to my team if that'll happen during a match. So I don't want to risk myself playing match, and I decided to just stay at the suburbs for a day.
As I stand up from the couch, I fished out my phone from my pocket, and entered the chatroom my cousins and their friends, specifically Yeran, Verique, Rodhann, Zrix, and Mikaela. I then entered a text for them.
LyKa915
hey guys
i don't feel well today
headaches
i think i'll have to retire from tw for a day
And there, I didn't wait for them to reply, as I enter my room, which is where I left them; a freakin' mess, and I begin to clean it up.
Development starts - Tomorrow/After upload
Chapter will be uploaded in - Between Early May to Middle of May