Chapter 6 – Against the Rising Tides Pt. 1 (The Calm before the Storm)
The first shop he visits is the Jelly Fresh, where Jelonzo, the owner of the shop, sells the hottest trends of clothes, like Tees, Hoodies, and many more you could think of. He was thinking of buying a Hoodie so that he could hide his face so that no one would notice his closed eyes. He entered the shop, and he saw a rather minimal number of customers that are browsing through the clothes in the shop. He was then greeted by the owner.
"Jelly Fresh! Welcoming to the Shop, Kthulhu!" His Inkling is rather broken, since he is a jellyfish and it is difficult to learn it naturally, "What peeking your interest?"
He then looks around the racks to see a Hoodie that he likes. While looking around, he saw a familiar male Inkling that has a black complexion, with Purple-Blue Tentacle Hair, and Dark Violet-Red Eyes. He wears a Takoroka Visor, School Jersey, and White Arrows. He has a long scar that is passing his nose bridge.
"Eiy, K, 'sup dude," Raei greeted Kthulhu, as he waves at him.
"Yo. Didn't expect that you'll be here," Kthulhu said as he approaches his friend, "I thought you're waiting at the Tower."
"Nah, just got out of the tower after a few Ranked Matches, most of them didn't go too well."
"That's rough, buddy."
"Really rough, true… So bud, you got Yeran and Verique's message?" Raei changes the topic as he adjusts where his body is facing to Kthulhu.
"Yeah, seems they'll be playing with the Rising Tsunami."
Raei lets out a sigh, "Yeah, their back in the city, ready to wreck some asses in Turf Wars and Ranked apparently."
"Then it will be bad for me." He then walks to the rack that Raei has been searching through.
"What do you mean?" Raei stares Kthulhu sceptically and confused.
"I'll tell you later, right now I'll buy a hoodie…" Kthulhu, after a few moments, he finally found a hoodie that he chooses; a Zekko Hoodie. He then walks to the owner of the shop and asks, "Do you have any bigger size for this hoodie? Larger than my size, if there's one here."
"Yes, Kthulhu! Let me do the getting!" Jelonzo then goes to the back of his shop to find a much larger size for the Zekko Hoodie. While Kthulhu waits, Raei gets the opportunity to ask something that he had in his mind a few minutes ago that has been bugging him.
"Hey, K, what do you mean by what you've said earlier?" He asks, an eyebrow rose in worry, "It's unlike you to say anything like that. Is there something wrong?"
Kthulhu stared at his Iberian friend, whose worry and confusion covers his expression. Kthulhu doesn't really know if now is the right time to tell him about his predicament right now. Then again, now that he thinks about it, he could just stay at Ammo Knights, tinkering and test weapons all day. And then again, his friends will be suspicious of him of why he doesn't play even a single Turf War match during the whole morning, and he probably won't survive a whole morning without playing around ten to twenty matches of Turf War either solo or with the Masquidteers, and around ten to fifteen matches in Ranked.
After a moment of thinking, he decided to tell him now, as he may help him with his predicament, and even if he didn't tell it now, he'll eventually know, but the sooner that he tells him about it, the less the chance that his trust will crumble away like dust. He then opens his mouth to speak, "Let me recap for a bit; you know that Kyla's my sister, right?"
Raei nodded, "Yeah? I've been friends with her through Ryoko. So that means you're also cousins with Tarã and Serõ?"
"Uh-huh."
"So, uhh… what about them? Had a familial grudge with them or something?"
"No. It's more like…" He paused, thinking what could be a fitting word, "…I haven't seen them in a while."
This confuses Raei even more, as he furrows his eyebrows, "That could mean a lot of things, Kthulhu. So, for how long you haven't seen them?"
"Two and a half years." With no hesitation in his voice, he immediately answers.
…
… Awkward Silence…
A silence later, Raei's eyes pops out comically in shock, like those that you see in anime when someone witnessed something shocking and their eyes pop out in the most hilarious ways possible, "QUE?! Two and a half years!? Geez, that's not 'a while', it's more 'a long time!' Is it really that long?"
"According to my sense of time, yeah, I haven't seen them for that long."
His eyes have gone back to its normal places, and his expression changed to worry, "Oh meu Deus, sheesh, what happened, dude? You got away from home and go abroad somewhere?" Worry takes over his tone quickly after he revealed the reason behind his anxiety towards meeting Kyla and the de Rodrigo Siblings, "Something definitely happened to you, man, and I got to know so that I may help ya'."
"…" He kept his mouth shut, not wanting to talk about it as he looks down on the floor, expression is somewhat… regretful. Raei can't tell much about his facial expression thanks to him having so much limited facial expressions, but somehow, he can unknowingly read a person, and he somehow read Kthulhu rather well in this scenario.
Raei notices Kthulhu's facial expressions, and his grew worried even more, "Something tells me that your face indicates that you've been through shite," Yeah, he did; he have gone through so many tough times before he even starts his Turf War Career, "Come on, man, tell me about it and let me help."
Kthulhu looks back at Raei, whose expression is now mixed with worry, seriousness, and open-minded, ready to listen to him whatever he is gonna say. Should I really tell him…? He doesn't want too many people to know about him. Then again, he would feel bad if he has to keep it a secret to a friend that just wants to understand and help him. Then a thought of Ryoko came in to his mind; he is her disciple, and she is teaching him her ways, like Kyro did to her. I guess deserves to know…
With that, he let out a sigh, and he said to Raei, "Alright, I'll tell you about it, but I won't tell it here. After I finished shopping for gear, I'll invite you in to where I sleep in. Is it alright with you?"
The black squid nodded, "Certo, K."
A moment later, Jelonzo returned with a folded and a much larger Zekko Hoodie, "Here's the larger hoodie. Now you want buying?" he then hands him over the Zekko Hoodie. Kthulhu takes it from the jellyfish owner, unfolds it, and measures it by taking both sleeve cuffs, and spreads it like how an eagle spread its wings. It's certainly a little bigger than his size. He folds it back, and hands it back to Jelonzo, "It's big enough. I'll buy it." After Jelonzo takes the Zekko Hoodie, he takes out a bag of coins that is enough to buy the large Zekko Hoodie.
"Always a great thanks, Kthulhu!" Jelonzo said, "I'll do the stuffing in to bag, and you do the waiting," He then goes behind the counter and grabs a shopping bag, and puts the large hoodie into it. He then hands it over to Kthulhu, in which he immediately grabs it from him.
Now that he bought a hoodie, it's time for him to leave the store with Raei and go to another shop, "Alright, Raei. I'll buy two more gear before I tell you. So can you please wait for me in the entrance of the Ammo Knights? Don't worry, I won't take long…"
Raei furrowed his eyebrows, and lets out a big sigh, and muttered, "Geez, this guy is just like his sister…" He then shook his head as he looks back at Kthulhu, "Sure, I'll be waiting there…"
"Thanks," He then proceeds to leave the shop, "I'll see ya' in a minute."
He has all his needs now… hope this works…
Kthulhu went through all of the remaining shops in the Booyah Base, excluding Ammo knights of course. After he left Jelly Fresh, he proceeds to enter the shoe shop, Shrimp Kicks, where he takes a little bit more time than he had in Jelly Fresh, because he is thinking of what would be the best to fit for his Zekko Hoodie. He finally found one after a minute, and he chose the Gold Hi-Horses for it. After he buys that, he went to the final shop, Cooler Heads, to buy a mask, bandana, or a hat that is not like his current hat, the Safari Hat. After another full minute, he takes the Skull Bandana home, and also bought Fake Contacts to prevent his two eyes from glowing. He doesn't know how that worked, but he decided not to question logic when he already broke it the last few chapters of the Duel.
Now that he bought all of the gear from head to toe, he decided to walk back to the Ammo Knights, where Raei is waiting for him at the entrance. When he arrived, Raei is leaning beside the door frame of the shop, waiting for Kthulhu to arrive, and a pair of female Inklings came out of the shop with an E-Liter Charger, carrying it by the shoulder, while the other carries a Splash-o-Matic. They both walk away and disappeared to the Inkopolis Tower.
He approaches at the waiting Raei. Raei immediately notices Kthulhu walking to him, and he stands straight, "Took you long enough, lad."
"Don't worry, I'm not late"
"Yeah, now how about we get inside," Raei offered as he lets Kthulhu get in first.
"This is where you sleep?" Raei asks, really dumbfounded, "One of Sheldon's freakin' basement?"
"It's as manageable as it can get, Raei," Kthulhu reasoned as he puts everything that he carried throughout his shopping spree, "Besides, I won't be here for long. Once that I have met up and reconcile with my sister, I may live in her house for the rest of my time here in Inkopolis."
"This is a rather small dump of a basement home if I say so myself," Raei commented, as he looks around the basement bedroom, "I didn't he accepted you in to stay here. What special treatment are you getting?"
"None."
"Wait, what? None, as in, no special treatment at all?"
"Nope, none of that BS, well except for some special recognition that I've been receiving from Sheldon."
This piqued Raei's interest, "Special recognition?"
"Yes, and this is about what I will tell you," He then sat down on his bed, "Now if you may, how about you grab the chair in the workbench over there and have a seat. It's story time."
Raei glances at the chair Kthulhu is pointing at, which is to Kthulhu's right and is stationed at the workbench. He grabbed it and dragged it beside the bed, and sat on it, "So about the thing you are about to tell me?"
Kthulhu lets out a sigh, and puts up his left foot on his bed, and looks at Raei before he started to speak, "Well, as for the story, I wanted to ask you something first."
"Ask away."
"Did Ryoko tell you about her former master before she took you under her wing?"
"Well, uhm…" He looks up a little, thinking, "Well, she did mention that she had a master before she even became an Elite Fighter. No idea who they are, though, but I reckon that they are holy shet strong."
"You could say that again."
Raei glances back at Kthulhu, an eyebrow rose up, "You seem to know her master well."
"In fact, I do."
"Really?" Raei's eyes widened a little in surprise and curiosity, both eyebrows rose, "So, that's maybe the reason why Ryoko seem to be very eager when she first met you back at the Battle Lobby, and even inside the HQ, you two get along pretty well even you guys met just like a few minutes ago."
This guy's quite observant… "Yeah, she's a cool dragon."
"You bet she is! That's my master for ya'!" He chuckles with pride of his master. He takes some of Ryoko's traits for being her disciple, "So, anyway, what do you know of her old master? If Ryoko will be my master, I have to know who have taught her the lessons she's been giving ever since she took me in."
"I… don't actually know much about how her master taught her. I only know him personally, but not about his life as Ryoko's master."
"So Ryoko's master's a man, ok. So, what about him?"
"Well, he's the reason why I haven't seen my sister and my cousins for at least two and a half years."
He went silent for a moment and his tilted to the right a little, "What?"
"Yes, you hear me; he's the one reason, because he took me away from them. My father took me away from them."
…
…Agaaaiiin, aawwkwa- "WHAAAT!? –ardd, well that just broke the damn word into two, "Ryoko's former master is your father?! And what do you mean he took you away from them?! He kidnapped you or some-" Before he could even continue, he was slapped by Kthulhu to calm him down, making a loud SMACK! sound that echoes throughout the basement, almost made him fall of from his chair. He needs to get his shite together, hot dammit.
"Stop assuming things, I'm not done yet," Kthulhu scolded at him, as he brushes both of his palms to each other, "It's unlikely of you to jump into conclusions in a quick succession like that."
"Oww, that was unnecessary," Raei rubs his cheeks that Kthulhu slapped on. That definitely hurt, "I'm sorry, ok?! Context, Kthulhu, what you say sound like you meant something else, like, your father took you away from your sister and your cousins, or maybe your family. Misunderstanding can be a deadly thing no matter how bad it is."
"I know that, Raei. It's you who just yelled at the damn basement so loudly we might get heard outside. We don't need to drag any unnecessary attention down here, so keep your voice down."
"Err, sorry about that… Continue on; why did your father take you away?" Raei then changed the topic for the sake of time.
"Kyro took me away so that he could train me," Kthulhu continued, "Train me for the future, he says. He was pretty insistent about it, so I was forced to comply with him and leave before dawn."
"Train? Damn, you've been forced into training for at least two and a half years?" Raei asks, his hands are clasped onto each other, "So you are forced to train when you're still twelve years old, right?"
"No, I was thirteen at that time, and I already got my control of both of my squid and Inkling form a few days before I even hit fourteen."
"Whoo, that's quite the early age to get full control over it. Anyway, that means, you left rather suddenly?"
"Yeah," He then gets a flashback of his father, when they were about to leave, his facial expression is serious, grim, anxious, and reluctance. He looked like he predicted an attack that he know he can't win, but was forced to fight; a thing that has unfortunately happened to Kyro two years later after he left, "He was in a hurry that day, and because of that, we never had the time to say goodbye to them, not even to my mother, not even to my cousins, not even to my sister…"
A gloomy atmosphere took over the basement, an atmosphere that he has been feeling after his father died during that day that he got assassinated, and still felt it ever since he got here in Inkopolis. Raei was shocked of what he had heard, "You left… without them knowing where you have been for two and a half years?"
He could only nod in confirmation, making Raei cuss in Iberian, "Bom graciaso, lad. That might explains why Kyla looked sad most of time; she thought you disappeared and went missing. She never mentioned anything about you; even the de Rodrigo siblings never did mention anything about you." This made him feel even guiltier than he could possibly imagine now. Screw you, Raei and Sheldon…
"Maybe they just wanted to keep the pain within themselves. Then again, now that I think about it, that's a very pessimistic way of saying it."
"Ermm, that sounded a little… dark… Do you have any more to tell me about it?"
That's not a question you would normally hear when someone tells a story about their past, Kthulhu thought, as he blankly stares at him for asking. Although, that proves that he is quite interested hearing it.
"Ohh, uhh, er, s-sorry," Raei apologizes, realizing what he just said, "That's a stupid questi-"
"Nah… I think I have more things that I can tell…"
Fifteen minutes and twenty nine seconds later…
After Raei left and started to wait again by the entrance of Ammo Knights, Kthulhu started to wear the gear he has bought earlier in the shops in Booyah Base; he takes off his hat and places it back at the hat stand, he takes off his Red Check Shirt and throws to the bed, and then he takes off his Red Work Boots. After that, he takes out the Zekko Hoodie that still in his shopping bag, and wears it. It's just as large as he thought, and when he puts on his hood, it is big enough to obscure his entire face with shadows. He then pulls back his hood and takes the Skull Bandana, and wears it on his bottom area of his face, covering his nose, mouth, and his cheeks. He puts it on the hood again, and he became completely unrecognizable.
After that, he sat on the bed and opens the shoebox, in which it contains the Gold Hi-Horses he bought in Shrimp Kicks. He grabs it from the shoebox and puts it onto his two feet. Now there's only one more thing before he go outside; wear the Fake Contacts that he also bought in Cooler Heads. He fishes out two Fake Contacts that are stacked to each other, and puts it on to his glowing eyes. It took a while to put it on, but when he did, he checked himself in his phone, his glowing red eyes are now much more faint and dim, making it harder to see. He puts his hoodie on; his still glows a bit, but not as much as it did during the Duel. He eventually pulls it back, and decides to keep his eyes open for a few hours.
Alright, I'm done… Kthulhu has finished preparing himself on going incognito. He's pretty that he is unrecognizable by the way he looks now, unless a friend of his notice how he moves and plays, that is. This should work out for today, He could only hope for it.
He decided not to keep Raei waiting, as he takes his Range Blaster from his bed and makes his way to the exit, where he meets his black squid friend waiting with his Inkbrush Nouveau on his back. He quickly notices his change of clothing, and smirked at the sight, "Would you look at that? You look freshly enigmatic with that gear you have." And then he noticed Kthulhu's opened eyes, "Ohh, look at them eyes. You really look like Jhay with those eyes opened."
"Am I?" He takes out his phone, and used it again as a mirror and looks at his eyes. Well, he does look like Jhay, somewhat. He puts it back on his pocket after a few moments, "Hmm, looks like it. I'll close it later."
"So, ya' sure you're up to this?" Raei asked Kthulhu, "If what you said is true, they might not take it easily if they saw you."
"Yeah, don't worry," Kthulhu answered in a reassuring tone, "It may not go well for me, but I can do it. Yeran and Verique is the main problem though, they might recognize me."
"They might, but don't worry about them. If they get too occupied into something, they won't pay attention to anyone's looks much and focuses on their main objective."
"Hope you're right."
"Alright then, let's kick some asses, shall we, K?" Raei offered, as he takes his Inkbrush Nouveau off his back and holds it by the shoulders, with a confident smirk, "You have changed your name of your account?"
Kthulhu nodded as he puts on his hood, before replying, "Yeah, let's get going." And there, Raei and Kthulhu went inside the Battle Lobby, with Kthulhu going incognito under the guise 'Zhed', as they started a big duo winning streak.
An hour of Turf and Ranked Matches Later...
Kthulhu and Raei is now teleported to Ancho-V Games, a game studio that created many arcade games that is popular to the inhabitants of Inkopolis. They are on Orange Team, and they'll be fighting the Blue will be the last game the two will play before they rest for lunch.
"Welp, here we are, Ancho-V," Raei said as he looks at the battlefield, "Let's see who's our teammate..."
Kthulhu and Raei glances back to see their teammates: Beside Kthulhu is a female Inkling with Orange Tentacle Hair and Pink tips, and has Gray Eyes. She wears Designers Headphones hanging by her neck, Purple Camo LS, and Turquoise Kicks. She is carrying an E-Liter 3K Scope. She may or may not be the same E-Liter girl that he just saw an hour ago in Ammo Knights… who knows…
The other Inkling that is adjacent to Kthulhu is slightly tan-skinned female Inkling has long Orange Tentacle Hair with Yellow Tips that is tied up in a sporty like fashion, and has Amber Eyes. She wears a Tennis Headband, Baseball LS, and Yellow Seahorses, and carries a Heavy Splatling with both of her hands. Raei seems to recognize her.
"Mikaela?" Raei said as he seems to call out the name of the Inkling. Mikaela's eyes widened, who seem to recognize him as well.
"Raei?" She says his name in a shy Malaccan accent, "I didn't expect that you would be my teammate."
"So do I, Mika," He then reaches out for a handshake, in which she shyly accepts, "Surprised to see you play by yourself at this time."
She then lets go of his hand before replying, "W-well, I have to, because the team's number has already reached its limit, so I volunteer to go by myself for now."
"Yeah, Yeran and Verique might've taken the spot for members. Are you sure you're really fine playing by yourself?"
"Don't worry, I'm ok. I've already played many games alone in the past, and I've grown accustomed to it."
"If you say so, then," Raei glances at Kthulhu, "Anyway, K, I wanted you to meet Mikaela H. Rascolov, she is a member of the Rising Tsunami from Malacca," He then glances back at Mika, "Mika, his name's Kthulhu, a good friend of mine and the captain of my team."
"Hi," Kthulhu offers a handshake to Mika.
Her eyes once again widens at the sound of Kthulhu's name, "Kthulhu? As in, Kthulhu from the Duel?"
"Yeah, that's me," Kthulhu answers as he slightly slids his hoodie backwards with his free right hand, revealing his closed eyes to her before he pulls it back up again, completely obscuring his eyes.
"Oh my, it is you! I-It's nice to meet you, Sir Kthulhu!" She then accepts his offer and she shook his hand briefly before letting go, "I'm honored to be your teammate."
"Yeah, it is a pleasure too, to play with a member of the Rising Tsunami, and Kthulhu or is just fine. I'm not some sort of knight or anything."
"If that's what you want, then fine by me."
Before the two continue their conversation, they suddenly heard a snicker from Raei, and they immediately glances at him, "K, looks like you broke someone." He then pointed at the Charger girl, and they glance at her, seeing a comically shocked face plaster across her face.
"Y-yo-your K-Kthulhu?" She stuttered as she speaks, visibly trembling. Kthulhu can only nod at the trembling girl. Then suddenly, she hands over her own Charger to Kthulhu, and said, "P-please sign my Ch-charger! I'm very big fan of you!"
He could feel a sweat drop from his left temple. This is somehow the first time he ever meets a fan that is his teammate ever since he and his other friends formed the Masquidteers.
"Ermm, I don't have a pen," He sadly said. He then felt someone tapping him by the his shoulders. He glances at Raei, who is handing over a marker for him.
"Came prepared, Cap'n," He remarked as he hands over his pen, "Now you have one."
Welp ain't that convenient... He then takes Raei's marker, glances back at his fan, and proceeds to uncap the marker, "So, where do you want me to sign your Charger?"
"O-over here," She pointed at the big ink bottle that is connected beside the trigger. He proceeds to sign it by writing his signature with simple, yet elegant handwriting of his name. After that, she practically jumped in joy with a big smile on her face, and hugs her E-Liter, "Thank you so much, Kthulhu!"
"You're welcome, mate," As she gets herself occupied hugging her E-Liter, he glances back at Mika and Raei, a smile is formed on Mika's lips, and Raei has his back facing as he checks his phone.
"You're so nice, Kthulhu," Mika complimented Kthulhu.
Kthulhu didn't reply immediately, as he looks away from Mika, scratching him the back of his hoodie, "It's nothing. It's a natural thing to do."
"What I said still stands though."
"Then I'll let it stand on its own."
"Uhh, guys?" Raei called out for his teammates, making them glance at him curiously. He then turns to them to face his teammates, a serious and grim expression on his face, "You guys better look at this."
He then shows his phone to his teammates, and they take a closer to it. A few seconds later, Kthulhu immediately paled at the sight, Mika eyes widened a little, and the fan seems to be unfazed.
In the phone, it is showed:
Blue Team:
Tarã || A || Fresh Squiffer || Squid Hair Clip || Rockenberg Black Tee ||
Verique || B- || Dual Squelcher || Black Arrowbands || Green Check Shirt || Mawcasins
Yeran || B+ || Kelp Splat Charger || Bobble Hat || CoroCoro Hoodie || Yellow Seahorses
Rodhann || B || Krak-On Splat Rolled || Tinted Shades || Anchored Layer LS || Zombie Hi-Horses
"As I feared, looks like we will be fighting the Rising Tsunami," Raei announces to his team members in a grim and serious manner, "This is gonna be hell."
"Oh my," Mika said as she glances to the Charger, who is also doing the same as she also glances to her with a worried expression. Raei's raeight, this gonna be one hell of a fight. Tarã and the Rising Tsunami specialises in defensive tactics, and can keep anyone at bay for long, long enough for Rodhann to sneak past his enemies fighting Tarã and the others, and paint their turf with his roller. Mikaela and Raei knows them well enough to fear their Turf War prowess.
While they worry about their fight with the Rising Tsunami, Kthulhu is in the corner pale and sulking, facing away from the group, "Dammit... talk about bad timing..." His tone is covered in distress, which uncharacteristic of him, and a contrast to his cool and collected personality. you tend to break character when you're about to fight your cousin who thought you have gone missing for a long time in a friendly game of Turf War, apparently.
"Geez, someone's sulking," Raei pointed out as he feel a sweat trickling in his left temple, which shifts the gaze of the other members to Kthulhu. They have never seen this side of Kthulhu sulking in the corner in distress.
"What's with him, Raei?" Mika worriedly asks him, "This is not very usual of him, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's not usual for him to look this anxious," Raei scratches his head, "But let's just say it's understandable... can I say it to them, K?"
Kthulhu didn't answer, but he weakly gave him a thumbs up without turning around or breaking his gaze, giving permission to tell them. "If you say so then..." Raei then started to tell them the reason of Kthulhu's concerns; about him being Tarã's cousin, and how long they haven't seen each other,, but leaves out about his training before he started Turf Warring, Kyro taking him away from his family, and any other private information Raei deems unnecessary to tell. Instead, he makes a somewhat believable story that Kthulhu went abroad to Yangtze to learn its culture and language. Halfway, Kthulhu slowly started to recover from sulking and he eventually turns back to his team.
His team members started to process all of this information from Raei. Mika is the first to speak about Kthulhu's predicament, "That's one heck of a situation you're in right now, indeed."
"Yeah, it is," Kthulhu agreed, as turn his gaze to the direction of their opponent team's spawn point, "Now you hear my struggles as of now, please, don't tell this to anyone else, unless I told you to. I don't want and don't need too many people to know about this."
The E-Liter Sniper and Mika glances at each other, before glancing back to Kthulhu, with the E-Liter Sniper promising, "Alright, it's a promise, then."
"We'll make sure that we'll keep it to ourselves," Mika also vows to keep it a secret. With that, Kthulhu glances back at the girls, and beneath his Skull Mask, as small smile formed on his lips, "Thanks."
"No probs, bro!" The E-Liter lightly chuckles, "You're secret safe with us!"
Kthulhu nodded, as an automated voice speaks through the speakers of the stage, "Turf War starts in one minute and thirty seconds."
"Well, at least the author and his lads are kind enough to let us have a few minutes to talk about it, gotta thank them for that," Raei remarked. No problem, Raei, since it is for the plot purposes. *thumbs up*
The E-Liter and Mika stared at him, confused of what he meant. They then looked at Kthulhu, "Ehh, what is he...?"
"Don't worry about it," Kthulhu answered instead, saving Raei from any further embarrassment for breaking the 4th wall, freakin' again. This joke is getting old and please don't make us pay for the repairs of this damn wall. Once is enough, and that's it. Nice save though, K, "Let's just focus on battling against the Tsunami."
"Yeah," Raei agreed and nodded as he glances at Mika, "Mika, how about you tell K here how the Rising Tsunami play."
"Ok, so the RT's playstyle is more on defensive and less on offensive, and they are pretty good at it with Tarã at their side. They capture an area, it will be nigh impossible to capture it by normal means."
Deja vu hits Kthulhu hard when he remembered his first match with Anthur, except it's the other way around...
"Tarã is an expert on defending their turf, and will usually keep their opponents at bay, making them struggle on taking it, especially with Yeran on her side."
"Great, two snipers..." Kthulhu sarcastically remarked, "Looks like we have more problems to deal with other than having my identity be revealed to my opponents."
"And also, even if we manage to break Tarã's defence, we would lose half percentage of our taken turf because of Rodhann and/or Verique, they will usually go backdooring if all us focus on breaking the Tarã and Yeran combo."
Raei nodded, "Yeah, the two are a nasty combo, and add it to Verique's stealth, they can splat a whole team like a knife cutting through butter."
While the others talk about strategy, Kthulhu takes out his phone, opens the map of Ancho-V Games, and observes the stage with his closed eyes. If he were ever to defeat the Rising Tsunami, no reason to charge in recklessly without any solid plan in mind, and he has to plan out something that could go against the tides.
The Ancho-V Games doesn't have that number of shortcuts to the field, and definitely has quite a number of vantage points that just at the center, with the only hindrance are the board that showcases that shows black-n-white drawings that Inklings draw in SplatNet. (most of the drawings are either wonderful, appropriate, shite, or just plain stupid) But if one member manages sneak their through their front lines, they'll have a big chance to take their turf and forces them to retreat. If the one that backdoors is either Verique or Rodhann, the Orange team's sniper will have a chance against them unless they go together, which is unlikely, but if its either Yeran or Tarã that backdoors, the E-Liter might not have a chance unless she knows what she's doing and can use her range superiority against both snipers.
If Mikaela said is true, then this would be a tough match; Defensive Squads are the most hardest types of squads to battle against, and by the looks of the kit himself and his team has, it's more well-rounded, neither has an upside or a downside. The weakness of a Defensive Squad is they won't get as much turf, and will likely to lose if they are pushed far back to their base, but this is Rising Tsunami Kthulhu is thinking about, and they have Verique, who is quite an assassin, and Rodhann as their backdoor pirate. They can take turf without much interruption unless there's someone else in the backlines.
Hrmm, takte, this is a little difficult than I originally thought it would be, Kthulhu thought as he thinks of other options and strategy that he could possibly think of. Unfortunately, there's not much he can think of, because this is the first time he'll fight against Tarã and the Rising Tsunami, he has very little knowledge about them, with the exception of Yeran and Verique, but that won't help either when they are on the other team that they've been in for a long time. Looks like they'll be in for a shite show this match.
Better be prepared, before they get caught by the big waves of the tsunami from the other side.
Earlier...
"Alright! Hope we get lunch after this match's win!" Rodhann yelled as he stretches and prepares his trusty Krak-on Roller. He never had been this excited in his whole life before.
"Yeah, we need that excitement for our final match before we buy ourselves lunch," Tarã said as she observes today's stage, Ancho-V Games Studio. It's not Tarã favourite map, buy it has some sweet vantage points, "Alright, team, looks like our stage will the game studio again. Verique, who's our opponents?"
"Let's see," Verique looks at his phone and looks at their opponents:
Orange Team:
Trix || C+ || E-Liter 3k || Designer Headphones || Purple Camo LS || Turquoise Kicks
Mikaela || C || Heavy Splatling || Tennis Headband || Baseball LS || Yellow Seahorses
Raei || A || Inkbrush Nouveau || Takoroka Visor || School Jersey || White Arrow
Zhed || B+ || Custom Range Blaster || Skull Bandana || Zekko Hoodie || Gold Hi-Horses
"I thought ve'll be fighting my brother for a second there," Verique muttered in relief. They don't want to fight him with Raei in his team, or they'll be sinking in to the deep, salty seas right now, "Tarã, we have some familiar faces that we'll battle against."
"Oh, really?" This piqued Tarã interest, as she glances to Verique, "Who will it be?"
"You guys take a look," He the showed his phone to his teammates. They take a closer look at it, "We'll be fighting Raei and Mika."
"Ohh, that freakin' traitor!" Yeran sarcastically remarked, "And oh cod, they have Raei in their team!"
"Hrmm, this should be good," Rodhann said as a smirk formed on his lips, "Better, Raei's using an Inkbrush! It'll be easy for me to splat his face with my roller."
"Careful what you're saying, Rodh. And maybe a few seconds later he'll be poking your face with the Inkbrush."
"I'll show you that I can beat him with my Krak-On Roller!"
"Keep dreaming, bud."
Tarã inspects her opponents; E-Liter, Inkbrush Nouveau, Heavy Splatling, and Custom Range Blaster. Well-rounded, but she doubt those kit will be enough to break through the defense duo or maybe even beat the Rising Tsunami. Then again, there's Raei in their team, and an E-Liter is in it too. She has to try stopping herself from underestimating someone, or karma will get to her in a flash.
She is ranking the threat level of each opponent from lowest to highest.
The lowest threat may be Zhed; they won't be a problem to Verique, Yeran and Tarã, as Zhed will be outranged by the said Inklings. She doesn't know about Rodhann, though, they might have a chance against him.
Moving on, the next one in the threat level scale may be Mikaela; the rest of the Rising Tsunami knows how she plays, and she's not the most dangerous when fought against, unless she's with Tarã's team. Still, they had to stay cautious of her.
The next one will be Trix; they will impose a challenge to the Rising Tsunami, as when they find a vantage spot in the stage, they can detect those who try to sneak past behind the frontlines. And they basically outrange both Tarã and Yeran with the E-Liter, so she can be first thing to worry about when they do their strategy.
The highest threat level will be Raei; he may be an Inkbrusher, but he is a disciple of Ryoko Date, the 1st Elite in the LEF, and he's pretty freaking strong and quick even snipers had a hard time hitting him, and he's rather skilled with the any Inkbrush, and even with the Rollers. If he gets close, he can splat even the likes of Rodhann in a few swipes of the brush.
Now that she thought about it, they might be a challenging team to fight against. But as long as the Rising Tsunami sticks with the plan, the tides may just wash their opponents away with ease. This team Turf War is getting interesting by the hour, and she enjoys it so far, and she's not gonna lose this one.
"So, what do you think?" Asked Verique to his captain, "Do you think 'ze odds are in our favor?"
"Not so sure," She answered, "They have Raei in there side. He's pretty freakin' strong even if he's using an Inkbrush."
"Yeah, he can be a nightmare to fight against," Verique grimaces at the thought, "Alright, ve'll be cautious 'vhen 'vwe sneak around."
Tarã nodded in agreement, as she looks back at the direction of the opponent spawn point, "Alright, same plan, guys, but be more cautious and focus. They have Raei and Mikaela , and we have two unknown players on the other team, and we have no idea who are we up against. Be careful of them."
"Yeah," Yeran, Verique, and Rodhann said in unison. Hoo boy, they are not ready for whom they are facing against...
Wonder if Mikaela can think of such strategy since she'll be facing off against her own team. He then glances back to his team, who are now nodding at each other, probably has some kind of a plan laid down.
"Ok, that's that," Raei announced as he prepares his Inkbrush Nouveau.
"What do you guys have plan in mind?" Kthulhu asks his teammates.
"You're not listening?"
Ermm... Nope he didn't. He did a Verique again and he spaced out and went to deep thought, albeit much deeper than he could possibly go to, "Err, nnnoooooo... Spaced out a little."
Raei puts his palm to his face, "I swear, Verique is not a very nice influence on you, lad." He glances back to Mika, "Give him a short recap, please."
"Y-yes, we still have time left," Mika clears her throat, "Ok, so to begin; You and Raei will be going to the frontlines, try make them busy. While Trix, her-" points to the E-Liter sniper, "-name, will be the one to get to a vantage point that will give her an overview of the centre of the stage. I'll be the one to take care of Rodhann."
"So that means you'll go backdoor the Rising Tsunami's base?"
"S-something like that."
"Yeah, we're basically using their strategy," Raei explained, "the exception is that Trix will be the one overwatching anyone that tries to flank us, and both of us will go on offensive. This plan might not work like we want it to be, but this is like the only plan we could think of at the current moment and we don't have much time to think of any other complicated and complex strategies for this one."
"Well, if that's the only plan you guys can come up with, then we have to go and deal with it," Kthulhu said as he turns and face the splattlefield, "We'll improvise during the battle."
"Yeah, like we have any more choices to make."
"The match is about to begin in 15 seconds," The automated speaker blared throughout the stage.
"Ok, strat time has ended; get ready for the inkoming tsunami that is about hit the beach!" Raei shouted, as he readies his Inkbrush and holds like a spear.
Kthulhu pulls up his hood farther, and adjusts his Skull Mask. He let out a sigh, "Welp, here goes nothing."
"So, K, I got one more question," Raei then glances at Kthulhu over his shoulders, while the automated speaker blared out the that match is about to begin in ten seconds, "Are you really up to this? Can you do it?"
Kthulhu silently stares at Raei, pondering the question. With every second passes, he is clearly thinking about it if he would go through this undetected, but as soon as the timer hits the seven second mark, he finally made up his mind, and answered him with subtle and fierce determination, "I'm ready."
This made Raei smile, sensing his determination inside of him, as he turns his head away and back to the splattlefield, "Then let's do this."
3...
2...
1...
GO!
And so it begins, the battle against the tides of the Rising Tsunami, as Kthulhu and his team started to claim their home turf with their ink color, as they make their to the centre of the game studio.
A/U– And that's a wrap! (That'll be my end Author's Note catchphrase from now on) Now Kthulhu's preparation of being an enigmatic incognito, he has to face against Tarã, his very own family member that he hasn't seen for a long time, with her team, the Rising Tsunami, while avoiding getting his cover blown away by his two friends that are in the said team. Will he succeed on getting through the match, all while focusing on winning and standing against the tide? Maybe not, but we will see in the next chapter!
This is a hard chapter to make, holy shet. The part where Kthulhu is telling Raei most of his backstory is a difficult one, but I manage to get through and finish it. Hope this worth all of your time, and I'll update the Nationilities with this:
Malacca – A country in the Southeast Region, and the home country of Mikaela. It is the Splatoon Incarnation of Malaysia, it is named after a strait with the same name, and it is a closest neighbouring country of Lapunia. It is one of the world's popular tourist destinations for its many beautiful landmarks and landscapes. Citizens, Natives, and Language there are called Malaccan.
Also, this might be one of the only times I won't follow the preview. And I won't throw in another one so that I can leave you hanging onto a cliff. :D Anyway, thanks for reading the chapter! 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!
Development starts - Tomorrow/After upload
Chapter will be uploaded in – Early June