Death Ahead
Proceed at your own risk
Ali sips the creamy latte and looks around. Inkopolis square is buzzing, there's another splatfest coming up. Ali hadn't participated in the last two she'd been around for, but Kai and Noir had insisted she join this time. The voting buttons are across the square, but she can't muster up the energy to walk over there. This splatfest's theme is "text vs calling," and honestly, Ali couldn't care less. She'd had a terrible dream last night, and she couldn't shake it from her head. She takes another sip of her coffee and tries to make sense of it.
She'd been back in the deepsea metro, Kai had been next to her. They'd been in neo octoling gear, equipped with octo shots. "This way, come quick!" Kai had called to her. They'd ran for miles before stopping in front of a large steel door. Kai had opened it and snuck inside, with her on his tail. It was dark inside. They walked, guns up slowly venturing into the room. Lights flashed on and standing in the middle of the room is Keaton. He's wearing squid hero gear, and is holding a hero shot gun. Keaton runs towards them, causing Ali and Kai to dodge, rolling to different sides of the room. Keaton focused on Ali, running towards her, firing blue ink. Ali had dodged, firing back, yelling "Why are we fighting? Stop!" Kai ran up behind Keaton, firing pink ink. Keaton turned around in a split second and grabbed the front of Kai's top, lifting him up. Kai's weapon had dropped to the floor. Ali cried out, raising and shooting her gun, but it was empty. Keaton raises his gun in his free hand, pointing it at Kai's face. "NO!" Ali had screamed, and woken up.
Kai had been panicked, and wanted to know what the dream was about, but Ali couldn't bring herself to tell him. It felt too invasive, and she was sure it would unsettle him. Why would Keaton be dressed like that, and fighting against Kai and herself? Ali groans and tilts her shades down to see the figure approaching her. It's Noir, swinging her narrow hips and sashaying towards her. "Hey, inky girl." Noir smiles, and Ali appreciates how pretty her friend is. From her midnight- black tentacles to her petite, black toenails she's a sleek, dark vision of beauty. "Hey." Ali removes her glasses and puts them on the table, "Um, what team did you choose?" Noir flips her braid over her shoulder, "What? For the splatfest? Texting, obvs. Calling is way too much." She takes Ali's coffee and sips it, "Why? Which did you pick?" Ali puts her head on the table and grunts, "Neither, yet." Noir giggles and Ali peers up at her, "You're so edgy, Ali. I hope you know that. You're wayy dramatic and super out there." She pats her pink tentacles, "Just being honest. Don't get mad." Ali's not mad, honestly, she doesn't care.
They talk for a while more and Ali finally gets up to go to the poll buttons. She looks at the two buttons, summoning up the will to care. She slams down the calling button and turns to walk back to her table. Noir has left, and Ali's empty coffee cup is on its side on the table. Ali sits down and puts her shades back on. Pulling out her phone she sees a text from Keaton. They'd been talking on and off for a few weeks now, and it's almost as if nothing had happened between them. "Hit the battle tower later?" Ali replies "Team is already full. You can play opposing?" There's a pause and then her phone dings again, "Sounds good. Be over soon." Ali leans back in her chair and watches the freshest session of Off The Hook. After they were done, Marina and Pearl would be joining Kai and herself for a few battles. They made a dream team. Her friends' voices carry from the speaker, and Ali takes note of the current stages: Moray Towers and Blackbelly Skate Park. "Hey." Kai kisses the top of Ali's head and sits next to her. "Hey. Keaton's is going to play opposing today." Kai looks amused, "He likes you that much, that he'll play against you, just to battle with you?" Ali shrugs "I guess so."
Marina and Pearl show up, fresh to impress. Marina waves at Kai, smiling widely. Kai waves back, looking at Ali uncertainly. Pearl rambles on to Ali about her new gun, a Hydra Splatling. "Let's go! I wanna splat some squids!" Pearl turns to walk to the tower, but Ali grabs her hood, "Wait, Keaton wants to play opposing." Pearl swats her hand away, "Who's Keaton?" Marina looks at Ali in surprise, "You guys are talking?" Ali nods and takes Kai's hand in her own. "What's going on?" Pearl asks, annoyed. Ali just shakes her head, "I'll explain more later, but a friend is joining us. He's playing opposing." Pearl shrugs, "Whatever." They all agree to order coffees while waiting, and sip hot beverages. Keaton walks up, his dualies hanging from his hips, "Hey- Oh, wow! Marina and Pearl! I'm a huge fan." He scratches the back of his head nervously. The girls smile and shake hands. "Alright, let's go kick some ass." Pearl walks off, and looks back at Ali, daring her to stop her. Ali grins and, still holding Kai's hand, follows her. Looking to her left she sees Keaton staring at their hands,an odd expression on his face. She looks ahead and prepares herself for the turf wars.
Popping the pills, Ali's team's tentacles change to a bright green. She leans on her octo brush and marvels at how exotic Kai looks with the change of color. "Alright, we're going to stick together, got it? None of this 'spitting up' shit." Pearl picks up her splatling and makes eye contact with everyone on the team. "We are gonna win!" Marina giggles and Pearl shoots her a look. They break off into an argument and Ali turns to Kai, "You ready?" Kai looks at her, troubled. "I just got a very bad feeling. Maybe I should go." Ali touches his arm, "A bad feeling about what? Are you-" "About this battle. I should leave."
"TO THE LAUNCHPAD."
They rise to the top of Moray Towers and Ali looks at her team. Pearl is practically jumping with excitement, Marina is calmly holding her n zap, and Kai looks... scared. He wasn't really showing it, but Ali knew him well enough to recognize that he was deeply unnerved. "3... 2... 1... GO!" Pearl dashes ahead, calling out, "This way!" Ali nudges Kai forward and he slowly jogs forward after the two pop stars. Ali covers his back, covering ground as she moves. The make their way down to the center area, walking in a diamond formation. No one is there. Pearl signals forward and they all move spraying ground and ramps. Ali ducks into a side alley to splat some often neglected space. When she swims back out, her team is gone. She checks the roster, they're all still in the match. They must have spread out. Ali heads forward, keeping a low profile, and following the green ink. She's almost at the enemy launch pad when she hears a cry. It's gargled and distressed, and sounds almost like "Kai?" Ali yells out, breaking the limited speech rule of turf wars.
She swims back down in the direction of his voice, screeching to a halt when she sees Kai hanging off the ledge, Keaton standing over them. Kai's octo shot is a few feet behind them. "What are you doing? Help him up!" Ali screams. Keaton turns and points his dualies at Ali, she looks at him, helplessly. Her short range brush is useless. "It wasn't your fault, Ali. I see that now. It was his." Keaton's expression is blank. Kai tries to pull himself up, and gets half his body up, but the inkling kicks him back, and Kai almost falls. "Stop! Please, what do you want? I'll do anything, just help him up." Ali begs, and inches closer, hoping she could get closer to make a swing at him. "I wanted you to love me back, but it's too late for that." Keaton fires a four shots at Ali, hitting her in the chest. She falls onto her back, and looks up in time to see Keaton raises his foot, and bring it down on Kai's hands. Kai makes eye contact with her for a second before he's gone. Ali stares, and can't move. Keaton tosses his guns aside and steps up onto the ledge. He looks down at her, "Now you'll be alone. No one to lean on. Goodbye, Ali." He leans forward and falls from the edge of the building. Ali struggles to get up from the purple ink, that's burning her skin. She can't even feel it as she runs over to the ledge and peers down. Hundreds of feet below she sees two bodies, surrounded by people on the sidewalk. One is surrounded by a puddle of pink, and one is in a circle of blue. The timer for the match goes off and Ali feels rage and sorrow build up.
She grabs her head in her hands and screams.
Sorry for a late upload! I needed an extra day to decide where I was going with this... And, obviously I took a very different turn. I'll include more info in my AN in the next chapter. Thanks for reading! - shipalltheotps