Summary: Inkling Girl and Isabelle lead Inkling Boy to the infirmary, where the only doctor in the building, Mario, gives him a quick examination.
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Isabelle led Inkling Boy by the hand out of the auditorium with Inkling Girl following close behind. Inkling Girl tried to focus on her friend but she stole the occasional glance at her fellow fighters. Most were still paying attention to the podium, where Sakurai was still droning on like nothing had happened, but a few rows away she noticed Dark Pit snickering openly at Inkling Boy. Palutena pinched him by the ear and turned his head back to the stage, wiping the smirk off his face.
The three of them also passed right by Lucas and Ness. Ness seemed to be sitting straight up in his chair, trying to act naturally like he hadn't just seen the new kid wet himself. His acting was terrible. Lucas had all of his attention on Inkling Boy, however, and seemed to be staring at him with a worried look.
Inkling Girl gave a deep sigh of relief as the three of them left the auditorium. She looked behind her as the doors swung closed to see the ink had soaked into Inkling Boy's shoes and left a trail of blue footprints leading to them. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. 'I can't believe he did this,' she thought.
Inkling Girl thought they were taking Inkling Boy outside for fresh air but Isabelle banked right and proceeded down an unfamiliar hallway. 'Where are we going?" Inkling Girl asked.
"I'm taking him to the infirmary, just to be safe," she said. "Besides if we go outside everyone will see him as they leave."
Inkling Girl nodded, impressed by the social consciousness of the talking dog.
Inkling Boy stopped hyperventilating, he was still breathing heavily and he seemed disoriented. "Why shouldn't they see me?" he asked, confused. "I want to show them I'm fine and ready to fight!" he continued, putting on a confident front.
Isabelle and Inkling Girl stopped in their tracks and stared at Inkling Boy.
"Because you, uh…" Isabelle started. She became flummoxed and started looking around for help, her eyes finally resting on Inkling Girl and pleading her to finish.
From behind Inkling Boy, Inkling Girl leaned over his shoulder and into his ear then said "You had an accident."
"An accident?" he asked. Then it dawned on him, his cheeks turned red and a look of horror spread across his face. He looked down, his dark shorts now darker from saturation around the front and down his thighs. On his shins were trails of partially dried blue ink. He ripped his hand away from Isabelle's and grabbed the crotch of his shorts, pulling them away from his body and feeling just how wet he was. He lifted the heels of his feet a little, feeling the uncomfortable sensation of his drenched shoes and socks squishing below him.
He let go of his shorts and looked at the palm of his hand, disgusted by the realization that it, too, was now covered in ink. He turned back to face Inkling Girl. "Who saw?" he asked, his fear and panic from the giant flaming ring being overtaken by his mortification.
Inkling Girl examined her friend's face. He was beat red and and his eyes portrayed panic but she figured she should be honest with him. "Probably everybody," she said. Inkling Boy's mouth dropped open and tears began welling up in his eyes. "Sorry," she added, looking away awkwardly. Sure it was embarrassing for her too, but how could she not feel bad for him?
"What's important is that we move on and get ready for the tournament!" Isabelle said, her normal enthusiasm for civic action translating well to her current duty as caretaker/ guardian for the children. "Trust me, with all the excitement around here no one will even remember you peeing your pants tomorrow."
"I didn't pee my pants!" Inkling Boy shouted back. Isabelle was taken off guard by this sudden outburst and Inkling Boy immediately felt bad for yelling at her. "It's ink…" he added, meekly. "It's different."
"Sorry, I misspoke," Isabelle said. She wasn't privy to the biology of squids, much less squid kids, so she took his word on it.
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"SOOooooo...that happened," Inkling Girl said, sitting in a small wooden chair in the infirmary and staring at the ground.
"Tsk," Inkling Boy said, turning his head away from her. He was sitting on the exam table, his soaking wet butt growing colder and more uncomfortable by the minute. Isabelle had left him there and went to go find his suitcase and a doctor.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Inkling Girl asked.
"Shut up," Inkling Boy said. He didn't want to talk about it, he wanted to pretend it never happened. The two of them sat in silence, avoiding eye contact.
A knock came from the door and it opened. The Inklings expected to see Isabelle coming in but instead they saw a man with a head mirror pop his head inside.
"I wasa told someone ina thisa room needed ahn examination," Mario said in his thick Italian accent.
"Mario?!" The Inkling children exclaimed in unison.
Dr. Mario entered the room, swinging his white lab coat over his blue overalls. "It'sa me," he said, knowing the kids would get a kick out of it.
Inkling Girl jumped up and hurried over to him. "Ohmygod it's really you," she said, completely star struck.
Mario laughed and shook her hand. "The real doctor isn'ta here yet so I'lla have ah to do for now," he said, then walked over to the table and Inkling Boy.
Inkling Boy was equally starstruck. When they first joined Nintendo they were made acutely aware Mario was the big man in the company. Heck, it was Mario himself who had laid the foundations for their sport, Splatoon, in Super Mario: Sunshine. So seeing the man here, up close, while Inkling Boy was wearing wet pants was just too surreal for him.
"Whata seems to be the problem?" Dr. Mario asked.
"Doc - I uh - wow - uh," he said, frantically waving his hands in front of his face and trying to think of something, anything to say.
"It'sa okay," Dr. Mario said, taking his stethoscope and beginning a routine examination.
Inkling Boy worked to control his breathing as Maio checked his eyes, heart, and blood pressure. Eventually he was able to get up the nerve to say, "Sorry, I think I was just nervous. There's a lot going on here."
Dr. Mario nodded. "I see," he said. He looked down at Inkling Boy's shorts. "Has thisa happened before?" he asked.
Inkling Boy had almost forgot he was wearing wet shorts, and in front of one of his heroes too! He pulled down his shirt to try and cover the wet spot a bit. "N-no," he said, nervously.
"Just every night," Inkling Girl piped up.
"Orange!" Inkling Boy exclaimed, shooting an angry glare at Inking Girl.
"But you do! He's a doctor, you have to tell him," she argued back.
Inkling Boy let out a huff and said no more. Dr. Mario grabbed his clipboard and started writing on it.
"I'll have to ah tell the regahular doctor abouta this, he maya want to exahmine youa more," he said. "For now you'rea a-ok." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a lollipop, handing it to Inkling Boy. Inkling Boy begrudgingly took it and placed it in his mouth, too intimidated to tell Mario no.
"Rest for as longa as you need to," Dr. Mario said while taking off his coat and tools. "Comea join the rest ofa us when you'rea good and ready." He left the room.
As the door closed behind him Inkling Girl started jumping up and down, giddy as a school girl. "Holy cow I can't believe we already got to talk to Mario!" she said, nearly screaming.
"Yeah...you're welcome I guess," Inkling Boy said, still holding his shirt down over his wet crotch. Inkling Girl's excitement started to loosen him up, though, and he remembered where he was. This was Super Smash Brothers, he wasn't here to make friends and gawk at idols. He was here to fight, to battle, to win! He may have embarrassed himself today but he vowed not to let it happen again, he'd prove to his fellow fighters that he was just as strong as any of them. Neigh, he was stronger!
But first he needed to change into some clean pants. He shifted uncomfortably on his wet butt, hoping Isabelle would hurry up with his luggage.