Author's Note: New Follower! Thank you minecraftlover5575 for your interest in the story and I hope you, my other followers, and all others who read this continue to enjoy my stories!

Chapter 16

The Tournament…

I soon met up with my teammates at Deca Tower. I quickly put my Power Mask Mk 1 on.

"Alright…team?" A Jellyfish asked.

"Cirrina Squad." Sarah answered.

"Ooooo-kay." He found it on the list. "Sarah, Guyver, Sylvia, and Ocho?"

"Ocho?" Sarah tilted her head. "Who-"

"Yep, that's all of us!" I said, quickly.

Sarah looked at me a second, surprised.

"Right this way." The Jellyfish pointed in the direction.

"…Your mom doesn't know you're in the tournament, does she?" Sarah asked while we were walking.

"Please don't tell her." I begged "She'll never let me leave home again if she found out."

"Why would she do that?" Guyver asked.

"She's overprotective of him." Sarah told him. "She barely let him leave the house back home, made him wear goggles outside the house, and chased off anyone who came onto their property. Heck, now that I think about it, this past week has been the most we've interacted…ever."

"Why do you always wear those goggles, anyway?" Guyver asked me.

"M-my mom said if the others saw my eyes…they wouldn't like me…" I explained. "It actually took a lot of convincing for her to let me come here."

"Your eyes?" Sylvia seemed confused. "Why? Do you have weird, wonky ancient squid eyes?"

"Umm…" Guyver looked at her. "You know, we're not-"

"Hey, I can see the entrance!" I interrupted. "Let's go in!"

I quickly ran inside. Sylvia ran after me, and Sarah and Guyver walked in shortly after.

5 minutes later…

It was a huge event. Lots of people were there. 'Off the Hook' were the ones hosting the event. Hm…I got Pearl's autograph already. Maybe I can get Marina's in the future…

Anyway, the idea was that two teams would battle each other on a random stage with a random game type in mind. There were a lot of people here today, so it seems for now, they're also having random teams fight each other to whittle down the numbers.

Soon enough, the battles started. Each team with a unique team name. After a few battles, it was the Mad Squids vs. the Cephalon 4 on Port Mackerel. Huh…Ivan was on the Mad Squids team. Neat. Sarah kept cheering on the Mad Squids. After hearing her shout "Go Otis," I could figure out why. The squid boy from Gramp's pictures was on the battlefield. If I had a sibling, I guess I'd cheer him or her on too.

Mad Squids ended up winning that match.

A few matches later, Sarah was cheering on a team called the Inkstrikes

…

I assumed they were some of Sarah's other friends because I didn't recognize anyone on that team.

After a while, we were finally up. It was us against the Defenders. Apparently it's a group dedicated to being an emergency protection force for Inkopolis just in-case something happens. Sylvia is apparently affiliated with them. She was introducing Sarah and Guyver to one of her other friends named Denise.

I looked up and noticed Pearl was going to tell us to hurry up, so I hurried to the Starfish Mainstage tunnels. The others would soon follow.

The game was Clam Blitz.

The match began shortly after we arrived. We quickly went to work gathering clams. Soon enough, we ran into enemy players. Guyver made short work of the first one and Sarah got enough clams from her to make a power clam. Sylvia stayed behind to guard our basket while I shot at any opponents coming their way.

We soon got to the goal and Sarah broke the barrier. Guyver and I threw any clams we had before we all got splatted. We soon respawned to find Sylvia was struggling against the enemy team. We couldn't stop them from breaking our barrier, but we splatted them before they could throw any other clams in. We quickly scooped them up and went for their basket. We had two power clams and the enemy team was waiting. Sarah went in a Baller while Sylvia apparently had Tenta Missles charged up as they came falling down, splatting two players.

I got splatted during the chaos while I broke the barrier and Sarah threw her power clam in. They retreated to get more clams as I respawned and soon enough, the time ran out. We were victorious.

"Woohoo!" Guyver cheered.

Sarah gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"We…won?" I was surprised. "Yes!"

"Don't get cocky, kid." Guyver warned me. "It was just the first round. Things will only get tougher from here."

"R-right!" I nodded.

Denise from the other team even came by to congratulate us.

After a while, the starting matches were wrapped up. Apparently the tournament goes on for days.

Later…

"You should really think of Denise's offer." Sylvia suggested.

"Why?" Sarah asked.

"Well, they can help with things like marksmanship." She started. "It also provides a feeling of comradery and it's nice to feel like you're helping out and serving a purpose.

"I already have that with my friends and team." Sarah said. "Is there a point to joining your group?"

"Yeah, I mean, what if something happens?" Sylvia asked. "It'd be great to have someone to rely on in case, say, Salmonids migrate to Inkopolis or if the Octarian Menace attacks again."

"Th-they haven't done anything in over 100 years, right?" Sarah guessed.

"Oh, they have." Sylvia was sure. "Boss is sure they were responsible for all Zapfish disappearances in the past decade. He even met an Octoling once who stole four!"

Guyver took off his Samurai hat.

"So…you've never met an Octoling before? He asked her.

"Nope." She answered. "But if I ever meet one, I'll show her…or him…who's boss!"

Sarah looked concerned.

"Maybe they aren't as bad as you think." He suggested. "I mean, why would they steal Zapfish?"

"Because they're still sore for losing the Great Turf War." Sylvia shrugged. "They just want to get back at us for kicking their butts."

"You don't think that could be the only reason, right?" Guyver was starting to get irritated with her.

"Uh…guys…" I tried interrupting.

"What other reason would there be?" Sylvia seemed confused. "They hate us for winning the war they started, simple as that."

"You ever think maybe it was because they were desperate?" Guyver looked very irritated. "I mean, the tides were rising at the time. They lost around half of their homeland."

"That doesn't excuse what they did." She remarked. "It also doesn't explain why they steal Zapfish."

"Because Octarians are stuck in deteriorating underground domes with little power!" Guyver couldn't believe her. "Maybe they stole them because Inklings forced them underground with little means of sustaining themselves!

"Guyver…" Sarah tried interrupting.

"Those Octos were going to do the same thing to us anyway…" Sylvia shrugged. "You try to kick a species out, you get what's coming to you."

"That still doesn't make it right!" He told her.

"Geez, why are you getting so angry?" She tilted her head. "How do you know so much about Octarians, anyway?"

"Look at me!" He pointed at his eyes and hair.

"You follow that new hair fad." She stated. "So what?"

"So what…?!" Guyver looked like he was about to snap. "I…you…"

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were an Octarian or something." She laughed.

"ARE ALL INKLINGS THIS STUPID, OR IS IT JUST YOU?!" He yelled at her.

Sylvia just stood there, shocked at his outburst.

"G…Guyver?" Sarah looked at him, completely shocked by what he said.

Oh, carp…

"I-uh…I gotta go!" He ran in the other direction.

"G-Guyver, wait!" Sarah yelled.

Oh dear…

I…I should follow him…see if he's alright…

Author's Note: Oh boy, conflict. I wonder what'll happen next...*wink*