Author's Note: New Followers! Thanks Fuuga GF and Wolf Fang 497 for your interest in the story and I hope you, my other followers, and everyone else who reads this continues to enjoy!

Chapter 20

Later…

We barely won that earlier battle after I just shocked them with that reveal. To be honest, I thought Guyver already told them. It was an awkward time trying to explain the situation. Sarah and Sylvia freaked out; wanting to make sure I was okay. I wasn't, but as I said before, I was okay enough to stay in the tournament, anyway.

About two hour later, we were in another match. I mostly inked turf enough to charge a special, and then charge in with a Splashdown. I guess I…didn't feel like fighting…We won the match though. Though, I scored the lowest.

I needed to take a breather in the hallway for a sec. Guess last night's still getting to me. No surprise though…

My thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of breathing.

I slowly turned around to see s spiky-haired squid in a gas mask and Dark Bomber Jacket. He was staring right at me.

…

"Ummm…can I…help you…?" I asked, creeped out.

"Hmmmm…" He looked at me. "Ssssso…you sssseem dissstresssed…"

Oh no…he had a creepy lisp…

"I-I'm just nervous!" I lied.

"Hehehe…" He chuckled. "You'll need to keep your head in the game if you don't want to loosssssse…"

"I won't!" I said as determined as I could.

"You will…" He assured me. "Two time winnersssss here…"

Oh…

"And…you are?" I was hesitant to find out.

"Toxic Misssst…" He told me. "Number 1."

"A-and the rest of your team?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out.

As if on cue, the others came. They all wore gas masks too. Two were dressed the same with Navy Eminence Coats. Wavy hair for one and tied hair for the other.

The fourth one had Sarah's haircut and tan. She wore…some kind of outfit that involved boots and a plated crop top. I was a little nervous looking at it…

"Come Ssssix, Sssseven, and Nine…" He urged them to follow.

"Copy." I guess Six said.

"Affirmative." Seven I suppose said.

"Heeheehee!" I'm guessing Nine chuckled.

She then turned to me, pulling out a brush, waving it over my head.

"Splat, splat, splat!" She taunted me before going with her team.

I was seriously creeped out now…going out for a breather was a bad idea…

I went back into the seats.

Even Later…Turf War…Port Mackerel…Cirrina Squad

"Careful…I heard these guys are tough." Silvia warned.

"We can beat 'em." Sarah boasted.

"H-hopefully…" I said. "We've done well so far."

"Tim, all you've done the past couple matches was ink turf until you could get your specials charged while avoiding anyone unless you had a Splashdown." Sylvia pointed out.

"Well…it's just…" I tried explaining.

"It's fine, Tim." Sarah said. "Like we said, if you need to back out, you can."

"I'll be fine." I assured them.

"Well, be ready." Guyver said. "Because soon the match will-"

Ready…Go!

Sarah and Guyver went to the sides while Sylvia and I went down the middle. I decided to stay behind to ink spots we missed.

Soon, I could see Sarah and Guyver using their Inkjets. I wonder if it's fun using those…

That thought was cut off when Guyver got splatted by an enemy Charger.

I then noticed One was covering many Sarah made with the Inkjet. As soon as Sarah was sent back to where she took off, she was immediately splatted by Nine's Brush.

"Clam it!" Sarah shouted as her ghost flew off. "Why does it show everyone where you took off?! They always wait for you to come back!"

After about a minute, things weren't looking good. My teammates kept getting splatted not far from spawn and I ended up deep in the enemy turf, being chased by One.

I could hear our team comms turn on.

"Come on guys!" Sarah shouted. "We can pull through! We just need motivation!"

"If we win, I'll buy everyone the best stuff at the Crust Bucket." Sylvia said.

"If we win, we'll all try out whatever you called that group of yours, Sylvia." Guyver said.

I think she said the 'Defenders.'

"If we win, I'll go without Goggles." I said over the comms, though only because I new it would take a miracle.

"This won't work." Guyver sighed. "I don't feel any more motivated."

"…If we win," Sarah thought of something. "…I'll let you get to second base!"

What's second base?

"We can't give up now! Onward!" Guyver shouted seconds before I could hear his splatting.

This isn't good. I thought I'd be alone here while they focused on my teammates, but One's hunting me down…it's giving me flashbacks…

"Ssssstay ssssstill!" One shouted.

"Stop that lisp thing!" I shouted. "It's creepy!"

"Turn around and fight!" One growled.

"I can't!" I kept going.

"Why not?" One tilted his head.

"Because…" I wasn't sure what to say.

"If you don't fight, you'll get splatted." One said. "You'll let your team down."

"I-I have reasons…that I can't tell you about…" I told him.

"There alwaysss comesss a time…" One said, turning the corner. "You can't run and hide forever. You have to ssssstand up sssometime."

…

"It'ssss Now or Never." One told me. "Do or Die…"

…

He's right…I can't run and hide…

I-I stood up to a killer. I can take this guy!

"…A-alright." I turned around. "I-I'll fight you then."

I did not sound intimidating at all…

"Sssshow me what you've got, little man." He aimed his Splattershot.

I charged forward, firing my Splattershot Jr. One charged forward as well. We dodged each other's shots until I got hit. One was about to finish me off until I remembered I had my Splashdown charged. I jumped up and slammed down, splatting One.

"Hehehe…nice one…" He admitted as he flew off.

*Splat*

I started flying back to spawn after Seven's charger hit me.

"But you've still got a long way to go." One remarked.

True…but I'll get there!

I respawned, more determined now.

We kept going, splatting and getting splatted until-

Game!

The results were in!

"Meow (and the winner is…)." Judd was eying the map. "Meow (It's closer than expected, but…)."

"Meow (…Toxic Mist!)!" Li'l Judd announced.

The crowd cheered for the other team, but we still got applauded for our effort.

"Well, we lost…" Sylvia lamented.

"But hey, we did better than I thought we would." I pointed out.

"Yeah!" Sarah agreed. "Next year, we'll win for sure!"

"Well, guess we won't be getting Crusty Seans's, we won't be joining Sylvia's group, Tim will keep his goggles on," Guyver listed their winning promises. "And I won't get to second base."

"Guyver, we're 14." Sarah reminded him. "Wait a few years and I might actually have something worth looking at."

I still had no idea what 'second base' was…

"Sarah!" Guyver grabbed her looked her right in the eye. "Are you implying that what I'm looking at right now isn't worth looking at?!"

Sarah blushed.

"Because I can look at it all day." He pulled her in for a kiss. "…as well as smooch it."

Sarah started giggling.

Aaawww…they're cute together.

Funnily enough, Sylvia decided to go with her winning promise anyway. Sarah suggested we could look at Sylvia's group of friends since Denise seemed nice. I wasn't ready for my victory promise, but they understood.

Sarah then got a text and had to leave. Guyver soon after had to use the restroom.

I wonder where Sarah went." I wondered.

"I think I might know…" I heard Sylvia mumble.

"Where?" I asked.

"Uh…I really shouldn't say." She said. "I promised I wouldn't."

"Come on." I whined. "Please?"

"Hey, you have a secret, so I get to keep a secret." Sylvia asserted.

…

Wait…if George and his sisters…maybe she'll…

"…W-what if I did my winning promise?" Tim said. "A-a secret for a secret."

Sylvia's eyes widened.

"Okay." She agreed.

I pulled her to an empty room.

"What's Sarah's secret?" I asked.

"...She's part of a secret organization that protects Inkopolis from threats." Sylvia told me. "The New Squidbeak Splatoon. They actually fight bad guys! It sounds so cool and I wish I was a member!"

"Woah…" That was cool.

"Your turn!" She said.

I was a bit reluctant, but she assured me it would be fine.

I removed my goggles, revealing my eyes to Sylvia.

She seemed intrigued.

"They…don't look like regular Octoling eyes…" She could tell. "But I don't see that as a reason to hate you."

"Really?" So she was okay with them too?

"Yeah!" She said. "They actually look kind of cool."

"W-well, don't tell anyone I showed you or what you saw, okay?" I begged. "Mom would kill me."

She wondered if anyone else saw this. I told her she was the sixth person to see them. Well, seventh, but I'm not counting the...dead guy.

She promised not to tell anyone and I gave her a hug, to which she jokingly asked me how old I was. She was shocked to hear I was thirteen. Apparently I'm supposed to be 14 to join in Ink Battles. She guessed it'd be okay since I can properly shift forms, but we decided to keep it a secret.

We decided to keep it a secret. As we walked out to get Crusty Sean's, she wondered when I got my full form and was even more shocked to hear I was fully formed by age 12.

I guess Octolings form quicker than Inklings do.

Maybe it's because we have less limbs to develop...