Author's notes: Well I was right about not getting this chapter up before school started up for me again... (-sighs-) okay let's just get this over with.
Next chapter will probably be for SOTI and then probably another chapter LOTI...or at least that is my plan...tentatively speaking...
Reviews are greatly appreciated as well as any questions you have.
And with that enjoy...
Chapter 4: Necessary Changes
"Oh my cod Alga...you don't have to drag us all the way into the lobby! We do have legs you know!" Whark grunted as he struggled to get out of her grasp.
"Fine Whark," she sighed as she let him and me go.
Stumbling for a few seconds I quickly regained my balance but Whark wasn't so lucky. Windmilling his arms for a few seconds he wasn't fast enough to stop himself from landing face first into one of the pillars supporting the entrance to the tower. A long drawn out moan from him confirmed that his pride was more damaged by it than his body. Pulling away from it however he quickly had to cup his hand over his nose as it started to trickle dark red almost black blood.
"Carp dude, that doesn't look good," I said before wincing at him as he pinched his nose to prevent more blood from coming out of it, "you better get that dealt with."
"Ngyes, I probably shnould," he exclaimed in a nasally tone before turning to Alga, "you mind helping a poor squid out?"
"Of course Whark," she cried out on the brink of tears, "it was my fault you got hurt."
"Naww...Alga..." he groaned and sadly I had to agree. Alga was a lot like a light switch sometimes. In a matter of seconds she could go from being her normal hyper self to crying faintly pink colored tears if she or someone else was hurt either physically or emotionally. Only on a few occasions had I seen anything else other than those two emotions but that didn't mean I like seeing her sad. In fact it almost reminded me of some nights where I had to comfort my little brother Kell...
I shook my head to get rid of the thought, "You want me to come with you two?" I asked.
Nah, Marin...we shnould be good," Whark insisted as he waved me towards the lobby entrance, "how abount you go get your Turf War ID while we are gone."
"Okay...meet you in there I guess?"
"Snounds good."
"Alright, see you later."
"Sname," he grunted as Alga started to drag him off.
With a sigh I turned around and walked up the steps to walk into the lobby.
The lobby appeared to be in utter chaos as Inklings ranging from 14 to possibly 18 as well as their weapons wandered around the front waiting room. Some appeared to be in teams already while others looked like they were waiting for one or more players to join them. A couple of adult Inklings kept an eye around the whole area as the young Inklings continued to mill about.
Walking up to the front desk I looked over it at the lavender colored secretary Inkling which currently had her nose in a book and headphones in her ears. Most likely to drown out the loud noise of the waiting room but it forced me to have to wave my arms at her to get her attention, "Um...excuse me ma'am but I'm here to get my Turf War ID card."
"An ID card huh? Well then you need to head down that hallway to the right to go get one made for you," she answered me in a slightly irritated tone before returning to her book.
Heading down the hallway she had mentioned I ended up in another waiting room which currently had nobody else there other then a pine green Inkling behind the giant desk.
"Oh hello young one...you here to get an TWID?"
"Twit?" I said confused.
No sooner had the word escaped my mouth the pine green Inkling had to fight back laughter for several minutes before he could speak again, "It's alright kid, you're not the first one to say that," the Inkling chuckled again, "TWID is an anagram for Turf War Identification Card. In order to play in Turf Wars you need one which will include your level of skill, your ranking in rank battles as well as some basic information about you. Any other questions?"
"What are ranked battles...I don't think I've heard of those..." I asked.
"Ranked battles are highly competitive matches usually between two Splatoon teams, however unless you get special permission players are not allowed to participate in ranked battles until they reach level ten in skill level. For now you're stuck with regular Turf War."
"Oh...okay uh..."
"Call me Mr. Squier, most people do. Now let's get your TWID card made," swiveling his chair towards a computer he grinned down at me, "so I do need some information from you in order to make the card though."
"Uh...o-okay," I stammered out.
Mr. Squier chuckled again, "Relax kid let's just first get your birth ink color. I think it's safe to say it's orange...right?"
"Yes," I answered him, "but my tips are gold."
"Alright," he tapped away on the keyboard for a few seconds before looking at me again, "date of birth?"
"May 29th."
"Okay..." he looked at the screen again one more time, "...alright the last thing I need is your name kid."
"It's Mar-" I started to say when I stopped myself mid-syllable. An all too recent memory coming to mind of a certain yellow Inkling and her vicious taunts as I stood there and once again dread of hearing even more such taunts filled me and almost threatened to choke me until I suddenly remembered the conversation with Zack I'd had...
"It's not uncommon for people to use nicknames instead of their real names in Turf Wars."
Suddenly an idea came to me, one I wasn't sure would work but it wouldn't hurt to try...
"Hey kid...you okay?"
"Huh?" I quickly shook my head as I realized I must have zoned out for a moment, "I'm sorry about that...I tend to do that sometimes," I explained to him.
"Oh...well okay but I still ne-"
"Marlin Colorian."
"What? Marlin, like as in the type of fish?" he asked puzzled.
"Uh...yes."
He raised an eyebrow at me, "That's not you're real name, is it?"
My mild boost of confidence instantly turned to formless ink as I felt the color draining from my face. I swallowed nervously before answering, "No sir...it's not."
"...you don't like your real name kid?"
"Not really," I admitted. It kinda felt bad saying it out loud but as I thought more about it even before the incident I had felt slightly unhappy with it which was probably why I was okay most of the time with Kell calling me Marlin. The childish nickname slowly growing on me as the years went by.
"I see..." after looking between me and the computer screen for several minutes he suddenly tapped a few keys before getting up from his seat, "wait here. I'll be right back," he said before slipping through a door behind his desk. Having nothing else really to do I took a seat in one of the chairs and waited worryingly for Mr. Squier to come back. The fact that he had seemed slightly worried as he left only seemed to make me more anxious as I fidgeted constantly in my seat.
Several minutes later the pine green Inkling came back with his hands in his pockets. He looked pretty upset about something, "So kid...you do realize there will be consequences for what you've done."
I looked down at my hands, not daring to look at him directly, "yes sir...I know."
"Good," with a sigh he pulled something out of one of his pockets, "then I better give you this," he held out his closed hand to me before opening his fingers as he held it close enough to my face that I could see it.
It was a plastic card that was pale blue in color and had my information on it that I had given him...including the name "Marlin Colorian".
I quickly looked up at him in disbelief, "Is this for real?"
"Yep, that's your TWID card kid."
"So...I'm not in trouble?" I asked him, still puzzled by the sudden turn of events.
"Well technically speaking you're not supposed to have falsified information on them but you seem like a nice kid...Marlin," he gave me a quick wink before sitting back in his chair, "now don't you have some Turf Wars to go get ready for?"
"I oh...yes Mr. Squier. Thank you Mr. Squier," I quickly got up from my seat.
"No problem kid," he smiled as I rushed down the hall to the main lobby. A wide grin spreading across my face as I restrained myself from screaming for joy and making a scene right there in the hallway.
By the time I had returned to the lobby Alga and Whark were just coming in with Whark having a tissue up one nostril while the entire area around his nose was turning purplish in color, "Hey Marin you have your ID already?"
"I uh...yeah I do," I said as I quickly shoved it into the pocket of my shorts before pointing down the left hallway, "you get them down that hall."
"Nice, okay we'll meet you outside so we can get our equipment all at the same time and get straight to playing."
"Yeah...sure thing," walking out of the lobby doors I leaned up against a blue metal stand in front of the tower before letting out a big sigh as the energy drained out of me and left me as weak kneed as a young squirt still learning how to toddle on two semi-formed legs, "oh...what have I done?" I mumbled to myself as I leaned more of my weight on the stand.
"Excuse me squid...but I would pre-fur you didn't lean on my spot."
"Huh?" looking down I nearly jumped several feet in the air at the sight of the strange creature before me. It was black and white in coloration and had bright yellow eyes that were currently staring at me, "oh I'm sorry, uh...?"
"Judd," Judd answered, "and be-fur you ask what kind of creature I am I am what is called a cat," it lifted up one of its front feet and started to lick it with mild intent.
"O-oh..." I stuttered, still shocked to see such a strange creature since I never had before in my life, "so what do yo-"
"I'm the game keeper and judge of Turf Wars," he answered once he had stopped licking his front foot, "in other words...you'll be seeing me a lot once you start playing which I can tell you haven't with that paw-sitively claw-ful level you have."
"Really?" I looked down at myself, wondering if it was really that obvious.
"Your ID card is sticking out of your pocket," he answered as he pointed to it.
"Oh..." I quickly slipped it in deeper.
"So...Marrrlin is it?" he climbed up onto the stand, which had a cushion on it to sleep on, "I hope you do a good job in Turf Wars."
"Um...thank you Judd," I replied just as a thought occurred to me, "hey Judd you seem to know a lot of things about Inkopolis...right?"
"Yes I do."
"Then...can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," he answered without blinking an eye.
"What's a zapfish?"
"A zapfish me-now that's an interesting creature. A zapfish is a special type of fish that produces electricity in its body. The largest and oldest one called the Great Zapfish used to reside curled up on this tower until early this morning."
"What happened to it?" I asked.
"Hey man, you ready?"
Turning back to the lobby I quickly spotted Whark and Alga hopped down the steps. Alga even more so, "hey Mar-"
"Yeah I am," I quickly answered before she could get the rest of her question out. If she had and with the fact that Judd thought my name is Marlin it would definitely have revealed what Mr. Squier had done and thus let the cat out of the bag for both of us...literally.
"Oh well...okay then let's go get our equipment," Whark said albeit somewhat puzzled by my reaction of their arrival as we walked away from the lobby and across the plaza to the shopping area. We were about halfway there when he spoke again, "say Marin...what was up with that anyway? you've never cut off Alga like that before."
"I'm sorry about that guys but I didn't want to confuse the cat..." I told him, hoping he wouldn't pursue the topic farther.
Sadly that wasn't the case as he suddenly stopped walking which caused Alga to run into him with a faint squeak as he stared me. His teal gaze seemed as hard as stone as he did so, "What do you mean by confusing Judd?"
"It's kinda complicated Whark," I admitted to him as he continued to stare me down, "I'm not sure you'd understand."
"Try me Marin," he half growled at me, his gaze turning colder, "just try me..."
Me and Whark had been friends as long as I could remember and in all those years he always seemed to know when I was keeping a secret from him. So the fact that he was giving me the cold treatment that he was currently sadly didn't surprise me, but didn't make me feel any better about the situation.
I sighed, "I changed my name to Marlin Colorian."
"What? How?" Alga squeaked in shock as her voice rose several octaves. Whark's glare had also turned to one of shock.
"I told Mr. Squier that my first name is Marlin and he put it on my card," pulling the card out I showed them the different name.
"Oh my squid Marin..." Whark groaned as he shook his head in disbelief, "you do realize you could get busted for this right?"
"Yeah I do," I slipped the card back into my pocket, "which is why I'm gonna need your help."
"How so?"
"I need you to stop calling me 'Marin' and start calling me 'Marlin'."
"What, why?"
"So that people will believe that it is my real name. If you don't they might get my card examine and find out what happened," I quickly explained but left out the part with Mr. Squier. It didn't seem right to get him involved as well, especially since he had probably been the nicest adult I had met in a while.
The pair of them continued to stare at me for several minutes before Whark sighed, "okay dude...we'll help you."
"Really?"
"Of course," Alga said with a smile, "we're your friends and we'll stand by you through anything that comes our way. Besides...Marlin isn't that bad of a name actually."
"You think so?"
"Yeah," Whark nodded, "Marlin is pretty cool sounding."
"Thanks Whark," I sighed in relief, "I really needed to hear that."
"Hey, what are friends for...Marlin," placing an arm around my shoulder the dark skinned teal Inkling had returned to his normal self as the three of us walked towards Booyah Base.
"Now the shop we're looking is called 'Ammo Knights'. The shopkeeper won't let us purchase any of his weapons until we're skill level 2 but he's required to supply us with basic equipment that all players start with in Turf Wars," he walked towards the door for 'Ammo Knights' which automatically slid open, "then we'll just head down to the practice area a-"
"You snooty shelled crab! How dare you deny me the ability to buy something!"
"I'm sorry miss Soral Oceano but you clearly aren't a high enough leveled player to use..."
"Codswallop you shrimp sized crustacean! You just don't want me to improve!"
Walking into the shop the three of us quickly realized what was going on. The medium blue Inkling girl that I had crashed into the day before was currently shouting down at a humanoid horseshoe crab that was bravely standing his ground but was clearly frightened by the girl's firey anger. He constantly rubbed his hands together as he spoke, "Soral you must be at least skill level twenty before I can allow you access to the Gold Dynamo Roller and currently you are only level 16 and thus I can't trust you with such a weapon."
"You know I'm more then capable to weld the Gold Dynamo Roller Sheldon," she growled at him causing the horseshoe crab to wince, "now go get my Roller you shelled squib!"
"That's no way to treat someone!" I suddenly blurted out as I walked farther into the shop, Whark and Alga following me with mild panic.
She whipped around to glare at me, "Who the shell are you?!"
"My name is Marlin Colorian, we met yesterday."
She stared at me for a few seconds puzzled before her eyes suddenly widened, "You...you're the orange squib who crashed into me yesterday!" she clenched her fists, "you are so dead!" she immediately lunged at me.
I ducked under her grasping arms and ran towards the horseshoe crab Sheldon as two other girls in the shop held her from taking another pass at me, "I wasn't trying to crash into on purpose Soral!"
"Bullcarp you walking clownfish!" she nearly screamed as she struggled to get free of the other girls, "you know very well that you did!"
"Soral this is ridiculous," the dark blue inkling girl on Soral's right declared.
"Case is right Soral. A level 1 nobody is not worth getting into a fight with," the royal blue Inkling on the left added in.
"Perhaps you're right Azuse," Soral finally calmed down after another minute and the two girls let her go, "but maybe the squib should think more carefully before messing with the Turf War queen!"
"You? Turf War queen?" Whark snorted, "you can't be serious. You only started a month ago Soral there's no way you're that good."
"Oh really Whark?" she walked up to him until she was only an inch away from his face, "well perhaps we prove that for certain."
"What do you have in mind?" I asked her.
She turned to face me, a mischievous grin on her face like what Whark often had but for some reason seeing it on her caused a shiver to run down my spine, "how about a little bit of competition."
"Such as?"
"How about a Turf War."
"That's not happening," Whark quickly responded.
"And why not Whark? Too sea chicken to fight me and my team?"
"Wha...?" he took a step back, "no I'm not!"
"Then prove it by playing a match against me and my team."
"We can't do that...Marlin tell her that," Whark said as he turned towards me.
Soral and the other two girls behind her also turned to look at me, "Yeah Marlin...tell me that you, your cowardly friend and crybaby girlfriend are too chicken to try to fight my team. Don't worry we'll try not to laugh too hard when you do."
I'm not sure exactly which part of what she had said had caused my anger to boil over but I wasn't going to let her get away with what she had said, "You're on Soral!"
"Marlin?!"
"Great..." the grin from earlier returned, "how about four hours from now?"
"Sounds good," I half growled. I was half tempted to show my fangs as well but stopped myself at the last second since flashing my fangs would probably make me look stupid.
"Marlin?!"
"Good. See you then...Marlin," she turned to head out the shop's door but stopped just in front of it, "and just so it's fair and square you better start looking for a fourth player as soon as possible," with at she left as I stood continued to stand there was my anger disappaited into nothing.
Less then two hours had past and I had already made an enemy.