After they had finished eating their lunch, Maize had headed straight for the main plaza with Callie Marie and Fallow so they could all enjoy a turf war together. As they approached the battle tower, the disguised Squid Sisters went to Judd.
"Uh, Judd. We need a big favor" Callie stated. The cat could see what she was holding. It was that all too familiar squishie. The judge had a straight face.
"Why can't your old man watch him?" Judd asked looking at Bondi. The squishie seemed half asleep in his mother's arms. Callie looked at the friendly cat with those puppy eyes and quivering lip.
"Pleeaaase? …he said he was busy with some complex chess game," Callie begged. Maize snickered, aware that DJ Octavio was somehow dominating Captain Cuttlefish in chess. Judd couldn't stand that look from the black squid.
"Okay, fine," he sighed, holding out his paws. She turned Bondi over to the cat, the squishie instantly giggling from feeling the fur against his body.
"Thank you so much! We'll be back in a bit," Callie exclaimed as the group of four continued into the battle tower. She knew Judd could handle the squishie, or so she hoped. The cat looked down, seeing the baby squid staring back up at him.
"So uh… you like whistles?" Judd quirked. That was all he had on him that remotely resembled a toy. He had it tied around his neck on a string, usually blowing it to indicate the end of a turf war. The squishie grabbed it with his tentacles happily before blowing into it loudly. The loud whistle sent Bondi into a fit of laughter after.
"At least you're easy to entertain," he sighed in relief, just letting the squishie enjoy the whistle as much as he wanted.
Inside the battle tower, the group could see all forms of inklings already battling and brawling from ranked to regular. It made Maize question how the cat was able to monitor so many battles at once, but presumed he had some system in place. He saw Umber at one point, but the S+ ranked squid did not seem to notice him back.
"Hey, it seems they are waiting for a fight," Fallow chimed while pointing ahead. They could see a small group of four already on a platform waiting for opponents. Maize hated to know he would have to use his old squiffer for this turf war, but he had to make do with what he had since his new splatterscope was still being constructed.
"Alright, let's show'em what we got," Marie grinned. The other inklings appeared to be B+ rank at most. Maize had a thought pop into his head.
"What rank are you two?" Maize asked the Squid Sisters. Callie and Marie looked to each other at first. They seemed to have a straight answer, but when they thought about it, they had not the faintest ideas. He knew what that meant; they both were C-, the lowest rank of all. He decided not to inform them of this so they would not be upset. Fallow herself was A- ranked. The four stepped up onto the other platform. However, when the yellow squid got a better look at one inkling in the other group. His heart skipped a beat.
"Is that…" Maize thought to himself. He saw a girl inkling with orange tentacles tied into three ponytails. She had a pair of glasses on her face and was wearing a black and pink striped shirt. She did not take note of the yellow squid as the platforms were beginning to get covered in the glass casings. He kept staring, almost awestruck.
"Bro, why are you so… oh no," Fallow followed his eyes. The Squid Sisters couldn't understand what was going on. The platform and the chamber began to fill with purple ink for them, their opponents beginning to fill with orange.
"Maize! Hey, snap out of it!" Marie shook him slightly. He broke out of that horrified trance, looking to his friends. Fallow seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on, and this time, the usually overjoyed squid was afraid.
"Huh? …sorry, I was daydreaming," Maize lied horribly with his back turned. The glass chamber was about half full with their team's chosen ink color. It felt a lot slower than usual at the moment.
"If you're worried about us, don't be. We still sometimes sneak out to get in on the turf action!" Callie claimed, reassuring him that he did not have to worry about their personal skills on the battlefield. He went along with it, turning back to view the other group of squids. This time the orange inkling seemed to take notice of him. Her jaw dropped, and her body froze. Maize just kept staring, his face displaying no emotion as the chambers both became full, quickly draining away all the ink with all the squids within it to take them to the turf war location.
They all appeared within Blackbelly Skate Park. Callie and Marie wished they were anywhere but here right now. That mission they did to retrieve antique mustache combs was very stressful, but annoying. The whole team's tentacles had been doused with a purple tinge. Maize had his classic squiffer, Callie had a krak-on roller, while Fallow had her ink brush.
"Let's go!" Callie cheered, already rolling out her roller on the ground, leaving a long, winding trail of purple ink behind her. Fallow cast a worried gaze to her younger brother before heading off toward another direction. Marie sighed, running off to find some high ground. Maize headed to the right path where there were mostly ramps that were quite high and steep.
"Fulvous…" his head repeated mentally as he was covering as much area as he could with his team's purple ink. He was tossing ink grenades and blasting with his squiffer. That was the problem with chargers; they could not cover much ground, but in trade, packed a huge punch. He jumped down from a ramp into a half pipe, seeing a lot of it covered with orange ink. He saw some of the enemy ink bubbling.
"Yeah, I figured they'd hide here…" Maize groaned, immediately ducking. He saw one of the enemy squids pop up from the orange ink with a mini splatling gun, a rapid firing minigun, ready and charged. The enemy opened fire, and the barrels spun, releasing thousands of splotches of bright orange ink, yet most of it missed Maize and covered the area behind him. He was glad he reacted in time.
"Nice try, nematode!" Maize taunted before he held the trigger, his squiffer charging. He aimed and released, watching it fire a burst of purple ink and hit the enemy squid in the head, splattering him instantly. He was thankful his charger charged a lot faster than the splatling gun. With that dealt with, he began to continue his colorful work.
Callie found herself in an odd area. This part of Blackbelly Skate Park felt unfinished, but at the same time perfect for skateboards. It was unintentionally perfect construction. Now if only she could ride one, she thought. She heard something turning her head slightly, seeing an enemy inkling behind her with a roller raised high.
"Eep!" Callie quickly changed into her squid form before she sunk into the purple ink, swimming aside. The roller crashed onto the ground, covering it in orange ink. She had noticed now that she was, all of a sudden, surrounded by orange ink.
"Time to splat ya," the enemy grinned, having their ink tank half full. Callie was in the same position. She gripped her krak-on roller tighter. She had to stand and fight. She did not have its special ability ready, though she had an idea.
"You aren't fresh enough to splat me!" the Squid Sister taunted. That seemed to agitate him. The enemy inkling swung his roller, attempting to crush her. Callie countered, bashing hers into his, knocking his roller upward and sending orange and purple ink into the air. Some splattered onto her back, and it stung and burnt, but the enemy was in a similar position.
"You little-!" he growled, swinging sideways. Callie bashed it back. Their ink was going everywhere, both rollers continued clashing and bashing like durable swords, sending purple and orange ink all around them and onto them. The enemy squid swung one more time. Callie spun around, crashing her krak-on roller into his and knocking him sideways. He had run out of ink and could not react before she jumped up and crushed him into the ground, splattering him instantly.
"Staaay fresh!" Callie hummed before she returned to covering the enemy turf.
Marie had gotten a high point near some grind rails that seemed almost like a guaranteed set up for some poor squid to break their legs attempting to do tricks. She looked down to the lower area. She saw Fallow who ran along, swinging her ink brush covering as much as she could, before a suction grenade landed in front of her.
"Oh dear," Fallow spoke in shock, "I fear I'm going to-"
The grenade exploded, splattering her into a puddle of orange ink. Marie saw an enemy squid on an upper platform who had not noticed her yet, and she began charging her weapon.
"At least she has a good spirit," Marie muttered, appreciative for Fallow's morale boosting efforts. She aimed and let go of the trigger, firing a blast of purple ink. It hit the enemy squid from up high and knocked them off the platform, splattering them instantly. Marie planned on staying to hold this area, hoping everyone else was doing fine.
Maize was nearing the other side of the skate park, walking along and keeping a view on his surroundings. He was creeping up alongside a wall, looking past the corner.
"I haven't seen any of the squids in a while…" he spoke to himself. He had not seen either of the Squid Sisters or his sister since they split up at the start of the turf war. He doubted it was anything to worry about, but he had not encountered any enemies for a while and had been given the chance to freely cover the turf. But, there was a small trail of orange ink behind him, and something was moving in it. He heard the sound of someone changing from squid to their inkling form. Maize quickly turned, aiming his charger, seeing that same orange inkling that did nothing but make him feel horrible when he saw her.
"Maize… it's you," the orange stated, upset. Maize felt tense, knowing this was not going to be a happy reunion. He took in a breath, trying to calm down. He let go of his charger, aiming it at the ground and letting it shoot harmlessly onto the turf below them.
"Yeah. It's me, Fulvous," he nodded, insisting that it was no delusion. He did not get to say anything more as he was slapped hard across the face, leaving a bruise on his cheek. He did not get angry at this, but kept his straight face.
"How dare you stick your face into these turf wars again?! You should have been locked away for life, yet you're still the same sick angler you were!" Fulvous exclaimed. Her fury seemed to know no bounds. Being called an angler was quite the big insult. It ranged from a wide variety of meanings, but the one common to most inklings was a trickster, a person who was not what they seemed without true change.
"I've changed, Fulvous. I lost a year in that place," another hard slap hit the yellow squid's face. It appeared both turf war teams were going to be in a 3v3 match from there.
"You've changed? …such empty words! You lost the ban you received from the officials, and somehow they took mercy on you for your crimes! All because of some old squid vouching for you, and your act!" Fulvous stomped. Maize rested his squiffer down. He rummaged around his pocket before pulling out his wallet. He reached inside one of the card holders and presented a photo.
"This must hurt to see, right? Almost as much as it hurts to see me? What happened only happened, because I made a promise to him, that I had to keep," Maize claimed. The photo depicted a light blue inkling who looked to be only fifteen years old. His hair was tied and wrapped together, and he was wearing a small cap on his head. The picture had writing at the bottom that read 'Cyan'. That picture struck a strong nerve. He got a hard punch to the stomach that sent him back. He groaned in pain, just sliding down against the wall. Maize was still not fighting back. He looked up at Fulvous, who had tears welling in her eyes.
"You… murderer!"