Splatoon: The Bate Bros.
They Play The Game For Real This Time, I Swear
Saltspray Rig. One of the classic maps from Inkopolis. Day and night, this has always been a map Inklings loved to play on, with it's elevators, boxes, cranes, it's no wonder many come here to practice their overall skills. The only problem people had with it was falling to their watery graves each time they made a misstep. This is where the stage was set for our two siblings, each now spawning at the right platform, opposite of the opposing team.
Popping up from the spawn point, Splin and Sharq now both donned a light-green hairstyle, ready to battle. The other team, a reddish-orange, also arrived, three female Inklings and a male. The male was wearing a Paintball Mask, a Varsity Jacket, and White Seahorses. His weapon of choice was a Custom Splattershot Jr., the other three all holding a Splat, Krak-On, and Dynamo Roller respectively. The other three Inkling girls all wore Paintball Masks as well, and a pair of Cherry Kicks. What was most unusual about their gear, was that each of them had White Tees that had "A-R-I" written in Inkling. (Look I dunno what the official language is named, sheesh)
"Hmm…" Splin observed the other team from a distance, mentally paging down the various strengths and weaknesses of the weapons. "They have quite a few close ranged weapons. Hm. I think if our teammates have Chargers and Blasters, we could move in for the kill while they cover us."
"Where are our teammates anyway?" Sharq asked, looking around.
Just then, two other squids popped up. These two were a pair of Inkling boys. One sported a Bamboozler 14 MK I, the other with a Range Blaster. Before they could do anything however, the two new additions to the team poofed out of thin air, leaving a cloud of light-green dust behind. The brothers blinked in response before the realization dawned on them.
"THEY BAILED ON US!" Sharq yelled in anguish, sinking down to his knees.
Hey it's hard for me too, I had to introduce those characters for nothing.
"You never described their clothing gear," Splin pointed out.
"DUDE, WE'RE DOOMED! THOSE GUYS ARE GONNA COMPLETELY STEAMROLL US." Sharq cried. Splin simply blinked, before saying, "We're not playing to win, Sharq. All we need to do is play well enough to get paid." Splin stated.
Just then, a voice rang out on from across the opposite side. "You guys are really in for it now!" The male Inkling from the other team laughed. "Say, what do you say we make a wager? Winner of the Turf War gets the other team's cash!" He shouted, causing the other females on his team to giggle slightly.
Splin simply stared, before shouting back, "Okay that's stupid! You think we'd risk our bus fare home for a bet?!" Sharq, raising his hands to his mouth in the other team's direction, shouted, "Nice try dude, we aren't falling for it!" He yelled.
"You hear that girls? Looks like these two need a bus ride home, what's the matter, mommy left you all alone?" The Inkling boy yelled, causing the females with him to laugh harder. "Wouldn't surprise me!"
However, this had a negative effect on Sharq, who's normally happy-go-lucky exterior shifted to gloomy. Sharq whimpered, and sat in the corner of the spawn.
"Oh, I'm sorry, did I strike a nerve?" The rouge red jeered, "Maybe your parents were just as bad as raising you as you probably are at playing in Turf Wars! "
Upon hearing this, Sharq turned, sadness etched on his face. "Splin…!" He said quietly, looking at his brother. Splin, shocked, adopted a face of anger. "Yeah." Splin responded, and quickly huddled with his brother, whispering plans.
"Heh. Good luck trying to beat us with only two people, you're gonna NEED IT." He shouted finally, and went to celebrate his insults with the females.
"D-Dude. That's harsh." Sharq muttered. Splin sighed heavily, "I know Sharq. I know you're upset, but we gotta work through this together. These guys don't even know us, they're just talking trash. We can do this." Splin stood up. "We are the main characters, right? ...Er, of this match."
This got Sharq to smile slightly. "...I guess?"
"We're not doing this just for a bus fare anymore. Let's do this in memory of them..." Sharq turned over to his brother. "After all, we can't let this guy get the last laugh or disappoint our folks, right?" Splin stated finally.
Sharq sniffled a bit. "Fine. ...You always know how to cheer me up." Sharq smiled though with determined eyes.
"In all fairness, it isn't that hard." Splin thought to himself with a smile as well.
"So what's the plan, Splin?" Sharq asked curiously.
Splin smiled as well. "Get your Kraken special ready, here's what we do..."
"Are you two losers ready… TO LOSE?" The male enemy Inkling yelled to them from across the realm.
Turning their heads towards the enemy base, the two brothers merely rolled their eyes at the insult. "Sure," Sharq said with a grin.
"But don't get salty when you do!" Splin finished with a scowl.
The other Inkling merely held his head high and gave them an "L" gesture over his forehead. "...W-We'll see about that!" He whispered to himself.
3...2...1… GO!
The chime signaled the start of the match. Splin hopped ahead, spraying forwards to the higher areas of the map, whereas Sharq deployed his Roller, and ran towards the bottom platform using the left pathway from his base.
The other team immediately sprang to action, each roller painting around their spawn, and jumping down from their spawn to the areas below. The cocky boy from earlier chuckled, and went straight to the upper box areas.
Sharq was currently laying down paint on the lowest platform, making sure to get each and every spot green. "Looking good!" He remarked.
Just then, a shadow appeared above him. "Oh boy." Sharq quickly switched to squid form and hid in the stack of boxes. The Dynamo Roller continuously flung waves of ink at the boxes to try and splat Sharq, but to no avail. Curious, she stepped down from the safety of her spawn and began rolling past. Upon rolling nearby the box, a voice whispered to her:
"Looking for me?" Sharq then hopped out of his hiding spot and whacked her with the Roller.
However, he neglected to jut the roller head out first and instead he knocked her out cold with the butt of the weapon.
"Oh. Uh…" Sharq looked around nervously, "Okay." He shrugged, then began to roll over her multiple times until she was splatted. He walked across her mess and uttered, "Sorry."
He then ran towards the higher platforms, covering the metal paths as he ran.
Splin currently was on top of a pile of metallic storage crates, firing away at the ground using his Tentatek Splattershot, gaining more points and charging up for his special. Spotting two of the enemy team walking his way, he hid in his ink, on top of the crate. The two rollers, unaware of the threat, began to cover the area in orange, until they reached the crates Splin was hiding in. Covering the boxes in their ink, they swam up and was about to reach the top until…
"Take this!" Splin grunted, tossing a Suction Bomb on top. Surprised, the two rollers swam away. The regular Roller took position, tossing another Suction Bomb towards Splin, but he jumped off towards the Roller. She began flinging ink at him, until a clicking sound could be heard from her ink tank.
"Gotcha." Splin said, before he managed to shoot the girl into oblivion, leaving nothing but a slowly disintegrating pile of clothes. "That makes it sound kinda weird, doesn't it?"
Get your mind out of the gutter.
Smack! Splin recoiled and grunted as he felt himself get punted towards the ground.
"Ow, sorry!" Splin rubbed the area on his head, before he remembered something, or someone.
Suddenly, a glint appeared, and a "shing!" could be heard. The Krak-On Roller, waiting for an opportunity, transformed into a Kraken, and began chasing Splin around the area! He began swimming in circles to evade her, and quickly shifted course. The Kraken, seeing his ripples in the ink, followed after him in hot pursuit. The ripples lead up to one of the twin columns on the ramp that connected the middle and top areas. Splin, after climbing to the top, jumps off and over a small gap, back towards the crates. The Kraken follows and leaps up for one final attack-
Only to find out she has run out of her special. She then falls towards the water, and back to her spawn in the process.
Swimming back up to the top of the crates, Splin begins throwing bombs everywhere, making sure the area is covered. Staring at the timer, there was only 50 seconds left on the clock, with the map slowly getting covered in green.
Maybe he could do this! Splin breathed a sigh of relief, until he spotted something flying towards the base. The enemy boy super jumped to the girl's previous location! He began spraying all of the green spots, quickly undoing Splin's work. Mentally facepalming for not trying to take care of the super jumper himself, he jumped off the crates and began spraying towards the enemy. The battle quickly became a high energy shootout, until Splin ran out of ammo. He started back to the crates, but was soon almost completely surrounded by the entire other team. The boy from before threw a Disruptor at him, and activated his Echolocation special.
"Any last words, squid?" The orange boy asked mockingly.
"No, I'll just let my brother do the talking. NOW SHARQ!" Splinc called upwards.
Immediately upon saying that, two things happened within five seconds. Splin activated his Inkzooka, and pointed it up at the sky with the barrel ready. A whistling noise could be heard, as Sharq dived in squid form straight into the Inkzooka barrel. Pointing the gun at the ground, Splin pulled the trigger. Sharq flew straight into the ground, now in Kraken form, slamming the rig. The force caused the enemy team to lose balance, which gave the brothers enough time to strike. Both attacking at the same time, blasting and ramming into foes, the entire area was covered in green shortly.
Just then, the timer ran out. Judd arrived, seemingly from the bottom of the screen, and held a flag up. "Green team wins, by .01 points!"
Falling to their knees, the enemy team's jaws collectively slammed into the floor. "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" The male yelled in defeat, the females following his lead, arguing and complaining.
Staring in amazement at the battlefield, Splin and Sharq merely smiled. Sharq thrust his fist out towards his brother, eliciting an eyebrow raise. Nonetheless, Splin lightly punched his fist in a fistbump.
That's how you do it, ladies and gentlemen!
"OKAY, I WANNA KNOW HOW YOU DID IT." Back at the Inkopolis Tower, it was sunset, and the other players were still slightly salty. Splin and Sharq changed back into their regular attire, the Anchors on their Tees reflecting off the last of the sunlight. The enemy team ditched the Paintball Masks, instead the male was wearing a Jungle Hat, the three other members of his team now wearing headbands, again with A-R-I written on them in Inkling. Seriously Nintendo needs to find a proper name for this language. "You probably cheated, no one beats me that easily! No one I've ever faced!"
"Meow. (Here's your shares, good game.)" Judd the cat yawned and walked up to them gave them all the coins as promised, before walking out to his podium to take a nap. The opposing team, slumped in defeat, reluctantly handed over their coins, before Sharq stopped them. "Eh, you guys can keep 'em! We have enough for the bus ride home now!" Sharq cheered, hopping up and down with his new bag of coins.
"You still didn't answer my question." The other Inkling boy grunted through gritted teeth.
Splin just shrugged, before explaining, "...Uh, if I'd have to wager a guess, you guys went for splats more, leaving you wide open. All Sharq and I did was take advantage of that."
Sharq chuckled, "Seriously, you could've gunned Splin down right then and there!"
"Err, right." Splin rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"Hey, shut up you wimp!" The enemy Inkling shouted at Sharq. "You… Scrub!" He said, pointing accusingly.
Sharq stared at him for a while, before laughing. "Nice try man, but that doesn't work on me anymore. Besides," Grabbing his brother by the shoulder, he said, "You can't do squat man, this guy right here's my family, and he kicked your tails!" Splin smiled.
"Although, besides insulting us every couple of seconds, you were… pretty good. What's your names?" Sharq asked.
"...Dude, they really got you down, you sure you wanna make friends?" Splin pointed out with a bead of sweat.
Ignoring Splin, the boy said, "...Ah ha! Finally recognizing talent for once? All right, I'm gonna let you two in on a little secret, me and my girls were just going easy on you this one time!"
The aforementioned females blushed a bit, looking in different directions. "The name's Ari Jabin! Next time me, Sari, Rit, and Bas will completely pulverize you!"
"Yeah!" His squadron cheered on behind him.
The four of them all struck a pose, before Ari dashed off into the sunset, Sari, Rit, and Bas following behind.
Splin and Sharq simply yawned simultaneously. "All right," Splin began, "Let's head home, I think that's enough bull shrimp for today." They began the trek to the nearest bus stop when Splin, for like the third time this story, realized something.
"Today's Sunday." Splin stated.
"Yeah?" Sharq said, smiling.
"THE BUS LEAVES EARLY ON SUNDAYS!" Splin yelled, falling to the ground. Sharq's eyes went wide, and followed suit. "Ugh… Great. Now we gotta go to a hotel, spend our money, wake up, and redo the process all over again!" Splin cried out.
Or, you know. You could've just super jumped over there like you did in an earlier chapter.
Perking his head up, Splin's eyes were wide and bloodshot. Clutching his head, he laid on the ground and rolled over, face planted on the cement. Asking his brother, slightly muffled, "Sharq?"
"Yeah?" Sharq responded concerned.
Pushing his face off the floor, Splin adjusted his headphones around his neck, and sighed. "Let's actually go home, for real this time." Sharq just patted Splin on the back, saying, "Alright, alright. I could really go for..." Sharq yawns, "A nap," He said, adjusting his cap so that it would fit on tightly. The two then switched into squid form, and aimed for the sky. "Here we go again." Splin stated tiredly, as the two leaped into the fading red sky.
AN: Bet you didn't expect all that writing? Sorry if the characters got a little too much like overpowered Inklings in the Turf War scenes, I'm trying to make Splin and Sharq as good as Turf War without overpowering the humor by making it a huge contradiction. I'd appreciate any extra criticism, considering this story is really just going with the flow right now. Thanks again to Anon360 for sticking with my dumb story idea! I appreciate it, and yeah, I always liked the Black Anchor Tee, I was surprised that not a lot of people wrote about characters with those. Also, Anon360, to address the roller issue earlier, sorry, I guess I didn't really specify the roller too much, huh? I meant to say, the "Regular Splat Roller" tossed the bomb, while the "Krak-On" used the Kraken special. Sorry. Anyway, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, signing off once more.