Splat X: The Bate Bros.
"Your world is normal, right?"
"Hmm." Tai mumbled, looking around, her goggles swiveling around her neck somewhat.
"What's up?" Sharq asked, looking around as well.
Salty nearly fell out of his hat, his shell keeping himself anchored to the inside of Sharq's cap, Sharq quickly pushing him back inside, patting his cap safely, a reassured shiver coming from the snail.
"Oh, just thought of something." Tai smirked, quickly checking the perimeter, then turned back to the two brothers, still smirking. "Wanna see something top secret we've been working on?"
"Whoa! Really?!" Sharq asked, his eyes sparkling.
Splin stood up from his chair, the chair spinning a bit as he stood up. "You mean the Super Sea Snails? I dunno… Octavio didn't really want us to know anything about it…"
Tai grinned, standing up, wrapping an arm around Splin's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, I'll just show you the project real quick, then we'll leave, nothing to it."
Splin crossed his arms doubtfully, glancing at his brother. "...Sharq, what do you think?"
Sharq was already halfway across the room, about to turn a corner, looking back at his brother with a smile. "I think we should follow Tai!"
Splin turned to where Tai was once standing, all but a trail of dust remaining. Splin sighed, and dashed out of the Rec Room, hoping to catch up with the two.
"You got this, right?" DJ Octavio asked a handful of Octotroopers, standing by the doors leading in and out of the hangar housing the "Project SK" the Octarians were working on.
The hangar was mostly empty, though a few Octoling scientists roamed about, speaking to fellow workers, most with folders filled to the brim with papers, all of them heading for the exit nonchalantly, tired yawns following them.
The Octotroopers Octavio spoke to nodded rapidly.
"You sure? 'Cause I'm putting a lot of faith into you two. Don't let anyone in at all. Got it?" Octavio told the Octotroopers, who nodded again.
DJ Octavio gave them a nod of his own, hovering away in his boss robot, giving his turntables experimental rubs, melodic scratches coming through the speakers of his robot as he went. The Octotroopers gave one final salute with their tentacles, before they turned back to the door leading out of the hangar.
Tai pushed open the doors, the door frame slamming on the sides of the hangar. She walked over to the Octotroopers, who were currently absentmindedly fiddling with their weapon controls. Tai whistled quietly, pushing the Octotroopers out the doors without them noticing whatsoever, and shut the doors behind her.
"That takes care of that!" Tai said, dusting off her hands.
Splin deadpanned at the Octotroopers' lack of attention. "Here I thought Sharq was the laziest sea creature here."
"Not lazy, just zoned out." Tai explained, "They've stared at Octolings welding for a few hours now, wouldn't surprise me if none of them had welding masks on. Anyways, this is what I've wanted to show you."
Tai waltzed over to the large draped object Splin and Sharq had noticed before. She went under the drapes, her hands grasping at the sheet obscuring the object, and tugged down. The sheet went down, Splin and Sharq gasping in awe.
Standing in front of them was a large, nearly completed mech that towered over them. The mech was painted a hearty crimson, standing on two long legs of sorts, a large crest with an Octarian army emblem blazoned proudly on the mech's chest. Two artificial tentacles popped out of shoulder pads, a pack of thrusters built on the back, two flashy antennae and long black rectangles serving as where the thrusters' expended fuel would be put to use. The "head" was comprised of a mechanical octopus head of sorts, one deactivated eye poking out under a shady black helm, two strange additional red mechanical tentacles sturdily poking out.
Splin turned back to Tai, a mix between awe and slight fear on his face. "What did you need snails for again?!"
Tai sighed. "Design for the exoskeleton. I swear, it took me so freaking long to salvage that metal, and Octavio justs…"
"That's awesome!" Sharq exclaimed, pumping his fists into the air. "When are you going to use it?! I wanna see it in action!"
Tai grinned. "In due time, Sharq. This is a defense mech the guys down in the lab have been developing in case some of those Inkling agents decide to get too… Invasive. But you're welcome to watch us take it out for a test drive when we get the chance."
"Nice!" Sharq exclaimed.
"T-41!"
Tai cringed at the sound of her "official" name. "Oh no."
Inside the hangar, Aussie came in, dragging the pair of Octotroopers in with her, smoke rising from her goggles unknown if from anger or malfunctions.
"What are you doing in here? Why are our Inkling allies here? And why is the Skell not covered?!" Aussie questioned demandingly.
Tai cleared her throat, and adjusted her goggles. "One: Showing these guys the Skell. Two: Because I wanted to show these guys the Skell. And three: Because I'm showing these guys the Skell." She grinned after her explanation.
Aussie was fuming, her black and red tentacles practically threatening to strangle her. "LEAVE. NOW." She looked over at the Inkling brothers, and cleared her throat. "Please."
Tai scoffed, blowing one of her tentacles up out of her face. "You're not my mom."
Aussie chuckled ominously, cracking her knuckles. "I'd leave if I were you, Agent A, Agent B."
Splin and Sharq inhaled sharply, taking a step to leave. The Octotroopers stared at them with pleading eyes, prompting them to take the poor minions with them. They left the hangar, slowly closing the doors behind them.
Splin carefully put an ear to the door to listen, only for a Splat Bomb filled with magenta ink to lodge itself through the door, exploding immediately. "Okay! Obviously they need to sort this out themselves, so what do you say we leave them to it, huh?"
Sharq nodded nervously, waving goodbye to the Octotroopers, who sped off to notify the other Octarians of the sick fight going down in the hangar.
Splin and Sharq stopped by the room Rem and Ix had entered, panting, lying against the metal walls.
"Can I just say, that I for one am glad Tai's our friend." Splin said, sliding to the floor.
"Yeah." Sharq gasped for air, hitting the wall, sliding down next to his brother. "Whoo, I can't imagine what would've gone down if we stayed over there…"
"THE KRAKEN WILL DEVOUR YOU ALL!" A voice shouted.
Sharq nodded in agreement. "Yeah, something like that probably."
Splin blinked, sneaking over to the door leading to the room the X-Splatters currently stayed in. The door suddenly opened, causing Splin to step back, a slightly disappointed look on their faces.
Splin blinked, "Well?"
"Uh, well, she's… very different from what we expected. She said that Tenta likes to hang out somewhere near oil rigs." Rem explained, scratching the back of her head, a strange scowl growing on her face as she scratched.
"And she's not coming out, is she?"
"No. She said she had a book to finish. She probably has some other things to do, too." Rem shrugged.
"Well, you got something." Splin said, peeking at the door. He noticed an eye, almost glowing, leering at him, which was hidden with a swift slam of the door. Splin gulped, then turned to Rem, a worried expression on his face. "You okay?"
Rem grunted, her face switching to an irritable expression. "Agh, they're aching a bit…" She began giving the tentacles on her head tiny squeezes, gritting her teeth in pain. "Damnit! I forgot those ones were sensitive, too…" She stopped for a moment, looking around at the others in the room.
Ix stood by, backing up nervously, Sharq stood by blinking, tilting his head, while Splin had his teeth clenched, an eyebrow raised.
"L-Lewd." Splin thought, backing up.
"Uh…" Rem looked around the area, spotting a vent above. She leapt headfirst into the vent, waggling her legs as she climbed up.
Splin and Sharq stood there silently, confusion plain on their faces. Ix blinked, then turned to the brothers, ignoring the absurdity of the situation.
"So… Is your Saltspray Rig destroyed?" Ix asked Splin, who answered only with a stare. "Long story."
Ix turned around and climbed up the vent his sister had traveled through, leaving the brothers to stand there, contemplating what had just transpired.
"Sorry about that guys," Tai said, startling the two. "Aussie gets really mad whenever we try to do anything cool with the mech."
Splin and Sharq turned around slowly, their shoes not leaving the ground. Tai stood by, with a torn undershirt, dented armor, and a pair of Octoling Goggles wrapped around her neck, the optical sensors blinking out violet lights, the goggles shooting out sparks. A few spots of ink lay on Tai's armor, as well as a light bruise on her side. Tai leaned against the wall, smiling in spite of her injuries.
"How'd the meeting with Tek go?" Tai asked, looking around.
"Sorry, Rem and Ix left before we could really ask." Sharq told her.
Tai sighed. "Aw man… Really hoped I could've gotten them to sign my goggles. Oh well, tell them I said 'Hi'!"
Splin nodded, heading for the vent, halting midway. "Wait, you're not coming?"
Tai rolled her eyes. "Of course not. I know it must be SUPER LAME without me there…"
Splin rolled his eyes in response. "Modest as always."
"But Octavio's calling us in to scavenge for more supplies for the Skell. In fact, I'm going off to Tek's room," Tai pointed at the closed door. "To see if she might wanna help. Wish me luck!"
"See ya!" Sharq waved.
Tai opened the doors, walking inside the room with the seemingly bottomless pit. Splin waved as well, jumping up to the vent. Well, tried to jump up to the vent, as Splin did not account for the fact that Rem and Ix are taller and more acrobatic than him. He attempted to jump up a couple more times, before he gave up completely, shrugging.
"...Let's just take the stairs." Splin sighed.
A rimshot went off in the background, Splin barely able to keep a straight face as a result.
The four Inklings, having finished with their escapades in the underground, rose from the manhole in Inkopolis Plaza where a patient Maria was waiting nearby.
"Ah!" Maria exclaimed, taking the manhole and putting it to the side. "Welcome back! So, have you found Tenta or Tek?"
Rem huffed, climbing out of the pipe, assisting her brother. "We found Tek, but she doesn't seem to want to leave without finishing her book. As for Tenta…"
Splin and Sharq slid out of the manhole as squids, landing by Judd's sleeping form, the cat stirring somewhat, opening an eye at the two.
"Mrow… (I told you, Mahi Mahi Resort doesn't release until later tonight.)" Judd complained, stuffing his face into his pillow.
"Hi Judd!" Sharq greeted the feline.
Judd took his head out of the pillows, staring at Sharq with intense yellow eyes, the intensity fading once he realized it was just Sharq. "Mew. (Morning Sharq.)"
"Judd, it's uh… actually five o'clock PM." Splin said, looking down at his phone's screen in his hand.
Judd rustled his pillow a bit, checking Splin's phone. He nodded, stretching his arms out, hopping off his pedestal. "Meow. (Thanks fur the time check Splin, have to get purrpared for the new map, and shoo the kids out of the pool before the ink is replaced.)"
"Bye Judd." Splin said, waving at the cat, who climbed over a barrier in the plaza, scampering off to the resort.
"Cat's not as annoying in this universe…" Rem remarked, crossing her arms.
"Huh?" Sharq questioned, turning to Rem.
"Nothing, nevermind." Rem said, looking off in an opposite direction. "Should we get started on finding Tenta?"
"Hmm…" Ix looked off into the distance, the sun beginning to fade over the hills. "Nah, it's getting too late. I say we rest before we attempt finding her."
Rem nodded. "Good idea. Splin, Sharq, hope you don't mind, but I think we'll be crashing at your place."
Splin and Sharq looked at each other, then back to the Altezios. They took a glance at the hills, spying their house, a wooden spec in the distance.
Splin shrugged, nodding his head. "Sure… But uh, you guys wouldn't happen to know how to fly, would you?"
The Altezio siblings blinked, gazing over at the hills, also spotting the house.
"Whoa! You live over there?" Ix asked, closing his eyes as to shield from the fading sunlight.
Sharq nodded, a grin on his face. "Yeah! I don't remember why it was built up there to be honest…"
Rem grinned. "Well, let's go!"
The two of them posed heroically, and jumped forward towards the hills, only making it so far, landing flat on their faces.
"Ugh… Wha…?" Rem murmured, picking herself up.
She looked down at her hands, energy sparking out uselessly. Ix appeared the same, stretching out his fingers, attempting to release any cool powers that might help here, but to no avail.
"What the heck?!" Rem shouted, repeatedly pushing out her hands, quick bursts of useless sparks firing out, though nothing else happened.
Welcome to their world, where everything is boring normal squid stuff.
"Hey!" Splin and Sharq complained in unison.
Now it was Rem and Ix's turn to be confused. Ix raised a questioning finger, which still fired out harmless sparks, Maria saving them from having to wonder about the fourth wall's leniency.
"Don't worry, they're just a little weird." Maria smiled, much to the brothers' displeasure.
"Okay… Well, how do we get over there without flying? It looks like a long trek." Rem said, looking over at the hills.
Splin rubbed the back of his head, rustling his headphones slightly. "Um… We could Super Jump."
Rem and Ix went silent, turning away looking in different directions. Maria furrowed her brow in dissatisfaction, hands by her hips.
"What's wrong with Super Jumping?" Maria asked.
Rem sighed. "Mum, we haven't changed into squids since we were kids, honestly, don't want to try it now. Look how far it is!"
Maria glared straight at Rem and Ix, a patient smile on her face. "Would you please change into a squid, for your mother?"
"Err…" Rem and Ix stared away harder.
"Please…?" Maria asked again, her eyes shifting to that of a puppy dog.
Rem and Ix glanced at Maria, and the both of them began sweating profusely, eyes wide. They quickly succumbed to their mother's pleading eyes, both giving in.
"Alright… Fine, we'll Super Jump over there." Ix sighed, changing into a blue squid.
Rem pouted, changing into an orange squid, crossing her tentacles, one of her longer tentacles appearing rigid compared to the other one. Maria smiled warmly, switching into a squid, nodding at the two brothers. Splin and Sharq nodded back, shifting to blue squids smaller compared to the others, and launched themselves up into the stratosphere, the other following with leaps of their own. Their flight didn't last long, as Rem, Ix, and Maria stopped halfway, landing in a small field. Rem and Ix looked around for the brothers, panicked that they were missing.
Maria calmed the two down with a nonchalant wave of her tentacle. "Don't worry, they're on their way to the house right now."
She pointed at the sky, where two blue squids were homing in on the wooden spec in the distance. One of the squids hit the side of the house, sliding off painfully, and another one seemed to smash through the flat roof.
"Good to see we're not completely the odd ones out." Rem remarked, Super Jumping again towards the house, her mother and brother following.
The three, after swiveling through the clouds, landed perfectly on their feet by the entrance of the house, sounds of applause greeting them from an unknown location. Ignoring the sounds, they entered the house, where Splin laid on the ground, groaning, his brother dragging him back to his bed. Upon seeing the other three, Sharq picked up his brother and tossed him on top of his bed, Splin sitting up, rubbing his head when he landed.
"Uh, welcome to our house!" Sharq said, gesturing to the entire house.
Rem and Ix looked around the small interior of the Bate Bros. household, taking in its sheer adequate appearance. And the newly made hole in the roof.
"Aw man, I just had that fixed!" Splin shouted in frustration.
"Cozy." The two other dimension siblings said, specifically staring at the broken ceiling.
"Sorry, that happens sometimes." Splin told them, looking at the ceiling.
"Maybe we should get other materials than wood." Sharq remarked, following everyone's gaze.
"Anyways, I'm just going to find a spare mattress or two for you guys, wait right here!" Splin said, leaping over the kitchen counter, hitting the floor. Sharq followed, jumping over the counters besides his brother.
The two of them began digging through the counter cabinets, only finding dust and Tai's mattress, the both of them deciding that it would be a bad idea to give them Tai's reserved bedding.
"Huh." Splin mumbled, standing up. "Sorry, we can't seem to spare any mattresses at the moment…"
"Why do you keep mattresses under your kitchen counters?" Rem asked.
Sharq grinned. "For guests of course!"
Rem blinked, quickly giving up on asking.
Splin put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmm… Oh! Tele-Cube!"
A glowing cube hovered from out of nowhere, carefully and quietly suspending itself in the middle of the house.
Splin cleared his throat. "Er, do you mind spawning in a mattress or couch for these guys?"
Tele-Cube seemed to nod, a bright light emanating out of it, spinning around slowly.
"So this is the Tele-Cube you mentioned earlier." Ix said, inspecting the cube.
"Yep! Good old Tele-Cube!" Sharq exclaimed proudly.
The Tele-Cube paused spinning, staring directly at Sharq, an unamused face drawn on its sides.
"...Good young Tele-Cube?" Sharq said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
The faces on the cube smiled, the cube going back to rotating and glowing.
Everyone stood in silence, watching the cube work its magic. After a few minutes, it stopped glowing completely, and a couch crashed through the ceiling, carrying a mattress topped with a variety of bed sheets and pillows. The gaping hole in the ceiling revealed a sky with stars blinking into existence slowly but surely.
Splin deadpanned. "Gee, thanks cube."
The cube flashed a momentary, "You're Welcome" on its screens, before it flew away, out of sight.
Rem blinked to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. "Your cube certainly has some… Personality."
Splin and Sharq shrugged. "Yeah…"
"Welp, thanks for the couch guys!" Ix said, relaxing on top of the couch and mattress combo.
"Oh no you don't!" Rem shouted, taking the mattress out from under Ix, who landed on the couch with a soft thud. He groaned for a moment, then resumed resting.
Rem walked away, setting her mattress down, swiftly lying down, a content sigh escaping her lips.
Splin was about to say something, stopping once he noticed Sharq and Maria heading for their beds. "...Why not."
Splin stretched his arms, yawning, sliding over to his bed, under the covers, quickly drifting off to the world of dreams.
AN: Anyone else participating in the Burger vs. Pizza Splatfest tonight? Hoo doggy, this is gonna be an exciting one! Anyways, let's get straight to the point, or should I just say, reviews! Thanks to OctoInkling75, Ultrapyre, and Dread Angel for reviewing!
Yes OctoInkling75, I've already begun working on the Squidmas chapter, hopefully I can get it down in time before the 25th! Ultrapyre, I half apologize for all the female chest jokes, I assume you weren't having the breast time when that was happening? Nah but seriously, I'll keep them lower. Last but certainly not least, Dread Angel, thanks! Ari's flirting skills have yet to woo a woman, but in the meantime, he can always learn from his mistakes. Anyways, thanks again guys, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to try to secure a victory for Team Pizza! See you on the battlefield!