Splatoon: The Bate Bros.
Spooky Scary Sk-
The brothers, Maria, and Tai flew past in their aquatic life forms, slowly gaining on the Skell, interrupting the name of the chapter as they went, the "ell" in the word Skell falling down, shattering as soon as they hit the asphalt.
"Whoops, sorry!" Sharq quickly apologized.
The four cephalopods hit the roof of a building overlooking Inkopolis, crawling over to the edge of the roof in their squid and octopi form, respectively. The switched to humanoids, crouching low, observing the Skell rain destruction upon the city.
"Alright Tai, what are we up against?" Splin asked, looking at the Octoling.
Tai squinted her eyes. "Well… There were dozens of features planned, added, and implemented, so many that I can't remember exactly. But from what the Skell's currently doing…"
The Skell activated something on its tentacle's wrist, a miniature cannon of sorts popping out of the artificial tentacle. The cannon shone for a moment, then unleashed a rapid barrage of ink bullets, blasting away citizens of Inkopolis running away in fear.
"Oh wow, it's using its Arts already?" Tai said, eyebrow raised, impressed.
"Arts?" Splin asked.
Tai nodded. "The original idea for the Skell we used was derived from an Ancient Sea Scroll, where Skells in past time would apparently roam the land, blasting things, using Arts as a form of attack skill! We found it next to the blueprints detailing a bunch of drones with razorblades."
Splin cringed. "You… wouldn't happen to have created those drones, would you?"
Tai scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, we're only developing defense mechanisms right now."
The Skell seemingly activated another Art, its eye glowing an intense blue for a second. A thin beam of light extended from its tentacle, shining bright in the dusk light. The Skell took the beam, brandished it as if it were a sword, and sliced through a building, light green ink sizzling, eating through the building as a result, Inklings hopping out of the building in fear. Splin stared at Tai disbelievingly.
"...This was a work in progress, how was I supposed to know there would be a, 'rampage' feature?!" Tai growled.
"That doesn't matter now." Maria said. "You said you needed to get this back to your base, right?"
"Pretty much." Tai stated.
"Then let's go get it!" Maria shouted, jumping off the building, aiming her Splat Charger down, and firing, a light green line providing for a safe landing, Maria plunging into the ink as a squid, swimming ahead.
Splin, Sharq, and Maria followed, jumping off the building, though Splin was shaking his head during the fall, not at all prepared for this encounter. Upon hitting the ground, they ran towards the Skell.
"What's the plan, man?" Sharq asked to Splin, deploying his roller on the ground, a thick line of blue trailing behind.
"Figuring it out as we go, honestly!" Splin said, dashing ahead with his Inkbrush. "Try to find a weakness!"
Tai grimaced, dragging her Octobrush across the ground. "Figures, the mech we design with no weakness is the one we need to find a weakness in."
All three of them ran through the city, swerving between buildings, until they came across an open field just outside Inkopolis, the mech slowly hovering down, though multiple weapons built into it readily aiming was a sign that it wasn't finished just yet. Maria was aiming at the machine, her laser trained on one of the many turrets sticking out, barrels gleaming menacingly.
"Well, would you care to explain some of the Arts, please?" Splin asked.
Tai looked to the side, frowning, "Let's see… Well, we did route some cables to the tentacles for it to generate electricity from there…"
The Skell's right tentacle closed all of its turrets, the guns retreating inside the false flesh. The tentacle began glowing, then started violently sparking, the mech raising its tentacle. Maria visibly gasped, rolling to the side in squid form, narrowly dodging a tentacle slamming beside her, volts of electricity visibly sparking off, the tentacle lifting off of the smashed in pavement.
"I think there was also some bomb functions added, lots of bombs were needed for that."
A large cannon on the Skell shimmered, a "shing" sounding throughout the air, multiple Splat Bombs firing out of the cannon, exploding almost on impact as they hit the ground, Maria smacking some of the bombs back, which the mech somehow dodged.
"Oh yeah! And there's this really cool one called 'Bind', it ensnares enemies with this huge sphere."
The Skell leaned back, when a large, violet sphere nearly engulfed Maria, missing just barely, hitting a building. The Skell shook somewhat, with each shake, the building broke in half, though all the pieces appeared to stay in place. When the violet sphere suddenly disappeared, the building fell to the ground, leveled.
"Um, I hate to interrupt, but could you please HELP ME OUT HERE?!" Maria shouted, running for cover, blots of ink splatting on the ground next to her.
Tai grinned, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yeah, sorry."
Tai readied her Octobrush, holstering it like a blade, keeping her hand on the grip, then leaped up, slashing at the Skell. The Skell didn't seem affected, retaliating with a quick clash, taking out a beam sword, knocking the Octoling back with ease. Splin ran ahead, catching a falling Tai.
"Thanks!" Tai said, walking back.
Splin nodded, tossing a Sprinkler at the Skell. The Sprinkler attached itself to the Skell, the Skell staring at it for a moment. It simply flicked the Sprinkler off without a care, then began firing miniature Inkstrike missiles at Splin, who ran back using his Inkbrush, mentally scolding himself for thinking that would work.
Sharq looked at his Krak-On Roller, smiling. Rolling up to the Skell, his tentacles shining all of a sudden, he transformed into a Kraken, ramming into the Skell. The Skell wasn't fazed, kicking Sharq away, knocking him into a table next to a building. Sharq reverted to a regular squid, rubbing his head, falling onto the ground with a thud, Tai running over to assist him.
Splin on the other hand was swiping at the ground, covering it in blue. "Come on, come on…" Splin's tentacles began to shimmer. "Yes!"
Splin reached into his pockets, pulling out a Wii U Gamepad. He tapped on a large icon of a robotic octopus, a large Inkstrike missile appearing on his back, taking off immediately. He watched the missile go, the top about to smash into the robot's helm, Splin grinning triumphantly. Unfortunately for him, the missile simply bounced off the mech's head, the mech shrugging at its impact, picking up the missile and tossing it as if it were a javelin away, while at the same time firing a gatling gun of ink towards him
"No!" Splin cried out, desperately ducking for cover from the attack.
A light blue tentacled Inkling just so happened to be walking along the sidewalk, nervously looking around, shivering somewhat.
"H-Hello?" Aqua asked meekly. "Is anyone there?"
That's when the Inkstrike missile harmlessly hit the ground nearby, skidding across the pavement, completely missing Aqua.
"Eeek!" Aqua squeaked, making a break for it, the missile smoking.
Maria grunted, her tentacles now shining. "Alright you bucket of bolts… Try and dodge this!"
Maria activated a Bomb Rush special, tossing all of the bombs possible in the air. With expert aim, she shot all of the Splat Bombs, launching them quickly towards the Skell. The bombs smashed into the Skell, all making whirring noises, before they simultaneously erupted, light green ink showering down from the mech. Maria pumped her fist, smirking, the smirk quickly fading once the ink cleared, revealing a slightly dented and now drenched with light green yet still operational mech standing still, the eye leering menacingly at Maria.
Maria growled, attempting to charge up an attack in her hands, aiming her fists at the robot, but to no avail. "Damn it! Why does it only work with Rem and Ix?!"
The mech didn't answer, simply lifting the ground Maria stood on, and tossed it away, Maria leaping off, rolling onto the ground. She gasped, noticing that the earth tossed was hurdling towards a wary Splin being assisted by Sharq and Tai, who all luckily jumped out of the way. Maria sighed in relief, then was struck in the back by an ink laser of sorts, sent flying towards the three, who attempted to catch her, only getting launched back as well.
"Nngh…" Splin groaned, his eyes closed somewhat, eyelids fluttering tiredly.
"Is this... the end?!" Sharq asked, backing up.
"Dying to a heap of scrap?" Tai said. "I've heard of some dumb ways to die…"
"Brace yourselves!" Maria shouted.
All four of them watched as the mech's eye began shimmering, the light shining and dimming alternatively. They all closed their eyes, waiting for a devastating attack. Instead, they were greeted with a loud beeping noise.
"FUEL RESERVES LOW. SHUTTING DOWN. Good night! :3" The Skell said mechanically, the emoticon flashing in its eye, before the eye dimmed completely, the mech sitting down.
"..." Splin opened his eyes, staring with a relieved yet completely devastated look.
"...Are you flipping SQUIDDING ME?!" Tai screamed.
Maria grit her teeth. "All we had to do… Was wait for it to run out of fuel?! Of all the…"
Sharq began laughing. "Oh my Cod, really? That was it?"
Splin collapsed, landing face down, moaning into the sidewalk.
"Nice work, Inklings, Tai!" A voice boomed.
DJ Octavio himself floated down in his Octobot, Cap'n Cuttlefish standing next to him in the machine.
"Very well done pacifying the Skell! I knew you could- Tai?" Octavio looked over at Tai, who stomped over to the Octobot, leapt onto it, and grabbed DJ Octavio by his tentacles.
"You mean to tell me all we had to do to stop it, was wait for it to get tired?!" Tai roared, glaring at Octavio.
DJ Octavio made a peaceful gesture using his robot's hands. "Whoa, whoa! We never meant for the Skell to have low fuel, you were the one who launched it without our permission!"
Cuttlefish slowly climbed down from the machine, landing safely on the ground, walking away whistling.
"What type of idiot decides to fill a giant battle mech halfway?!" Tai demanded.
While the two Octarians bickered, DJ Octavio's machine shaking its fists, Tai pointing accusingly at Octavio, Cap'n Cuttlefish managed to walk over to the Inkling heroes.
"Nice work, agents!" Cap'n greeted them. "Don't worry about the mech, we've called th' agency, they'll help cover up the crime scene."
"Thank you, Cap'n Cuttlefish." Maria said, panting.
"Uh, how are you planning on doing that?" Splin asked.
"Hello Inkopolis, this is part two of the search for the mech terrorizing the city!" Callie said, enthusiastic as ever.
"It's been a few hours, and already there has been much destruction to our beloved city." Marie sighed.
Callie nodded, when suddenly a hand reaching out from offscreen gave her a short stack of papers. Callie took the sheets, quickly skimming through the top one, then gave them to Marie.
"It appears we have a new development in the story! The mech has been deactivated, and Inkling agents on the scene are cleaning it up!" Callie said.
Cheers came from the audience, as well as applause.
"Nice!" Marie said, quickly scanning the pages underneath. "Speaking of which, we're hosting a party in the plaza to celebrate. A pizza party!"
The applause this time around was scattered somewhat.
Callie turned to Marie confusedly, the viewers doing the same. "...Didn't you lose that Splatfest?"
Marie scowled, then flipped the page. Pretending to read, she cleared her throat. "Also, the first thousand Inklings there get free kisses from Callie."
Callie opened her mouth, letting it stay agape for a while. Inklings from Inkopolis Plaza all began crowding at the glass pane window, peering into the studio, fanboys and fangirls alike fawning over the popstar.
Callie turned to Marie, a look of distress on her face. "Why do you do this to meeeee…"
After a few hours, the entire area was secured, Octarians carrying back the mech, Inkling agents escorting them, making sure that they would make it home without arousing too much suspicion. Splin, Sharq, Maria, and Tai sat at a bench, watching the "officials" take it from there.
"I still can't believe it." Tai grumbled.
"Well, that could've gone much worse." Maria said.
"How?"
"Could've been killed by a heap of scrap metal." Maria said, grinning at Tai.
Tai sighed. "I guess…"
"Well, after that, I say we deserve a rest." Splin put, everyone nodding.
"Who wants to go home and sleep the rest of the night off?" Sharq asked, raising his hand, the others raising their hands in response.
A chorus of stomach rumblings changed their minds.
"...Who wants to eat something before we go home?" Splin asked.
The three others raised their hands, Tai jumping under Sharq's hat. They all walked off, leaving the Skell in the hands of the Octarian forces, slugging off the Skell under the cover of night.
AN: This one's shorter than the other chapters, sorry, having a bit of technical difficulties with the computer I type on, not to mention finals are coming up. Thanks OctoInkling75 for having thought of Aqua, even if this part, she was just a cameo.
Today's forecast calls for a review response! Thanks Dread Angel for reviewing! I know it might have been kinda cliche, but thanks for enjoying it, Dread! Anyways, that's it for today, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to water my flowers in Animal Crossing New Leaf! Later everyone!