She vaguely registered a change in direction. A decrease in velocity- gradual, but getting more noticable, until the elevator finally stopped. (It'd probably been only three minutes, but it had simultaneously felt a lot longer and a lot shorter than that.) The LED lights returned, pixelated squids bouncing around the walls like they hadn't just been going at breakneck speed. After a tense moment, the doors opened, the sunlight almost blinding. Finley stepped out of the elevator, not noticing her own dizziness until she took a few more steps and almost fell on her face.
She regained her stability, and looked around: she'd arrived in some sort of skatepark. There were eight people here: herself, the others from the training 'class', and three older-looking people she didn't know. There were two 'respawn points', one on each end of the park, and you could see the light they were giving off- one was bright pink, and the other lime green. Of course.
"Alright! I was hoping for this course." The young girl nearly jumped out of her shirt at the sudden voice from behind her. She turned around, but it was just Coach M, disembarking from an identical elevator capsule- if a bit less dizzy than the little girl. "Man, this one's my favorite."
"Fiiin! Over here!" Mari's voice got her attention, and Fin turned- her friend had already gotten over to the respawn point and obviously wasn't able to resist turning herself pink as soon as possible. She was jumping up and down, waving her arms at the two newcomers.
"Calm down, calm down. You haven't even geared up yet!" The older man laughed. He walked through the arena, closely followed by Fin, who had a bit of trouble keeping up with his wide steps. When he reached the pink team's point, he kicked open a plastic box resting against the fences that enclosed it on three sides. Eight sets of gaudy-looking armor (that Fin would rather not be caught dead even looking at) tumbled out onto the ground. "Y'all will be wearing these, they'll keep you from getting hurt. A bit hard to move in, but them's the rules." That was comforting.
He fished out the suits, handing them out to everyone.
After Finley'd reluctantly put her bag in the box with everyone else's, she sighed, resigning herself to having to wear the ugly armor. The hat was first- like a bike helmet mixed with a paintball mask, suffocating and bulky, pressing her tentacles up against her neck in a way she hated. The chestplate was a bit too small, the pants were covered in devices and paraphernalia- the most noticeable being a pair of lights on the hip that were blinking white- and the shoes seemed incredibly hard to walk in at first glance, but to her surprise they were actually somewhat comfortable. She turned herself pink, and the lights on her armor turned pink as well. (At least it was a nice color.)
"And now, the hike! You four, to the other side. You'll be the green team." The coach gestured to the right side of the group, and the three stranger squids walked off without a word. Sydney followed them, but not before looking back and sticking his tongue out at the four girls left alone on the spawn point. (Finley scowled back at him.)
Meanwhile, Coach M super jumped (rather admirably) to a rather rickety-looking tower off to one of the sides. He looked like he might fall off for a moment, but regained his balance quickly and flashed a thumbs up to no one in particular.
"Hey! Can you guys hear me?" He shouted, waving his arms.
"Yes!" Umi called over.
"Get on with it." Shouted someone on the other side.
"Alright, alright. Calm down. Behind you are your weapons! They're in the black boxes. Each team gets one charger, one shooter, one roller, and one slosher! Don't fight over them!"
Mari pounced on the box, grabbing the glorified bucket as soon as it was open. "Mine. Mineminemine."
"Dibs on the roller." Fin laughed, trying to push past her friend to get it. Umi snatched the charger, and Mari tossed the gun to Aleena, who didn't look like she minded not having a say in the matter. (If anything, she looked grateful to not have to make a choice. And kind of on edge. Weird.)
"Get in position! No- no, dude, stand on the point." Obviously someone on the other side was doing something wrong. The four girls stood in a square on the LED circle, waiting for... well, they hadn't thought that far ahead yet. Still, what could go wrong?
"Alright! Everyone ready?"
Fin held her gun a bit tighter.
"Three! Two! One!" He blew the tiny whistle around his neck, and the game began.
The young girl brought the ink roller down in front of her, making a small splash of color as it hit the ground, and ran like mad to the right. The course wasn't exactly on level ground, being a skatepark and all, and it was difficult to run with the stiff shape of the roller, but she managed well enough- until her roller stopped making ink.
She stopped in her tracks, shaking it a bit, trying to make more paint come out. "Is it busted?" She asked herself, tapping the little ink tank on the handle, before noticing a small trail of ripples in the ink zip past her. "Oh, right! Swimming!" It took a moment to shrink herself, but soon she was submerged and recharging. "I gotta go somewhere else, if I wanna paint everywhere." She swam in a circle to warm up for a second, still not fully used to the sensation, then started to make her way towards the left.
'I'm getting the hang of this, huh?' She grinned to herself, before swimming at full speed off a ledge.
Finley let out a yelp of panic, quickly resuming her biped appearance in hopes of a softer landing, but that turned out to not be such a good idea, as she ended up smacking face-first into a pillar, sliding down it and landing hard in the center of a particularly deep dip in the ground.
"Ouch..." She got up, actually thankful for the ugly helmet. "Note to self, don't do that again." She made to walk off, but to her surprise, her feet were almost stuck to the ground. She looked down, and realized what she somehow hadn't before- the entire area around her was neon green.
Well, this simply wouldn't do. With some effort, she smacked down her roller again, managing to unstick herself enough to start running in circles, repainting the dip.
Once she'd sufficiently recolored the concrete, she made to walk up the side and get somewhere else, but she stopped in her tracks at the sudden appearance of a small line of red laser light inches from her nose. The pink girl blinked in surprise, wondering what on earth that was…
But a moment later, a thin jet of green ink shot out in front of her, making her leap back in terror and almost drop her roller. She wildly looked around, trying to find the source, and- of course.
Her assailant was Sydney, wielding a charger and grinning down at her. "Well, well. Look who it is!" He sneered, lowering his weapon a bit to make eye contact.
"What do you want, Lagunov?" She spat, lowering her own.
"Aw, we're only on last name basis now? I'm hurt."He sarcastically pouted, putting a hand over his heart. "And as for what I want... this turf. What else?"
"Oh, get out of here, you- yikes!" She barely leaped out of the way of a second shot of ink, and then a third, a fourth, slowly cornering her.
"Dance, squiddie, dance!" He laughed, taking aim one more time and charging it up for slightly longer, aiming it directly at her face. In the split second before he fired, Fin had an idea. She reached into the pocket on her belt, fingers closing around a tiny triangle. It expanded on contact with the air, and started filling with pink ink. She had just enough time to see the ink coming at her as she lobbed the splat bomb at her adversary. It exploded, the burst of ink enveloping the sniper, but at the same moment the charger's shot hit her square on in the face, and everything went green.
There was a strange sensation of floating.
Then, the feeling of falling into ink.
A tiny bit of pain. More than a tiny bit.
And all of a sudden, Finley was back, standing dazed on the respawn point. "Woah... That was… that was trippy." Was that what dying was like? No, no, otherwise there'd be lawsuits. They wouldn't let that happen.
She looked down at herself, and sure enough, she was all there. "I'm- I'm okay!- I gotta get back out there-" Elatedness turned to panic as she scrambled to get back into the fray.
She was beginning to understand the game better now- for example, a tip the coach had forgotten to mention called 'don't wander off on your own'- and she followed the other three as they began pushing back the green ink, slowly but surely.
Upon accidentally squishing a green player hiding in ink, she took a moment to consider the true capabilities of this thing. It was good for painting, yes, but perhaps it could be a lot more… offensive. Interesting.
The second time she popped wasn't as disconcerting- more so irritating, as she'd made a really stupid mistake to end up in the position she had- but when she returned to the field, something odd caught her eye. Aleena was standing against a nearby wall, staring at her feet, hugging her gun to her chest. The girl was shaking slightly, and her mouth was moving but Fin couldn't make out any real words. This was really worrying- she'd seemed off for the whole battle, and now this...
"Um... Aleena? Are you- are you okay?" She asked hesitantly, taking a few steps toward the girl.
She nodded, then paused, then shook her head no. "I... I'm scared... I don't wanna get popped, I don't wanna get hurt... It's scary, I don't like it, I want out, it's scary, I don't want to do this anymore..." She was talking fast and quietly, but her teammate got the gist, and suddenly understood what was happening.
"Oh. Oh, geez, okay, um- I'm- I'm gonna go and get the coach, okay? You- you just wait right here. You'll be okay." She tried to reassure the girl, before turning towards the coach's tower. He was facing the other side, waving his arms in a way that said he was no doubt egging on a conflict. "Coach! COACH!" She called, but he didn't seem to hear her. "Damnit. Gotta get closer."
She turned back to the other girl. "Listen- hey, listen, you're gonna be okay, the coach can't hear me from here, but I'm gonna go and-" She froze as a small red dot appeared on Aleena's forehead. quickly growing in intensity. "WATCH OUT!"
Her shout was just a moment too late.
Aleena looked up to see a jet of green ink hit her right between the eyes, popping her instantly into a burst of green ink that sprayed Fin (pushing her back and grossing her out). She managed to stay on her feet, and whipped her head around to face the persistent green sniper.
"What. The. Hell."
Sydney jumped down from his perch, rolling his eyes. "It's just part of the game, squiddie. Get used to it."
"You... you dick! She was having a panic attack, you don't do that!" She shouted at him. Even though she'd only known the other girl for a short time, she still felt the need to defend her... Especially against a guy like this.
"Easy splat." He shrugged. "Her fault for breaking down."
"Her fault for-" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could someone be so... heartless? "Why you little..." She marched up to him, tightening her grip on her roller. He raised his charger, pressing the trigger, but before it could charge up fully…
...Finley smacked him in the face with the brunt of her roller.
The neck strap of his helmet snapped, and the armor piece tumbled to the ground. Sydney's mouth fell open in shock as he stared at the furious inkling standing before him.
"Where's that attitude now, big shot?" She raised the roller again. "Maybe next I should aim for those stupid glasses."
That seemed to be the last straw- either insulting the glasses or threatening to break them- and he growled, picking up his charger and jabbing her in the stomach with it. She squeezed her eyes shut from pain, blindly swinging the roller in what was probably his direction as she was knocked backwards. She kept her footing (barely), but the roller had made contact, and Sydney hit the ground with not a thud but a squelch as the side of his body got stuck in a patch of pink ink. As Fin regained her composure, she kicked him in the stomach, but he grabbed her foot and dragged her down with him. There was a scream from behind her, and she managed to catch a glimpse of a respawned Aleena looking in horror at the fight, before Sydney socked her in the face. She returned the gesture with force, and soon they were both wildly swinging in each other's direction, throwing swears and insults around like snowballs.
She vaguely heard squelching footsteps from behind them, and it was only a moment before the other players arrived on the scene. They quickly took control of the situation, prying apart the two adversaries and trying to calm them down. By now they weren't even fighting for a reason anymore, purely out of pent-up animosity, and the fact that most of their limbs were being restrained reduced it to a shouting match, but once Fin realized she would not be let go any time soon, she begrudgingly gave up prolonging the confrontation, resigning herself to glaring at Sydney.
The coach finally appeared, super jumping to them in a splash of blue ink that made everyone instinctively flinch. "What in the name of the gods is going on here?!"
"She's a maniac!" Sydney immediately shouted, vicious expression melting into a distressed one.
"I'm a maniac? You- You're the inconsiderate bitchface!" She glared. "Don't even try to play the victim!"
("Fin! Language!")
"I was trying to play the game properly, unlike some people!" He rolled his eyes.
"You don't just pop someone in the middle of a panic attack!"
"Panic attack?" Coach M raised an eyebrow.
"Aleena was freaking out. I was about to go and get you, but then he shot her." She broke an arm free of Umi's grasp to point accusingly.
"Ah, I see..." The man thought for a concerningly long amount of time. "Well, I suppose that's out of line..."
"You suppose?!"
"Still, there was no reason to turn it into a fistfight." He frowned at the pink team.
"Oh, come on." She groaned.
"I'm going to have to cut this game off here, both 'cause of this and the time. From above, it's easy to see that the green team has painted way more turf, so I'm going to have to give them the win, even though I don't really think either side deserves it, from the sheer lack of sportsmanship demonstrated here."
"No way..." Fin's face fell. (The other team didn't look too happy with themselves either, though.)
"There's no prize, there never was a prize." The coach flicked an ink-dissolver onto the ground, and it began to do its work. "Bragging rights, I suppose. Everyone go put your weapons and armor back, and get your stuff. I have to take you back to the tower now." He seemed to have lost most of his fun attitude in favor of a disappointed one. "If you want to play more, you're going to have to get your safety forms signed- and to keep your tempers under control." The eight inklings nodded in unison. "I'll get the elevator ready."
The players retreated to their various camps to return their gear- Sydney flashing one more cocky smirk at Fin, but then promptly getting shoved by a much taller teammate, landing face-first on the no-longer-ink-cushioned ground. At least he got some comeuppance.
"You just had to start a fight, huh, Fin?" Umi moaned, throwing her helmet in the box. "We might have one that if not for you stirring up trouble."
"Hey, I'm sorry, okay?" She sighed. "But to be fair, he deserved it."
"He really did."
"Mari, don't take her side."
"What? She's my friend. I'm, like, legally obligated to." Mari giggled, but Umi didn't seem as lighthearted about the situation. While she started to tell the shorter girl off, Fin was distracted by a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, and Aleena was looking up at her.
"Um... Thank you."
"? For what?"
"F-For standing up for me... You really didn't have to do that..."
"Yeah, I kinda did. Someone's gotta put guys like that in their place, y'know?" She laughed.
"Still... I really appreciate it. Thank you so much." The shorter girl bashfully smiled up at Fin.
"No problem.- hey, Mari, what are we doing after this?" She turned her head. "We can't hang around here, but we can't just go home, the day'll be wasted..."
"I dunno. I saw a cool cafe nearby, you wanna check that out? I'm getting kinda hungry." She shrugged, getting to her feet.
"Sounds good." Umi nodded. "Is it the one with the bookstore?"
"Yeah."
"What cafe with bookstore? I didn't see that." Fin frowned.
"That's because you ran straight into Inkopolis Tower, Finley." Umi chuckled, rolling her eyes.
"Oh. Right. …Anyways. Is it okay if Aleena comes along?- if you want to, that is."
"Um! I- I can't go home yet either, so… I'd love to!" She smiled again. "Thank you very much…"
"No problem! The more the merrier." Mari grinned. "But you gotta be cool with your face being on the internet."
"The internet?"
"Yeah! Here, starting now- shellfie!" She pulled out her phone, pushing everyone else close to each other before poking her head in and snapping a photo. "Wow. You are, like, really photogenic, girl."
"I-I am?"
"Totally. You got Wave?"
"No, I don't..."
"Shame. You should totally get it so I can tag you."
"Mari's, like, famous." Fin pitched in.
"I am not famous, you shut up..." Mari blushed a bit.
"Can we get going, please?" Umi started dragging Mari towards the elevator. "I'm hungry."
"Right. Food!" Fin grinned, falling into step with the other two. Aleena had to run a bit to catch up, but managed to keep pace to the elevator.
The ride back to Inkopolis Tower seemed longer than the one from the training alley, and Fin was once again alone with her thoughts. So much was running through her mind- about the fight, but about more than that- but she barely had time to process it before she was back in the lobby. She made sure to wait for Aleena, but then the two of them caught up to Mari and Umi as fast as they could. (They were almost out the door without them! The nerve.)
The cafe in question was to the left of the tower, and back a bit, but the door wasn't too hard to find, the menu wasn't too pricey, and the building wasn't too crowded. The perfect place for a light lunch and a discussion about the rest of the day.
Fin ended up the last without food- how long does a simple bubble tea take to make?- and as she was waiting on her order to be finished, something caught her eye.
There was a small rack of books for sale, right below the cash register, and one of them was titled "Turf War- Everything You'll Ever Need To Know". She hesitated for a moment, then picked the book up and placed it alongside her food as she paid. She didn't know why she'd bought it- these books didn't tend to be awfully helpful, but if nothing else it'd make for a nice read on the train ride home- but the thought of it soon vanished from her mind as she slipped it into her bag, walking to the table the other three had chosen to sit down alongside them and join in the conversation.