Inkley's tongue poked from the corner of his mouth and he painted the rear wall of the room. He fired as Synthia had instructed him, standing several paces away and sweeping the spray from side to side, painting from the top down. Efficiency, or some junk like that.

"It's all about stance. Feet shoulder-width apart. Back straight. Just fire your Junior from the hip. You'll give yourself a bloody nose if you raise that thing past your shoulder." Synthia had told Inkley.

Inkley found himself almost sweating as he concentrated on the advice he had been given. In no time at all, the entire wall was dripping with ink the same color as his tentacles. Throwing a glance over his shoulder, Inkley realized that both Jet and Synthia had finished their walls, and were instead firing straight up, painting the ceiling regardless of the globs of ink that fell back onto them. Inkley waited for a moment, and with a shrug, he aimed his own shooter up.

He wasn't surprised at how much the Junior kicked in his grip. But he was surprised as how much ink came raining back down on him. He turned his head downward and groaned as at least half of the ink he shot up colored the floor instead of the ceiling. Despite that, however, by the time his Junior clicked dry, Inkley sent a glance up and realized he had colored a solid patch. There was enough ink at his feet to refill his tank, and he did so quickly.

"Someone's catching on quick."

Inkley rose from his ink, quickly changing back, and turned as Jet approached. She tousled his tentacles and crossed her arms. Inkley realized she had taken her ink-tank off.

"Look at you, makin' a mess of things so naturally." Jet said. "Zoom just texted me. He's on his way here. I'm gonna go out to meet him." Jet jerked her thumb over her shoulder, to where Synthia stood. "Synth's gonna help you get the hang of swimming."

Inkley furrowed his brow in thought. Swimming. "'Kay."

Jet nodded and gave Inkley a slap on the back. "Good. Go easy-ish on him, Synth."

"We'll see." Synthia replied, waving as Jet left the room. The door slid shut, and Synthia turned to Inkley. She put her hands on her hips. "Well, let's get to it. I want you to paint a straight line, about twice as wide as your shoulders, from one side of the room to the other."

"On the floor?"

"On the floor. We'll get to stuff on the wall later."

Inkley nodded absently, and set to creating a path. The wild spray of ink from his Junior had no trouble creating the width Synthia had requested, and it was a simple task to walk across the room while depressing the trigger.

Synthia nodded approvingly. "Right. Now…" She paused for a moment, pulling her phone out of her pocket. Fiddling with it, she looked back at Inkley. "Put your hand on the wall, and when you hear the beep, run across the room, touch the other wall, and run back."

Inkley hesitantly set his hand upon the wall. "Wait, how fast should I run?"

"As fast as you want."

Inkley had to think about this while he shrugged off his ink-tank and set it aside. Sprinting would be the fastest, right? He pressed his palm to the wall, tensed his legs, and nodded to Synthia. She waited for a moment, and then Inkley heard the beep. He pushed himself off the wall and ran for the other side of the room as quickly as his legs would allow him. By the time he reached the other side, he was far more winded than he expected himself to be. He slapped his palm against the wall, pivoted on his heel, and tried to push off. Instead of carrying him forward, his feet slid out from beneath him, and he fell forward, landing on his stomach with a meaty thump.

Inkley let out a breath, and found that he couldn't take any air back in. He slowly pushed himself up onto his knees and groaned. Looking up, he realized that Synthia was staring at him, her arms crossed.

"... Too fast?" He asked.

"Obviously." Synthia replied. "You have to pace yourself. You don't want to sprint everywhere you go, do you?"

Inkley thought about this for a moment. "I guess not."

"Now, try again."

Dusting himself off, Inkley rose and went back to his starting place. He put his palm on the wall. He gave Synthia a nod. Beep. He took off, running at a much more moderate pace than his first attempt. Pivoting as he reached the wall, he slapped his palm against it and turned to run back. His feet followed directions this time. He passed Synthia, slid to a stop, and pressed himself against the wall. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath, and exhaled.

"Fifteen-point-six seconds." Synthia said after a moment. "Not bad." She waited another moment. "Now, try again."

Inkley pushed himself off the wall and looked at Synthia. "What..?"

"Once more." She said firmly. "We've gotta get your average time. So you need to do it again."

Inkley exhaled, but lined himself up on the wall again. Beep. And he ran it again.

"Fourteen-point-nine seconds." She said. Inkley pressed his back to the wall and sighed. "Once more."

Inkley huffed in exasperation, but, once again, lined up. Beep.

"Sixteen-point-two seconds." Synthia said. "Aaaaaand your average is… Fifteen-point-six seconds. Not bad, little squid. Now, you're going to swim the same stretch, the same amount of times." She saw the pained look on Inkley's face, but laughed and waved it off. "Oh, don't worry so much, Inkley. Swimming is sooooo much easier than running. It'll be fine."

Inkley furrowed his brow, but took Synthia at her word. And swim he did. Three times.

"Aaaaand your average time is… Eight-point-three seconds." Synthia said, before stuffing her phone back into her pocket. "That's not bad. Told you, swimming is easier!"

Inkley certainly couldn't argue with her. In fact, he felt better after swimming than he did before.

"Now," Synthia said, startling Inkley out of his daze. "Let's try some vertical work." She pointed in the corner, where the floor met the wall. "Paint up the wall."

Inkley nodded absently, reaching for his Junior so he could make the pink wall green. He didn't even have to bother strapping on his tank to do so, and in just a few seconds, the wall was mostly green. Setting his Junior down atop his tank, he dropped into squid form, landing in his own ink with a splat and sinking in quickly. He simply poked his head out and looked expectantly to Synthia. She smiled down at him, and pointed to the wall.

"Alright. You've got the basics of swimming on horizontal surfaces down, but swimming on the walls is a different experience. It…" Synthia paused for a moment, tapping a finger to her chin in thought. "Feels different." She shrugged. "You'll have to get used to it. Go ahead and try."

At Synthia's prompting, Inkley moved to the wall. He looked up at it, suddenly intimidated. Nothing to do but try… He narrowed his eyes, and tried to scale the wall. It was harder than he expected. He had to focus on simply moving. Inkley knew his movements were sluggish, as if he were crawling up the wall instead of swimming.

"See?" Synthia said. "It takes more effort than swimming on a horizontal surface. You'll get the hang of it eventually, but it'll take a lot of getting used to before you can do it naturally." She shrugged. "Well, that's about all she wrote. You're gonna have to practice on your own to really make progress, but feel free to swim some laps."

And Inkley did just that. At some point, he realized he could jump in and out of the ink as he was swimming, and he practiced at that. At first, he was simply hopping from one place on the floor to another, but then he discovered that he could jump into the wall, and immediately got carried away doing that.

Inkley heard the door open, but didn't bother looking. "Someone's havin' fun." Zoom said. Inkley finally stopped swimming, instead flopping out of his ink and changing back into a humanoid. He looked at Zoom, who had his roller slung over his shoulder. Jet appeared beside him, and the closed behind the two of them.

"Right." Jet said lazily. She stabbed a finger at Zoom. "Now that this dingbat is here, he's gonna teach you about rollers." When Zoom didn't move, Jet huffed and him a gentle nudge towards Inkley. "Well? Help him, dingbat!"

"Huh..? Oh, yeah!" Zoom shook his head and walked over to where Inkley was. "So, little man, what's the first thing you can tell me about rollers?"

"They're big." Inkley blurted.

"Exactly!" Zoom replied, snapping his fingers for emphasis. "And heavy. It's easy enough to slap a roller and the ground and run in a straight line, especially since momentum keeps you going." While he spoke, Zoom hefted his roller from his shoulder and set it on the ground. "But, since it's heavy, and since momentum keeps you moving forward, moving any direction other than forward can be a pain. See what I'm getting at?"

Inkley nodded thoughtfully. "Go to the side."

"Exactly." Zoom gave his roller an experimental push and pull, before looking back at Inkley. "Or, if you time it right, you can even go over."

Inkley stared at Zoom for a moment. "Over?"

Zoom nodded. "Over. Look." Zoom took a moment to grip his roller properly, putting all his weight into it. "You see the way I'm standing?" Inkley gave a nod. "This is what you'd call a standard roller's posture. Since these things are so big, you gotta put weight into 'em to move 'em. And, if you practice, you can jump over a moving roller."

Inkley took a moment to digest this information. "What about brushes? Those are lighter and faster, right?"

Zoom made a disgruntled sound. "Don't get me started about brushes, little man. Let me put it this way; if you're up against someone using an inkbrush, you don't even have to beat them, because life already has."

Jet laughed, and gave Zoom a slap on the back. "Don't mind Zoom, Squirt. He's a little salty is all. He's right about one thing though; don't worry about brushes for now. That's advanced stuff. We'll deal with that once you've got all the basics down."

Zoom huffed, still mad at the very idea of inkbrushes. "How about we show him?"

Jet looked at Zoom questioningly for a moment. Realization struck her. "Oh! Yeah, sure. Synth, come on. Let's show the little squiddy how to roller-hop."

Synthia gave a shrug. Zoom pulled his roller across the room, setting himself against the wall. Jet positioned herself opposite Zoom, and the two nodded at one another.

"Watch this, Squirt." Jet told him. And then she took off.

Zoom and Jet ran at one another with reckless abandon. Inkley was sure they were simply going to collide and give each other concussions, but at the very last moment, an instant before Zoom's roller, dry as it was, knocked Jet to the floor, she jumped, drawing her legs as close to her body as they could go, and true to their word, they didn't so much as graze one another. Jet seemed to pass effortlessly over Zoom's head, and she landed with a slight skip.

"Well?" Jet asked, a lopsided grin on her face. "Was I amazing, or was I amazing?"

Inkley stared, wide-eyed for a moment. "How did you..?"

"Training!" Jet shouted, cutting Inkley off. "Anyone can do it if they try. And train. You won't get it on your first try. But eventually, if you keep trying and training, you'll be able to hop over nearly anyone rolling at you." Jet punched into her open palm and smirked. "And then you shoot 'em right in the back of their heads!"

"You're not wearing your tank, or even carrying your charger." Inkley said suddenly. He crossed his arms.

Jet sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright, you want to see me clear Zoom with a tank and a gun?" She shrugged. "Too bad. Synth will do it, though."

"Sure thing!" Synthia said with a singsong voice. She threw on her tank and hefted her shooter, before moving opposite of Zoom.

Once more, Inkley watched as the older squids charged at each other. Synthia leapt into the air, burdened with both her tank and shooter. Her legs curled beneath her. Yet, she still didn't trip over Zoom. She landed lightly, and twirled on her tip-toes.

"See?" She asked, looking at Inkley. "Full gear!"

Jet was suddenly beside Inkley, and she slapped him on the back. "You'll be able to do that one day! But, for now, let's stick to the fundamentals."

And they did.

Inkley threw himself down on Jet's sofa with a groan. He let his bag fall to the floor with a thud. Jet closed the door to her apartment, locked it, and looked at Inkley, her arms crossed.

"Tired already?" She asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Weak."

Inkley would have given her some kind of comeback, but he was just too tired. When Jet told him he would be sore, he thought she was joking. She wasn't. Jet smirked at Inkley as she approached, and swatted his legs. With another groan, he swung his feet off the couch and sat up. Jet sat down beside him and turned the TV on.

Callie and Maire appeared on the screen. Inkley wasn't surprised when he saw Inkopolis' sweethearts appear on the screen, but was surprised when he realized this was their newest music video, not another dose of Inkopolis News. A catchy beat prompted a group of attractive youths to randomly burst into coordinated dance in the middle of a turf war, led by the Squid Sisters, of course. Inkley cast a glance at Jet, who absently watched the video, thumping her fist against her thigh in time with the beat.

Setting his head against the armrest, Inkley closed his eyes and exhaled. The rest of the music video passed quickly, and as the beat died off, Inkley opened an eye and watched as Callie and Marie, soaked from head-to-toe in ink, waved over their shoulders at the camera. And the screen went black.

"Hey, Squirt." Jet said suddenly.

"Yeah?" Inkley replied, setting his head back down and staring at the ceiling.

"I have a proposal."

Inkley looked at her. "You're not trying to set me up on another play date with one of your friend's sisters, are you?"

"No!" Jet answered with a huff. "And I apologized for that, like, a billion times."

"She threatened me. With a spoon."

"So you keep reminding me! Let it go! Everyone gets threatened with cutlery every once and a while." Jet shook her head and sighed. "That's not what I was talking about, anyway."

With yet another groan, Inkley sat up and gestured wide with his arms. "Well, what is it?"

"How'd you feel if I told you I had us scheduled for a fully-fledged turf war tomorrow at five?" Jet gave a little flourish with her hands, obviously expecting Inkley to be excited.

"Tomorrow? I dunno, I feel like crap right now."

Jet scoffed at him. "You'll feel better after you get some sleep, trust me."

Inkley sighed, trying to visibly convey that he was considering the idea. "Maaaaybe... Do you have another team set up for us to go against, or will it just be a bunch of random kids?"

"We have another group of folks for us to go against." Jet said, laughing awkwardly.

Inkley narrowed his eyes at Jet. "Who?"

"Oh, uh… You 'member Cherry?" Jet replied. "Her and a few of her friends."

"Wasn't Cherry on your team?" Inkley asked, crossing his arms.

"Yeah." Jet said sourly.

"Did she quit?"

"Yeah. She's dating the captain of the Tentacled Tangerines… And kind of a member, too."

Inkley's mouth suddenly went dry, at two different prospects; simply seeing Luma, and actually facing her in a turf war. Both made his stomach churn.

"I-I dunno… The Tangerines are, like, good. Semi-pro or something, right?"

Jet sighed. "Look, Inkley. Lemme be straight up for once. The position I'm in sucks. Everything sucks right now. Cherry, who used to be my friend, stabs me in the back by quitting to join a team she wouldn't have been able to get into if she weren't playing tonsil-hockey with the captain. And then, just to twist the knife, she calls me, and challenges us to a turf war she knows we can't win. And, now, here I am, asking my clumsy little brother, who's just old enough to use a shooter, to fight in a turf war everyone knows we're gonna lose." Jet sighed again, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You don't have to do this. I shouldn't have asked."

Inkley took a moment to process everything he had been told. He opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't immediately speak. "... I'll do it."

Jet spent a moment looking moody, before realizing Inkley had agreed. "Wait, seriously?" Inkley gave a nod. "Sweet! You won't regret this - I mean, you probably will. Your very first turf war is gonna be against a team that's way better than us in every way, which sucks. But, I'll make it up to you somehow, okay? I owe you one, Squirt."

Inkley scoffed. "More than one." He told her, his arms crossed.

Jet blew a raspberry at Inkley and playfully slugged his arm. "I'll think about it. Now, get some sleep." She said, standing a stretching. She headed for her room. "We've got a turf war to lose."

Jet's door closed. Inkley was alone. Sort of. One of the Squid Sisters' older music videos accompanied him into sleep.

Inkley felt his stomach sink deeper than it ever had before as he watched the Tentacled Tangerines prepare for their turf war at Arowana Mall. They took it seriously. They were actually going to war. And here Inkley was, with a stupid graphic tee and a clunky old Splattershot Junior, about to go head-to-head with them. Seeing Luma among them didn't help; it helped even less that she was one of the four getting ready. Inkley realized that he was actually afraid.

Inkley jumped as Jet slapped him on the back. She laughed.

"Sorry Squirt, didn't mean to startle you." She said. "Holy crap, are you alright? You look like you just saw a ghost."

"I only just know realized what I walked into." Inkley replied quietly.

Jet sighed. She crouched beside Inkley and nodded. "Yeah. It sucks. But sometimes, all you can do is all you can do, Squirt." There was a moment of silence. Jet eventually pointed to a fairly complicated-looking vest-rigs the Tangerines were donning. "See those? Those are spawn-vests. When you get splatted, you get poofed, and a few seconds later, you respawn back at base."

Inkley knew Jet was just trying to get his mind off of their inevitable defeat. It wasn't working, but he appreciated it nonetheless. "How's that work?"

Jet shrugged. "I dunno. You'd have to ask a geek who cares. Since the Tangerines are really competitive, they have their own set. We have to use the ones they have stowed away here. They're not as fancy, but they work the same way."

Nearby, Synthia and Zoom had just finished tending to their own gear. Synthia had everything she needed on her person already. Her spawn-vest, purple like the other three the turf war attendants had given them, was on beneath her ink-tank. She hefted her Jet Squelcher and winked at Inkley when she noticed him looking her way.

Zoom was beside her, his Dynamo Roller leaning against the wall as he put on his vest. After that came his tank, and when he was satisfied with his attire, he hefted his roller over a shoulder and joined the rest of the team.

Synthia handed Jet two spawn-vests, and Jet handed one to Inkley. Inkley set his ink-tank down, his shooter atop his tank, and he pulled his vest on over his head. Jet did likewise, and their entire team was all geared up, ready for war.

Jet gave Inkley a slap on the shoulder. "Hey, Squirt. Now's a great time to explain sub-weapons and specials." Manhandling Inkley, Jet turned him around and slapped the side of his ink-tank. "Feel around the bottom of your tank. You should notice something that stands out."

Inkley stretched at an odd angle, feeling around the bottom of his tank. His fingers brushed over a square button, and a strange, triangular protrusion that gave when he pushed on it, but slid back into its place as soon as he withdrew his hand. "There's a button and… Some other thing."

"Yeah." Jet said. "So, you watch turf wars on TV and junk. You should understand the basic idea. Sub-weapons are pieces of extra equipment that come with your main weapon. Yours is a splat bomb. It's that weird thing you're feeling. It eats up a lot of ink, but it makes a big mess, and you can splat folks really easy with a well-placed bomb. As long as you have enough ink, you just press on the triangle-thingy - that's the bomb. Your tank'll drop the full bomb into your hand. Throw it and watch the ink fly."

Inkley nodded thoughtfully, and reached back to press on the bomb.

Jet slapped his hand away. "Quit screwing with it. It'll only give you a bomb if you have enough ink. Now, that button is your special; a bubbler. It gives you a shield that lasts for a few seconds. It's not very long, but long enough to get you out of a sticky situation. And you can spread your bubble, too. Tap your shooter to a teammate's tank, or shooter, or anything techie, and they'll get a bubble that lasts as long as yours. Try and save bubbles for heavy team-fighting. They can really turn the tide of a war."

"You can't just use specials all willy-nilly, though." Synthia added. "You've gotta ink a certain amount of turf before you can use it."

Jet snapped her fingers and pointed at Synthia. "Right, right, there's that, too. Otherwise, it'd be raining ink-strikes and everyone would always be a monstrous Kraken. Your tank will go ding when your special is ready. Make it count."

Inkley gave a dutiful nod. He was about to speak when a voice crackled over the loudspeaker.

"Attention! All turf war participants come to the staging area for briefing!"

Inkley followed Jet as everyone shuffled towards the entrance to the actual turf for the turf war. A trio of attendants, dressed in matching orange and blue uniforms stood on the top steps of a set of stairs that led into the mall. The lead attendant, a plain looking girl around Jet's age with blue tentacles, stepped forward.

"Tangerines, are your fighters ready?" She asked.

"We are." The captain said. His tentacles were orange, for the upcoming match, but while he was getting ready, Inkley recalled that they were blue. The tangerine on his shirt had a crown on it.

The Tangerines' captain glanced at Jet and her team, and Inkley was immediately struck by how familiar he looked.

"Blue..?" Inkley asked himself quietly.

No, it wasn't Blue. But his facial structure was incredibly similar. The captain looked to be a few years older than Blue. They had to be related.

"... Other team, are you ready?"

Jet huffed. "Yeah. Let's get this over with."

Inkley swore he could hear the condescension in the Tangerines' captain's voice. "Let's."

"Wait! Hold up, I'm here!"

Blue suddenly burst through the small group of onlookers, his roller slung over his shoulder. He was wearing a Tentacled Tangerines shirt.

The Tangerines' captain looked at Blue and smirked. "Too late, little man. Luma's got your spot."

Blue sighed, sending a glance in Luma's direction. She sent him a subtle, very rude gesture. With them standing side by side, Inkley admitted that it was impossible for Blue and the opposing captain to not be brothers. Blue suddenly looked Inkley's way, undoubtedly sizing up the competition, and a brief look of uncomprehending shock crossed his features. Blue seemed to laugh his shock off, however, and he grinned and waved at Inkley.

Good luck, Blue mouthed. He had a certain, almost challenging look in his eyes.

Inkley looked away first, pretending to fiddle with his shooter. We're going to need it…

"Right, if you're done interrupting," The lead attendant hissed, "Both teams can proceed to their bases, and don their colors. The turf war will begin shortly."

Inkley kept his head down as he followed Jet and the others, spending just a moment to make sure his tentacles were the proper shade of purple. Everyone else on the team did the same as they walked. Their base seemed to be on the far end of the mall, and as they entered Arowana Mall, Inkley spared only a quick glance at the enemy team.

It was almost a mirror-match, if the skill-gap wasn't so large. The other team had two shooters, a roller, and a charger. Cherry was wielding a charger, and she barely spared a glance at her former friends as they passed. The Tangerines certainly seemed confident in themselves, and three of the Tangerines talked excitedly among themselves. Luma was the odd one out.

She was already watching as Inkley looked up. She wasn't looking at him, at first. She seemed to be doing what Inkley was; sizing up her enemy. Then Inkley caught her eye, and she smirked at him. She wiggled her eyebrows at him, gave him a mock salute, and then turned to speak to the rest of her team. Inkley looked back to the ground, and simply followed his team to their base. It hadn't occurred to him to examine his surroundings until he was already standing in his own base.

Jet gave Inkley a thump on the shoulder. "Hey, Squirt. Listen up. Arowana Mall has a lot of raised areas, and most of the action goes on in the very center. The center is a small, raised platform. Like you saw on the way here, the middle path to the center is lower than the actual center, meaning whoever holds the center has a big advantage. But holding it is no easy task. Each base also has two side-paths. One leads to a grated platform that hangs back from the center. The other leads through an alleyway, and flanks the center platform. It's a good way to get a drop on the enemy team when they have the center." Jet exhaled. "So, here's the game-plan; Zoom and Synth are gonna go straight up the middle. I'm gonna take my charger and snipe from the grated pathway on the left. I want you to go to the right, and paint up the alleyway. Maybe chuck a few grenades down into the center. 'Kay?"

Inkley nodded thoughtfully. His gaze flicked to the path on the right. "Got it."

Jet put her hand on top of Inkley's head and gave it a shake, leaving Inkley dazed. "Great! Just stay up there and defend. You'll do great."

The speakers crackled to life. "Teams, fill your tanks!"

Inkley blinked. He watched as Synthia crouched over the large metal pad that made up their base. Four protrusions made themselves known. Synthia pressed a button, and with a hiss, a small hose slid out. Synthia tugged on it until it reached her tank, and she made an exasperated noise.

"Jet, give me a hand." Synthia said.

Jet took the hose from Synthia's hand and plugged it into a small port at the very top of the tank. Glancing to the side, Inkley watched as Zoom filled his own tank, a task which took a remarkable amount of dexterity, judging from the awkward way his arm was bending. Their tanks filled in just a few seconds. Their tanks made a loud beep, and the hoses disconnected themselves. Synthia and Jet switched, with Synthia now filling Jet's tank.

Inkley suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold still, dude." Zoom told him. He connected the hose to Inkley's tank, and Inkley felt the weight on his shoulders increase. His tank beeped, and Zoom released the hose. It immediately shot back to where he had pulled it from. "There. All ready to whoop some ass." He gave Inkley a grin.

And was promptly elbowed by Jet. "Language!"

Zoom opened his mouth to reply when the speakers came back to life. "Both teams have full ink tanks. Get ready to ink! Five, four, three, two, one… SPLAT!"

An airhorn sounded somewhere nearby. Inkley watched, somewhat dumbfounded, as his team took off at a full sprint. Zoom's roller was already painting a solid path towards the center. Synthia ran behind him, covering the sides Zoom missed with ink. Jet moved more slowly than them, methodically inking a relatively narrow path to her self-assigned position. Blinking, Inkley realized he had somewhere to be, too, and moved towards the right path, making a conscious effort to cover the ground and walls as he went.

Inkley reached a drop-off, and carefully hopped down, nearly tripping as he landed. Bouncing lightly on his toes, Inkley gauged the fullness of his tank, and after painting a small puddle at his feet, he quickly turned into a squid. After a few moments, he hopped back up onto his feet and continued spraying down the entirety of the alley as he went. Inkley stopped at about halfway through the alley, and listened. Just over the wall he could hear shouting, and ink flying and splatting. Inkley's stomach suddenly felt as though it were full of rocks.

Inkley found it was almost impossible to move his feet. His had to focus on each step. Left. Right. Left. Right. He was at the corner now. The entire alleyway was dripping with purple ink. Inkley took the opportunity to distract himself by filling up his tank again. When he rose, he noticed a few splotches of orange, near the very edge of the platform where the alley led out into the rest of the mall.

"This is it, Inkley…" Inkley muttered, creeping towards the edge. He hand slipped behind him, and he tentatively pressed his finger to the bottom of his splat bomb. It gave slightly, clicked, and pushed back.

A bomb fell into his hand. Inkley looked at it and marvelled. It looked like a glass pyramid filled with sloshing ink. He inhaled, and sidled closer to the edge. The sound of fighting was louder now. He exhaled. Peering over the edge, Inkley saw two orange-clad bodies standing in the very center of the platform, one firing towards Inkley's half of the mall, the other busily painting the platform by shaking a roller. Inkley could see Synthia, standing just out of the enemy team's range, firing rather wildly. She glanced at Inkley, but made no other indication that she saw him, and Inkley realized she was waiting for him to do something.

Inkley took a deep breath and threw his the splat bomb down onto the platform. It bounced lightly, before coming to a rest beside one of the Tangerines. The captain, and Blue's older brother, Inkley realized.

"Oh, spla-" was all he could manage before the bomb went off.

A great splash of purple went into the air. The enemy captain disappeared in the wave of ink, and Inkley could barely make out the faint orange outline of a squid floating away. The other Tangerine had just barely managed to throw herself clear, changing into a squid midair.

Zoom suddenly crested over the ramp that led to the center platform, his roller down. He immediately began carving a path towards enemy territory, barely sparing a glance in Inkley's direction as he did so. Synthia came up onto the platform, busily painting turf as she did so. She didn't look at Inkley either, but managed to spare a hand to shoot him a thumbs-up.

"Great job!" She shouted.

Inkley opened his mouth to respond, but could only watch in terror as an orange streak of ink carved its way towards Synthia. It struck her squarely in the chest, and she exploded into a puddle of orange. Inkley felt his chest tighten as he watched a purple squid drift lazily into the sky. It took him a moment to gather his bearings and remember that she would be back in a few seconds, but the sight still stayed with him.

A purple trail of ink suddenly appeared in the orange mess Synthia had left behind.

"Get splatting!" Jet's voice called.

Inkley bit back a retort and busily painted the rest of the orange splotch. He pushed himself against the wall as a spray of orange from the Tangerines' side of the mall made even more splotches. Inkley simply sat there for a moment, trying his best to keep pace with the orange that was coming in. Synthia eventually reappeared, crouching behind the crest of the ramp, dutifully spraying blindly into the air. The spray of purple arced over the platform and went on to splat a fair amount of turf.

Inkley looked up as he caught sight of a brief flash of orange, before feeling what could only be described as weightlessness. Looking down, all he saw was a splotch of orange, and a similar line tracing its way to him from across the platform. There, he saw Luma and Cherry, with Cherry pointing her Kelp Splatterscope at where he was standing. Or where I used to be standing, Inkley realized a moment later. His vision went white a few seconds later, and everything came back to him.

Inkley gasped as he rematerialized. He felt like doubling over and puking. The sensation passed, and Inkley groggily made his way back to his alley. Most of it was still purple, but as Inkley neared the center platform, he realized there was quite a bit more orange there than when he had been splatted. His pace slowed, and he changed into a squid, swimming stealthily towards the orange.

Luma rounded the corner, spraying down the alley with a bored expression on her face. Inkley hastily changed back, and nervously pointed his shooter at her. She paused where she was, and a smile crept onto her face. She pointed her Splattershot into the air, put a hand on her hip, and slowly but purposefully strode towards Inkley. He saw a devious glint in her eyes. Inkley took several steps backwards as she advanced on him. Her smile only grew. In a blur of motion, Inkley was bowled over by Luma. Her knee was on his stomach, and she smirked down at him. Though her shooter's business end was pointed nowhere near him, Inkley felt very unsafe.

"Howdy," Luma hissed. "Fancy meetin' you here, Inkley. You know, you could have splatted me right there. Really easy. But you didn't." She laughed. "You splatted Buck, no problem." She laughed even harder. "Oh, that was great. It only would have been better if it was Blue you got." She shrugged and stood. "They're close enough though." Luma strode back towards the center platform. She stopped, just for a second, to look over her shoulder. "Talk to you later, kid."

And then she was gone. Inkley took a moment to gather himself, before rising and quickly cleaning up the mess Luma had made. He stopped to refill his ink, swam to the edge, popped up, tossed a bomb, and swam away to avoid the inevitable wave of ink that came his way. He stood as close to the edge as he safely could, and fired down onto the platform, mostly for the sake of firing. And then he felt something bowl him over from behind. As he floated upwards, he realized the enemy's roller had somehow gotten behind him.

And, as he respawned, he sighed and resigned himself to a very rough first turf war.

And rough it was. Though they battled valiantly, the Tangerines spent the entirety of the match dominating the center of the mall.

Judd appeared from thin air, and with a flourish, designated the Tentacled Tangerines the winners of the match. As Inkley and company put their gear away, Cherry and Buck, Blue's older brother, strode over to meet them, hands interlocked, and one of Cherry's longest tentacles wrapped around Buck's forearm.

"Hey, guys." Cherry said, smiling coyly. "I just wanted to come over and say, no hard feelings, right? This was just for fun, after all."

Jet's jaw clenched, but she put on a smile. "Oh, of course."

Cherry smiled again, and she and Buck turned to leave. Cherry stopped, and tousled Inkley's tentacles. "Better luck next time, Inkley."

As Cherry and Buck walked away, Inkley glanced around, and seeing the coast was clear, he gave her the rudest gesture he knew.

"I saw that." Jet said. She laughed and slapped Inkley's back. "Nice job." She sighed, and her hand moved to Inkley's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. This was a bad example of a turf war. You'll get a good one later. For now, what do you say we go visit Frank for some comfort food?"

Inkley smiled and gave a nod. "That sounds great."

"Thought so. We'll be heading out in a minute."

Inkley looked past Jet, to Luma. He wanted to go talk to her, but she seemed to be talking to Blue. Or, Blue was talking to her, and she was barely pretending to listen. Inkley sighed, and with all his gear put away, threw his bag on over his shoulders and waited for the others to get ready. And they left not too long after.

They arrived at Fishy Frank's at seven. Strangely enough, the diner was almost barren. Frank himself floated at the front counter, busily wiping it down with a towel. He looked up as the four entered, and waved at them.

"Hey there," He said with a smile, still wiping the countertop. "Haven't seen you four together is a while."

"We've had a rough day, Frank." Jet said, sighing as she slid into a booth. "Can we get a pizza? Don't care what's on it."

"Lucky you, I got a few pepperoni pies just lying around." Frank said, slipping into the kitchen.

Zoom sat beside Jet, and Synthia slid into the seat opposite them. Inkley sat down next to Synthia, and put his head in his hands. Not a moment later, Frank emerged from the kitchen with a pizza on a platter. He set it down on the table and went back to his spot behind the counter.

"Rough day?" Frank said as he took up his towel once more. "That sounds like it has a story behind it."

Jet reached for a slice of pizza with a nod. "Yeah. You remember Cherry?"

"Redhead?"

"Yeah. She started dating this guy, the captain of the Tentacled Tangerines. A few days ago, she called me, told me quit our team to join the Tangerines, and then challenged us to a turf war." Jet took a large bite of pizza and paused as she chewed. "So, I had to drag Inkley into this just to compete in a turf war we were bound to lose anyway."

Frank gave a thoughtful nod as he continued to wipe the counter. "That is pretty rough." Frank said after a while. "Sorry to hear that, kids."

Jet laughed and shrugged. "Yeah. Here we are, to drown our sorrows. Oh well."

They ate in silence heavy silence after that. Inkley managed to down two slices before he decided he wanted something sweet. His mind made up, he stood up and went to the counter. The others watched him go but said nothing. Struggling slightly thanks to his height, Inkley eventually managed to clamber up onto the tall stools at the counter.

"Hey, Frank." Inkley said as he wiggled himself into a comfortable position in his seat.

"Hey, Inkley." Frank replied, looking at Inkley expectantly.

"Do you have ice cream? Like, a sundae or something?"

"Suppose I do." Frank said, smiling. "What's it to ya?"

"I want to buy one."

"Alright kiddo. One sundae, coming up." Frank said with a laugh. He disappeared into the kitchen once more.

Inkley fished a coin from his pocket and waited patiently. Frank returned with a rather large sundae in a plastic cup, with a metal spoon sticking out of it.

"Thanks, Frank." Inkley said, pushing to coin to the other side of the counter.

Frank pushed it back, however. "This one's on the house, Inkley. Losing your first turf war is rough stuff." Inkley smiled and pocketed the coin. "But, you gotta tell me what happened."

Inkley frowned thoughtfully, and gave a nod. And he regaled Frank with the story of his first turf war, taking small spoonfuls of ice cream in between sentences. Frank, for the most part, listened patiently, his towel falling still. He gently encouraged Inkley for details during specific parts of the story, but otherwise remained quiet.

Eventually, Inkley finished his tale, with more than half of his sundae left.

"Thanks for telling me, Inkley." Frank said. He nodded respectfully. "I hope your next turf war goes better, kiddo." His voice dropped. "If it doesn't, come see me. Maybe we can make a similar arrangement." He added, pointing to the sundae.

Inkley laughed. "Thanks, Frank. I can see why Jet likes it here so much."

Frank returned the laugh. "Jet likes it here? Coulda fooled me, the way she's always just lazing around. Loitering!" He shouted the last word directly at Jet.

Jet grinned and waved. "You know me, Frank! Loitering is my favorite passtime."

The door opened for the first time since Inkley entered. He couldn't help but glance, and he simply gawked when he realized that it was Luma who walked in. She had her gear-bag with her. She strode over to Inkley, dropped her bag, and sat beside him.

"Hey." She said.

Inkley stared at her for a moment before responding. "Uh, hey." There was a long, awkward pause. "Did you… Follow us?"

Luma shrugged. "Yeah, kinda. Blue just kept talking, and talking. And then Buck called a team meeting, and he kept talking and talking, so I snuck away. Figured I might as well talk to you."

"Why?"

Luma just shrugged again. "Don't know. Figured you'd have something to talk about."

Another silence. It seemed deafening.

"I didn't know Blue was on your team. Or that his brother was your captain." Inkley said at last.

"Yeah."

"So, is that what you meant when you said you knew Blue more than I did?"

"Yeah." Luma sent Inkley a sidelong glance. "Wasn't it obvious?"

Inkley wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. Luma glanced at something, and after a moment, Inkley realized it was his sundae. It was starting to melt.

"Are you, uh, hungry?" Inkley asked.

Another shrug. "I could eat."

Inkley nodded. "Hey, Frank. Can we, uh, get another spoon?"

Frank reached under the counter and offered Luma a spoon. "A spoon for the lady." And then he went off to do something else, giving Inkley a none-too-subtle smile as he did so.

"Thanks." Was all Luma said, before taking a hefty scoop of ice cream and unceremoniously scarfing it.

Inkley took a much smaller bite and waited for something to happen.

"Your game was a little off today." Luma said in between bites.

"What..?"

"During the turf war. You were a little off. Your team was outclassed, but you, personally, could have done better." Luma told him. She pointed at him with her spoon. "Blue said it was like you've never been in one before. I hate agreeing with him, but he was right."

Inkley felt heat rise in his cheeks. He had to fight his own body for control over his tentacles, which rippled at Inkley's incoming admission. "W-well… It kinda… Was my first turf war."

Luma stared hard at Inkley for nearly a minute on end. "Seriously?"

Inkley looked at the counter. "Yeah."

Luma exhaled. "That sucks. We whooped you guys. And that was your first war? Ouch."

Inkley continued to stare at the counter. "Yeah."

There was an especially awkward silence. So awkward that it seemed even Luma felt it.

Luma eventually sighed. "Well, you know what that means? Now I've got to train you."

Inkley blinked, and looked up at Luma. "What? Why?"

Luma sighed again. "Well, first, now I feel bad for going so hard when it was your first turf war. Second, it'll probably piss off Blue and Buck, which is a bonus." She looked around for a moment, before taking a napkin from a nearby dispenser, a pen from her pocket. "Here, right down your phone number."

"I, uh, don't have a phone." Inkley replied, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well, what do you have?"

"A profile on Squidder."

"Then write it down."

Inkley hurriedly wrote his Squidder profile down, and Luma stuffed the napkin into her pocket. She hopped from her seat, picked up her bag, and turned to walk away. She stopped just for a moment.

"Thanks for the ice cream, Inkley." She said, waving over her shoulder. "Talk to you later." And then she was gone.

Inkley was so absorbed in his conversation with Luma that he hadn't realized Frank's place was filling up rather quickly. Inkley looked at what was left of the sundae, and decided he wasn't hungry anymore. With that in mind, he set his spoon down, and turned his seat around. He watched curiously as a tall figure passed the window, and waited, expecting to see Luma. She never passed, leaving Inkley to spend a moment wondering about the figure. He shrugged it off as a shrimp, and went back to sit with everyone else. They all stared at him.

"When did you get a girlfriend, Squirt?" Jet asked with a smirk.

"Little Inkley's growing up soooo fast." Synthia said in a sing-song voice.

"She wasn't bad-looking, kid." Zoom added. "Nice catch."

Jet immediately elbowed Zoom in the stomach. "Quiet, you." She looked at Inkley. "That girl was a Tangerine. You're dating the enemy?"

Inkley huffed. "Shut up. We're not dating."

Zoom opened his mouth to speak, but was silenced by Jet.

"If you say anything close to what I think you're thinking about, I'll hurt you, Zoom."

Zoom laughed and shrugged.

Jet leaned in towards Inkley. "So, seriously, Inkley. Who is she?"

Inkley thought about this for a moment. "She's Luma." He said plainly.