I have a deviantart called Cxlliefxn and i'll be posting sfm posters there! Also Quartz now wears an annaki mask and red hi-tops instead of a blobmob mask and acerola rain boots. Nothing deep about it, just a little design change.
Quartz and Celeste were in the living room, waiting for the splatfest results to be announced. "IT'S TIME!" gasped Celeste as the Anarchy Splatcast jingle played. The two were practically glued to the TV, completely tuning out Haru telling them "Being too close to the TV hurts your eyes!" The points were tallied, with team power getting point after point…Then it came time to announce the final results. One team completely swept the other two. "Yes! Team power wins!" laughed Shiver on-screen. "YASS!" Celeste and Quartz squealed like annoying fangirls and high-fived. "I told you we should've just picked power for the kids." whispered Haru to Cerulean.
"HEY Y'ALL! TEAM POWER WON!" shouted Ember, flinging the front door open. "WHO THE FUCK INVITED YOU?" shouted Ceru. "I did!" smirked the inkling girl. "THAT LOSS WON'T GIVE YOU THE COURAGE TO SHOW YOUR FACE AGAIN!" cackled Ember as she snatched Ceru's hat and smacked his face with it. "AND YOU CAN'T BE FEELING TOO WISE RIGHT NOW, EH HARU?!" Ember harshly elbowed him as she continued her loud cackling. "WAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Quartz and Celeste joined in on the maniac cackling. If Ceru lacked a soft spot, he would've grounded the two, he instead left the two alone and kicked Ember in the crotch. Her laughs turned into pain. "OWIE! FUCK YOU CERU!"
"So, what brings you here?" scoffed Ceru. "I'm taking the kids out today because I'm a good aunt! I assume it's okay with you two?" Ember smirked. Ceru gave her a dirty look. "NO WAY IN HEL-" His boyfriend covered his mouth before he could finish. "Sounds fun!" Haru smiled. "Me and Ceru are gonna be a bit busy with adult stuff anyway." he added. Him and Ember smirked at each other. "Right, adult stuff, have fun with that." snickered the inkling girl, Haru responded by winking at her. "Stop encouraging her." mumbled Ceru. "Bye!" sang Ember as she held hands with her niece and nephew, all three of them happily skipping down the front yard. "I'm going with them." grumbled Ceru, about to chase after them. Haru pulled him back. "No you aren't, we have some business to attend to..." smirked the octoling.
"So yeah, there's games and rides." said Celeste, finishing her explanation on amusement parks. "It's also a good date spot." she added, smirking. She said that to start teasing Quartz about his two friends, but he didn't notice. When the train went across a bridge, Quartz fondly remembered the day he escaped from Octavia– He hitched a ride on a freight train and saw a similar sight on that fateful evening. A bit later, the train stopped in Inkopolis, and the three took a bus to Wahoo World. Quartz stared at the scenery in awe, large and fast roller coasters zoomed around, his nose was assaulted by the smell of candy, and the loudest sounds were upbeat music and many seafolk having the times of their lives.
"LET'S GO ON THE SCARIEST RIDE!" exclaimed Ember. "YESSSS!" shouted Celeste. The two high-fived and grabbed Quartz, running over to what's considered the scariest ride in the park– The Calamari Machine. It was your typical haunted house ride, but that's exactly why most visitors are scared of it. When they got inside, Quartz was already shaking in his shoes, and continued to feel scared even after the ride was over, while the girls were laughing and talking about how much fun it was. "You okay there buddy?" laughed Ember.
A bit later, Quartz and Celeste were throwing burst bombs to try and knock down targets. "Come on kids! Ember needs that giant Marie stuffy!" The inkling girl was lazily sitting on the bench just behind the game. "DO IT YOURSELF!" shouted Celeste and Quartz. "Nah." yawned Ember. The two siblings just kept throwing bombs, trying to get a high enough score for that Marie plush. A new hand grabbed a bomb and knocked down the most difficult target. "It's been a while man." waved Celeste. "Are you stalking us?" groaned Quartz. "Does poor aim run in the family?" snickered the "man" in question. "Hey! It's Billy!" Ember pointed. "It's Bay!" sighed Bay, who shook his head and got the giant Marie plush from the operator and gave it to Ember. "THANK YOU!"
"No problem." smiled Bay. "In return, could you let me borrow your nephew for a bit?" he smirked. "OF COURSE! YOU'RE A LIFESAVER!" exclaimed Ember, who pushed Quartz over to him. "HEY! WHAT HAPPENED TO US HANGING OUT?!" Quartz shouted to his family. He outwardly showed distaste, but everyone knew what he felt on the inside. "I…wasn't expecting to meet you here." said Quartz in a quiet voice once the girls were further away. "Me neither!" laughed the blue inkling. "I came here with Kai to chat about stuff!"
"What kind of stuff?" asked Quartz, he had a suspicion that they were plotting something that would involve him. "Nothing important." Bay replied. Strangely, he stammered a bit and a faint blush crept onto his cheeks, but he was able to keep his cool just well enough for Quartz to not notice. "Come on! Let's all have a date!" sang Bay as he took Quartz's hand and ran off. "Kai and I agreed that we gotta have a more serious game to get this guy, and we have to tell him about-" Bay's inner monologue was interrupted by a light slap on the face. "You look like you're having an existential crisis!" Quartz barked, right before being tackle-hugged onto the ground. "WHAT THE HELL?!" shouted the dark purple octoling in surprise.
Quartz looked up and recognized the face, it was Kai. The lavender octoling was extremely happy to see him, and then realized that he acted out on it without thinking. Both of them blushed. "Sorry." Kai helped him up, then a smile grew on his face when he saw his flustered friend. Quartz was hiding his burning face in his hands. "You're so cute." chuckled Kai as he moved Quartz's hands away and booped his nose. "Who's ready for the CALAMARI MACHINE?!" shouted Bay. Quartz really didn't want to go on it again, but agreed to so he doesn't look like a coward. When they got on, everything quickly went pitch-black, and a shriek of terror was heard.
After getting off, Quartz was shaking like last time, but he felt worse since the two people he's in love with were right there. He didn't want to start crying in front of them, but the more he tried to bottle it up, the closer he got to crying, and eventually he felt his eyes water. Kai noticed it right away, and put a hand on Quartz's shoulder. "You look overwhelmed." he said softly. Quartz nodded, the lavender octoling gave him a tissue. The dark purple octoling felt Bay pull him into a hug. "They're comforting me?" wondered a confused Quartz, who began to blush again. He hid his face on Bay's shoulder. "Did the ride scare you?" the inkling asked softly. "N-no." replied Quartz, breaking away from him, slightly embarrassed. Kai cupped one of his cheeks, with a soft smile. "You can be honest with us." he said. Quartz nodded.
Quartz appreciated their comfort, but it left him a bit confused. Ever since he came here, the only people he really let in were the New Squidbeak Splatoon. After the whole situation, the two dragged him all over Wahoo World. Eventually, they were on the ferris wheel. "You know, your eyes aren't as pale as they were a while ago." smiled Bay, looking at Quartz's eyes. His eyes were noticeably more vibrant compared to the very pale purple they were when he was new to Splatsville. The dark purple octoling just blushed and mumbled a "Yeah."
Bay and Kai looked at each other, they were thinking the same thing– They had to confess. Bay nodded at him, giving Kai a look that non-verbally said "I'll start the conversation." Quartz sensed something horrible was about to happen. "Listen, we got something to tell you." began the inkling. Quartz raised a brow. "Quartzy, we both really l-" The confession was cut off by an octoling crashing into their car, who then had Quartz in a chokehold. "That was easy." remarked the octoling soldier. "Miss Octavia will be quite happy to see you." she said. Kai looked at her, and was just as horrified as Quartz. He always thought the octarian army disappeared after the Great Turf War, since that's what he learned in school.
"HEY! WHAT THE HELL?!" yelled the octarian after Bay shot her hand with his splattershot. Unlike the other two, his weapon was small enough to carry around everywhere. "WHO ARE YOU?!" he shouted at her. "I'm a member of the Octarian army, and we're looking to get the brat back to his rightful owner." she said with a devious look, but her plan would soon fail when an enraged Bay splatted her. Quartz let out a loud sigh in relief as he fell to the floor. "Quartz, what was that lunatic on about?!" the inkling asked in a slight panic. "Nothing." Quartz groaned as he got up. "Fuck, how did they find me?"
"Look, it's agent 4!" called a random inkling below. Agent 4 and neo agent 3 were fighting an elite octoling on the rooftop. "There's a tough random girl there too!" added another onlooker. "Watch your squidbeak!" Agent 3 shouted at them while fighting. "Agent 4 is the mysterious hero that saved Callie and the zapfish!" explained another onlooker. "I wonder who she really is…"
"DAMN YOU!" shouted Octavia. "That stupid spy said nothing about you two being here!" she growled. Agent 4 dodged all of her shots and punched her into the water below them. "AND STAY OUT! PEOPLE AREN'T THINGS YOU OWN!" shouted agent 4. Agent 3 sighed in relief as she dealt with the last of three other octarians. "I hope Quartz is safe..." said agent 3, who then looked up at the ferris wheel. One of the cars on it had its glass almost entirely shattered. She saw Quartz and his friends in it, but none of them were badly hurt. "Thank cod." she sighed. The girls ran over to him as soon as the others were let off of the ride. "THANK COD YOU'RE ALIVE!" wailed Ember. "So what happened up there? It looked like an octoling got in but you all looked fine." asked Celeste. "Yeah, that's basically what happened." replied Bay. "Some octoling in a weird getup broke in but I handled it!"
"You two are total heroes!" said Celeste, letting out an exaggerated sigh of relief as she rapidly shook Kai and Bay's hands. "I'm so glad that Quartz has two strong and capable men!" she winked at her little brother, who was looking away in embarrassment. Kai's eyes sparkled at what Celeste said. "No one's ever called me a strong man before!" he smiled.
Quartz and the two agents decided to stick around for a little bit longer. Once again, Quartz went off with his two crushes. "What's he so happy for?" asked Quartz, referring to Kai. "He's feelin' euphoric!" answered Bay. "Euphoric?" asked Quartz. Kai turned to him, still looking happy. "I didn't tell you?" In response, Quartz shook his head. "I'm trans!" said Kai. "Nothing's better than getting a gender affirming compliment!" he sang. "I think you're manly." said Quartz, awkwardly trying to flirt. Kai turned around and smiled, his eyes sparkling again. "REALLY?!"
"Y-yeah." answered Quartz, blushing. "You're the best!" Kai sang. "I'm so glad we met!" he added as he hugged Quartz tightly. Bay joined in, making it a group hug. "Me too! You mean a lot to us Quartzy! You're awesome!" he said happily. "This is awkward." thought Quartz. "But it's quite nice..."
"I gotta finish packing my stuff." said Quartz as the three broke away. "My family's going on vacation for a few days." he explained. "Flood my notifications with pictures!" said Kai. Quartz was suddenly hugged by Bay. "DON'T LEAVE MEEEEE!" he wailed. Quartz blushed madly. "GET OFF OF ME!" he barked. "I won't be gone you know! You have me!" sighed Kai. The three all hugged again before parting ways. "Carp, we forgot to confess." sighed Bay and Kai in unison.
Ember, Celeste and Quartz got home and walked in on Haru watching TV, with Cerulean sleeping on him. "I suggest you finish preparing for our trip tomorrow." said Haru. "Where are we going anyway?" asked Quartz. "The countryside!" answered Haru. "My moms Pearl and Marina have a vacation house there, and we've been going there every year for a little while now."
Meanwhile, Bay and Kai were talking at the former's house. "You know, maybe Wahoo wasn't the greatest place anyways." sighed Bay. "This confession's gotta be special, any ideas?" he asked. "I might have an idea." replied Kai, as a smile crept onto his face. "But it will require some setup…"
To be continued...
The next few chapters are gonna have some agent lore! Also I noticed that chapter 5 says that Kai has arrow pull-ons but I accidentally gave him marinated slip-ons in the sfm poster...That's another minor design change I guess!