AN: Hello, everyone. I'm sure you've all figured it out by now, but I've completely revamped (or rather, refreshed) my very first Splatoon fic: Moose's First Battles. The reason for this is because I've been playing Splatoon 3 for quite some time now, and during this time, some things have changed since I wrote the original version of this story. One of the biggest changes is my avatar in the game. For the most part, he's worn the same Skull Bandana and Neon Delta Straps, but I've found difficulty in settling on a set piece of clothing for him to wear, especially with new ones being introduced every season. I even revised the original story's document a few times because I kept changing my mind about his clothing. However, after much consideration, I managed to decide on the perfect clothing for him to wear, and hopefully, there won't be any further changes of mind. I've also changed my mind about which primary weapon he wields in battle, as I began using the Krak-On Splat Roller in the game after raising my Flingza Roller to five stars, and I've come to enjoy using the former weapon more, especially with its special weapon, the Kraken Royale. Also, I've changed up my OC teammates a little bit by giving them new appearances and names (except for Uni, whose name is the same as it was previously), as I wasn't 100% satisfied with them before, and after obtaining more gear in the game, I eventually decided to make some revisions to them. Like my avatar's new clothing, I'm hoping that the changes made to my OC will stick. Well, I think I've said enough, don't you? Time to get on with the story.


One morning at a train station in the Splatlands, a male green Inkling with a Mush-Cut hairstyle named Moose, who was wearing the Skull Bandana, Herbivore Tee, and Neon Delta Straps, was waiting for the train to arrive so he could take it to Splatsville, the city of chaos.

"Where could that train be", Moose said, "I hope I didn't miss it."

At that moment, a whistle could be heard in the distance, and Moose looked and saw a train coming down the line towards the station, and once it got there, it stopped at the platform and its doors opened up.

"Finally", Moose said, "Splatsville here I come!"

Moose picked up his duffel bag and boarded the train, and once he got on board, the doors closed and the train departed, and Moose sat down in an empty seat by the window.

"This is it", Moose said, "the start of a new chapter in my life."

He took out his Sea-Cucumber Phone and looked at a bunch of articles about Splatsville and what there was to do there, and a big smile appeared on his face.

"And I'm really looking forward to it", Moose said.

At last, the train arrived at the station in Splatsville, and once its doors opened, Moose got up from his seat and picked up his bag.

"Well", Moose said, "here goes nothing."

Moose disembarked the train and walked into Splatsville, and when he arrived in the city's square, he was very amazed by what he was seeing.

"Holy manatee", Moose said.

There were several Inklings and Octolings in the square doing things like talking to each other or looking at their Sea-Cucumber Phones, and also a lot of interesting shops, and up in the sky, a plane flew over the city.

"It's even more awesome than I imagined", Moose said.

Moose walked around the square and looked around at all the sights that were there, and he began to wonder what he should do next.

"I wonder where I should go from here", Moose said.

"I can tell you that", a voice said.

Moose turned around and saw a female yellow inkling with a Megalobraid hairstyle who was wearing the Cephalo-Pods, Tri-Shred Tee, and Force ReBoots standing behind him.

"You must be new here, right", the Inkling asked.

"Yes", Moose said, "just got off the train not too long ago."

"Nice", the Inkling said, "welcome to Splatsville."

"Thank you", Moose said, "I'm glad to be here."

"If you're looking for something to do, I'd recommend turf war", the Inkling said, "it's the biggest thing in town."

"Okay", Moose said, "where can I go to do it?"

"Just head on over to the lobby over there", the Inkling said, "once you get there, you can see if there are any teams that you can join for a turf battle."

"Awesome", Moose said, "thanks for the help."

"You're welcome", the Inkling said, "and good luck in your first battle."

"Thank you", Moose said.

Moose walked up the steps to the battle lobby feeling excited about taking part in a turf war for the first time.

"I've always imagined how much fun being in a turf war must be", Moose said, "now I'm finally going to experience what it's like for myself."

Moose entered the lobby through the front door, and once he was inside, he found himself standing in a test range with squid bumpers and various ramps and platforms that were meant to be used for weapon practice.

"Wicked", Moose said.

He reached into his duffel bag and pulled out an ink tank that he put on his back, then pulled out his weapon: a Krak-On Splat Roller.

"Might as well get a little bit of practice in before I find a team to join", Moose said.

Moose went towards the test range and went to town with his weapon, rolling it on the ground and covering a large portion of the range in ink, and also stopping a few times to refill his ink tank, and after a while, he decided to sit down on the steps of a nearby staircase and take a break.

"Wow", Moose said, "that was quite a workout."

Moose pulled a mango juice box out of his bag and took a sip from it, and as he did so, he noticed three other Inklings enter the lobby: an male blue one with a Topknot hairstyle who was wearing the Octo Tackle Helmet Deco, Varsity Jacket, and Black Trainers, a female turquoise one with a Hippie hairstyle who was wearing the Squid Hairclip, School Uniform A, and School Shoes with Hi Socks, and a female pink one with a Banger hairstyle who was wearing the Classic Straw Boater, White Inky Rider, and Squink Wingtips.

"Looks like those guys are here for a turf battle too", Moose said, "I wonder if they'd like to be on a team with me."

Moose got up and walked towards the three Inklings, who were all having a conversation amongst each other.

"So, did either of you have any luck finding a fourth teammate", the blue one asked.

"Nope", the pink one said.

"Sorry, bro", the turqouise one said, "everyone I talked to is already in a team."

"Terrific", the blue one said, "how are we gonna find a fourth team member for turf war now?"

At that moment, Moose walked over to the group and greeted them.

"Hello there", Moose said.

"Hi", the blue one said, "who are you?"

"My name's Moose", Moose said, "I'm new here in Splatsville."

"Hello, Moose", the blue one said, "my name's Tack, and this is my friend White Rider and my younger sister, Uni."

"Nice to meet you all", Moose said.

"You too", White Rider (the pink one) said.

Uni (the turquoise one) didn't say anything because she was too busy looking at Moose with a mesmerized look on her face, and it wasn't until Tack snapped his fingers that she snapped out of it.

"Uni", Tack said.

"Huh, what", Uni asked, "oh, sorry, I guess I got a little lost in thought there for a minute."

"About what", Tack asked.

"Oh, nothing important", Uni said.

She then went back to thinking about Moose.

"Right", Tack said, "anyways, are you here for some turf war, Moose?"

"I sure am", Moose said, "this is my first time playing it."

"Cool", Tack said.

"I was wondering if you guys would be willing to let me join your team", Moose said, "I noticed that you've only got three members."

Uni thought that sounded like a great idea.

"Sure, you can join", Uni said, "I mean, if it's alright with the others."

"Fine by me", White Rider said.

"Me too", Tack said, "we were looking for a fourth member anyways."

"Nice", Moose said, "glad I could help you guys out."

"So are we", Tack said, "I'll go get us ready to join a battle."

Tack went into the lobby's battle pod and told the computer that he and the others wanted to join a regular battle and then rejoined his teammates, and while they waited for the computer to find another team for them to go up against, the others decided to talk to Moose and get to know him.

"So", Tack said, "what brought you all the way here to Splatsville?"

"Well, I recently moved out of my parents' house back in Inkopolis and decided it was time for a change of scenery", Moose said, "so, I made the long journey to the Splatlands, hopped on board the train to Splatsville, and, well, here I am."

"Cool", Tack said.

"We're all from Inkopolis too", White Rider said, "we moved here not long after the Hammerhead Bridge finished construction."

"That's right", Uni said, "we heard the turf wars here are pretty action-packed and wanted a piece of that action."

"Nice", Moose said, "like I said, this is my first time playing turf war."

"That's a bit surprising to hear", Tack said, "any reason in particular?"

"Mom and Dad didn't think it was such a good idea for me to be getting involved in that kind of stuff", Moose said, "they said I should wait until I'm older before I try and do anything like that."

"They clearly didn't know what you were missing out on", White Rider said.

"I guess", Moose said, "but I know they were just trying to look out for me."

"They probably care about you", Uni said.

"They sure do", Moose said, "but now that I'm older, I'm ready to make a name for myself as a turf battler."

Just then, the sound of a bell could be heard in the lobby.

"And it looks like this is your chance to get started with that", Tack said, "let's go!"

The team of Inklings grabbed their weapons and ran off together for their battle.

"I wonder which stage we're going to be fighting on", Moose said.

"We'll find out soon enough", Tack said.

At the Hagglefish Market stage, some spawner drones flew above it and over to each end of the stage, where on one, a group of two orange Inklings and two Octolings emerged from their drones, and on the other one, Moose and the others, who all had blue ink like Tack, emerged from theirs.

"Here we are, fellas", Tack said, "Hagglefish Market."

"Wow", Moose said, "this looks like a pretty neat stage."

"It sure is", Uni said, "it's also one of the best stages, in my opinion."

"Cool", Moose said.

"Get ready, guys", Tack said, "the battle's about to start."

Moose and the others dove into their spawner drones, and after aiming for where they wanted to land, they were shot onto the stage and emerged from their own puddles of ink in their humanoid forms.

"Okay, guys", Tack said, "let's ink some turf!"

"What's the plan, Bro", Uni asked.

"You take care of the right part of the stage", Tack said, "White Rider and I will ink the area up ahead."

"I'm on it", Uni said.

Uni ran away and began inking the ground with her weapon, a Custom Splattershot Jr.

"What about me", Moose asked, "what should I do?"

"I need you to ink the turf over here with your Krak-On Splat Roller", Tack said, "can you do that for me?"

"You bet", Moose said, "I'll ink every spot over here that can be inked."

"That's what I like to hear", Tack said, "alright White, let's go!"

"Right behind you", White Rider said.

Tack and White Rider ran off firing their weapons, which were an N-ZAP '85 and a pair of Dark Tetra Dualies respectively, and Moose was left alone to start inking the home base.

"Well", Moose said, "time to get rolling."

Moose began rolling his Krak-On Splat Roller all over his team's side of the stage, spreading ink all over the turf, and even inked an area on the left side of the stage that his teammates had overlooked, and then checked the turf map, where he saw that he and his team had already managed to cover a lot of ground.

"We're doing pretty good so far", Moose said, "I better look around to see if there's anywhere else on the map that needs inking."

Moose looked around and saw Uni in the area below him inking some turf.

"There's Uni", Moose said, "she's doing pretty good for someone using a variation of a starting weapon."

Then, he noticed an Octoling from the other team armed with a Splatterscope watching Uni from a platform, and after a minute, he was able to figure out what the Octoling was up to.

"That guy's trying to ambush Uni", Moose said, "I've got to stop him."

Moose hurried off to stop the Octoling, and the Octoling dove into some orange ink and swam through it in octopus form, and after reaching the other path to the area Uni was in, he emerged from the ink in his humanoid form, aimed his weapon at her, and began charging it up so he could fire it.

"I've got that schoolgirl right where I want her", the Octoling said.

But before he could fire, Moose ran towards him and crushed him with his Krak-On Splat Roller, and Uni heard the Octoling get splatted and turned to see Moose standing in his place.

"Moose", Uni asked.

Uni swam up to Moose in squid form through some blue ink and then appeared next to him in humanoid form.

"I heard a noise over here", Uni said, "what happened?"

"There was an Octoling with a charger trying to take you out", Moose said, "I stopped him before he could finish you off."

Uni was surprised by what Moose had told her.

"You saved me", Uni asked.

"Sure", Moose said, "what are teammates for?"

Uni was so happy by Moose's heroic actions, but her mood soon changed when she noticed something coming.

"Moose, behind you", Uni said.

Moose turned around and saw an Inkling armed with an Inkbrush approaching him.

"Oh shoot", Moose said.

Moose tried to fling some ink at the Inkling using his Flingza Roller, but it didn't do him much good, and the Inkling began using his Inkbrush to swing ink at Moose, but before he could finish him off, Uni shot at him with her Custom Splattershot Jr. and managed to splat him, much to Moose's relief.

"Man, that was close", Moose said, "thanks for the save, Uni."

"Anytime", Uni said.

Moose dove into some nearby blue ink, and after refilling his ink tank and recovering from the Inkbrush Inkling's ambush, emerged from the ink.

"Now then", Moose said, "let's get back to inking."

"Way ahead of you", Uni said.

Moose and Uni began inking some turf that had been inked by the orange team, and meanwhile, Tack and White Rider were on the orange team's side of the stage inking their turf.

"We sure are covering a lot of ground, Tack", White Rider said.

"I'll say we are", Tack said.

He then fired at an Octoling coming towards him with a Carbon Roller and splatted her.

"This battle is as good as ours", Tack said.

But at that moment, someone fired a shot right in front of him, and he looked up to see the Octoling with the Splatterscope who had tried to shoot at Uni previously aiming at him.

"Uh oh", Tack said.

White Rider was inking the turf in front of her with her Dark Tetra Dualies, when someone splashed some ink right in front of her.

"What the", White Rider asked.

She then noticed an Inkling armed with a Sloshing Machine standing in front of her.

"Oh no", White Rider said.

White Rider hurried over to Tack as the two orange team members began closing in on them, and just then, the Inkling with the Inkbrush and the Octoling with the Carbon Roller, the latter of which had managed to respawn, joined their teammates in approaching the two Inklings, much to their worry.

"They've got us surrounded", Tack said.

Elsewhere on the stage, Moose and Uni were making their way towards their team's end of the base to check if there were any spots there that needed inking, when Uni noticed Tack and White Rider in trouble.

"Moose", Uni said.

"What's up", Moose asked.

"Look", Uni said.

She pointed at the orange team closing in on her brother and friend.

"Looks like the others are in trouble", Moose said.

"We have to do something", Uni said.

"Don't worry", Moose said, "I know just what to do."

He proceeded to turn into squid form and swim towards his troubled teammates, much to Uni's concern.

"What are you doing", Uni asked.

"Don't worry, everything's under control", Moose said, "I've been waiting for the right time to use this ability, and it looks like now is that time."

Moose soon arrived at the spot where Tack and White Rider were in trouble and turned back into human form and began running towards them.

"Here goes nothing", Moose said.

He then activated his special weapon: the Kraken Royale, and as the members of the orange team got ready to finish off Tack and White Rider, they heard a noise.

"Do you guys hear that", the Sloshing Machine Inkling asked.

The group looked behind them and saw Moose swimming towards them as a giant squid, to their horror.

"Scatter", the Splatterscope Octoling said.

The team tried to get away from Moose as quickly as they could, but half of them ended up getting splatted by him performing charge attacks, and the other half got splatted by Tack and White Rider while trying to escape.

"Alright", White Rider said, "wipeout!"

"And I think we know who to thank for it", Tack said.

The two of them looked over at Moose, who had just turned back to normal after his Kraken Royale wore off.

"That was some quick thinking, Moose", Tack said.

"It was nothing", Moose said.

Suddenly, the song "Now or Never!" began to play, which could only mean one thing.

"Let's not celebrate yet, boys", White Rider said, "we've only got one minute left."

"Then we don't have a moment to lose", Tack said, "let's get inking!"

"I'm all over it", Moose said.

Moose joined Tack and White Rider in inking turf inked by the orange team, as did Uni, and even helped take out members of that team whenever they tried to attack them, and this went until the end of the minute, when the sound of a whistle blowing rang across the stage.

"That's time, you guys", Tack said.

The teams' Spawner Drones appeared and took them off the battlefield, then brought them back to the lobby, where they all looked at a TV screen for the final results of the battle, and once the amount of turf inked by both team's was calculated, Judd held up a flag for the blue team, which meant that they were the winners of the match.

"We won", Tack said.

The four Inklings performed their victory emotes in celebration, with Tack's being a Flip Out, Uni's being a Roundhouse Ballerina, White Rider's being a Lowdown, and Moose's being a You're Welcome.

"Good work, guys", Tack said, "we sure showed that other team who's boss."

"Yeah", Uni said, "but we couldn't have done it without Moose's help."

"You're right, sis", Tack said, "Moose sure came to our rescue a few times during the battle."

"I'll say", White Rider said, "and let's not forget all that turf he inked on the battlefield."

"True", Tack said, "he may be a beginner, but he's the best beginner I've ever had as a teammate."

Moose felt happy hearing his teammates say such wonderful things about him.

"Gee, thanks you guys", Moose said, "that really means a lot."

"Oh, it's nothing", Tack said, "in fact, how'd you like to keep battling with us?"

"Really", Moose asked, "I'd love to."

"Great", Tack said, "I'll go get us ready."

Tack put the team down for another regular battle in the battle pod computer, and while they waited, they practiced with their weapons in the test range until soon, the bell rang.

"Time for battle", Tack said, "let's go!"

The team hurried away with their weapons, and soon, the spawner drones were flying over the Brinewater Springs stage and stopped at each end of the stage, with the opposing team, which consisted of three Inklings and one Octoling, all with pink ink, emerging out of their drones, and Moose and the rest of his teammates emerged from their drones with green ink like Moose.

"Alright guys, you know the drill", Tack said, "let's get out there and win this thing."

The team dove into their drones, and after aiming for their landing spots, they were shot onto the stage and began inking the turf.

"Okay, fellas", Tack said, "time to go to town!"

Everyone on the team began inking the turf on their end of the stage, with Moose going back to ink the starting point.

"If I keep this up, our team will have plenty of inked turf in no time", Moose said.

But up ahead, as White Rider was inking some turf, she noticed three of the members of the pink team coming towards them with their weapons.

"Uh, guys", White Rider said, "I think we have a problem!"

The others looked and saw the pink team members coming towards them.

"They came straight for our base", Uni said, "they're gonna wipe us out."

"Oh no they're not", Tack said, "because we're going to rain some heck on them!"

Tack charged towards the pink team members firing his N-ZAP '85 and managed to splat one of them, but another one, an Inkling armed with a Range Blaster, managed to splat him after firing some shots.

"Tack", Uni said.

The pink team continued to ink turf as they closed in on Moose and the others.

"Fall back", Uni said.

The remaining members of the team began moving back, and as Moose did so, he noticed a lower part of the stage that hadn't been inked by either team and thought of something.

"Lightbulb", Moose said.

Moose jumped down towards the un-inked part of the stage, and meanwhile, Uni and White Rider were trying to avoid getting splatted by two of the pink team members, but were having a bit of trouble doing so.

"This isn't looking good", White Rider said.

"Don't worry", Uni said, "I've got just the thing to give us an edge."

She took out a Wave Breaker, her special weapon, and threw it onto the ground, and it began releasing shockwaves that dealt damage to the pink team members.

"Way to go, Uni", White Rider said.

"Thanks", Uni said, "now let's splat these guys!"

The two female Inklings fired their weapons at the two pink team members, who tried to flee from them, and managed to splat one of them, but Uni's Wave Breaker soon stopped, and the other one, an Inkling, tried to splat the two with his Jet Squelcher, but was promptly splatted by Tack, who had just respawned and caught up with his teammates.

"Good timing", Mo said.

"Sorry if I took a minute", Tack said, "I was busy inking turf the other team had inked."

"Thanks, bro", Uni said.

"Where's Moose", Tack asked.

"I think I saw him run off that way", Uni said.

The others looked in the direction Uni pointed in and saw the turf that Moose had inked, then saw Moose himself inking some of the turf in the middle of the stage.

"There he is", Uni said, "over there!"

"I see him", Tack said, "but it looks like he isn't alone."

Moose didn't notice the pink team member Tack had splatted earlier, an Inkling armed with an E-liter 4K, watching him and waiting for the right moment to fire her weapon at him, and pretty soon, Moose's ink tank began to run low.

"Whoops", Moose said, "I better refill."

Moose dove into some green ink to refill his ink tank, and the pink Inkling began to move closer towards his location, and when he emerged from the Ink, he noticed the Inkling aiming at him with her weapon.

"Uh oh", Moose said.

But before the Inkling could pull the trigger, she noticed a green Suction Bomb land next to her, and before she could react, it exploded, resulting in her getting splatted.

"Man, that was close", Moose said.

Then, Tack, who had thrown the bomb, appeared in front of Moose with Uni and White Rider joining him.

"Thanks, Tack", Moose said, "you sure saved my neck there."

"No problem", Tack said, "it was the least I could do after you inked all that turf over that way."

"Yeah, that was a smart move there", White Rider said, "you took advantage of the team being occupied with us to ink some turf that they had missed."

"Just a bit of quick thinking on my part", Moose said.

"Nice", Tack said, "now, let's get back to inking so we can seal the deal on this battle."

"Music to my ears", Moose said.

Moose and the rest of his team went to work inking the turf on the stage, but the pink team wasn't out of the fight yet and managed to fight back, and the battle went back and forth for the most part, with members from both teams each getting splatted over the course of it, but during the final minute of the battle, Moose and his team managed to ink a good portion of the stage's turf.

"Keep it up, guys", Tack said, "hang in there a little longer, and we'll have this battle in the bag!"

But the team was in for a big surprise, because not too far away from their location, the sole Octoling on the pink team activated her special weapon, the Ultra Stamp, and began making her way towards them, and when they heard the sound of her Ultra Stamp, their reactions were ones of pure horror.

"Oh carp", Tack said, "it's an Ultra Stamp!"

"An Ultra Stamp", White Rider asked, "we're in trouble now."

"If that Octoling splats us all, we'll never be able to recover in time to win the battle", Uni said, "what do we do?"

Moose could see the Octoling getting closer, and after thinking for a moment, he began to run towards her while rolling his Krak-On Splat Roller on the ground, much to the others' surprise.

"Moose, what are you doing", Uni asked, "get back here!"

"You won't last a minute against that Ultra Stamp", Tack said.

But Moose didn't listen and charged bravely towards the Octoling, who saw him and managed to make a beeline for him, and as she got closer, Moose dove into some green ink, emerged close to her, and crushed her with his Flingza Roller, but at the same time, she managed to hit him with her Ultra Stamp, resulting in both of them getting splatted.

"Look", White Rider said, "Moose splatted the Octoling!"

"Yes", Uni said, "at the cost of him getting splatted as well."

"But at least the Octoling's not a problem for us anymore", Tack said, "let's hurry up and ink some more turf before time runs out."

The remaining team members wasted no time in inking as much Turf as they could, and Moose respawned in his spawner drone, but before he could fire himself back onto the stage, the whistle blew, which meant that the battle was over.

"And it looks like that's time", Moose said.

Moose dove into his spawner drone, and the other drones picked up the rest of his team and the pink team and took them back to the lobby, and they all watched the screen in suspense to see who the winner was.

"Come on", Tack said, "come on."

The results soon came in, and Judd held up a flag for the green team, which meant they had won the battle.

"Yes", Tack said, "we did it!"

He and the others celebrated with their victory emotes.

"We won", White Rider said, "man, that was a close battle."

"It sure was", Tack said, "and the outcome might have been different if Moose hadn't made that brave move against that Ultra Stamp Octoling."

"I knew the chances of that working were slim", Moose said, "but I wanted to try and ensure that we won the match."

"Well, your strategy paid off", Tack said, "splatting that Octoling bought us enough time to ink the right amount of turf to win the battle."

"Yeah", Uni said, "you're amazing, Moose."

"Thanks, you guys", Moose said, "I'm glad you think so."

"I can't wait to see what you have in store for the next battle", Tack said, "I'll go get the computer ready."

"Okay", Moose said.

As Tack went to the battle pod to put the team down in the computer, Moose thought happily about how his first day playing Turf War was going.

"This is even better than I thought it would be", Moose thought.

Moose spent the rest of the day battling in turf wars with Tack and the others, and they managed to get a lot of wins, and also a few losses, but no matter the outcome of the battle, they enjoyed spending time with each other, and that evening, right after the team finished celebrating their latest win, they noticed how late it was.

"It's getting kind of late, you guys", Mo said.

"You're right", Tack said, "boy, time sure flies when you're having a blast."

"You said it", Uni said.

"Well, I guess I'd better be going now", Moose said, "I hope we can do this again sometime."

But before Moose could leave, Tack stopped him.

"Hold it", Tack said, "where are you going?"

"There's a campsite just outside the city", Moose said, "I brought a tent and sleeping bag so I could camp out there."

"You want to stay in a campsite", Mo asked.

"I mean, I can't afford to stay in a hotel or anywhere like that", Moose said, "where else would I go?"

"I might have an idea", Tack said, "come with us."

"Okay", Moose said, "where are we going?"

"You'll see", Tack said.

Moose left the lobby with Tack, Uni, and Mo, and the four of them walked down the streets of Splatsville together until they arrived at the apartment complex at Flounder Heights.

"Here we are", Tack said, "home sweet home."

"You guys live here", Moose asked.

"We sure do", Tack said.

"Nice", Moose said, "it looks like a pretty cool place to live."

"It sure is", Tack said, "and we'd really like it if you joined us here."

Moose was caught a bit off guard by what Tack said.

"What", Moose said.

"How'd you like to stay here with us", Tack asked.

"Really", Moose asked, "I don't know."

"Why not", Mo asked.

"I just couldn't do something like that to you guys", Moose said, "besides, we've only known each other for one day."

"True", Tack said, "but in this one day, we've all gotten to know you very well."

"That's right", White Rider said, "and you're one of the best Inklings we've ever met."

"I'll say", Uni said.

But Moose still wasn't sure.

"What do you say, Moose", Tack asked.

"Well, alright", Moose said, "I guess maybe a little while wouldn't hurt."

"That's what I like to hear", Tack said, "now come on."

The group went inside the front door of the complex and rode the elevator up to the top floor, then walked down the hall to their apartment, where Tack unlocked the door using his key and opened it up, revealing its interior to Moose.

"No wonder you guys chose to live here", Moose said, "this is a very quaint apartment."

"Well, that and it had cheap rent", Uni said.

"Ah, I see", Moose said.

"I'm gonna go fix some dinner in the kitchen", Tack said, "you all hang tight, okay?"

"Sure thing", Moose said.

Tack went into the kitchen and began preparing a frozen pizza, and in the living room, Moose was sitting on the couch reading a Tunnel & Track magazine, not noticing Uni looking at him with a lovestruck look on her face.

"He's so amazing", Uni said.

As Uni continued looking at Moose, hearts formed in her eyes, which White Rider took notice of and decided to talk about with her.

"Hey, Uni", White Rider said.

Uni didn't respond because she was too busy looking at Moose.

"Uni", White Rider asked.

Uni still didn't respond, so White rider clapped her hands to snap her out of it.

"Huh, what", Uni asked, "I wasn't sleeping!"

She then noticed White Rider standing next to her.

"Oh, White Rider, it's you", Uni said, "did you want something?"

"Kind of", White Rider said, "I wanted to see if you had the hots for Moose, but now I see I didn't have to ask."

"What", Uni asked, "me, in love with Moose?"

Uni laughed nervously, but she could tell that White Rider wasn't buying it.

"Is it that obvious", Uni asked.

"Your eyes were shaped like hearts", White Rider said.

"Okay, fine,", Uni said, "maybe I do have a little crush on Moose."

"A little", White Rider asked.

"Okay, a huge crush", Uni said, "just don't tell him, okay?"

"Got it", White Rider said, "your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks", Uni said, "it was awesome enough fighting on the same team as him, and now he's actually living with us."

"Sounds like you're living the dream", White Rider said.

"I sure am", Uni said.

Just then, the timer in the kitchen went off.

"Pizza's done", Tack said.

Everyone went into the kitchen to have some dinner, and soon, they were all enjoying slices of the pizza Tack had warmed up, and later, everyone was winding down and getting ready to go to bed, and Moose and Tack were discussing the former's sleeping conditions.

"So, where do I sleep", Moose asked.

"Well, there are only two bedrooms in this apartment", Tack said, "I sleep in one and Uni and White Rider are sharing the other."

"I see", Moose said, "I guess that means I'm bunking with you, then?"

"Not necessarily", Tack said, "the couch has a fold-out bed you can sleep on if you'd rather have your own sleeping space."

"That sounds good", Moose said.

"Of course, if you'd rather sleep in an actual bed, you can have my bedroom and I'll sleep on the couch bed", Tack said.

"No, no, this is fine", Moose said, "I'll sleep on the couch bed."

"Great", Tack said, "I'll get you some sheets to put on it."

Tack got some bed sheets out of a closet and helped Moose unfold the pull-out bed from the couch and put the sheets on it, and pretty soon, the two of them were done.

"There we go", Tack said, "how does that look?"

"Pretty good", Moose said, "thanks for the help, Tack."

"Anything for a friend like you", Tack said.

Tack walked down the hall to his room, and Moose was left to get ready for bed.

"Well", Moose said, "I guess I'd better get ready to turn in for the night."

Moose changed into his pajamas, then went down the hall to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and after he finished doing that, he went back to his room, turned out his lights, and got under the covers of his bed with a smile on his face.

"Yep", Moose said, "I think I'm really going to like it here."

And with that, he fell asleep feeling happy about his amazing first day in Splatsville.