"Frye. Shiver. Big Man. This is Marie. Your boss? Yeah I just heard about the Splatfest. About the titanic fight you three had in the studio. And all I can say is...I'm very disappointed in you. We told you how it went when WE tried idol Splatfests. So why in Cod's green earth did you try it t-"
Click. Even after a year, War Frye still couldn't bring herself to listen to that in full.
It was evening by now. Everyone had retired to The Heights. A collection of older buildings. Not as tall as skyscrapers, but taller than the general buildings. They stood the best chance in the flood, and were rarely damaged if at all. Most were cramped and noisy, but they were home in some manner. War Frye had one of the better, more intact ones, where she would wile away evenings overlooking her kingdom. But tonight felt different. It felt...wrong. Doubts could invade her mind at times, sure. But never like this. Even she barely thought back to that...accursed Splatest like she was tonight. Eating away at her, making her remember the pain. So what was different tonight?
Was it Shiver? The NEW Shiver, at that? The meltdown in the city square was simply something she wasn't expecting. She thought the Octoling would be overjoyed at this new lease on life! What had happened for her to feel so lost at the lack of a Big Man?
...Come to think of it, why was SHE?!
Taking another drag of her cigarette, she flicked the remaining charred stump to the ashtray and growled, pinching the bridge of her nose. Whatever problems she was having now, the thick and nasty smoke in the air was never going to help. Getting to her feet, she hobbled towards the sliding door to the balcony outside, forcing it open with a deft grunt. The air in The Heights was crisp and clean, free from the saltwater taint from the streets below. A dark sky, stars twinkling in the void. It was...
"Pretty, isn't it?"
War Frye jumped somewhat at the voice. Of course, she knew who it belonged to. It was War Shiver, now dressed in better clothing; she had spent Cod knows how long in goop-drenched shawls and bandages, so War Frye let her change clothes back at the apartment. She still wore her sarashi wraps around her chest with no real shirt in sight, but now she wore a black, tattered longcoat over it, sleeves rolled up the elbows with the lavender lining of the coat showing through. Two pins adorned the lapel, with rips down the bottom of the coat itself. This was worn alongside some blue pants and black socks, with some slightly more sensible purple flip-flops over the top of them. Finally, adorning her head was a headband to keep her tentacles out of her eyes, with a swirling blue and purple pattern.
War Frye sighed and sat down alongside her new companion, crossing her legs in the way she used to on the Anarchy Splatcast; widely arched, feet pressed against each other at the soles and she grabbed her ankles. She spoke quietly, "I...suppose, yeah."
"...Couldn't sleep?"
War Frye shook her head, "Nah."
"Me neither," War Shiver sighed silently, taking a sip of the glass of water she had taken with her. The air was certainly quiet tonight, as well as cool. Both were, in their own way, used to the sounds of Splatsville at night; cheering, shouting, loud music and the occasional bought of brawling. But for once, in a manner that brought ice to War Shiver's veins, the city was...quiet. Still the odd argument and fight here and there, but even compared to the total silence of the ruined world she had just left, this all felt too alien for her.
There was such more silence as the two sat, unspeaking, staring into the distance at the tall, dishevelled towers of the city. Eventually, someone managed to speak, and it was War Frye, "...So...you okay, Blue?"
"...No," War Shiver said despondently, though she turned to her co-insomniac anyway, "Listen, I'm...sorry, I guess. For acting like I did back there. It was just all too fast."
"Nah it's okay, I get it," War Frye chuckled, "Blew my little ol' mind just the same. Whisked away from a world that was dead to one that was dying. I...thought you'd be happy, here."
"Happy?" War Shiver asked. There was no anger behind a statement usually dripping with it, no malice. Just sheer, genuine confusion, "Here? Half the city could collapse at any moment!"
"Well yeah..." War Frye said, "But it's home, eh? Gotta beat being in a city overtaken by that bear...thing. I guess you fought him too, eh?" War Shiver nodded, "Figures. That Neo guy...gal...thing, kicked his ass good, though!"
"I wish I could say the same thing," War Shiver puffed away some flies that were trying to mingle with her drink, "He never came back. We waited for him to come back victorious after we sung that song, but he never did. And then the world went to..."
"Hell?" War Frye asked, to which War Shiver nodded again, "Yeah well, part of me always wanted to see what would have happened if we lost. And now I kinda don't."
"Yippee for you, then," War Shiver grumbled, "So if you managed to win against him then why go through the trouble of going to another universe and getting another me?"
Another pause, War Frye wasn't sure how to respond to that. She felt the gears churning in her head, getting caught on half-formed ideas. She stumbled and coughed, "W-Well I...sometimes you just need a breath of fresh air and-"
"WHY. ME?"
Silence. Neither dared to speak again, with only the howl of the wind and an errant gunshot going off doing something to ease the tension. War Shiver looked over at her discussion partner. She was fidgeting, hands enclosed in hands and the heels of her feet kicking the backboard of what they were sitting on. And then...a sob. A sniffle, a hand brought up to wipe a tear.
"Because...because I wanted to get out of this life," War Frye sneered, "Start again! Me, you, Big Man. Bandits of the Splatlands! And no FUCKING SPLATFEST TO RUIN IT!"
War Shiver was taken aback by the outburst, leaning backwards as the air grew warm with the Inkling's anger. After a short pause, she sat back up straight and placed a hand on War Frye's shoulder. She spoke softly this time, "Splatfests? How bad could they be? In my world we only did about...two of them before...y-y'know."
"...Yeah," War Frye sighed, "Rock vs Paper vs Scissors, Gear vs Grub vs Fun. Who won those?"
"Uh...you won the first one, Big Man the second?"
"Really?" War Frye asked in genuine shock, eyes bulging out. War Shiver nodded, and War Frye settled back down to her sad state, "Well, in my timeline...let's just say we did many more. And you got a lot more fortunate...a, hell of a lot more."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you won 'em all, Shiv," War Frye growled, "Well, okay not ALL all of 'em. But there was a time where you simply could not be stopped. Big Man won a few times, even swept the scoreboard when he did!"
"...And you?"
"ONCE, Shiv," War Frye recounted bitterly, "Exactly. Fucking. ONCE. And never again. It just felt so...bad! Do you understand how it feels? Losing over and over and over again? It affected...everyone, I guess."
"Oh my..." War Shiver said, her face contorted into one of shock, "Say, I...didn't rub it in that much...did I?"
"Scripts made you, I guess. Made you act overly smug every time. 'Oooh, thank you Shiver Nation! Nice to see you picked your queen! AGAIN.' Things got...ugly, I guess. People started saying all your supporters were simps, things got misinterpreted, racism allegations...we took a hiatus after the Vanilla vs Strawberry vs Mint Choc Ice Cream Splatfest and it still wasn't enough."
"...You had an ice cream Splatfest?" War Shiver asked, to which War Frye nodded, head shaking, "...W-Who won?"
"YOU DID, OBVIOUSLY!" War Frye exploded, getting to her feet and staring at her, "They literally called you Vanilla. They called your FANS Vanilla! And you STILL won. They never wanted to support you for your themes, they supported you for YOU. Because you got all the good looks, the skimpy shawl, the bindings - sorry, Sashimi!"
"Uh, actually it's Sarash-"
"The fact is, you got the good looks and the smug personality. Big Man got...well, his Biggy Mannish charms. Me? I got Hammer pants and a 'Fivehead'. They..." War Frye finally sat down, dejected, like the air was left out of her lungs, "...They loved you. And they hated me."
"No, no..." War Shiver sighed, leaning closer to her comrade, "I-I'm sure you had dedicated fans, too! I'm sure they had a good reason to pick me, I'm sure!"
"I'm not..." War Frye sniffed bitterly, "And you wanna know why? Because for our one year anniversary, we had...a special Splatfest. You. Versus me. Versus Big Man."
Silence, again. War Shiver sat still, letting the impact of such sink in. She turned to War Frye, "They...no. They couldn't have! Everyone knows of the fallout of the Callie vs Marie Splatfest of 20016! There were riots in the streets, people DIED! They couldn't!"
"They did," War Frye said sternly, "Or, our bosses did. We all fought against it. Squidsters did too. We weren't blind to how it was all going. Even you were getting sick of it all. The fame, the fans, the fighting. I was there on a losing streak unknown to anyone, shadows pounding at the walls in my head every month. After a while the endless Salmonid invasions almost felt like a relief from the misery. And yet they did it anyway. 'It'll be a great way to celebrate the year!', they said. 'It'll be water under the bridge this time!' 'We KNOW what we're doing now!' Two days. Two days of shit slinging. People screaming at each other, accusing each other of cheating, spawn-camping, simping, racism! The city almost tore itself apart."
"...I won. Didn't I?"
"By a landslide." War Frye said. Regret, such a nasty feeling, but it welled up within like a flow of bile up her throat even as she thought about what she did, "You got fifty percent of the vote. I got seventeen. You got twenty eight Points overall. I got SEVEN. I never stood a chance. And I may have...lost my nerve. Those shadows pounded at the door extra hard that day! I leapt to my feet, I screamed like a banshee! I hated you, and Big Man. I hated the fans! I hated the city! I DESPISED Splatfest! And in my throes of puerile rage I...I-I..." a short pause before War Frye collapsed to her knees and hugged her shivering body, "O-Oh Cod I..."
She felt a cold, clammy hand on her shoulder. War Shiver knelt down beside her and got close, "It's okay. It's...all over for our old life anyway. You can tell me."
"I told you to drop dead," War Frye choked back sobs, "I wanted someone in the crowd to come along and kill you. Big Man too! So I'd never lose at Splatfest again! So I'd never. Lose. AGAIN!" the final shriek knocked down any confidence the squid was showing on the surface. Tears flowed freely as she sobbed and hugged herself for some form of support. It was a good while before she started up again;
"And someone did."
"What?!"
"I, had fans. They were a small bunch but they were fierce. Devoted. Insane, really. I didn't see you two for a week. Deep Cut was disbanded, Splatfests cancelled until further notice. I stayed at home, in bed, drinking Salmonid cooking wine until I was sick. I didn't bathe, I barely ate, and all the time I just felt those voices! Pounding at the gates again and again. And so, I finally drum up the nerve to find you two. To apologise."
"A-And...?"
Another pause as the squid struggled to get the words out over the flowing sobs. War Shiver began to slowly rub circles on her back with her fingers, swaying elegantly across her aching muscles in the way she knew her Frye loved just, so much. The tense ligaments relaxed in due time, and War Frye finally say up. The tears were dry, and in their place was a hollow stare and drool down her chin.
"They killed you. I come to a meeting spot 'we' agreed on. And I find a bunch of my fans, dressed head to toe in my gear. Stained Team Frye shirts they were supposed to return days ago. And in a little box, both of you. Slashed to ribbons and soaked in your own ink!"
"Oh my Cod..." War Shiver gasped. It was her time to tremble now, shivering hands lifting off of War Frye's back and around her own torso.
"They were so proud! 'Here are the traitors!', they said, 'Just as you ordered! Now you'll never lose Splatfest again!' ...I SCREAMED at you to drop dead and those insane little shits took it as a command! MY Command! I...I killed you! I killed Biggy! And all for some dumb little contest we never, ever wanted to do! I-"
An interruption. War Shiver grabbed War Frye and, with swift movements, hugged her as tightly as she could. Now the tears flowed from them both, and little could be done to stop them anymore. The two cried into each other's arms; for their losses, for their pain, for everything they had gone through. To lose ones friends, by a world of goo or insane fans, it was all too much for them to bear. Perhaps an hour passed as the two embraced each other. Each whispering apologies and assurances to the other. Sweet nothings, somethings, everything in between. The sun began to rise by the time they were done blubbering. The roof of the apartment building was blanketed in stringent orange light as the two unlocked from their hugs, and sat back against the concrete.
"...I..." War Frye gibbered.
"No, no. It's okay..." War Shiver sighed, "We...I'm fine just, being here. Unless you want a drink?"
"Yeah, I need some water. Lemme go get some..."
War Frye stumbled to her feet and ambled back into the building. She was back soon with two glasses of water and some snacks. Sweet crackers and Vanilla ice cream. As Splatfest Law intended. They talked further, voices ringing hollow like church bells. War Frye just went over how she Turned. It was nothing special, really; just a rush of emotions and regrets washing over her mind like a tidal wave until it just broke like a cracked dam. Black fog spilling from her eyes as she screamed out in agony. And before she knew it, she was regaining something approaching consciousness, surrounded by the bodies of the so-called fans and with all sorts of ink on her hands. Something felt off. And yet it all felt so...good.
"That's when I saw the big guy in the blue cloak," War Frye finished, "I trust you've met him now? Well, you saw him when we were in your old universe, I think that's enough. He told me what the shell happened. Basically we are...'Warmongers'. Crazed and corrupted. He told me there was nothing for me in my old world anymore and that my destiny was to lead another city. I was sent here and...well, here we are, I suppose."
"And you went to find another Shiver to replace the one you lost," War Shiver put the last few dots together, "You chose...me."
"Ayep," War Frye sighed, "I wanted...no, I NEEDED you by my side. You and me, we're like family, ever since high school. Bandit queens supreme! We don't need any dumb Splatfests or podcast to get us by. No more of that crap. I've seen it literally tear my world apart! We're full bandits again. Now, and forever!" she stood up and turned to her Octoling companion, "And I need you. Now more than ever. It's why I saved you. It's why you're here. And I know, Biggie ain't here. Trust me, the cloaked guy has tried to find one. But he's either always dead or just...he won't take to it!"
"You mean Big Man's too NICE to be like us?" War Shiver asked, confused. War Frye nodded, to which she shrugged, "Well that's...sorta comforting..."
"So what d'ya say?" War Frye held out a hand, caked in a fingerless glove, "Bandit pals?"
War Shiver raised her hand ever so slightly, but hesitated. This all felt too much, too fast. From one world to another. Told all of this new stuff. Asked to lead a city of destruction. But she would be lying if this all felt so...exciting. New and fun. A fresh start. A...second beginning, perhaps. Raising her hand further, she grabbed the Inkling's with a tight grip and let her be pulled to her feet, "Bandit pals. And no-one and nothing is getting in our way again."
"Haha! Bahut accha!" War Frye spoke in glee, "C'mere you!"
A kiss. A deep, passionate kiss, with the two embraced within each others' arms like the world wasn't watching them. War Shiver yelped in surprise, face flushed bright red almost instantly. But this felt...right. The touch, the feelings, the sparks and smoke dancing between them. God it felt electric! War Shiver closed her eyes and fell into the embrace, the two sloppily making out on as the dawning sun blanketed them in warm orange tones. Soft, jittery feelings sparked between them, within them, like the very act was changing them in some manner. They eventually broke for air, still within their grasps, staring lovingly into each other's eyes. Which is when one of them noticed something...odd.
"W-Wait!" War Shiver called out, "I-Is it me or...did we...your irises were both blue before, right?"
"Yeah? And yours were both purple before, right?" War Frye asked in response. War Shiver nodded. Gears turned in both of their heads before War Frye grinned madly, "Holy mal, I think we just shared Types! Heh. Makes sense, I guess. We shared damn near everything else in life!"
"This is going to be the start of something...pretty cool, isn't it?" War Shiver grinned.
"VERY cool," War Frye said, before an errant yawn brought her out of her high, "Now...let's actually get to bed. We can sleep in, no-one cares. Did stay up all night..."
"Lead the way, Queen Frye."
The two chuckled darkly at the tease, and left for the cool dimness of their now-shared apartment. Lovingly curled up in each other's arms, they slept through the morning and afternoon with nary a complaint. No longer would they ever be apart. They may not have Big Man, yet, but they still had each other. A city. A purpose.
Dawn of a new day. A second beginning indeed.