It had been only an hour since Lux woke up, and he and his father had already left to go to Ammo Knights. Lux gave eager glances to the other stores at Booyah Base, despite knowing he'd be turned away. The two entered the larger, rougher looking building marked 'AMMO KNIGHTS' and immediately saw countless weapon lining the walls. Chargers, rollers, bombs, you name it.

"Ethan! My, it has been a while!" Sheldon blurted excitedly.

"It indeed has." Lux's dad stuck his hand out in greeting to the horseshoe crab.

Sheldon quickly turned his attention to Lux, who was admiring an E-Liter.

"Ah, you've found the E-Liter 3k. One of my most coveted weapons, and with good reason. The E-Liter 3k is designed to withstand extreme pressure, allowing you to charge it up even further than the traditional Splat Charger. As a result, it has incredible range and truly fearsome attack power of Chargers there is no rival! It's great for forging a path forward. Hit enemies with Burst Bombs and make sure they've got nowhere to hide with the Echolocator!"

The crab then walked over to another weapon. "If you want something that doesn't sacrifice mobility or consume too much ink, then the Squiffer might be right up your alley! It's a relatively new invention of mine that's lately been flying off of the shelves, and that's because many consider it to be the best Charger there is! It's got the right balance between great power and easy handling so you can go splatting without any barriers in your way! Except for a Splash Wall, but yadda yadda . . . "

Sheldon continued to prattle on and on, until Ethan finally stepped in and informed him that Lux was just starting out.

The horseshoe crab simply handed them the Splattershot Jr. and they went on their way. Before leaving, however, someone nudged Lux into another customer's roller, giving him a rash on the side of his face and causing some items to fall down, as well as angering the roller's owner. Ethan simply dragged him out before any further commotion could start.

"Are you okay?" he asked his son. Lux simply nodded. Ethan knew he was used to this treatment, which frustrated him all the more, but not much could be done about it without causing more trouble than he meant.

"Let's just get to Inkopolis Tower, alright?" He hoped no further issues would occur in battle, especially considering this would be Lux's first impression of real Turf Wars. Otherwise, he may never participate again, and Ethan wasn't sure he'd be able to watch his son give up the dream he'd had for nearly ten years.

Callie sat in complete darkness. She didn't know what to think or how to feel about anything that had just happened. Her knees were tucked up to her chest, her head resting atop them. The floor below her head was soaked in tears; the blood of her and her cousin's wounded relationship. It couldn't be helped. Everything had taken Callie by surprise; the Splatfest, the sudden surge of business on her schedule, and now this. Now she was letting it out, all of it, from the day her own cousin reveled in being more famous than her.

Marie was wrong. She wasn't just angry about the Splatfest. Right? No, of course not. Marie was the one acting immature; she clearly didn't care how winning affected Callie. And then she had the audacity to claim she was out of line? No, it couldn't happen like this. Callie couldn't let her feelings get to her. She had to fix things with Marie, they were family. But how? After their fight earlier today, it didn't seem possible.

The first time they fought, it was when they were just starting out. That paled in comparison to what had occurred this morning. Or was it this morning? Callie's memory had been affected by the shock of it all, and she already had a poor sense of time. But she felt strangely hungry; how long had it been since she last ate? Even with all the turmoil, there was no way Callie would neglect her own health. Maybe Marie, but not her.

When I she lifted her head, however, she was struck with bright light from the sliding glass doors. There was no way. Had she sat there, crying all night? No wonder the carpet beneath her was so wet it sank under her weight. Now that Callie was aware of her surroundings, she could hear the bustle of the city below the apartment as well as the occasional noise from an appliance, like water or air conditioning. Everything around her was empty. Callie was empty.

The Inkling stood up and went into the kitchen to find her phone. The counter was littered with several items, including Marie and Callie's unfinished plates of food. They'd been sitting for hours, waiting to be eaten but never even being noticed. Everything had frozen in place, with Callie left to wonder how to get things moving again. Or rather, if it was even possible.

Light crept in through the tiny, square window. Marie's eyes slowly fluttered open as she sat upright. Her back suddenly began to hurt, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She looked at the bed; it seemed Saria had already woken up. The girl was nowhere to be found, leaving Marie to her own devices. She stood up, using the nearby bed for support. Somehow, she knew she would have fallen off with how little space there.

Marie found her phone and sat down on the bed. She apparently had quite a few notifications, mostly from her friends and online acquaintances. One of them stuck out from the rest: a missed call from her mother. Reluctantly, yet thankfully, she called back.

"Marie! You haven't called lately, have things been going well with Callie?"

The Inkling sighed. "Doesn't seem like it. We had a fight last night, and I left. I don't know what to do anymore, and I'm scared things won't work out."

"I think the best thing you can do for her is wait and give her some space. She has her own problems, you know? I was just on the phone with your uncle and he says she hasn't called back in a while, which is completely out of the ordinary for her."

"Maybe you're right."

Someone could be heard calling her name on the other end. "Sorry, Marie. I have to go. Just remember that you can call me anytime, okay?"

Marie nodded, though her mother couldn't see. "Thank you."

As her mother hung up, Marie fell backwards onto the bed, letting her phone rest in her hand with the screen turned off. In the distance, she could vaguely hear the chorus of Ink Me Up playing; the harmonization of her voice with her cousin's, with the instruments they'd designed together. The Squid Sisters wasn't just a stage name. It wouldn't have come to fruition if their relationship wasn't so easy to mistake for that of two sisters. But something so tight-knit could surely be fixed, right?

Marie gazed out the small window. Inkopolis Tower stood in the center of the plaza in all its glory, the Great Zapfish coiled tightly around it, its essence powering the giant screen mounted on the tower's face. That screen had never been empty for an entire day before. Every day, the Squid Sisters were there, breaking down Turf War news and discussing their plans for the day. But now? Now Marie was sure that would never be the case again. Even with what her mother had told her, it seemed like every attempt to sew the tears back together only unraveled the thread further.

Light poured down from the windows into the lobby as Lux and his father entered. There were some squid bumpers available for target practice and a Shell-Out machine, but for Lux's weapon, target practice didn't seem necessary.

"You've waited fourteen years for this. You ready?" Ethan asked his son.

Lux wasn't even sure how to express his excitement; his dad was right, he had waited a long time, but now that the day was finally here, he didn't know what to think. He simply nodded, his grip on his weapon tightened. The two of them saw a few Inklings conversing in an area to their left. They were sitting on a couch, facing a large television screen that displayed ongoing battles and advertisements. One of them glared at Lux before getting up and going to his locker, presumably to change weapons. Soon enough, Lux would be getting his own. It was only now that he realized this wasn't just a dream anymore. He was not asleep. There was no fear of waking up, no reason to rush anything.

Two other Inklings walked in; one of them was a girl with red tentacles who scowled at Lux, and the other was a boy with lime-green tentacles. They both headed over to their lockers; the girl came back with a charger, that new Squiffer, and the boy had a Rapid Blaster. The bell rang and everyone got up from the couch. It was time for the battle to begin. Lux eagerly stepped into the transport chamber first; his father close behind. The Rapid Blaster boy and the Squiffer girl followed, as well as the other Inklings. Now that everyone was inside, they all changed their ink colors to either green or pink. Then they changed forms; at least, everyone except Lux.

"Oh, no... I should have gone through this with you," Ethan muttered under his breath.

Lux frantically looked to his father for guidance. "What do I do? Everyone's waiting!"

Ethan placed his hands on his son's shoulders. "Think about when you were younger. You've been a squid before, just focus your thoughts and your energy on going back to those days."

"Okay..." Lux slammed his eyes shut. He thought about the first time he'd seen Turf War on television; he was four years old then, so young and innocent. None of the worries of school, no discrimination. Suddenly, he felt himself surrounded by ink and falling into some kind of hole, and he opened his eyes in a panic. There was complete darkness everywhere around him, but soon he couldn't even feel anything. The teleportation. Soon, he would be at the stage and everything would be over.

Within a few seconds, he was resting on something metallic with sun brushing against him. When he opened his eyes, they were immediately blinded by sunlight, which reminded him that he needed to change back to his regular form. This was not as difficult, and he was standing upright in no time. He observed his teammates; thankfully, he was with his father, one of them was the Rapid Blaster boy, and the last one he didn't recognize, but he was wearing a varsity jacket and carried a Flingza Roller. All four of them had pink tentacles. The stage was Museum D'alfonsino, with its spinning platforms in the center sticking out like sore thumbs.

"It's gonna start, get ready," Lux heard he father say. He nodded and hefted his weapon, preparing for the timer to go down and for the battle to begin.

A shrill, drawn-out whistle sounded and everyone charged forward. They split up, with Lux and his father going left and the others going right. Things went smoothly at first, but the excitement was soon broken by the first encounter with the enemy team.

"Lights out."

Ethan suddenly yelled out, clutching his eyes. He was splatted immediately after, leaving Lux alone with the assailant. The Inkling tossed out a bomb, causing him to block it with his weapon. Plenty of ink got past, however, and most of it ended up in his eyes. His eyesight was a splotchy mess of pink and green... No! His first ever Turf War, and he'd already been attacked with an illegal sub!

Just as Lux was ready for a shock of ink to strike him down, a loud 'BANG' came from out of the blue and he felt someone's footsteps approaching. It sounded like a Rapid Blaster, so it must have been one of his teammates.

"Inkscreen, huh? You'd better lay low at the spawn point until this is over. There's a reason they outlawed that stuff." The voice was tough, he seemed to be close to Lux's age but not by very much.

He helped Lux navigate the dome, eventually encountering more enemies. One of their teammates noticed, but he shook his head and walked away.

"What the hell?!" the Blaster user exclaimed.

He looked up at the grates above.

"Okay. When I say three, you swim up this wall and hold out up there while I keep these guys down here," he explained.

Lux flinched at the thought of falling. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Getting splatted with that stuff in your eyes is the too dangerous. You have to go."

He simply nodded.

"Now, one..."

The two enemies approached slowly. Lux hoped they didn't hear what the Blaster user had told him.

"Two..."

Lux heard a surprise footstep, then took cover in the ink. He heard his teammate call out in shock, but somehow, no ink hit him. In a thoughtless panic, he rushed up the wall, but there was a point that wasn't inked. He didn't think he could make it. Unless he somehow jumped while on the wall, but no one had ever even attempted that before.

Some enemy ink flew in his direction, a few drops landing on him. That was all he needed to push himself up, gliding upward as ink flew behind him like a beam of light. He heard people call out in disbelief at what he'd managed to do, but it didn't matter. He returned to his regular form and curled up behind an inflated barricade, hoping his dad would be there soon enough.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait for long. The familiar sound of the Splattershot Pro made him perk up, and he began to look around, even though he was still completely blind.

"Lux! What happened?"

Lux struggled to get up. "I don't know... I can't see a thing."

All Ethan could muster was, "Oh, no..."

He waved his arms in the air, calling out for help. The match was put to an abrupt end by the monitors and they stepped onto the battlefield, hoping to get some answers.

"Does anyone want to explain what happened?" one of them asked.

The boy with the Rapid Blaster spoke up. "Someone on the enemy team had an Inkscreen and attacked the Luxling with it. It's best if he gets checked out."

"Inkscreen?! How did that get past us?!" the monitors gasped.

"Well, it looked like he was throwing Burst Bombs, so it's likely that the screening ink was hidden inside them somehow," the Blaster user deducted.

Lux and Ethan stepped down to join the others. One of the monitors rushed over to make sure the former was alright, but the others stood by, one of them seemingly indifferent to the situation.

"Do your eyes burn? What are you seeing?" the monitor inquired, her voice frantic.

"They're fine... I blocked most of it, but... it's just colors. It started off with the ones used by our teams, pink and green, but then it just... starting swirling into a bunch of different ones," Lux explained.

The monitor exhaled sharply, then turned to Ethan, worry clearly etched in his face. "It looks like he won't need any attention, but I don't think he should participate in any more physical activities today," she directed him. He nodded.

Ethan crouched down to his son's level. "Lux, I'm really sorry things turned out this way. Let's just go home." The Luxling only gave a small nod. The tears would wash away the screen, but he still couldn't bear to see them. He took his son's hand and helped him make his way to the exit. Even if this didn't have any lasting physical effects, it still might be a while before Lux played any inksports again. A father could only hope.