Chapter Description:

Now that I'm getting more experience, some work for Grizzco has given me an idea for taking on Spike... and Ace does not approve.

Apparently neither does another Octoling who thinks I'm somehow giving other Octolings a bad name, and has challenged me to a duel.
I might not be the best at these things, but I'm pretty sure in turf wars you don't want to single-mindedly try to splat the enemy instead of inking turf...

Disclaimers:
Splatoon is owned by Nintendo
Spike, Ace and Phobos are all my own OCs.

Spike taking me through the rest of Octo Canyon didn't take anywhere near as long as Deepsea Metro, although given that Deepsea was the harder of the two, that didn't surprise me. He also only used the Hero Blaster unless it was a Sheldon Request, allowing for a very quick completion of the mode.

It gave me experience with all of the Hero weapons, and even made me consider a weapon type I hadn't before, the splatlings. I actually asked Spike to leave replaying the missions with other weapons so I could experience just how differently they played when I was focusing on a specific weapon.

Of course, he still took me into ranked battles, which he had more confidence in once he'd realised that both Rainmaker and Tower Control we'd experienced at test stations, and Splat Zones is, as he called it, 'Turf Wars Hard Mode'. We did try Clam Blitz but both agreed we didn't like it.

We missed one chance at Salmon Run due to things Spike had to take care of - he was still living my human life for me, after all - though I still managed to find a way to help. Someone has to drive the boats to and from the stages, after all… and I learned just why it was hard to get people for that too.

See, the Salmonids also attack the boat, and it was my job to use my own Grizzco-issued weapon to defend the boat. It's like a lesser version of Salmon Run - no eggs, only a small area to turf, and having to just splat Salmonids constantly.

Thankfully, I wasn't alone - there was always one other on the boat to help defend it, and to ensure we could respawn each other when necessary. Personally I preferred to be the driver, because the cabin provided at least some protection, but I didn't mind too much. At least with two of us, even being bad with a weapon didn't really risk the boat.

Eventually though I did get to take on the real experience. I thought ranked battles could get manic, Salmon Run feels to me like the evil brother of turf wars. There's just so much going on at once, having to collect eggs and fight off waves of Salmonids…

Just imagine what it was like for me when at the last stage, we hadn't hit quota and I was the only one left. I had to watch as Spike tried to hold them off and revive the entire rest of the team, sometimes having to revive them several times because of the sheer number of Salmonids. That is utter madness.

And it gave me an idea. When I met up with Ace back at the Shoal, I put my suggestion to him.

"Are you insane?" he exclaimed when he heard it. "You've seen first-hand what it's like with the Salmonids, and now you want to challenge Spike at the same time?"

"I know it sounds stupid, but hear me out," I said quickly. "Spike told me I can either choose the stage or the weapon. I could pick a weapon I'm good at, but then he has free reign to pick a stage that will give him the advantage."

"And if you pick a Salmon Run stage, you'll have to use whatever weapon he chooses, and you'll be fighting him and the Salmonids!"

"Yes, but all I need then is one moment where he's focused on them to splat him. All I have to do is defeat him in a duel - once I've splatted him, I've won. It doesn't matter if the Salmonids get me afterwards."

Ace stared at me for a few moments before putting his head in his hands, and hands on the desk, nudging off his cap, a Takoroka Mesh. Finally he sighed and said, "I can't tell if this is a bold and daring move, or if you're completely out of your mind."

"I… can't blame you, I'm pretty sure it'll make for a risky move. But I'm hoping that he won't be as familiar with a Salmon Run stage, and between that, the Salmonids, and his reaction probably being just as good as yours, it should make up for possibly a weapon I'm bad with."

"If you're really going to go ahead with it, at least do it when I'm around so I can watch you attempt this crazy stunt. I'm going to be absolutely astonished if you pull it off."

"What, no confidence in my abilities to do it?" I asked. "I mean, I do have you and others teaching me how to handle the weapons better."

Ace finally looked back up at me. "Aside from you still badly needing more experience… it's not a question of confidence in you. You're just taking a massive risk with this, considering what's on the line. I can still help you, after all we can set up private Salmon Run matches here too, and if you can even remotely guess what weapon he'll choose…"

"Probably dualies. I know, I know, you can't believe how bad I am with them," I said quickly. "But it's also what he always chooses if there isn't a weapon I want to see him use with me."

"You just love giving yourself a challenge, don't you?" he remarked acidly. "Get yourself another Tentacola while I see if I can find anyone else willing to help train you up for this crazy challenge…"

Ace might have been right that this could backfire on me in a spectacular fashion, but I couldn't see any other way to get an edge. If I picked any regular kind of stage, it would leave Spike free to pick a weapon suited to it. If I picked a weapon, he'd pick a stage to counter it. Either way, I was at a disadvantage.

Besides, I suspected that Spike would have a similar reaction to Ace, only probably louder and angrier considering his issues. Provoking him like that might also cause him to make mistakes, giving me another opportunity. I knew it was a risk, but what other option did I have?

I'd come to like being at the Shoal. The upper area not only has a lot of places for people to meet and hang out when not at Deca Tower, it also has plenty of screens that show some of the matches going on, all of which showing details of the participants. Watching them could sometimes give ideas for battle tactics… or they would if I could ever remember them in the heat of the moment.

My watching the matches was interrupted by an Octoling blocking my view, wearing what I recognised as the entire Neo Octoling set. "Is it true?" he demanded. "You're the human giving Octolings a bad name?"

"Uh… technically I'm not human since Spike stole my life… and I wasn't aware I was giving anyone a bad name." Even as I said it, I had a feeling this wasn't going to help. He had the look of someone spoiling for a fight, and it wasn't uncommon at the Shoal for people to settle their differences by arranging a 1v1 duel.

"But you are human really, and everyone's saying you're bad with everything. You think the rest of us left the Octarian Army with all our experience to just let you drag the standard down?"

It was like talking to Spike all over again. "You said it yourself, I'm normally human - I don't have that experience. I still have a lot to learn. You're welcome to help with that," I offered, but he wasn't having it.

"Pick a weapon and take me on at the Manta Maria," he said belligerently. "I'll show you how a real Octoling fights."

"Sure, pick a fight with the Octoling who isn't going to be a challenge," I grumbled. "But fine, if it'll get you off my back…"

He revealed that he'd been named Phobos by his player, and that he proclaimed himself a master with rollers. Just what I needed. We got our match set up, with him picking the Krak-On Splat Roller, not a choice normally available. Off-duty player Inklings and Octolings can use any weapon their player has unlocked though, even though the Shoal's selection is usually limited.

I took a chance on my new liking for splatlings and went with the basic Heavy Splatling. I wasn't even sure it was going to be a good idea, but as long as Phobos respected that a duel settled a matter, I wasn't too concerned.

Ace passed by as we waited for another match to clear the Manta Maria, not noticing me at first. A moment later he walked back into view and gave me a questioning look, which I answered by nodding toward Phobos, making him realise that I'd been challenged. No doubt he'd find a place to watch this match.

On the one hand, a one on one duel is definitely less frantic than a full team. On the other hand though, it means that when you find someone, you know exactly who… and as I quickly discovered, it also meant that if I spotted him, he spotted me.

The only advantage I had was the range of the Heavy Splatling. Once I was aware of him, I could usually manage to avoid the roller's vertical swing… but I also had to pay attention to where he was. Twice when I thought I had a good vantage point, I was greeted by him suddenly springing up in front of me and splatting me.

That was what tipped me off to his tactics, however. We'd agreed that the mode was turf wars, but Phobos was absolutely focused on finding and splatting me. So I started focusing instead on inking the outer areas, and if I spotted him or where he'd clearly recently inked, I ducked back and found another route instead.

"You can't keep hiding forever!" I heard him call out shortly after the one minute left announcement was made. "Sooner or later I'll find and splat you!"

I ignored him, leaving him to hunt around the central mast, while I went around inking around his spawnpoint. I kept a close eye back toward where he was, just in case, and only started inking back toward there once I'd got as much as I could.

He noticed me… but not soon enough to splat me before time ran out. We got taken back to the Shoal and the results were put up on a screen, an overhead view of the map area… which was mostly my purple ink colour, rather than the blue of Phobos.

Phobos looked first at the numbers showing that, yes, he'd splatted me more times than I'd splatted him. And then he looked down, and oh how I enjoyed watching his jaw drop when he saw the amount of ink covered.

"You're squidding me. You have got to be squidding me. You did not just beat me at my own challenge."

From just around the corner I heard the unmistakable sound of Ace bursting out laughing.

I couldn't help myself. I smiled at Phobos and smugly remarked, "Happy to show you how a real Octoling fights."

Phobos tried to say something several times, but finally stormed off without a word.

Ace was still chuckling to himself when I rejoined him, shaking his head. "I actually saw the moment you realised what he was doing. Maybe you actually can pull off this crazy scheme of yours…"