"Welcome to the Tournament of Champions!" Tako's voice yelled through the intercom. "We have our reigning champ, The Shredders! Watch for those Splatanas, they're ruthless with them!"

"And we have our best challenger, Team Yellow," Yaki explained calmly. "Aniya, their team leader, has been knocking people off their pegs like they're insects at a picnic."

"What's this?! It looks like Team Yellow's got a new party member!"

A small camera closed in on Commander. He awkwardly waved at it.

"Tell us, what's your name?"

He cleared his throat. "[C-[ERROR]! [ERROR]!" He pushed the camera away. "[That was weird...]"

"Meet Error! Let's see if he can keep up Team Yellow's reputation!"

Yaki smiled. "This is the final match of this tournumate, and everyone is hyped. I've been cheering for Team Yellow since the beginning. Let's see if they can stop The Shredders, who have been unbeatable for an entire year."

"Let the battle...BEGIN!"

Aniya started off, turfing a bit of the home base as she went. Commander followed her.

"[About this team...]"

"They're good. A team of all Splatanas may seem like a weak strategy at first, but they can gang up on you pretty quick. That means Super-Jumping is a death move." She whistled with her fingers, receiving answers in return from her team members. "Try not to Super-Jump, guys. We don't want a Wipeout like last time!"

"Right!" Exclaimed an Octoling.

Aniya introduced Commander to her team before the match. The Octoling was named Hiro. He mained a .5 Gal Deco. Red headphones covered his ears, he also sporting a light brown shirt and Squid Stitch Slip-ons. He was excited to see Commander was joining the team, and seemed to be a generally happy and carefree person.

"Rodger."

The other voice belonged to Ivory. He was an Inkling and Cuttlefish mix. His defining trait was his long ears. He wore Glassless Glasses, an Inkblack Paddle Back, and Punk Midnights. He was generally pretty calm but was said to secretly very rageful. His weapon was a Bloblobber.

"Commander, you think you can keep them back? They've never gone against a Charger before, so they don't know the proper way to beat one."

"[Okay.]" He stopped where he was and examined the area.

"Don't forget, you have a map!" Aniya called as she rushed ahead.

"[A map, huh?]"

"Hiro," Ivory called.

"Yeah?"

"Make sure the new guy doesn't get splatted, okay?"

"Right!"

Commander pulled up the map, which was displayed on a holographic screen. Aniya had given him a small device that granted them access to the Lobby. The map was also installed into the device. Hiro came over.

"Alright, you see the little squid on the map?" He pointed at a small squid sitting idly in a puddle of yellow. "That's Aniya. Ivory's over there. His icon is a cuttlefish. You and I are right here."

"[Oh. I see.]"

"Alright, let me know if you have anymore questions. I'm going on ahead."

Commander watched as Aniya's symbol was crossed over with an 'x' mark and vanished from the map. A purple octopus symbol stayed on the map for a second after she vanished before vanishing itself. Commander placed the map on the ground next to him and aimed towards the corner. The Octoling poked their head around the corner. They were looking for Ivory.

Commander smirked. "[Gotcha.]"

He removed his finger from the trigger and the Octoling looked his way. They couldn't move fast enough and was splatted. Their 'ghost' took flight, fleeing back to the home base.

"Nice!" Hiro cheered.

"Woah!" Aniya gasped. "Maybe I underestimated you!"

"Nice," Ivory agreed.

Commander put his focus back onto the map. The Shredder's leader was closing in on Hiro from behind. Commander moved to a higher position and splatted him, saving Hiro.

"Aah!" Hiro flinched away. "Wow! Thanks!"

Commander gave him a thumbs-up and turned back to the map. "[Who's next?]"

"Looks like Team Yellow's covering ground fast!" Tako narrated. "And with that new Charger, they might be unstoppable!"

Commander aimed at the Octoling again. "[Be afraid. Be very afraid.]" He charged up the weapon before he was sliced up the length of his back.

"I'm not losing to a low-level noob like you." It was the leader of The Shredders.

Everything went dark for a moment before Commander staggered out of the spawn point. He had formed incorrectly and the ink that made up his body was dripping everywhere. Aniya spawned back shortly after, stopping to check if he was alright.

"Oh no!" Tako whined. "Team Yellow's being pushed back after Chizu splatted Error! Will they ever recover in time?!"

"The clock's ticking, Team Yellow," Yaki mentioned. "We're down to one minute now. Let's hope Team Yellow can restore their spirits."

Commander growled. "[Low-level noob? Really? That's the best comeback he could [SLANG NOT FOUND]?" He took a piece off of his Eliter. "[Well, I won't lose to an inferior crustacean who uses their free time re-enacting a deadly war in a childish game!]"

"Woah, woah! What's he doing to that charger?!" Tako exclaimed. "Is altering the weapons in the rules?"

"No, but it's not banned either," Yaki responded.

"[Parry this, you [SLANG NOT FOUND] casual!]" He slammed the altered Eliter onto the ground.

He fully-charged it and aimed it at Chizu. He attempted to cower behind a wall, but Commander's alterated weapon just fired through it. It completely wiped out the other team. Hiro and Ivory took advantage of their Wipeout and started taking their turf back. Commander's weapon folded into itself and he continued like nothing happened.

Aniya stood in place, shocked. "What was that?"

"[Hm? Is that not allowed? I saw your [ERROR] doing things like that.]"

"What kind of Special Weapon was that?!" Tako screamed.

Yaki was frozen in shock.

"Those are called Special Weapons, and we don't alter our weapons to do them..." Aniya sighed. "But that was pretty cool."

Commander blinked twice. "[Ah. Oops.]"

Their team ended up winning. They all went to the cafe afterwards to celebrate.

"That was awesome!" Hiro cheered. "The trophy's bigger than me!"

"It's not much shorter than me," Ivory said. "Maybe I can hold onto it."

"Oh, Commander," Aniya said.

"[Yeah? Are you still [ERROR] about my alterations?]"

"No, that's fine now. I was wondering about your hair. It didn't change color for our team. Is it a birth defect? I was thinking it was since you have that tentacle on your head."

"Ooh, it's cute!" Hiro poked it.

A wave of pain surged through his entire body. "[Aah! Don't touch that! That hurt!]" He gently rubbed the tentacle. "[Is my hair supposed to change color?]"

Aniya nodded.

Ivory took a sip of his cappuccino. "I have a defect too. My ink was always black. They managed to get my ink to change, but my hair's still black. I take a medication to stay calm. Black ink leads to aggression. I almost mauled one of my preschool classmates before taking those meds."

"[Well that was a twist. Very twisty.]"

"Please don't say that ever again," Aniya begged.

Ivory sighed. "Aniya and Hiro were nice to me besides it. Of course, I need to regularly go to the doctor to get refills for my meds."

"[How old are you, exactly?]"

"I'm only seventeen, why?"

"[And you were born like that?!]"

"Yeah...It's crazy to think about it now. I can't believe I almost killed a preschooler."

An Inkling with black hair and yellow tips came to their table. His hair was pulled into a ponytail, leaving a thin section of his bags to curl in front of his face. His shirt looked more like a uniform, black and yellow alternating stripes and a zipper pulled all the way up, but zipped down on his boots. A sliver pin of a wasp rested on his right side.

"Well, well! If it isn't Aniya's little team of rejects! What happened to your fourth to make you replace her with Dr. Flug here?"

"[I'm sorry, who?]"

"Leave us alone, Kite. And his name is Commander." Aniya crossed her arms. "Ignore him, Commander."

"[Who the [ERROR] is Dr. Flug and why did he compare me to them?]"

"Rage boy injure Moxxie too?" A female Octoling asked. Her hair and clothing matched Kite's, her thick curls falling to her shoulders. "That's why you got her in the first place, right?"

"Kite, I'm not kidding." Aniya jabbed her finger into his chest. "If you don't leave us alone-"

"You'll what? Sic Blackhat after us? You know what happened last time he forgot his little meds."

Ivory looked out the window, attempting to keep eye contact away. Commander saw his pupils adjust into slits.

"[You know what? [SLANG NOT FOUND] your attitude. I don't like the way you're talking about Ivory.]"

"Oh? Dr. Flug thinks he can stand up to us? Your win was just dumb luck, you deformed freak."

Commander jabbed his finger into Kite's chest. "[Leave Aniya and her friends alone!]" He attempted to pull his hand off, but it was stuck.

"Get your hand off of me!"

"[I'm trying!]"

Green lines traveled up Kite from where Commander's finger was. "What is this? Stop, this hurts!"

Commander used his foot to shove off of Kite, separating the two of them.

"Y-you monster! What did you do to me? What is this stuff?"

The left half of Commander's vision was blocked by a red screen that told him, "Virus spread. The Inkling [Kite] has now been infected."

"[Virus?! How do I [ERROR] that?!]"

"Virus?!" Kite screamed. "This is why you should leave Splatopia, Aniya! Your team of freaks are going to kill someone!" He stumbled towards the door.

"I'm coming, Kite!" The Octoling helped him stand. She helped him leave.

Ivory's ears perked up a bit. "What was that beep?"

Commander rubbed his eye to remove the warning notice. "[That was weird...Virus?]"

"What beep?" Hiro asked, returning with a Sundae. "What'd I miss?"

"[I think I might be an android. My eye had a pop-up that told me about some sort of virus. I might have infected Kite with it.]"

"Oof," Hiro sighed. "At least he can't bother us for a while. He's a jerk."

Commander looked at his hand. "[Everything I do makes me worse and worse, don't they?]"

Aniya smiled. "You're good. Plus, Dr. Flug is one of the most liked characters! I'll take that as a complement!" She winked.

"[I still don't know who that is...]" He examined his hand. "[I shouldn't touch [SLANG NOT FOUND] for now. To keep you all [ERROR]." He rubbed his head. "[ERROR]. [ERROR]." The color faded from his eyes.

"Uh, Commander? Are you okay?"

He stood in silence for a moment, then whirled around on one foot to face her. "[Yup! Just peachy! What's crackalacking, home skillet?]" His hand began melting slightly. "[Oh, well that's not good.]"

"Please never say that again," Aniya cringed. "Is your hand okay?"

"[Probably?]" He fixed it using his other hand. "[There we go! Good as new!]"

Ivory rubbed his eyes and his pupils returned to normal. "Glad to hear it."

Commander, since Ivory had changed after the round, was finally able to see what he meant by casual attire. He liked the color black, it seemed, as he wore a black ruffled shirt with a bright red string tie, a deep blue shawl over his shoulders, it having the pattern of small red fireworks and clouds outlined in a slightly lighter shade of blue. His pupils were yellow, his sideburns were brushed to the right side, them only falling to his chin and the back of his hair to his center back. Most of it was pulled into a high ponytail.

Commander turned back to Aniya. "[How'd you get that slit in your eyebrow?]"

"Park accident. Fell off the monkey bars."

Hiro chuckled. "I accidentally shoved her off."

"[So you two were friends since childhood?]" He sat back down, scooching his chair closer to the table.

Hiro nodded.

"Yup. I met him at the park when he apologized for shoving me off the monkey bars." Aniya stole a bit of his Sundae.

"Hey..."

She chuckled. "We were friends ever since."

"[What about Ivory? How did you [SLANG NOT FOUND] him?]"

"I was getting more meds when Aniya bumped into me."

"[Ah. Who is this Moxxie he mentioned?]"

"Moxxie's my sister," Hiro explained. "She was on our team for a while before Ivory well...Let's just say we're lucky she's alive. She didn't want to do Turf War after that. She only does Ranked now."

"[I thought he was fine with his [ERROR]. Why did he attack her? What was up with your slit pupils?]"

"Just because I can be calmed, don't mean it's not my nature to hurt. I need to be careful in battles, because losing my temper leads to me attacking someone." He pulled up his lip a bit to reveal his fangs. "It's not natural for Inklings, Octolings, or Cuttlefish to have fangs like mine. They only have two or three, not a whole mouthful."

Commander rubbed his with his tongue. "[Huh. Didn't notice I had them either.]" The right side of his face began to droop. "[Let me guess, melting again?]"

Aniya nodded.

He fixed it the best he could. "[It's not really staying...]" He eyed a Jellyfish as they passed him. "[Blended up real nice...Wait, what I am saying? That's cannibalism!]"

"Hey," Hiro said, changing the subject, "we should tell big sis about our win!"

"Oh! That's a great idea!" Aniya pulled out her sea cucumber phone.

"[Looks familiar...]" He sat down next to her.

She dialed Moxxie's number, and she picked up right away.

Moxxie looked mostly different from Hiro besides the human-like proportions. She looked more like a jellyfish than an Octoling. Her jellyfish cap blocked off her right eye, the tentacles acting like long dreadlocks. She had the same skin tone as her brother however, a dark brown. Her eyes were blue with deep blue pupils.

"Oh, hey girl! How've ya been?"

"Mox!" Hiro pointed at the trophy. "Look at what we got!"

"Ooh, fresh! Nice working there, little bro! I know how hard ya'll were trying at that. Nice to see ya finally did it. How's Ivory doin'?"

"I'm fine. Nobody's been injured for a while." Commander noticed a pink complexion on his cheeks, a small smile spread on his face. That was the first time Ivory has smiled; he didn't even smile when they got the trophy.

"That's great to hear! Who's ya new friend there? What's ya name?"

"[I'm [ERROR]. [ERROR]!" He melting grew worse. "[ERROR] [ERROR]!" He pushed the camera away a bit. "[Not again...]"

"Take ya time, kiddo."

"It's Commander," Aniya explained. "He keeps erroring every time a camera gets close to him. I wonder why. We think he's some sort of robot."

"Cool, huh?" Hiro asked.

"For eel! But I'm about to leave, I gotta go to work. See ya later, Hihi!" She waved to the camera.

"See you later, Mox!"

The call ended.

"Are you okay, Commander? That's the second time that happened, and the fourth time you started melting today."

He pulled out a pocket knife. "[Aniya, I'm [ERROR] for what I'm about to do here, but I'm starving.]"

"Huh?"

He sliced off her braid and backed away from her. "[Again, so [SLANG NOT FOUND] about this. I also need a piece of your hair, Hiro.]"

"What?!" He covered his tentacles. "No way!"

"[Okay. This guy will have to do.]" He grabbed a passerby and took a hair tentacle from them too.

"Not cool, man!" They said as they exited the cafe.

"[Blender, blender...]" He frantically looked around. "[Oh! There's one...]" He reached over the counter.

Aniya grabbed him and pulled him back. "Commander, what are you doing?"

"[I'm starving...This will help the melting, I [SLANG NOT FOUND]."

Aniya let go of him. "Okay, but only because you're sure about this. You can't use that blender, that's for smoothies. I'll let you use the one at my house."

"He can use mine," Ivory offered. "And he can stay at my home as well. I thought it would be a nice trade. He can make himself hair soup and I give him a roof over his head."

"[SLANG NOT FOUND], Ivory.]"

"You're welcome. That is, if you were thanking me."

He nodded.

"Alright." He stood, towering over everybody at the cafe, who were all relatively short. "Let's go then."