Tableturf Wars

Shiver and Frye both stared as Big Man took a massive bite out of the cheeseburger he was eating, humming happily as he felts it texture and its juices on his tongue. He closed his eyes in bliss, taking all of the flavor in, as the world around him completely fell away to the sensations of this amazing burger.

30-ish-or-so seconds had passed like this, as Shiver and Frye desperately thought over ways to get this bit of the Splatcast out of the way. They were financially obligated to do it, but the thing was, none of them had prepared or even done anything to think of what they were going to do for this part. And now, here they were, as Big Man ignorantly ate his burger, live on television, with God knows how many people watching. Everyone's eyes were probably locked on the screen, waiting for the rest of the Splatcast to unfold, waiting for something interesting to happen…

"...So…" Shiver awkwardly set her fan down, clearing her throat. She was the first to come up with an idea. "What are you guys doing later?"

"Nothing much." Frye said, playing with her foot in boredom. "What are you doing later?"

Shiver just glared at her.

"What?"

She sighed. "Big Man. What are you doing later?"

"Well…" Big Man took another bite. "I'm going to the doctor later."

"Aw, really? What for?"

"I found a pimple on my fin." He frowned.

They both stared at him.

"...Ok, then?" Shiver shrugged a bit. "Well, I personally was thinking about, well… I…" She paused, having to think some more. "I was thinking about… playing a game."

"Wow, really?" Frye asked. "What game?"

"An intense game." She nodded insincerely. "A game that… recreates the very feeling of war itself."

Big Man suddenly spoke with his mouth full. "Oh, I get it, I get it." He finished his burger, flapping his fins. "And that leads us into today's sponsor."

The feed changed to the advertisement, as dramatic explosions filled the screen, accompanied by footage of an intense, deadly, ink-filled war that was narrated by a loud, deep voice.

"IT'S THE TABLETURF BATTLE TOURNAMENT! THE ULTIMATE BATTLE FOR TURF! SAY GOODBYE TO NORMAL TURF WARS! OUR FATE TURNS TO THE TABLETURF! THIS IS PURE ANARCHY! PURE WAR! BRING YOUR OWN WEAPONS! MAKE YOUR OWN STRATEGIES! PROTECT YOUR OWN GROUND! CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES! CLIMB YOUR WAY TO THE TOP! AND FOR THOSE WHO ARE MAN ENOUGH TO FIGHT TO THE VERY TOP, NOT ONLY WILL YOU RECEIVE A CASH PRIZE, BUT YOU WILL EXPERIENCE HONOR LIKE NO OTHER!"

"Tableturf Battle Tournament not responsible for any injuries or death." A second narrator interjected. "While supplies last."

"THE TABLETURF BATTLE TOURNAMENT! STARTING TODAY AT 1:30 IN THE SQUARE! BE THERE, BE THERE, BE THERE!"

Johnny's Apartment

Sally was on her phone, watching this advertisement all the way until it ended. For a long time, Sally had… a secret obsession. Tableturf and other card games like it weren't exactly popular, but it was something that had always clicked with her… ever since childhood, in fact. It was something she had been mocked for previously, even by ones she once considered friends as early as Elementary School.

Regardless, she had been looking forward to this tournament for quite some time now, and not just because of her secret love for Tableturf that few people knew about, but there… was another reason. Another reason that was even more secret than her secret love for Tableturf. Today… was her opportunity to spend some time with Johnny, and be able to share one of her favorite hobbies with him, no less. She knew, deep down, that she could get him into this game, and today was her opportunity to finally take it.

Now that she had ensured today was indeed the day of the tournament, she checked the time before she mustered the strength to get up and locate him. "Johnny?" She calling his name just before she found him in the bedroom, packing up some stuff. She paused at the doorway. "Uhh… going somewhere?"

"Oh, yeah." Johnny closed his current suitcase. "Sorry, I was about to tell you."

"Tell me… what exactly?"

"I'm going to spend some time with my dad."

"Um…" She awkwardly folded her arms. "For what, exactly? Johnny, we were supposed to go out today. We planned this, remember?"

"...Sally, my dad almost died in an accident and is currently bed-ridden."

"...Oh…"

"I'm sorry about our plans, but, I just can't go today." He kept packing his clothes.

She sighed. "But I…" She hesitated, and chose her words carefully. "…I don't want to go alone…"

He chuckled. "You can take Syd."

"...No."

"Why not?"

"Because I… don't like her."

"Why not?" He insisted.

"Just don't. Look, she's annoying, and we have absolutely nothing in common-"

"Well, this could be an opportunity for you two to bond. Then you'll probably find something that you do have in common."

She glanced out the doorway in the general direction where Syd was currently hanging out. "I dunno…" She turned back to him. "This was supposed to be with you."

"I'm sorry, Sally, but my dad really needs me right now." He kept packing his clothes. "Take Syd. You can make a day of it. I promise it'll be good for both of you."

She sighed. It took a few moments for her to come to her decision, but ultimately… she decided to cut her losses. She lifted her glasses to rub the base of her nose. "…Fine."

After Johnny finished packing up and gave his goodbyes, Sally waved him out the door. After he was gone, she gave off one last disappointed sigh before she went over to find Syd.

Syd was in the same position she had been in all day: Curled up in a blanket on the couch, watching some soap opera she had apparently gotten hooked to, softly tearing up with a half-eaten bowl of popcorn next to her.

Sally slowly walked up. "So, uh… hey, Syd."

She glanced at her, decided to ignore her presence, and turned back to the TV.

"...Whatcha watching?"

"I… don't know what it's called…"

"...But you've been watching it all morning."

"I know…" She grabbed some popcorn. She watched the man and woman couple on the TV as they slowly told each other their apologies for how they treated each other's food (or something), before finally, the woman shoved the man against the wall and they started aggressively making out.

Syd sighed. "…Do you think that someone will ever love me like he loves her?"

Sally stared at her in disbelief before she slowly rubbed her temples in frustration. "…Doesn't Chase love you? Where the hell is he, anyway?"

Hearing his name, Chase's head popped out from the popcorn. He squealed at her.

She paused in disgust before she gently pushed him back under, pretending she didn't see that. "So, uh… you wanna head out and do something?"

"Why?" Syd asked. "I'm watching this. And they're finally making up."

She sighed. "There's money involved."

She paused it. "I'm listening… Where are we going?"

"Ever hear of Tableturf?"

"...The hell is Tableturf?"

The Square

Splatsville's Square was just as chaotic as ever, as Syd, Sally, and Chase made their way down to where the tournament was talking place. Syd was carrying her Tri-Stringer as per usual, and was watching the Deep Cut advertisement on her phone in order to get an idea of what she was walking into. "A whole tournament, huh? Sounds intense."

"It does get pretty intense, yeah." Sally nodded. "It's… certainly a cool hobby."

She put her phone away. "How big is the cash prize?"

She shrugged. "Like a thousand dollars or something."

"...Well… not 4 mil, but I'll take what I can get."

"You and me both." She awkwardly nudged her shoulder. "Anyway, we're about there."

Syd followed her down the alleyway into a small courtyard area. As she walked down the alley, she actually felt a little excited to see what kind of experiences she was about to get from this game. The commercial really drove home how intense it was gonna be, after all. This had to have been the type of fun that Splatsville was known for.

…Then they entered the courtyard. This place was strangely quiet compared to the rest of the Square, with a waterfall hole nearby to provide some relaxing white noise. The yard was lined with a few tables, where a few people were casually and quietly playing the card game.

Syd stared at it all. "…Uuuuhh…"

The Goldfish staff member that was running the tournament slowly turned to them. "Hello, sweeties!" She waved at them. "Come on over!"

Syd glanced at Sally as they both walked over. She motioned to Chase to go wander off and play.

"Welcome to the Tableturf Battle Tournament!" The Goldfish smiled gleefully. "My name is Marigold. Did you bring your own card collections?"

"Got mine." Sally held hers up and handed it over.

"Oh, wow." She smiled as she looked them over. "These are some good cards. You're a seasoned player."

"Uhhh…" Syd looked around. "We need our own cards…?'

"It's no problem, sweetie. I'll just set you up with the starter pack." Marigold walked over to grab some old, used stack of cards, which she handed over. "Here you go."

She stared at them. "…Thanks…"

"Well, take a seat."

She again looked around at how few people there were here as she sat at a table with Sally. She looked at her. "Why didn't you tell me I needed to bring a card collection?"

Sally shrugged, playing it cool. "I don't know why you didn't."

"Because nobody told me this was a card game!" She hissed. "I thought we were re-enacting a war, or something!"

She chuckled. "It's called Tableturf, Syd."

"Wait a minute… this is your actual hobby, isn't it? This pathetic little card game, you actually like playing this game?" Upon seeing Sally's face grow awkward, she suddenly snickered loudly. "Oh my god… this is priceless. I'm actually going to tell Johnny about this later."

Sally grumbled a bit to herself. "It's not funny, you bitch."

"And you're getting defensive about it?" She suddenly gave off a second loud snicker.

She huffed. "Do you want the cash prize or not?"

She recollected herself. "Fine, fine… How big is this cash prize actually going to be, anyway?"

Upon hearing that, Marigold came up to their table, holding up a gift card. "The 1st place victor gets this 50-dollar Krusty Shack gift card, dearie."

Syd stared at her, her amused smile fading as she turned back to Sally. "Dude."

Sally awkwardly scratched her head.

"Yeah. Chase and I are out of here." She stood up and walked off.

Before Syd could get away, Sally suddenly called out to her. "Look, yeah, I get it, it's hilarious, but I just like Tableturf, alright? I needed a partner to enter with, and it wasn't like I wanted to play with you of all people, I was gonna take Johnny, but while he's out, I didn't see another option. It's not like I have any other… friends." She admitted.

She held her hand out as she faced her. "What about your Cannon buddy? I thought you two got along just swell."

"You're joking, right? He wants my liver just as much as he wants anyone else's. I hang out with him for Salmon Runs and nothing else."

She groaned, rubbing the base of her nose.

She leaned back in her seat. "…Look, just… play with me for a while, satisfy my hobby, and I will… owe you a favor."

"...What kind of favor?"

She shrugged. "…Whatever you see fit, I guess. As long as it's not too outlandish."

She stared at her, then at her standard card pack on the table, slowly thinking it over.

As the minutes passed, Syd and Sally sat together, slowly playing this seemingly casual card game… seemingly. As these minutes slowly passed, with the accompanying boredom that plagued Syd's mind, she slowly started to notice something… Slowly, indeed very slowly, she was realizing that she was… gaining interest in this game. This game was strangely… addicting. Even though she didn't really know what she was doing at first, and Sally kept on winning each of the opening rounds, building up tons of overall points for the tournament results, she was slowly starting to figure out her patterns, and was figuring out counter-strategies. And it… excited her.

After another lost round, Sally shrugged a bit at her. "More points for me."

She looked at her, an oddly desperate look in her eyes. "That was closer. I wanna try again."

She smirked a bit. "Oh, is the game burying itself under your skin?"

"...N-No. I-It's just a card game, why would it?"

She chuckled a bit. "Figured it would. This dumbass game ensnares everyone in Splatsville sooner or later."

"No, it fucking doesn't."

"Whatever." She went to start another match. "If you don't get it, you don't get it."

Nonetheless, the game turned steadily more tense for Syd. She was starting to pause more inbetween her turns, examining her cards and thinking up strategies, occasionally making intense eye contact with Sally as she did.

During these games, the people at the other tables kept playing their own rounds in their own silence. At one point, one of these players suddenly stood up in frustration from having just lost a game. "Fuck… FUCK!" He pulled out his high-pressure gun and shot his opponent multiple times in the chest, killing him almost instantly.

As he marched away afterward, Marigold came over and waved a flag over the corpse. "Disqualified!"

Syd casually watched this from the sidelines, and briefly looked around to make sure Chase was still in sight, before she went right back to focusing on her game, still growing more and more desperate. "C'mon, c'mon… give me some good cards…"

Sally glanced at her. "Getting desperate?"

"You shush."

She sighed. "Just saying, but you still only have the starter pack."

"Ooh, I'm gonna hit you…"

"Try and hit me. I dare you."

"You dragged me into this stupid game, you lied to me about it, and now you're just- Seriously, you expected to bring Johnny into this shit?"

"Johnny would've actually been willing ot have fun with me here."

"Fun? With you? Yeah, right. There's absolutely nothing fun about you."

She glared at her, annoyed. "…I mean, he only is my boyfriend, after all. But sure. There's nothing fun about me."

Hearing that, Syd's hearts actually kind of sank. "What- no- but- Johnny said you two only had a fling. Didn't he?"

"Well… He says things like that because he gets anxious about having his relationship public, but yeah, we've been dating long before you ever showed up, sister."

Syd stared at her, then looked down. Was… it true? It couldn't have been… Johnny didn't really like this girl over her… did she? Then again, she… was here before she ever got here. They likely knew each other way better than she knew him…

Sally leaned forward, a mocking smirk on her face. "I'm sorry, does that bother you?"

Syd just glared at her.

"Does it really bother you that much that his dick is mine and not yours?"

"Shut up…"

"Does it annoy you that I get to feel his lips and you don't?"

"Hmmmm…" She looked down and clenched her fist.

"You never had a chance with him, anyway, Lachman. Because he's always been too busy-" She started making mocking kissy noises, sticking her lips out at her.

"Grr…" Syd's fist clenched harder and harder in anger. She was furious. She had never liked Sally since the moment she arrived here- after all, she had always been an annoying bitch to her- but now, she actually kind of hated her. She needed to rub something in her face, she had to take her down, now. She needed to get some kind of one-up over her. Driven by completed jealousy, she just went back to trying to focus on the game, but as they kept playing, she kept finding that Sally simply had the best cards, which led to her losing yet again. She set her cards down, standing up. "God DAMMIT!"

"Toldja about the cards." Sally replied.

"You shush. Grrr…" She turned to Marigold. "Hey. Where can I get better cards?"

She turned to her with her usual smile. "At Hotlantis, sweetie."

"Hotlantis?"

"It's Barry's general store, just down the Square's steps. Speak to Barry and he'll get you set up."

"Fine." She again turned to Sally. "You stay here. Also, watch after Chase."

"Where else would I even go?" She replied, but Syd was already walking away. She shouted after her. "It's gonna take you a little while to get a good collection! Fucking…" She leaned back, getting on her phone. "K, guess I'll wait…"

Syd walked down the Square's steps, looked around before she located and walked into Hotlantis. "Barry?" She looked around. "Can I speak to Barry?"

However, the only person she saw was a Sea Anemone girl, who was sitting on the floor playing with a Ultra Hand toy.

"...Uhhh… hello?" Syd asked.

She finally noticed her. "…Oh, hey." She put it away and stood up. "Welcome to Hotlantis."

"Are… you Barry?"

"Oh, I'm Harmony. I don't really work here, but the manager's usually out, like, most of the time, so… you can shop around, and I'll sell you stuff."

"...Ok…" She shrugged that off. "I need Tableturf cards. Good ones."

"Tableturf? Oh, right, you usually collect them through the catalogue… you level it up, then we give the rewards to you."

"You don't just sell them?"

"Sorry, no… but I can offer you a new catalogue if you don't already have one. Let's see here…" She went over to the desk in one of the backrooms, fished around, and came back, handing her a magazine. "Here you go."

She started looking through it. "Oh, you're shitting me… alright, so how do I level this up?"

"Usually ink battles." She twirled her own hair with her finger. "Anarchy will get you quicker results if you're good at it."

"...Fine… wait here. I'll be coming back for those cards." She turned to leave.

"Not like I'm going anywhere…" Harmony grabbed her toy again and sat back down.

At the door, Syd turned to look at her one last time, noticing the small fish in her hair that… kind of… looked like he was dying from neglect. The fish, who was hunched over, coughed slightly, driving this point home.

"Uh… is your fish ok?" She asked.

Harmony glanced up at him before she turned back to Syd. "Perfectly fine. Why do you ask?"

She blinked a bit, before she decided to just walk out without a word, continuing on her mission. She walked back up the steps toward the Lobby, texting Sally to affirm she was going to be a little while and to stay where she was.

"Shocker…" Sally texted back. She then followed that up with an unnecessary "Just be quick about it squid bitch"

An hour and a half passed as Syd joined a bunch of Anarchy matches, showed no mercy on her opponents, leveled up her catalogue, and returned to Hotlantis.

Harmony was in the same exact spot from when Syd had left, and was still playing with her Ultra Hand toy. Again, she put it away and stood up upon noticing her. "You're back."

She dropped the magazine at her feet. "Tableturf cards, please."

Harmony sighed a bit as she leaned down to pick it up, looking it through. "Hmmm… looks like you've earned… three sets of cards. Still…" She closed it. "Must be pretty good at Anarchy to fill out this much this fast."

"Eh, I'm just pissed off and desperate."

She shrugged and turned to grab the cards, handing them over. "Well… hope they're worth it."

She looked them over. Indeed, they were at least better than what she had before. "Alright… thanks." She again turned to leave. "Also, take care of your fish, please."

As Syd headed out, Harmony again glanced at the fish in her hair. "What is she talking about?" She muttered as he gave off another small cough.

From there, Syd marched back to the Tableturf courtyard, ready for victory, when she was met with a horrifying sight. She paused in her tracks as her eyes widened.

Cannon, the man she previously worked with at Grizzco, was at the courtyard, and had apparently joined the tournament with his girlfriend, Maeve. Some of the other Tableturf players that were around the courtyard were now dead on the ground, possibly by Cannon's hand. The little tentacle hairs on Syd's body stood up as she looked over the scene in fear.

Her eyes instinctively checked around the area for Chase to make sure he was ok. He was indeed, and he was still goofing around the courtyard under Sally's watch… for now.

Slowly, she moved to grab Chase and get the hell out of there before Cannon saw her, but unfortantely, she wasn't fast enough before Marigold noticed her first.

"Hello, sweetie!" She waved. "Welcome back!"

Syd stood frozen like a statue as all eyes turned to her.

"Come on over!" Marigold waved her over.

She gulped as she slowly turned and did so.

"Did you get your cards, honey?"

"...U-… Uh-huh…" She stuttered, avoiding looking directly at Cannon.

Although she couldn't see it, Cannon was drinking tea with Maeve and Sally at one of the tables, having been playing his own games with Sally, slowly building up his own points for the tournament. "Ah, Syd Lachman…" He set his tea down. "So glad you could join us."

Her heart-rate started to spike further. How the hell did he even know her last name? She forced herself to look at him, trying not to think about the nightmares he had gotten from this guy. "…Hey, uh… Cannon. W-what, uh… what're you doing here?"

"It was the funniest little thing." He put his hands together. "My dear friend Sally gave me a call… and told me that you had ditched her at this Tableturf Tournament event. I wondered to myself… why wasn't I invited by my dear friends to such an event? But luckily enough, one of you was nice enough to invite me with such timing."

"...Are we… are we dear friends? I-I'm sorry…"

"Hm… I'd like you meet my dear girlfriend. Maeve." He grabbed his drink and tenderly sipped it. "Say hello, Maeve."

Maeve was too busy texting on her phone to respond.

He gave her a glare. Setting his drink back down, he reached over to twist her arm. "Say hello, Maeve."

"Ow. Hello." She said without a hint of care in her voice.

"Very good." He let go of her. He grabbed his tea yet again. "Now that we're all together… shouldn't we play now?"

"I, uh…" She looked back at where Chase was, wondering how safe he would be around this lunatic.

Cannon watched her as he sipped his drink. "Do we have a problem?"

"N-No." She awkwardly shook her head. "No problem. Just, uh… can I-" She reached to pull Sally aside, where they talked more privately. "What the hell?" She whispered to her. "What is that psychopath doing here?"

Sally folded her arms. "Well, you left, and I got bored."

"Bored? How bored were you?"

"Look, it was an accident, alright?" She whispered, briefly glancing back at Cannon. "Ok, yeah, I did kind of call him and tell you what you did, but- But I didn't actually think he'd show up."

"Oh, didn't you?"

"I'm fucking serious. I didn't even know he was gonna show up until I… saw him. But now… he's just here. And he's not gonna leave." She said, actually appearing quite nervous. She sighed. "Didja get your cards?"

She sighed and held them up. "Yeah…"

"Cool. So… can we keep playing?"

"Not with him."

"Why not?"

"Because Chase is here and I don't want him to get captured by that maniac."

Cannon leaned forward in his chair, speaking up toward them. "If I can make a suggestion-"

Syd jumped as she turned to him, surprised he could even hear her.

"If you give us a fair game of Tableturf, I will be satisfied and will have no reason to hurt your pet."

"...How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Come on, now." He turned to his girlfriend. "Do I ever lie, Maeve?"

Again, Maeve was typing on her phone.

He again leaned over to twist her arm. "Do I ever lie, Maeve?"

"Ow. Of course not. Whatever."

He let go of her and turned back to Syd. "We'll have nothing but fun here. And my… maniac person…" His voice suddenly and briefly grew angry. "…will be gone."

Syd stared at her, then looked back at Sally.

Sally gave her a slight shrug. "Do you wanna win, or not?"

She just thought about that, weighing her options.

She sighed. "Oh, come on. Just say yes, I know you want to."

She crossed her arms. "No, you don't."

At this point, Sally gave her a more sincere look. "…Please…"

Syd stared back, a bit worried by that stare.

Sally did not let up the stare until Syd finally caved in. "…Fine… But let's just go play on our own, away from the maniac." She walked with her to another table, but was again interrupted.

"No." Cannon said with finality.

Syd froze as she slowly turned to him.

"I want to see what you're made of." He told her. He grabbed a chair and held it forward. "Come. Sit. Now."

The next thing Syd knew, she was seated at the table across from Cannon. She was shaking a bit as she held her cards; He was definitely staring at her. She couldn't directly see his eyes through his goggles, but he was definitely staring intensely. Who knew what emotions those goggles hid? She gulped as she looked back down at her cards. She then glanced over at Sally, who was playing against Maeve. She gave a glance back.

Cannon feigned patience as he slowly tapped his own cards. "…Are you going to make a move?"

"...Y-Yeah… yeah." Desperately, she placed a random card down. Then, she winced to herself as she noticed… it wasn't a very good card at all. Uh oh.

She looked back up at Cannon's face, and was met with the most terrifying smirk she had ever seen in her life. He rose his own next card into the air.

"...No-No-No-No-" Syd shook her head.

But she was too late. Cannon set the card down… and just like that, won the game. "You lose."

Syd sighed and leaned her head forward in shame.

"You're not even trying…" He suddenly grabbed the table and flipped it over. "Why aren't you trying!?"

Syd leaned back in fear. "I-I didn't mean not to try!"

"Well, then, start trying harder!"

Maeve rolled her eyes. "Baby, can you not do something totally embarrassing and damaging to my image for 5 seconds?"

Cannon took a moment to breathe, straightening his suit. "…I apologize… but I do not like the lack of effort that is being put into this game today." He looked around at the three of them. "None of you even seem to care…" He then leaned toward Syd. "I have no real reason to spare your pet. Truth be told, I'm still itching to put him into a jar. Alongside the rest of the dumb, inferior animals I have taken into my care. I was planning on sparing him… but if you do not respect me and my talents, I have no reason to move forward with those plans. Do you understand!?"

"...Y-Yes…"

"I didn't hear you." He tapped his own ear, shoving it forward. "Do you understand!?"

"Y-Yeah." She awkwardly nodded. "Yeah."

"...Good." Despite that, he suddenly walked forward to where Chase was hanging out. "If we are on the same page, you will not mind if I hold onto him until we know for sure-"

Syd stood up to object, but it was actually Sally who stopped him, standing in front of him. "Dude, stop this." She told him.

"Get out of my way, Sally." He told her.

"Holding her pet hostage isn't going to make her focus. You're just going to make our situation worse. For all of us."

"As I'm saying, it is the only way I know how to make her focus."

"And I'm saying that, seriously, it's not going to help. Seriously. Relax a bit, sit down, just play the game, and you'll… get a good day out of it. Won't you?"

He inhaled sharply. "…I do like good days."

"Good." She patted his shoulder. "Now, come on. Let's just go… have that good day."

It took a moment before he nodded. "...Yes. Ok." He turned back around.

Syd watched in surprise as Cannon simply went over and to pick the table back up, neatly placing it back where it was. "Dear Marigold, I am very sorry."

Marigold, who also seemed fairly scared of him, just closed her eyes as she forced a smile. "That's ok, sweetie. I appreciate your taking responsibility."

"Yes, with great responsibility, comes… great pleasure." He slowly and carefully straightened the table. "I am indeed happy to be responsible." He placed his stack of cards down and also made sure they were perfectly straight.

As he was doing this, Syd stared at Sally, surprised at seeing him stand up to him for her and Chase like that. Sally glanced back, but said nothing as they all got prepared to play again.

"Now." Cannon took his seat. "Shall we continue?"

Syd was once again laser-focused on the game as they continued playing, narrowing her eyes as she carefully picked her strategies and thus her cards from this point forward. Cannon remained more casual about his own strategies, and occasionally stared Syd in the eyes as he waited for her next move. Syd, who noticed, awkwardly shot her eyes downward.

Finally, it came down to this. They were down to the last turns. They were at a tie, leaving the battle's end to whoever had the best remaining cards, and of course, the cards remained similar for both of them, leaving them as neck-and-neck as they could be.

Syd was anxiously biting her lip as they finally both placed their last cards down. Marigold came over to tally up the points, and Cannon casually leaned back as he watched her do so. Even Sally and Maeve were watching intently, waiting for the final results.

They all looked at Marigold, who looked back at everyone, the same smile stuck on her face. "The final point tally is…" She said, waving her arms somewhat like Judd would do at the end of every ink battle. "49 points for Cannon, 51 points for Syd!"

Syd suddenly felt entire parts of her body relax, as she sighed in relief, feeling released from Cannon's terrifying rage. Cannon remained unreacting, but she could at least see that he was no longer upset about her not trying, and wasn't mad that he lost, either. She glanced down at her cards, thinking about how… strangely good this game felt. She couldn't deny it anymore… it was surprisingly fun. She actually liked this game.

And from there, they continued to have fun, as the four of them kept playing, occasionally swapping partners and playing with different cards. Syd played with Maeve a couple times, who wasn't really trying and was thus extremely easy to defeat, racking up some free points for herself. She also played against Sally a fair amount, even winning a few matches against her.

"Not bad." Sally told her.

Syd looked at her. She still hadn't said anything to her about how she had basically rescued Chase, but at the moment, she couldn't stop herself from giving a tiny smile. "…Thanks."

By the time the tournament was over, though all of their battles, Marigold had tallied up their final points, and the four of them all stood in a line, waiting anxiously, as finally… Marigold announced: "And the winner of the Tableturf Battle Tournament is…" She finally flipped the board around, showing their stats on a graph. Syd had gotten 3rd, only above Maeve. "Cannon!" She clapped.

Syd, Sally, and Maeve all awkwardly applauded him, while Marigold walked over and prepared to hang the medal on Cannon's neck.

"This is for you, sweetie." She beamed.

Cannon, however, stared her in the eye. "I don't want it."

She paused. "I… pardon?"

"I don't want it." He repeated.

She blinked a bit, very confused. "…Can I… ask why?"

"Because it deserves to go to someone else."

"...Ok…" She turned to give it to Sally instead. "Ok, then, to our 2nd place victor, I instead bestow this upon you-"

"Yeahh, I don't really want it either." Sally replied.

"...Are you sure?"

She shrugged. "Yeah." She looked at Syd. "I think that… someone else deserves to have this one."

Syd looked at her, confused, before Marigold instead went up to her. "Ok, then, I instead bestow this onto our 3rd place victor…" She placed it on her neck. "Congratulations."

"Oh, wow…" Syd took the medal in her fingers. Despite the cheapness that this tournament otherwise radiated, the medal was legit, and it was… the first medal of any kind that she had earned in her miserable life. She stared at it, touched at Sally's apparent willingness to give this to her. But… there was the annoying, nagging feeling, that… she also hadn't earned it in the slightest. She sighed, unable to believe she was about to hand off such a beautiful medal. "…Oh, Jesus Christ…"

Marigold sighed. "You too?"

"Yeahh…" She took it off her neck and handed it back. "Too much of a hollow victory. Sorry."

"...Ok, then…" She went over to Maeve. "To our 4th place, you get this, uh… participation award, I guess." She hung it on her neck.

Maeve gasped a bit as she held it up. "Oh, yaaaay!" She felt it and bounced a bit, lifting up her leg. "Look at how shiny it is! It's georgeous! Oh, thank you! I just knew you'd see my talents! The universe has selected me! Oh, thank you! Thank you!" She gave Marigold a hug and a couple of kisses on the cheek.

Seeing this, Syd sighed and watched her celebration before she decided she had her fun. She scooped up her things, got Chase, and began to walk out of the courtyard before she was stopped.

"Do you think this is some sort of game?" Cannon approached her from behind.

Syd looked at him, then down at her cards, then back at him."Uh… yeah?" She held Chase behind her back.

"Do you realize that I sacrificed my own medal as a nice gesture, for… you? For the two of you? A gesture of friendship? With the medal-" He suddenly punched his own chest. "-That I earned!? Huh? You threw my gesture away!?"

She froze up a bit. "…I mean… I'm sorry, I… didn't realize it was a gesture. I… hadn't really earned it myself, so I just thought that-"

"I just tried to be NICE!" He kept punching his own chest as he stepped closer and closer. "I tried to be a GOOD PERSON! I tried to be FORGIVING! Now my ANNOYING girlfriend has it! The medal that I earned! Because YOU gave it to HER! HER! HER, OF ALL PEOPLE! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!? HUH!? TO MOCK ME!? HUH!? HUH!? ANSWER ME!"

She gulped and backed up, raising her hand. "D-Dude, chill out, it's just a meda-"

"I WAS EVEN GOING TO LET YOU KEEP YOUR PET! YOUR SMALLFRY THAT I COULD PUT IN A JAR! I WANTED TO SHOW YOU HOSPITILATY, AND I GET SPAT ON IN THE FACE BACK! IS THIS HOW YOU TAKE MY FRIENDSHIP!? IS THIS HOW-" Before he could attack her, he was suddenly splatted, his ink flying all over the place.

Syd wiped some of it off. "Ugh…" She then looked up at Sally, who had splatted him from behind.

Sally lowered her gun and rummaged though some of Cannon's ink, pulling out the Krusty Shack gift card award that was supposed to go to Maeve. She held it up. "Wanna grab a bite?"

The Krusty Shack

In comparison to a lot of Splatsville's locations, the Krusty Shack diner was a fairly nice place to just relax and grab some food, with some pleasant country music playing on the stereo in the background to give the place an overall calm atmosphere.

Syd and Sally were sitting side-by-side, eating their meals in silence. Syd closed her eyes a bit and chewed softly, enjoying the sensations that this food was giving her, which she hadn't felt in a long time. Chase, meanwhile, was on the table, eating a kid's meal.

For Sally, this type of meal was nothing new, so she ate more casually until she eventually straightened herself and wiped her mouth. "Welp… I think that calls it a day." She set her napkin down and was about to stand up.

"Hey." Syd interrupted, stopping her. She turned toward her. "I didn't… thank you for rescuing Chase before. Twice, actually."

"It's… no problem. I'm sure you could've done it on your own." She was about to leave again, but was again stopped.

"And I was going to ask you… why did you try to pass that medal along to me?"

Sally thought about her answer before she just shrugged. "Guess I was just trying to make a nice gesture. Since you actually came out with me and all that."

Syd stared at her, before she laughed it off. "That's bullshit."

"What? I can't make nice gestures?"

"Come on. We haven't gotten along since the moment I first came here and met you. What was that really?"

Sally glanced downward, slowly sitting back down. She played with her near-empty drink somewhat. "…I just… felt a bit bad."

"Bad about… what?"

She sighed. "…I lied to you. I'm not… actually in a relationship with Johnny."

Syd didn't respond, staring at her.

She scoffed slightly and downed the rest of it. "Guess I thought that if I lied, it'd lessen the chances of you trying to make a move on him."

"...Have you… not already tried?"

"What do you think?" She gave her a look.

"That…" She looked down. "…I didn't know you also liked him."

"Of course not, because I didn't want you to. But… whatever, it's pointless to keep hiding it. The dude is… attractive in every other way, but when it comes to dating and romance, he is… clueless. He borders on impossible."

Again, Syd didn't respond, staring at her own plate as she thought about that.

Sally sighed. "At least… when it comes to me, he's impossible. I swear to god, you came along, and all of sudden, he seemed… alive around you. And that… god, that just irritated me."

She looked at her. "…Why are you telling me this now?"

She shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure… Maybe I'm just having a moment." She kept playing with the glass. "I'm probably gonna move out, anyway. Two different Inklings who are after the same guy in one apartment is… a bit much."

Syd didn't disagree. If anything, she thought it would be better if Sally did leave. Yet, remembering the fun day they had together and allowing herself a moment to feel some empathy, she suddenly looked her in the eye. "You know that… I'm not likely to stay myself, right?"

Sally looked back at her, listening to her.

"What's been going on, me living here, it's really been more about me… testing the waters." Syd continued. "And I mean, between the run-ins with Cannon, the constant gangs fighting for turf at night, my brief experiences at Grizzco, and that fiasco with the 4 million dollars that was just pulled out of our grasp, I can't exactly say it's been… fun. At least not as fun as I hoped."

Sally looked down somewhat.

"Whatever, I'm just saying that… you should stay. I think you have a better chance with him here than I do." Syd finished.

Sally thought about that, glancing at her. They fell silent for another moment as Sally thought over her next words. "…I'm sorry for how I've been treating you." She admitted.

"Yeah…" She nodded. "Yeah, me too."

At that point, Sally nodded a bit before she set her money down and finally stood back up, saying something that really surprised Syd. "The city takes getting used to, but it grows on everyone eventually. You have a place here, Lachman. Besides… after all, I think you and I may have way more in common than we thought. Maybe we can… play more Tableturf, or something."

She nodded a bit, surprised at how appealing that sounded. "Yeah… Yeah, we should."

Sally actually smiled a bit, and with that, she fed one of her leftover fries to Chase and walked off.

Syd watched her leave, a bit confused. Did… something in the two of them just click? Were they all of a sudden getting along? Silently thinking about that, she leaned back and stared at Chase, who squealed a bit as he devoured his food, looking back at her. Suddenly, she smiled a bit as well.

Whatever her experiences in the City of Chaos so far, it was always nice to have just one new friend.

My excuse for the long update gap this time is that my laptop broke for a while and I didn't have a convenient way to write (Yes, I know, funny timing). Anyway, I'm back once again, and the Big Run chapter is finally up next. There's a chance of it being a two-parter (maybe, not sure yet), and I'm pretty excited for it, so, keep your eye out, and I'll see you then. *waves*