As Suggested by Rynowm:
Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others
Honey, I Shrunk the Brothers, Part 1
Splin and Sharq were actually using their television to play video games. Wow, they're actually spending their time doing something not boring for once.
"Voice, not even you can distract me from this. I'm placing first in this game, and no one's stopping me." Splin warned through grit teeth.
The two brothers sat in the house in front of the T.V. like a bunch of fools, burning their irises.
"Voice!" Splin growled, Sharq laughing next to him.
"Keep distracting him voice, I'm gonna be the one who takes the trophy today!" Sharq shouted.
"Oh no you don't! Voice, stop being biased!" Splin cried out.
Heh heh, sorry.
In reality, Splin and Sharq sat in tandem by Maria's bed. The house was filled with the energy of the two brothers, splinters of the roof debris that remained from previous Super Jumps shaking on the ground, the brothers slamming down their fingers and thumbs on their controllers; a Wii U Gamepad and Gamecuttle Controller respectively, each leaning towards the television as they watched the characters on screen race go-karts through an elaborate course taking place on a track that traveled through clouds in the sky. The Tele-Cube, Ann-Gel, not Salty for reasons undisclosed, and even the alarm clock were in on the action, a bucket of popcorn placed between the sentient objects, each fruitlessly stuffing the fluffy cooked corn into their faces, or screens, to no avail, none of them seeming to mind that they weren't gaining any nutrition. Maria watched from the kitchen counter, her Poké Balls lying on the counter, wobbling aimlessly.
"Annnd here I am with the win." Splin said with a cocky smirk, sure enough his character was advancing on the finish line.
"Not if I have anything to say about that!" Sharq declared, pressing a button on his own controller.
Sharq's character tossed what appeared to be a winged blue turtle shell covered in spikes ahead.
Splin rolled his eyes. "You forgot Sharq, I have my secret weapon; a boost!"
Splin clicked a button on his controller. His character's kart blasted ahead, only to immediately drive off the course and fall. The blue shell passed him harmlessly, Sharq taking the lead, finishing the race swiftly when he passed the finish line. Splin stared at the screen, letting the Gamepad fall to the floor. Splin's character was brought back onto the track, towed up onto the clouds, only for the blue shell to return and smash into his character, exploding him on impact.
"..." Splin made an indescribable face that conveyed his astonishment and displeasure with the results.
"Hooray, first place!" Sharq cheered, a defeated Splin sighing next to him.
"Good game, Sharq." Splin said, patting his brother on the back.
"You too!" Sharq replied.
Splin laid his Gamepad to the side, standing up tiredly. The screen flashed off, Sharq having turned off the television via remote control.
Maria yawned, stretching her arms. "Now that that's finished, what are you two doing today?"
Sharq shrugged. "We're doing it."
Maria lowered her arms, tilting her head quizzically. "Really? Just playing video games?"
Splin nodded sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, letting his headphones fall to his shoulders. "Uh, yeah. We have to take breaks sometimes, right?"
Maria smiled, giving them a brief nod. "Have fun then, I'm off to enjoy some fresh air."
"Bye Maria." The brothers waved as Maria left the household.
The sound of the sound barrier breaking meant she must've left. The two brothers leaned on Maria's bed, Sharq biting his lip.
"Hey Splin, what game do you want to play now?" Sharq asked, laying his cheek on Maria's mattress, looking straight at his younger brother. "We could go out and play Turf Wars."
"Sharq, after all that dimension hopping, I'm just glad we have the time to sit at home doing nothing all day today. Maybe later." Splin said, the back of his head practically sinking into Maria's bed, Splin practically inviting the soft cushions.
Sharq humphed, looking down at Tele-Cube and Ann-Gel, who had inexplicably downed the entire bucket of popcorn, the only thing left in the bucket being brown kernels. Ann-Gel stretched her arms, and attempted to stretch her legs, only to be reminded that her shoes were glued to the pedestal she stood on. She attempted to untie her shoes and remove them, but alas, the shoes were glued to her. Ann-Gel sighed, sitting down on her amiibo pedestal. Splin noticed her as well, leaning down towards Ann-Gel.
"Ann-Gel, you okay?" Splin asked.
"...Hmm? Yes, fine, just thinking." She spoke up, crossing her legs as she sat.
Splin frowned, sitting up, not wishing to intrude. Sharq was already set on another game, powering on the television and picking up his Gamecuttle Controller. Ann-Gel stared up at Splin.
"Hey, what's it like being so tall?" She asked after a moment of silence.
"Huh?" Splin questioned.
"I figured you must have seen some pretty fresh sights, you know." Ann-Gel told Splin.
Splin looked upwards. "That's somewhat of a tricky question. Yes, we've seen some astounding things before, but I bet they'd look terrifying no matter how tall you are."
Ann-Gel put her hand on her cheek, the other grasping her plastic tentacles. "Oh…"
The younger brother stared down at Ann-Gel, her face full of longing. Splin frowned, digging his hand under Ann-Gel's pedestal. Ann-Gel gasped as she felt herself being raised to the sky, Splin raising her up to his shoulder. Splin nodded towards his Black Anchor Tee's short yet inviting sleeve. Ann-Gel gazed up at Splin, then down to his shoulder. With a tremendous amount of effort coming from such a short statuette, she hopped over out of his hand onto Splin's shoulder.
"Thanks Splin." Ann-Gel said, grinning.
A hint of a smile appeared on Splin's face. "You're welcome."
Splin glanced down at Sharq, where he and Tele-Cube were fiercely locked in video game combat, the cube working the buttons with its edges, Sharq struggling to keep up.
"Let this be...our GREATEST BATTLE YET!" Sharq declared dramatically, mashing a large "A" button.
Splin rolled his eyes, then looked over at Ann-Gel. "So, how's the view looking so far?"
"It's nice, but...if you don't mind, is it cool if we go outside?" Ann-Gel asked, twiddling her fingers.
Splin looked out the door onto the grassy hills. No sign of mysterious otherworldly activity or evil abominations. So far so good. Splin nodded, Ann-Gel beaming with glee. Splin walked outside, carefully unlocking and opening the door to the house, leaving the wooden floors, instead walking onto the soft grass below his feet. Ann-Gel sighed contently, breathing in the fresh air outside. Well, fresher considering the amount of holes in the house constantly letting in air. Ann-Gel held onto Splin's pointed Inkling ear each time they moved for fear that her trophy stand would slip off the larger Inkling's shoulder. After a while of observing nature, Ann-Gel had tiredly slumped down on her pedestal, sleepily hanging onto Splin's ear.
"...Uh, how are you the fatigued one? I've been walking around for two hours." Splin said, tapping Ann-Gel's plastic Inkling head.
Ann-Gel let loose a lengthy yawn, lying down across Splin's shoulders as a response. Splin shook his head, then made his way back to the house, making sure that his amiibo companion didn't fall down to the earth. As he approached the house, a controller was tossed out the still shattered window pane from ages ago. Splin blinked, going over to the Gamepad controller that had been flung on the grass and stowing it in his pockets, cautiously approaching the doors of his home, peeking through. Sharq was currently in the ever joyful process of sliding about the house. Tele-Cube had arms crossed on its "front" screen, Sharq giddily switching to Inkling form to gladly shuffle his feet to a victory dance.
"Lemme guess, Sharq beat ya?" Ann-Gel asked from Splin's shoulder.
The Tele-Cube whirred in frustration. Sharq sat on his bed, stretching his arms.
"I'm on a roll, dude." Sharq said, leaning back onto the pillows, sighing contently. "Splin, you were right, I feel super accomplished and relaxed right now."
"After completely decimating your younger brother and god object in a video game?" Splin smirked with a glancing gesture towards the Tele-Cube, walking over to the kitchen counter, lowering his shoulder, moving Ann-Gel gently onto the kitchen counter.
"...Yes?" Sharq said, shrugging.
Splin rolled his eyes, walking over to his bed, resting on the top of the sheets. "Well, enjoy those short victories; the moment I finish resting is the moment I take you out, bro."
Sharq laughed, taking his cap off and smoothing over his head tentacles. "Alrighty, I'll look forward to beating you twice, dude!"
Splin yawned, taking his Designer Headphones and laying them down next to his bed, taking the Gamepad out of his pockets and leaving it on the floor lazily. Sharq tilted his head.
"By the way, what did you do for the two hours you were out?" Sharq asked.
"Walked around." Splin replied, taking a pillow from behind him and comfortably situating his head on top.
Sharq and Tele-Cube glanced at each other, cocking eyebrows, (the cube flashing an animated image of such) Sharq shifting into a blue squid, rubbing the bottom of where his chin would be with his tentacle.
"Just walked for an hour?" Sharq asked.
"Pretty much." Splin said, his face now covered by a blanket, muffling his voice.
"Why?" Sharq asked after a moment of pondering.
"Ann-Gel wanted some fresh air." Splin said, a tentacle reaching out of the sheets, pointing to the kitchen.
Sharq reverted back to Inkling form, taking his hat and carefully tossing it onto his bed with relatively good accuracy, turning around to the counters in the kitchen. Ann-Gel stood sleeping on her pedestal in a battle-ready pose, in stark contrast to her shut eyes and careless gaping mouth, small amiibo snoring sounds coming from Ann-Gel.
"Oh! Yeah, I guess that would make sense. It'd be pretty hard to have to walk around grass like that for hours when I'm that short. That's nice of you!" Sharq praised his brother, Splin smiling under the sheets.
"Thanks Sharq...I feel a little bad, honestly. Ann-Gel just stays inside all day, she can't roam around without our help." Splin commented, peeking his head out of the sheets.
She continued sleeping, her orange Ink Tank on her back shifting up and down with her every breath, Splin mentally debating whether or not statuettes needed air.
"...Maybe we could take her to Inkopolis?" Sharq suggested.
Splin nodded. "Sounds like a plan…"
"Whoa, wait, are you falling asleep?" Sharq asked. "It's not even twelve o'clock yet!"
Sharq was answered by Splin yawning, the younger brother shifting beneath the sheets
"Didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Splin answered.
Sharq could only grin at his fatigue, hearing light snores coming from the beds across the room, his younger brother's blanket sheets lightly rising with Splin's diaphragm. Sharq glanced at the floor, Tele-Cube also" staring" at Splin and Ann-Gel, rotating off the ground.
"Hmm…" Sharq hummed, glancing from Ann-Gel to Splin.
Tele-Cube seemed to perk up, following Sharq's head movements. Sharq repeated the movements, Tele-Cube shaking in response. After a few more attempts, the two just began randomly spinning around with little thought put into it. Halting, they took a moment to catch their...Sharq's breath, the older Inkling lightly smacking the side of his head to stop his irises from spinning.
"Tele-Cube, I think I have an idea!" Sharq chimed excitably.
The two sleeping Inklings stirred in their sleep, Ann-Gel wobbling on her stand, but stayed unconscious. Sharq flinched, cleared his throat, and reiterated in a less loud voice:
"Psst, Tele-Cube." Sharq whispered.
Tele-Cube, for the sake of simplicity, looked up at Sharq with one screen, a question mark popping up.
"Is it alright if you…" Sharq began, then leaned in close to the cube, whispering his master plan.
Tele-Cube took in each word Sharq told it, and nodded at the end, hovering into the air with a little spin. The cube hovered across the house next to Ann-Gel, a light flashing out of it like a scanner, seemingly reading Ann-Gel carefully. After a moment, the light ceased, and the Tele-Cube spun back around, hovering over to Splin, scanning him as well. Finally, Tele-Cube went over to Sharq, scanning him as well. A loading bar appeared on all of its screens; a hand giving a thumbs-up flashed on the screen foremost to Sharq.
Sharq beamed. "Thanks! This is gonna be so cool!"
The Tele-Cube lit up, nodding.
"So, you wanna go for round two?" Sharq jested the cube, raising his Gamecuttle controller.
The cube responded by flying out the shattered window pane, came back with a clean sheet of glass, knocked the broken pane out and replaced it, then crashed through the new pane, making a crashing noise. Splin and Ann-Gel snapped awake, looking towards the window, taking note of the glass shards. They rubbed their eyes, yawned, and went back to sleeping.
"Nothing's going to keep me from my time off." Splin muttered from under the sheets.
Sharq stared at the newly installed and newly destroyed window, then shrugged, going back to his game, Tele-Cube floating back inside using the door, making irritable squeaks.
Splin woke up later in the afternoon, stretching his arms. "Alright Sharq, I'm ready for that rematch. Sharq?"
Wiping the sand out of his eyes, Splin took a long look around the house. No one was in sight except for Ann-Gel and the Tele-Cube, the latter beeping quietly to itself while the former continued her dormant statuette rest. The younger squid brother switched into his azure squid form, lazily sliding out of bed, stretching his tentacles. The alarm clock beeped harshly behind him, signaling that it was indeed the afternoon.
"Yes, thanks clock. I can see outside you know." Splin pointed out, specifically pointing towards the shattered window remnants.
The alarm clock "huffed", shutting off almost immediately, a frowning face replacing the digital numbers on screen. Splin sighed, taking a step to pet the alarm clock lightly, the face on the screen loosening up ever so slightly. The young Inkling took a few steps toward Ann-Gel, looking at her. She was still sound asleep in her upright battle position. Though her sleeping techniques eluded Splin's feeble mind, the brother decided that it would be best to leave the statuette Inkling asleep for the time being, and look around for his brother. Which was relatively easy considering-
"Hi Splin!" Sharq greeted Splin as soon as he turned around, startling the younger brother and sending him reeling onto the counter, hitting it, waking up Ann-Gel in the process.
"Ow…" Splin groaned, rubbing his arm.
"Oh, sorry Splin! You alright?" Sharq asked, inspecting the elbow.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. Sheesh, I'm just glad one of my hearts didn't stop." Splin sighed, clutching his chest.
"Ahh...good morning." Ann-Gel yawned, her eyes blinking slowly.
Splin cleared his throat. "It's actually the afternoon, but-"
"Good morning Ann-Gel! You guys won't believe what I'm about to do!" Sharq exclaimed.
Interest just barely piqued, the two other Inklings gawked at Sharq curiously. Sharq grinned, taking Tele-Cube from off the counter, lifting the cube into the air.
"Alright Tele-Cube, you ready?" Sharq asked.
The cube beeped. Sharq tossed Tele-Cube up, every household member present staring at the Tele-Cube, the cube spinning like a disco ball, lights bouncing in and out. After a tense minute, the Tele-Cube immediately halted and took aim with a cannon of sorts that popped out of a newly made hatch on its side.
"Sharq, what's happening?" Splin asked nervously.
"We're going to get Ann-Gel to grow so that she can be as tall as us! That way, she doesn't have to ride on your shoulders everywhere and hang out with us!" Sharq declared with a sure enough face.
Ann-Gel gasped, her eyes lighting up. "Whoa, r-really?!"
"Sharq, are you sure it'll work?!" Splin asked, this time his voice fraught with concern.
Sharq nodded gleefully. "Don't worry Splin! I'm sure Tele-Cube can-"
A puff of smoke was coughed out the hatch carrying the cannon Tele-Cube had equipped, Tele-Cube making sickly machine noises, the cannon rotating and fidgeting awkwardly. Neon green ink began pouring out, covering the entire house, the cube flashing neon green with a yellow exclamation mark as if there wasn't enough to worry about. The ink dispersed quickly enough however, disintegrating into nothing quite quickly, the cube hovering to the ground, where it promptly sped up its descent on a whim, smashing into the wooden floorboards underneath, splintering the floor. Splin and Sharq were on the ground, coughing. The only notable difference they could notice was that Ann-Gel appeared a little taller now.
"...Ann-Gel?" Splin blinked, wiping his eyes.
Ann-Gel stood there on her amiibo stand, shaking off any neon green residue. Splin gasped, she was just as tall as he was now. The orange Inkling girl beamed with delight, giving a holler of cheer.
"Whoo! Sharq, it worked!" Ann-Gel shouted.
Sharq blinked, rubbing his eyes. "It did?! Awesome!"
Splin couldn't believe his eyes, but quickly got used to Ann-Gel's new proportions rather quickly. "Astounding…!"
"Now I can finally do this." Ann-Gel stated.
She took both of the brothers and wrapped them in the tightest hug a plastic figurine could muster, wrapping both of her arms around their backs, Sharq laughing, while Splin managed a small smile.
"Okay, this is pretty nice." Splin murmured over Ann-Gel's shoulder, Ann-Gel smiling. "Have to admit, was a little skeptical, but I suppose it's alright."
"Now, all we have to do is find a way to get this trophy stand off." Sharq stated. "Wait here, I think we have some tools under the counter!"
Sharq began running off to the kitchen, each step on the wooden floor moving him closer and closer steadily and slowly. A little too slowly.
"Eh?" Sharq tilted his head, slowing his pace. "That's weird."
Sharq began looking about the house, his brother doing the same.
"Hmm…" Sharq hummed.
"...Our beds seem rather far away from us." Splin commented, looking towards the back of the house.
"Yeah...is it just me or is the hole in the ceiling looking a little bigger than usual?" Sharq asked, staring up at the ever imposing hole in the ceiling.
Hmm, you're right. But hey, guys, did it ever occur to you that you're three inches tall now?
The brothers froze as the realization was practically handed to them. The two of them screamed, which wasn't too bad as their voices were somewhat more quiet. Though not by much.
"This is just perfect! The one day I don't deal with dimensional confusion and I get shrunk! How typical!" Splin cried out.
"Okay, okay, calm down! It's not that bad…" Sharq attempted to reassure the panicked brother.
"Gah!" Splin groaned, storming off to his bed in exasperation.
Splin stomped on the ground as he went, which didn't work quite to the effect he wanted considering his now shrunken stature. Upon reaching the shadow of the bedframe, Splin hopped up experimentally, only reaching a short distance up the bed legs. Splin switched to his squid form and Super Jumped onto the bed sheets, landing softly on the now enlarged pillows, and crossed his arms sourly.
"Splin! I'm sorry!" Sharq called after him.
Splin closed his eyes, looking down. "I know you are. I'm just not too happy with you right now, Sharq."
Sharq frowned. "Please don't be mad, I-I can get Tele-Cube to fix this!"
The older brother attempted to adjust his cap for a moment, then felt around his head, feeling nothing but tentacles. With a hint of remembrance, he turned towards his bed, where his cap laid, now large enough to act as a shelter if needed. Sharq frowned, making haste over to the Tele-Cube, Ann-Gel shuffling behind closely. Sharq pressed the palm of his hand to the cube's screens, desperately trying to reactivate the device, but to no avail, the cube remaining dormant, screens displaying faded shades of dark gray. Sharq sighed, pressing his forehead against the cube in exasperation.
"You okay?" Ann-Gel asked, bending down towards Sharq.
"I guess...but what do we do now? We're tiny now, I can't wear my cap, and- Oh shoot!" Sharq gasped, "I won't be able to play any video games at this size!"
"That's the least of our worries, Sharq!" Splin shouted from across the room aggravatedly. "It's almost impossible to do anything now without getting ourselves completely splattered across the floor! What if someone accidentally steps on us or something?!"
You're not THAT small.
"My point still stands." Splin sighed. "We're more vulnerable than ever. One wrong step and we would freaking die. Maybe tripping off this bed could krill me!"
"Inklings don't take fall damage." Ann-Gel pointed out.
Splin just groaned, lying down on his oversized mattress that was normally his pillow he would lay his head down on, sinking into it.
Sharq smiled patiently. "Don't worry Splin, I'm sure any second will come and Tele-Cube will reactivate!"
Splin frowned. "Yeah...I suppose you're right. It could be ready any second now, and we're still inside the house…it's not like anything bad happens here, right?"
As par the course whenever something like that is mentioned, the ceiling shook for a moment, and Splin briefly wondered whether or not he should pay to have his vocal chords removed. His unease vanished quickly once he realized a familiar violet octopus drop from the hole in the ceiling, stretching her arms once she reverted to her Octoling form, her goggles almost uniform in the way it was slung around her neck.
"Hey, guys? Ari won't get off my back about some sort of sappy love proposal or something, so is it alright if I lay low here for a while? Guys?" Tai called out.
"Tai!" Sharq greeted the Octoling happily.
Tai blinked, looking around the house. "Yo, Sharq? Where are you?"
"Down here!" Sharq said, hopping as a squid towards her boots, lightly bouncing off the black laces.
Tai felt the tug on her footwear, instinctively glancing down at the ground with an eyebrow cocked. She flinched, noticing a tiny squid bouncing around her feet. Unfortunately for poor Sharq, Tai's first reaction was to raise her right foot, driving it into the floor with a sickening crack. Splin and Ann-Gel's mouth dropped to the floor in fear and astonishment, until they remembered the general logic behind the Inkling anatomy. Sharq was climbing up Tai's other foot, hopping on the outside of her shorts, steadily reaching her shoulder, switching back to his miniscule Inkling form one he had reached it. Tai stared at him unflinchingly, taking in the odd sight of a three inch tall Inkling mounted on her shoulder.
"Hi!" Sharq greeted her.
Tai squinted her eyes. "...Sharq?"
Sharq waved at Tai, whose face lit up in interest. She glanced around the room, spying Splin as well, who stared back at her from his bed.
"...Yeah, okay, one second." Tai said, walking off to the kitchen.
Searching underneath the counter, she picked out her very own guest mattress complete with a jumbled mess of bed covers and pillows, walked out to the middle of the house, and plopped the "bed" down on the ground, diving under the covers, Sharq launched off inadvertently, landing on top of the mountain of blankets with a childlike giggle.
"Ahh...that's nice." Tai smiled, poking her head out of the blankets with a content sigh. "Alright, lay it on me."
Splin blinked, then shook his head, clearing his throat, raising his index finger up. "Right, well, the Tele-Cube shrunk us by accident."
"...Boooo." Tai japed with a smirk, hopping out of the mound of comforters to rest on top by Sharq. "Splin, get good at telling stories please."
Splin rolled his eyes, standing up on his bed. "I'm just glad you aren't some sort of random endangerment to us."
Tai gave Splin a thumbs up, showing off her Octoling beak. "Don't worry Splinny, I gotcha covered. Just give the word and I'll do it."
Splin nodded. "Thanks. What I planned on doing was stay inside all day for safety-"
"Meh…" Tai yawned, sinking into her own little mountain, the sounds of snoring coming from within the bed.
"And of course." Splin said, raising his hands into the air in exasperation. "We should be fine, at least Tai's here to keep an eye on us."
Splin looked over to where Sharq was, noticing Sharq sleeping on top of Tai's head, curling up in her tentacles as if they were blankets themselves. Splin rolled his eyes, leaning back in his bed.
"Splin?"
Splin sat up and peered over the side of his bed where Ann-Gel stood, looking at him with concern evident on her face.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
Splin frowned, nodding. "Mm-hm. Peeved at Sharq, but still living."
Ann-Gel mirrored Splin's frown. "Splin, don't be mad at your brother. He's just trying to help."
Splin closed his eyes. "...I know, I know, his hearts are all in the right positions, he just isn't always 100%...you know."
Ann-Gel shrugged. "Hey, everyone makes mistakes."
Splin looked up at the ceiling. "That's true…"
The two small Inklings remained silent for a while. After a few minutes, Splin could hear Ann-Gel manage an awkward goodbye, and hear her pedestal slide across the ground slowly. Curious to see exactly how she walked, Splin peeked over the side of his bed. Ann-Gel walked on her pedestal akin to that of a treadmill, the plastic ink on the stand remaining stagnant while her legs moved, but the pedestal seemed to trace her steps, moving to accommodate her own movements like a mobile platform. Splin briefly made a silent "Ah" noise, then retreated to his bed. He continued staring up at the ceiling, where he watched the clouds sleepily roll past. The clouds were quickly parted by a flash of lime. Splin's eyes expanded, the young brother standing straight up, making his way, albeit slowly, towards the door, carefully switching to squid form, sliding off his bed onto the floor, reverting to a humanoid shape, running off towards the door. The door creaked open, a successful looking Maria carrying a large wooden crate. She laid it down on the ground, retrieving various ink weapons from the crate.
"Eh?" Maria murmured, snapping her head towards Splin's general location.
Splin froze where he stood. Maria's glare had him frozen in place. Suddenly, Maria swooped down and picked the little brother up, bringing him up to her face with a grin.
"...W-Welcome back?" Splin said.
Maria couldn't help but laugh. "Oh my goodness, Splin, how- Why- Hee hee!"
Splin couldn't help but hide his face as a shade of blue crossed it, signaling his obvious embarrassment about the whole situation. Maria stopped laughing, instead smiling as to contain said laughter about the whole situation.
Maria ceased her laughter completely. "Ha...sorry Splin. It's just I'm used to you being at least...about…"
She lowered her hand down to the side of her chest. "About this tall? Uh, something like that."
"Thanks...I think." Splin commented.
"Shame you've shrunk like that though, I had something to give you." Maria said, gesturing towards the crate. "I had a less than savory run in with a few Turf War equipment store employees. To make up for it, they offered these."
Splin peered into the crate. Inside, ink weapons of all sorts littered the insides, from Blasters to Splatterscopes, Maria had them all.
"Whoa. Er, what exactly did they do that they needed to compensate for with all those weapons?" Splin asked, looking up to Maria.
Maria grinned, taking a step to the side. "Ah, yes, funny story about th- Oof!"
Maria tripped over the mess of chaos that was Tai's bed, landing on top, groans of increased discomfort coming from underneath. Maria's grasp slipped for a moment, accidentally sending Splin flying out the window.
"Ugh…" Tai's muffled voice came from beneath the blankets. She crawled out of the bottom of the pile, stretching her arms across the floor. "Maria, come on…"
"Why'd you put your bed in the middle of the walkspace?" Maria asked.
Tai glanced to her side, where Maria's bed sat. "Why is your bed in the middle of the house in front of the T.V.?"
Maria rolled her eyes. Coming out of the pile next was Sharq, who was dragging a sheet as he attempted to leave the comfy confines of the comforters.
"Ahh...that was a good nap." Sharq said half-asleep, blinking.
Maria stared down at Sharq, poking her face towards him. "You too Sharq?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, Splin and I were shrunk on accident." Sharq yawned. "Ooh, what's in the box?"
Not a severed head, that's for sure.
The entire house went silent, staring up at the ceiling.
...No? It's a classic reference?
"What is?" Sharq asked. "The shrinking or the yawn?"
Bah.
Maria got up from the bed, dusting herself off. Only then did she realize that Splin wasn't in her grip anymore.
"Oh no." She gasped.
Panicked, she searched around the floor, finding nothing. Terror crossed her face, Maria checking her shoes just in case. She lifted her legs up, took off her Cream Hi-Tops, and examined them. Clean. With a sigh of semi-relief, she lowered her foot onto the floor.
"What's wrong?" Tai asked.
"Heeeey! I'm out here!" Splin's voice called from the outside.
Maria scrambled to get outside the house, Tai leaping to her feet. Sharq gasped, making a break for the door, only realizing it would be a tedious jog over to the door. Tai rolled her eyes, offering the palm of her hand to Sharq, to which he gladly hopped onto in squid form, letting Tai carry him outside. As the others left the house, Ann-Gel poked her head out from behind the kitchen counter, worry evident as traced by her features.
Maria, Tai, and Sharq, were outside, checking the hills' grass for any sign of blue as soon as they exited the house. Maria searched frantically for the younger brother, swiveling through the grass in her squid form.
"Geez, Maria, don't worry. Splin's probably fine, how far could you have tossed him, really?" Tai asked.
That statement seemed to only stress Maria out twice fold, Maria taking quick glances towards the sun, Tai frowning.
"Sharq, you see anything? Have any Inkling brother telepathy powers you can use or something?" Tai said with somewhat of a joking matter.
"No, but I do see him in that tree!" Sharq pointed out, a small figurine-esque Inkling hanging on a branch in a tree a few steps away.
Splin held the branch with his two arms, his elbows braced against the branch, which wasn't technically all that important considering-
"I GET IT, WE DON'T GET HURT FROM FALLING!" Splin shouted.
I was going to say that your shirt is hooked on the branch, but I mean, if you're going to take all the wind out of my sails like that, then, you know, why don't you narrate then?
Splin rolled his eyes. "Voice, I can't tell if you're being facetious or not anymore."
Maria switched back to Inkling form, breathing in and out quickly. "Oh, good...Splin, I'm sorry."
"It's fine Maria, but can you please get me down from here?" Splin asked.
"Of course, of course." Maria sighed.
Maria went over to the tree, detangling Splin's shirt from the branch, and laid him down on the grass, pushing the branch away. She smiled warmly at Splin, who nodded his thanks.
"Thank you." Splin answered.
"You're welcome. Want to return home?" Maria suggested.
"Yep." Splin admitted.
Maria picked Splin up, placing him in the palm of her hand. Tai and Sharq waved at Splin, to which he gave a curt nod to. The four walked home, one rather eager to return to his normal size soon. Those thoughts were dashed as soon as he was snatched by a seagull.
"Wah!" Splin cried out, as he was carried away by a bird of the sea, being whisked off elsewhere in its talons.
Everyone stared at the seagull as it flew towards Inkopolis, each one's mouths gaping open in shock.
"That just happened." Tai said, Sharq nodding slowly.
Maria, contrast to the others' disbelief; her eyes were twitching. "Put Splin down, you winged rat!"
Maria switched to squid form, chasing after the seagull, bouncing up and down after the bird, the two locked in a comical aerial combat scene of sorts. Tai and Sharq only glanced at each other once, before watching the spectacle, Splin wishing he'd had been born into a more normal plane of existence with every thrown attack as he was flung around by the beach-land bird.
AN: After lots of encouragement (lighten up on the [Z]s next time pls) burning the candle at both ends, and extinguishing myself, I finally managed to complete this chapter. Thanks Rynowm for the suggestion.
Reviewing, reviewing, reviewing, never gets old except when it does, because time affects everything. Except when you reset all the clocks in your house. Thanks Dread Angel, Ultrapyre, and Rynowm for reviewing! Man Dread, either you must wear at least twenty Shiny Charms or you have the luck of every random crit in the universe combined, that's quite the shiny count. Ultrapyre, yep, as much as I'd love to joke about homicide and suicide like I do in reality, it'd probably be awkward to do it lots more in this story(unless I have a reason for writing it, maybe who knows except for future me). Rynowm, thanks for the nice words and suggestion, I'll see what I can do with the rest of this idea next chapter.
Thanks again for reading everyone, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to play P- Uh, establish a career in politics. Yeah.