Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others

Rolling Out the Dough

Willie yawned, letting the sunlight peering through his window shades wake him up. His orange tentacles glimmered as sunlight bounced off. Willie pushed the bedcovers off of him, walking off to his bathroom, weaving around the little furniture his apartment room had. Making his way to a door, he opened it, waiting to dress. Instead of just clothes lying about however, it had to be his girlfriend just clothing herself. Zip blinked, standing there with her tentacles extended, covering the light fabrics and shorts she was already wearing.

Willie reacted at the sight with a yawn. "Good morning Zip…"

"Morning Willie." Zip said, tossing a black shirt towards her significant other Inkling, taking socks and shoes from the bathroom floor. "Enjoying your day off sleep?"

"You know it!" Willie told her, stretching his arms joyfully, letting the shirt sleeves slide down his arms, a playful grin on his face. "Two extra hours of sweet relief! No greasers, ovens, or any other shiny counters to deal with! It's great."

Zip nodded with a knowing smile, taking a white shirt as well as her Berry Ski Jacket, swiftly pulling the shirt over her head and stretching her hands through the jacket's sleeves, tidying up her tentacles shortly after. "Yeah, man. I tell you, Pela's really running us ragged recently. Must be all the business from out of town rolling in."

"Kinda weird though." Willie commented, reaching at the sink with tired eyes, taking a pair of Retro Specs by the sink in the bathroom, adjusting them ever studiously on his face, using the mirror above the sink as a reference.

Willie's toothy grin confirmed his contentment, both he and Zip taking their shoes from off the floor, strapping in, Yellow Seahorses for him, Crazy Arrows for her. Willie began making his way out of the restroom.

"Where you headed?" Zip asked, pulling her socks up to her legs.

"Turf Wars, Miss Zip." Willie said in a mock noble voice.

Zip grinned. "A'ight, I'll follow after I'm done."

Willie grinned, waving to his girlfriend as he began to leave.

"Oh, whoops, you forgot something." Zip called, walking towards him.

Willie blinked, staring down at his clothing. His shoes, shorts, shirt, everything was there. Willie looked up towards Zip for some clarity. He was answered with a short yet sweet kiss, Zip giving him a wink afterwards.

"Can't leave the apartment without some sugar, right?" Zip teased.

Willie's eyelids lowered, a dopey smile on his face. Then his eyes shot open.

"Crab, almost forgot breakfast!" Willie said, dashing back into the apartment towards his small kitchen.

Zip rolled her eyes, retreating into the bathroom with a quick shove of the door, making sure to adjust her shoes.

The couple walked along the streets of Inkopolis, a warm spring day, William hefting around a Dynamo Roller while Zip had a Carbon Roller slung over her back. Zip stared at her boyfriend worriedly.

"Will?" Zip asked.

"Yep?" Willie asked back.

"I'm kinda worried. I don't think it was a great idea to both use rollers. Unless we find someone with better ranged weaponry, I don't think we'll have a great time." Zip said, staring up at the clouds.

"Guess you're right. When's the last time we played again?" Willie asked.

"The huge squad of rollers." Zip reminded him.

"Oh, right!" Willie snapped his fingers. "Man, the look on those two's faces!"

Zip smiled. "Priceless."

The two snickered at the memory. Eventually they managed to make their way into Inkopolis Plaza, weaving around barriers into the black asphalt turf lined with walkways, the Booyah Base and the Squid Sisters' studio shining with sunlight bouncing off their window panes. Also with blue squids smashing against said window panes.

"Hm?" Zip hummed, turning to the left.

Jelonzo stood outside his Jelly Fresh shop, shaking his head. Two blue Inkling boys were stuck to the window pane. He retreated into the store, bringing back a large, inkless roller of sorts, and used it to peel the Inklings off the window pane, the two falling on the ground with a soft thud.

"Next time, watch for the windows please!" Jelonzo called, retreating back inside.

"Thanks Jelonzo." Sharq mumbled on the ground.

The brothers picked themselves up from off the ground, shaking their heads. Seeing a golden opportunity, the couple grinned, walking over to them.

"Hey you two." Zip greeted them.

Sharq beamed. "Hi Zip! Hi Willie!"

"Music Man, Shadey! How you doing?" Willie asked.

"Aside from smearing the glass on Jelonzo's windows, pretty good." Splin said stretching, a crick sound popping from his neck. "Eh?"

Splin lightly tapped the side of his neck as if he broke something. "That's odd…"

"You alright?" Zip asked.

Sharq rubbed his chin with two fingers, eyes narrowing to get a closer look. "Hmm…I'd have to say that Splin broke his neck bones!"

Splin rolled his eyes, pushing away Sharq's face. "Yeah, sure, even if we had neck bones, I'm pretty sure they would've been already broken."

"Well then I prescribe a healthy dose of Turf Wars! Shake it off, you know what I mean?" Sharq said, poking Splin's arm.

"Wow. I would not want you as my doctor ever." Splin joked with a toothy grin.

Sharq shrugged. "So, what are you guys doing?"

"Turf Wars. Wanna come? We could use two other players." Zip offered.

Splin frowned, glancing at the Inkopolis Tower. The Great Zapfish briefly uncoiled, made a sheep noise, and coiled around the tower again. Ignoring the audio gag which was probably lost in the text, Splin stared back at the three.

"Sure." Splin said.

Sharq blinked. "Really? I thought you were going to be all like; 'I hate fun, no way, rawr'."

Sharq made dinosaur movements and made a face, eliciting smiles from the couple, while Splin could only shake his head.

"I don't say, 'rawr'." Splin corrected. "Seriously, how are you my older brother? Did our parents mix it up or something?"

Sharq bit his lip, staring off into the sky.

A few years ago, Phish and Pirah were walking along the still developing streets of Inkopolis, when suddenly the would-to-be-mother paused, staring at the sky.

"Pirah?" Phish questioned.

Pirah didn't say anything, she just blinked.

Phish sighed, beginning to walk over to her. For some odd reason, Pirah kicked at Phish's sides, scoring a direct hit, smashing into his abdomen.

"Gah! Pirah, what the-"

"Sorry, sorry! I-It was a reflex!" Pirah apologized, Phish groaning in pain.

"What reflex compels you to kick me in the sides?!" Phish shouted.

Sharq smiled, shaking his head. "Dunno! You're still on board though, right?"

Splin nodded casually. "Yes, I suppose I am."

"Let's go! I've been meaning to try out a secret weapon of mine!"

Splin nodded, looking towards Willie and Zip. "Lead the way."

Willie grinned, nudging his roller using his shoulder. "Alright, let's get moving!"

The four of them began to make their way to the tower, Splin warily watching the Great Zapfish. For a moment, the electric catfish slithered down to meet them, startling the group, Sharq going as far as to pet the Great Zapfish. The fish didn't mind, comfortably retreating back up to its high perch, Zip and Willie smiling at the antics of the fish, while Splin looked considerably worried. Once inside, they made their way towards the room filled with holograms.

"So, what've you two been up to since we last saw each other?" Willie asked.

"Pretty much the same thing we've been doing." Sharq answered with a shrug.

"That being?" Zip questioned.

"Teleporting?" Sharq said.

Willie and Zip glanced at each other, then shrugged, passing it off as a "Sharq thing". Zip noticed Splin worriedly shifting his focus from wall to wall as if they would collapse at any moment.

"Yo, Splin." Zip called, Splin flinching.

"Yeah?" Splin asked, looking up to the ceiling then down to the floor.

"You seem sorta antsy." She said.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a little nervous." Splin said, his eyes narrowing at a pebble just outside of the tower's doors. His eyes narrowed.

"Okay!" Sharq piped up, taking Splin by his shirt collar, pulling him away from the pebble.

"Sharq, what are you doing?" Splin frowned.

"You seem to have a lot on your mind, so I'm going to drag you towards a Turf War if I have to!" Sharq told him, quite literally dragging Splin off into the tower. "C'mon guys, my brother needs this!"

"Uh, sure Sharq." Zip blinked, following after him.

"Right behind you." Willie said, also following behind.

Eventually, the four made it into the tower's main room, lights and holographic images of logos and such rotating around them. Willie and Zip pulled out Gamepads out of their shorts, Sharq letting Splin go, doing the same. Splin stared at the simultaneous withdrawal of the controllers with a newfound bewilderment.

"What are you waiting for Splin? Get your Gamepad, we all need to join a lobby." Sharq nudged.

Splin blinked, reaching into his pockets. He pulled out an oversized controller tablet from an extremely small space. Shaking his head as to ignore the nonexistent logic, he tapped the icon labeled, "Turf War" in light green, the four spirited off to whatever ink battle based stage that awaited them.

The two Inklings reemerged from the yellow spawnpoint, shaking off their dizziness. Their rollers were dyed almost golden, shimmering rather nicely thanks to the sunlight. Splin and Sharq followed behind, emerging from the yellow with new butter-like colored tentacles, Sharq holding something behind his back with a childlike mischievous look, Splin blinking as to perceive his surroundings. Rows of shipping containers laid ahead of them, separated by several black asphalt paths. Machinery and commotion buzzed around the arena. They had been shipped off to Port Mackerel, the "best" date location in all of Inkopolis' locations.

Elsewhere, Callie, a minuscule bandage on her nose, sneezed somewhere.

Despite the cluttered clusters of boxes laying around, two vehicles aimlessly driving back and forth, and the overall claustrophobic atmosphere, three of them were raring to go. Splin, on the other hand, was still skeptical, staring towards the sky.

Sharq frowned, lightly elbowing Splin. "Hey! C'mon Splin, chin up! We're not going to get attacked or anything."

Splin sighed. "I'd like to believe that Sharq, I really would."

"Then calm your tentacles and play!" Sharq said, patting his brother on the back. "Get your weapon and we'll start."

Splin frowned, glancing at his back. "My…weapon?"

Sharq rolled his eyes. "Reach into your pockets! I knew you'd forget, so I decided to sneak it in when I had the chance!"

Zip froze, glancing back. She stared at Willie and Sharq. Willie, she knew he had a decently short range. Splin and Sharq on the other hand…

"So...what're your weapons?" Zip asked, attempting to play it cool.

"I've decided to reuse one of my best weapons!" Sharq announced, reaching behind his back.

"Okay, it can't be a roller. It's too large to conceal behind his back." Zip concluded in her mind.

As par the course, Sharq pulled out a Krak-On Roller from behind him, Zip sweating profusely as a result. Noticing Zip's minor reaction, he too turned around, his pupils shrinking upon noticing Sharq. The roller glinted in the sun, a small black odometer attached to the side of the handle just under the roller head.

"I haven't used this in a while!" Sharq smiled, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

Willie turned to Splin. "So. Uh, what do you got Splin?"

Splin reached into his pockets, a deadpan expression dead on his face. He pulled out a Splat Roller from his shorts.

"What." Splin muttered.

Three Inklings stood in silence, the only sound being the creaking of containers and the two vehicles far from them aimlessly driving.

"...Well, we're going to lose." Splin said, ready to deploy the roller regardless.

"Indeed you are, rivals and co!"

Splin, Sharq, Willie, and Zip stared ahead into the distance. Past rows upon rows of shipping containers was Ari and his ever faithful companions, Sari, Rit, and Bas, all looking ready to fight, or at least ready to pose ever dramatically, the females looking like they were frozen in swooning while Ari held his left hand in an "L" symbol above his forehead, holding a Carbon Roller behind his back as if he were some sort of ninja. They were dyed in a fantastic dark green, shining under the light.

"This is a stroke of luck! I've been waiting to challenge you once more, rivals!" Ari challenged.

"Yeah! Ari got dumped extremely hard and he needs to vent his frustrations on you!" Sari piped up.

Ari's pose faltered somewhat, a shade of sorts wrapping around his face.

"Uh...sorry, was that not the type of drama effect you were going for…?" Sari asked, inspecting Ari.

Ari blinked, then shook his head, forging a determined expression on his face. "I-Ignore Sari, she's been in the practice of joking."

Sari rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "R-Right."

Bas and Rit coughed awkwardly, watching the clouds roll by over them.

"Yeah…" The two other Inklings murmured.

Willie cringed. "Ouch, man."

"That's harsh. We can just leave if you want." Zip suggested.

Ari frowned, shaking off a tear. "That doesn't matter anyway! I'm here to defeat you to get my mind off of my hopes and regrets!"

Upon saying that, Ari took his Carbon Roller and raised it in front of his face. Splin glanced at the other three, quietly inspecting them. To everyone's surprise, the other three also somehow revealed hidden Splat Rollers.

"What do you think of our arsenal? Our skills with rollers are unparalleled!" Ari laughed.

The other four blinked. They too unsheathed their rollers, albeit with blank faces. Ari's team froze, adopting the same deadpan facial expression.

"Ah." Ari muttered.

"You had to give me a roller, huh Sharq?" Splin sighed.

A bead of blue dripped down Sharq's forehead. "Y-Yeah. My original plan was to have our other teammates use ranged weapons, but…"

Zip lightly smacked herself on the forehead. "Looks like we weren't the only ones then."

Willie grinned, albeit with a hint of nervousness. "Well, no worries! At least it's an even playing field."

Ari laughed. "Even?! The only ones equal in skill to me are my rivals! My three squadmates' skills greatly outnumber yours!"

"Listen man, are we going to fight yet or…?" Zip asked, shrugging.

Ari's eye twitched. He crossed his arms. "We have to wait for the referee."

A pudgy shadow appeared. Standing behind a glass wall, Judd watched the Inklings from behind the barrier. He waved, holding a whistle in his paws.

"You're the one who signals the start of the match?" Splin asked.

"Thought it was some sort of automatic system." Willie said.

Judd shrugged. "Nya. (Nah. The system purr-roke, it was found burnt to a crisp.)"

Judd's eyes seemed to look over the brothers for a moment, then stopped, Judd closing his eyes.

"Meow. (I'll just have to start the match meow-nually.)" Judd announced. "(As soon as I blow this whistle, you kids have to kill each other.)"

Everyone went silent.

"Mrow. (Whoops, sorry, meant 'krill' or 'splat'. Forgot the mandatory pun.)" Judd said, rubbing the back of his head.

Splin shrugged. "It's all the same, isn't it?"

Sure, if you want to be boring.

Splin grit his teeth, facing the sky. "You stay out of this, voice!"

The silence in Port Mackerel intensified.

"...We can go home, you know." Zip suggested.

"Alright, let's just get this over with." Splin said with a shake of his head. "Ready?"

"Mm-hm." Willie and Zip hummed.

Sharq nodded, staring over towards the four opposing Inklings. Ari laughed heartily, Sari Rit and Bas readying their rollers, smirking. In the distance, Judd nodded, took a deep breath, then attempted to blow the whistle. Nothing but sputtering came out. Judd stopped blowing, eyed the whistle suspiciously, then shook it. For the sake of getting this fil- I mean, totally vital chapter in this story done, the whistle was whisked out of Judd's paws by the wind, where it crumbled into dust and was scattered to the four points of the Earth. Judd stared over at the Inklings, giving them an equally surprised shrug, signaling that they could go.

The eight Inklings took off their spawn points, which began to dim behind them.

"Huh?" Zip murmured.

"Ah! I forgot to mention, I had this match specialized, this is a SUDDEN DEATH match!" Ari announced.

"Seriously?!" Willie gasped, flinging his Dynamo Roller in front of him.

"Indeed! Once a squid is splatted, they're out of the match for good!" Ari explained, as he and his female squadron advanced through the boxes.

Upon hearing that, a miniature Zapfish popped above Splin's head, then fell on his head and gave him a static shock. Rubbing his head after the visual gag gone wrong, Splin began rolling through the boxes, weaving past one of the vehicles, slamming straight into Sari, who also had her roller deployed. The rollers knocked into the Inklings, both of them exploding in a brilliant mix of yellow and green. The two of them popped back up behind Judd, a spawn point dyed with all of the colors of the rainbow set up behind him, the two both returning to their respective dyes of blue and orange. Spying a long bench, the two of them walked over to it, sitting down, watching the rest of the match unfold.

"Aw, Splin?!" Sharq groaned, running ahead.

"Sari?! The cunning…! Splin willing gave his life in order to even the playing field…?!" Ari observed with a shocked tone.

On the bench, Sari stared over at Splin, both of them sitting awkwardly.

"So…" She rubbed the back of her head.

"That was an accident." Splin explained, leaning back on the bench, lying against a shipping container.

"Oh." Sari blinked.

"Honestly I didn't really want to play, though." Splin explained.

Sari nodded, also leaning back. "Why, rough day?"

"Didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Splin said. "...Really...realistic dream."

"What about?" Sari inquired, adjusting her A-R-I headband.

Splin frowned. "...I figured out the meaning of life, I think."

Sari gawked at him for a while. Splin shrugged, the two of them watching the rest of the match.

Sharq and Ari returned their attention towards each other after the double roller catastrophe. The others battled it out amidst the row of boxes, while Sharq had managed to charge his way through the cluster of boxes, meeting Ari in a rectangular area by the green spawn. Zip constantly dodged the large radii of Suction Bombs tossed by Rit and Bas, while flinging back Burst Bombs in between her switches from squid to Inkling. Willie swam through the ink, attempting to catch Bas by surprise, only to be splatted by a much more observant Rit. Willie scowled as he respawned, sitting by Splin.

Willie eyed Splin's headphones curiously. "Hey, what music do you listen to anyway?"

Splin stared up in the air. "Video game OSTs."

"Ah. How do you listen? I don't see a cord or anything." Willie asked.

"Yeah, how does that work? Wireless?" Sari asked.

Splin tilted his head. "Why are you so interested in how these headphones work?"

"You wear them all the time." Sari said.

"Don't we all keep wearing our regular clothing?" Splin asked.

The other two took the time to look down at their apparel.

"Mm." The two of them nodded.

With that said, Splin took out his phone he barely uses, clicked on a few icons, then sat back in his seat, listening to various tunes.

"It's gotta be witchcraft." Willie frowned, tapping the side of Splin's Designer Headphones.

Meanwhile, Sharq was doing a decent job of keeping Ari at bay, going as far as to deploy Squid Beakons randomly as he circled the orange Inkling to bait him into attacking, diving into yellow splotches among the green. Ari constantly flicked his Carbon Roller, growling with every escape the slippery squid made. Zip managed to dodge every attack the other female members of Ari's squad threw at her, hiding amongst the yellow doused on the top of the vehicle. With calculated precision, Rit and Bas tossed up two Suction Bombs on top of the vehicle. Zip came falling down, only to get intercepted by Bas, who managed to nail her with a well-timed splash of ink, splattering Zip. Rit and Bas high-fived each other briefly. Until Sharq came along, fleeing from Ari, rolling and smashing the two, sending them off.

The three female Inklings respawned in orange and yellow, Zip spiraling over to Willie's side, sitting with a thud.

"You left me early, man." Zip teased.

"Sorry. I'll be there for you next time." Willie said with a sigh, kissing her on the cheek.

Rit and Bas sat on both sides of Sari, frowning.

"How'd we get blindsided? He was crawling at us at the pace of a snail." Rit scowled.

"I think it's more of a sea turtle's pace." Bas suggested.

"Why don't you guys talk much?" Zip asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Rit and Bas asked.

"Don't mean to be rude, but how come you're always so quiet?" Zip reiterated. "The most I hear from you is whenever you chant to support Ari or something."

"We let Ari do the talking. He has a nice voice." Rit explained.

"Yeah. The BEST voice." Bas agreed.

Zip blinked. "Really?"

"I mean, he's pretty much the most expressive out of all of us." Sari explained. "Back when Ari and I met Rit and Bas, they didn't really say much, they were kinda shy."

Rit and Bas stared in different directions absentmindedly. Willie and Zip took that with a nod, most of the Inklings going back to watching the battle rage on, Splin staring up at the sky while ink was being hurled. Sharq had been pushed back towards his own spawn, a clear space free of boxes save for a short platform, Ari attempting to corner his rival.

"Hup!" Ari exclaimed, jumping up and flinging his roller towards Sharq.

Sharq shifted into squid form, took a deep breath, then transformed into a kraken, charging straight towards Ari. He jumped into the air, spiraling towards Ari menacingly, Ari simply beating the overgrown squid back with swings of his Carbon Roller.

"Hah, are you seriously going to keep trying? The kraken form has its limits. No matter how many times you jump at me, it's useless rival, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless, useless!" Ari repeated with rapid swings of his roller.

Splin sat by with an indifferent face. Sharq frowned, swimming back, his kraken form soon wearing out. He hid in a puddle of yellow, Ari soon advancing.

Ari smirked, activating his special, his Carbon Roller switched out with a large Inkzooka gun, the barrel aimed towards the puddle Ari had assumed Sharq had hid in. "You're finished, Sharq!"

He pulled the trigger, a tall swirling tornado of green ink launched out, swerving over the puddle.

"Shoot! It was tilted too far up!" Ari cried out.

Before he could launch another shot quickly enough, Sharq hopped out of the puddle of ink, roller raised to strike. Ari gasped, then pulled the trigger again. A thick spray of ink from both sides flew past each other and splatted the two Inklings simultaneously. Upon seeing the explosion of ink, Judd scrambled around, searching the ground. When he realized he didn't have the whistle, he simply whistled using his maw, everyone turning back towards where the spawn point was. Sharq and Ari popped out, each eagerly looking to Judd.

"Alright Judd, who won?!" Sharq asked, Ari's eyes practically pleading the same thing.

Judd shrugged. "Meow, meow. (Well, you all were splatted.)"

"That's good enough for me." Splin said, standing up.

"No, hold on, I couldn't have fought the kraken without purpose! Good Judd, can you judge it on how much turf was covered at least?!" Ari pleaded.

Judd bit his lip, staring out to the colored turf. His eyes narrowed. The cat reached into the fur behind his ear, taking a gold coin out of the tuffs of white. He flipped the coin, rubbed his chin, and clapped his paws.

"Mrow. (Green team wins.)" Judd decided.

Sharq's mouth gaped open. "Wha-"

"Hoorah! Well done everybody! We celebrate our victory tonight!" Ari cheered.

Ari and his squadron left, laughter and cheer following the previously forlorn Inkling's squad. Sharq frowned.

"Darn it! I'll be sure to get him next...time?" Sharq trailed off.

Splin was already walking away, a blank look on his face, hardly responsive.

"Hey, Splin, wait!" Sharq yelled, running after him. He skidded to a halt suddenly, gave a wave towards Willie and Zip, then dashed off again.

Willie and Zip stretched, Judd yawning.

"Mew, meow. (Well, it looks like everyone's taking off. Good meow-tch today, sudden death was certainly interesting.)" Judd said simply.

Judd scampered over boxes, dashing off on all fours. Willie looked over at Zip with a satisfied grin.

"Wanna go home now?" Willie offered.

Zip gave a nod, walking off, Willie staying close by her side. Zip stretched her arms, laying her arm around Willie's shoulders. Willie adjusted his glasses, staring ahead.

"This was a pretty good day off." Willie said simply.

"...Yeah." Zip murmured.

"What's the matter?" Willie asked, worry clear on his face.

"...Did the others seem kinda...down?" Zip asked. "Not all of them seemed really, 'in' in the match, you know?"

Willie blinked. "Uh...well, Ari said something about being dumped…?"

Zip frowned. "I know we've said stuff before, but I feel kinda bad for him. Splin didn't seem too happy either…"

"They're probably just having bad days." Willie suggested.

The couple walked together, the sun setting on the horizon of the water as they left Port Mackerel, Inkopolis already turning on its night lights, attracting the nightlife.

"...Hey, how about we spend some time out on the town tonight? We still have time to make the most of our day off." Willie smirked.

Zip smiled. "Sure."

The two pecked each other on the lips, staying close as they walked through the streets of Inkopolis, their tentacles now glimmering with the light of the buildings of night.

Ari, Sari, Rit and Bas were smiling and laughing together, all of them sitting at a bar counter in an old fashioned diner of sorts, plates and drinks with dainty straws strewn about, all looking vibrant under the glow of the diner's lights.

"Ha ha! That's amazing! What happened next?" Ari laughed, asking Sari sitting next to him.

Sari snickered before pausing to catch her breath. "Get this- After the president smashed through the walls of his office, he screamed, 'LET'S PARTY' at the top of his lungs! You should've seen it!"

"Haaaaa!" Ari smiled, almost out of breath. "Aw Sari, you know how to tell the best stories!"

Sari smiled. "I aim to please, Ari."

Rit grinned. "Forgot about that rejection yet, Ari?"

Ari beamed. "That silly issue? Thing of the past! Hardly on my mind!"

Bas slapped Ari on the back proudly. "That's our leader!"

But what they didn't realize, was that I actually didn't forget. I was just hungry and sad. That isn't to say that I didn't find Sari's story unfunny or anything-

"We're glad you're okay Ari." Sari smiled warmly.

Uh, plus, I just didn't want Sari to worry. Heh heh.

Ari smiled. "I'm glad too."

Finally, late at night, Splin was up, staring up at the ceiling. The lights were off, Sharq's hat was lying next to his bed. Maria was sound asleep, dreaming of days past and her children. Splin however, couldn't shake this feeling of dread- Not a devilish feeling of dread, mind you, but not one that would be considered angelic either, just a feeling of dread. And foreboding. And deep thoughts. So Splin laid awake, eyes wide open, staring at the hole in the ceiling, his headphones still wrapped around his neck. He stared down at his headphones for a moment.

For a brief moment. His headphones didn't look like headphones. They looked like blocks of blue. They certainly didn't feel like headphones anymore. Splin quickly shook his head, breathing heavily. He looked down again. Nothing but normal, everyday headphones. Quickly, he took his headphones off and tossed them to the floor, laid in his bed, and closed his eyes, shivering slightly. On the floor, his headphones sparked, flashed, and jittered, before they laid dormant, hardly an indication of what happened beforehand.

AN: Exposition, not really though.

Thanks Dread Angel, Ultrapyre, and write n wrong for reviewing. Dread Angel, Inkbrush and Nozzlenose spamming is the key. To getting top player, I guess. Not really worth it though. :\ Ultrapyre, I have to agree, on the Callie thing that is. I wouldn't leave dear Ari to die a virgin, (but I probably would have Splin) but then again I'm not really feeling the whole, "detail love between squid and octopus" thing. Oh well, guess he'll have to do it offscreen or something. write n wrong, thanks for your inspiring words, if Ari could hear I'm sure he'd be rather glad.

Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, off to go to sleep.

...Yep.