Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others
Helping A Brother Out
Maria glanced at Sharq, staring into the Bate household from outside. An air of tension was about the two, the house looking much more drab than usual.
"Is he okay?" Sharq asked, sitting on the grass with worried expression.
Maria peered through the window, minding the sharp shards sticking up at her. Splin was moping on his bed, facing away from the windows and anything else with light or happiness. Maria frowned, taking her Golf Visor off her head, respectfully holding it close to her chest.
"I'm...sorry Sharq. I'm afraid I have some bad news." Maria told Sharq, barely looking him in the eyes.
"What…?" Sharq asked.
Maria closed her eyes. "Now, I want you to take a deep breath. I'm not sure you're going to like hearing this."
Sharq's pupils shrank. "What…?! What is it?!"
Maria's eyes shot open. "Splin's grown into a...teenager."
Sharq began tearing up, collapsing to the ground. "Nooooo! Not Splin! Why?! Take me instead!"
Maria sighed, placing a hand on her hip. "Yep, he's growing older. C-Calm down Sharq, it isn't that bad."
"But now he'll be filled with angst all the time and won't want to hang out with me anymore! This is terrible!" Sharq cried out.
Maria couldn't help but stifle a giggle. "Sharq, it isn't that bad. I've taken care of two teenagers, and they ended up fine."
Sharq bit his lip, staring over at Splin through the windows. "They're still friends…"
"Exactly. Sorry I had to make it seem so dramatic." Maria laughed softly. "But Splin will be fine."
Sharq stared through the window teary eyed. Splin blinked, a frown on his face. He immediately glanced in the direction of Sharq, who ducked out of sight. Splin bit his lip, before going back to staring at the ceiling pointlessly. Sharq stared back at Splin, his Takoroka Mesh cap tilted to the point where the shade from the hat seemed to cover his expression.
"..." Sharq remained silent.
"...We just have to give him some space, Sharq." Maria said, patting him on the back. "C'mon, we can go get lunch if you want."
Sharq looked back at the house, before nodding solemnly. "Okay…" Then his expression lit up his face. "Let's go get Splin some food!"
Sharq then dashed off, leaving Maria in the dust. She blinked, shocked at Sharq's swiftness, before smirking.
"Right behind you Sharq!" She grinned, following after him in a green squid form.
As the two older squids went off to procure a meal, Splin continued to stare at the ceiling. Despite Maria's assumption on his body going through strange changes, it didn't have to do with the horrible process of aging. In actuality Splin was terrified. The clouds above him looked rather...undeveloped. They looked like flat pieces of white, hardly passable for clouds.
"Beep."
"!" Splin flung himself out of bed, ducking underneath the frame as a blue squid, breathing in and out deeply.
Splin cautiously left his bed, glancing to and fro for the source of the sound. Eventually his eyes tracked the alarm clock, which sat on top of the dresser in between his and his brother's beds. The alarm clock ticked away at the seconds, "gazing" at Splin curiously with its semi-lit screen. Splin sighed in relief.
"Oh thank goodness, alarm clock, it's just you. Something really strange is happening." Splin said, glancing around the room.
The alarm clock beeped in a questioning tone. Splin finished breathing in and out like a maniac, taking a moment to look around his house. He sighed in relief, turning around to his bed, coming face to face with a Super Sea Snail.
"Whagh!" Splin nearly screamed, backing away.
The Super Sea Snail's little eyes lit up in shock, rolling backwards as well. The two sat staring at each other. The snail seemed to blink out of existence every so often, flickering and flashing, only freaking out Splin more.
"S-Salty? Is that-" Splin asked, reaching out for the snail.
The Super Sea Snail shivered, attempting to retreat into its shell. Splin blinked, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. The snail peeked its eyes out, colors of vivid light blue and pink dancing around its shell wildly.
"Heh heh...hahaha." Splin began laughing, tearing up at the eyes a little.
The snail blinked, staring at Splin worriedly. Splin began laughing hysterically, covering his eyes with his hands.
"Hahahahahaha!" Splin began coughing, the laughter turning into sobs into the palms of his hands.
The snail gave Splin a sympathetic look. Doing its best, it hopped over to nudge Splin's legs, nuzzling Splin carefully.
Splin blinked, staring down at the snail with a sad smile on his face. "That's it. I've lost it. I've FINALLY lost it."
The Super Sea Snail tilted in confusion at Splin's hysterics. Splin sniffled.
"Sorry...Salty or not, I suppose you wouldn't really take kindly to someone breaking down like a s-sociopath, huh?" Splin asked the snail, which shook its head. "...For all I know, you could be a delusional figment of my imagination."
All the little snail could do was blink at Splin's oddities. Splin wiped his eyes, shaking his head.
"Alright Splin, calm down...voice, I'm not going insane, am I?" Splin asked to the air, the snail following his gaze curiously.
I dunno, ask the weirded out snail.
Splin blinked, staring down at the arguably illusional snail. If the snail had any eyebrows, it would most likely be arching one at the little brother's peculiarities. Splin sighed, petting the snail on the shell, which it warmly welcomed despite its skepticism. Suddenly, the snail turned around, tuning into some otherworldly force.
"What is it?" Splin asked.
His ears twitched. Very briefly, he swore he could hear a cheery female's voice. Suddenly, the snail lit up, hopping away. Halting mid hop, it stared back at Splin. Splin could only wave to the snail as it began fading into nothing, as if it were vanishing in the distance. Eventually, Splin stopped waving, glancing over at the alarm clock. The alarm clock gave him an "odd look", but shrugged it off, obviously not a care for the mental stability of a fourteen year-old.
"...Yeah, thanks for looking out for me." Splin scoffed sarcastically.
The alarm clock gave a welcoming chime. Splin got to his feet, stretching his arms. He looked to the kitchen counter. Blinking, he realized that Ann-Gel and Tele-Cube, for better or worse, hadn't witnessed his odd breakdown, both resting, Ann-Gel napping on the side of the cube, which glowed peacefully. Splin bit his lip, staring outside. The day was clear, with very few clouds in the sky.
"...I suppose now would be a good time to take a breath of fresh air." Splin thought to himself.
Carefully, Splin walked out of the house, opening the door. As soon as he took a whiff of the sweet hill air, he knew he made a mistake.
"Wha- Okay, Splin, stop it." He mentally scolded himself, dropping to the grass. "You're not dizzy or anything. Stand up and-"
Splin hit the grass with a soft thud, the only sound heard being the wind blowing past his ears.
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF-" Was Splin's last thoughts before he drifted into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, Sharq was holding a bag of fast food over his head, wobbling as you attempted to keep it steady. Maria followed behind, carefully watching over Sharq.
"Maria, our first priority is to get home to Splin! He's been a teenager for too long!" Sharq announced.
Maria shook her head with a sigh. "Sharq, I appreciate your concern, but Splin's probably fine. Look, he just needs a little space. It was nice of you to buy food for him-"
"Oh no, this is for all of us." Sharq told Maria, reaching into the brown bag.
Sharq pulled out five other bags from the first, larger bag, all containing matters of food. Out of one of the smaller bags, Sharq pulled out a sandwich, munching into it, offering a bag to Maria as he snacked. Maria accepted, but continued:
"But it's not always healthy to constantly look out for your brother like that." Maria rubbed the back of his head with a calm smile. "Ix didn't follow around his sister all his life. He had to settle down himself and let her sister be her sister."
Sharq pouted. "But they have superpowers!"
Maria tilted her head. "What's your point?"
"They- Um...well, I wanted to make a point, but…" Sharq trailed off, shrugging. "...I dunno. I guess you could be right."
"Trust me, unless he's suffering from some sort of disease or something, he'll be perfectly fine." Maria told him. "Now let's get home."
Sharq nodded happily. "Right!"
Both of the Inklings switched into squids, Sharq firmly grasping the paper bags filled with food, Maria sneaking in a bite before the jump with a pleased face. The two jetted off into sky with a burst of blue and green respectively, traveling through the sky and clouds as they approached the hills. Sharq managed to land first, a cloud of dirt billowing up from the grassy hill segment he managed to smash into. Sharq coughed, waving as to clear some of the dust out of his vision and lungs. Then his eyes widened. Splin laid on the ground face first, coughing.
"Splin!" Sharq gasped, running over to his younger brother.
Surprisingly, Splin raised a hand high, signaling that he was alright. "...Sharq."
"Oh, you're alright! Listen, I think I found a cure to your teenager disease! Then you won't have to be so edgy and angsty all the time!" Sharq grinned.
Splin got to his feet, though groggily and with tired eyes. "...You realize you're just stereotyping teenage squids at this point, right? You're literally one year older than me, I'm pretty sure-"
"No time! Eat this!" Sharq shouted, shoving a paper bag in his face.
Now, at this point, Splin was skeptical of Sharq's "medical expertise". He downright knew that Sharq wouldn't "cure" him, not by a longshot. The fact that his vision was blinking and the skies and ground looked like they were ripped straight out of a corrupted video game to him wasn't too motivating either. Still, Splin reached into the bag. Something in a wrapper blinked around his hand. Carefully, Splin unwrapped the curious item, finding:
A cheeseburger.
Splin frowned, glancing up at Sharq, who was grinning, the older brother winking down at his younger counterpart. Splin blinked, and, figuring it wouldn't hurt, bit into the meal.
The world spontaneously seemed to realize its folly, everything reverting to normal, grass and skies dyed with green and blue seemingly instantaneously around Splin.
Splin looked around. "...Yeah, okay, well...that worked."
Sharq cheered, hugging Splin with a swift spin. "Yipee! It worked! Eat that, aging!"
Splin could only shake his head at his brother's absurdities. How ironic.
Splin frowned at the sky. "Hey, voice, I didn't see YOU help."
That's because I can't conjure up food genius. I mean, not directly.
"I'm just glad Splin's okay…" Sharq said, hugging his brother.
"Okay, Sharq, stop, you're going to squeeze my stomach and no one's going to be happy if you crush it." Splin explained with a mild wheeze.
Sharq let go, sighing. "Right, right, sorry."
"No, no, it's fine, just don't- Let me finish my food please."
"Right, gotcha."
After that...conversation, Maria came barreling from the sky straight on top of the house, skidding to a halt, the ceiling remaining in one piece rather spectacularly. Maria sighed, reaching into the bag, eating what appeared to be a sliced piece of zucchini from out of the bag.
"So, Sharq, did you 'cure' Splin's teenage disease?" Maria asked, staring down at the two.
"...Yes, actually." Splin told her.
Maria blinked. "Really?"
"Yeah. Turns out I was just hungry." Splin replied with a shrug.
"Ah." Maria nodded. "Looks like you weren't wrong Sharq."
"Hoorah! The aging process is weak against the power of food!" Sharq cheered to himself.
Splin adjusted his headphones with a sigh. "Sharq, that doesn't mean the problem afflicting me was necessarily aging-"
"Hm?" Sharq paused, glancing over at Splin.
"Maybe it was something different. Something much more complicated and much more terrifying than simple hunger or aging...something horrid." Splin muttered.
The others stared at Splin. Sharq's pupils shrank.
"OH NO! Splin IS becoming a teenager! The food didn't help at all!" Sharq cried out.
Splin blinked. "No, Sharq, I was just-"
Sharq didn't take no for an answer, picking up Splin, charging into the house, pushing open the doors. Maria descending down the stairs into the house. Sharq laid Splin down on his bed, took off his headphones, placing it to the side, then began rapidly wrapping Splin in his blankets.
"Alright, that should contain you! Get some rest Splin, you'll be better in the morning…" Sharq sniffed. "Hopefully."
Sharq began walking off. Maria walked past him, greeting Splin, who was struggling to keep his head out of the covers.
"You okay Splin? I can try to talk some sense into him." Maria said with a smile.
Splin sighed. "No need Maria, this will probably blow over by the tomorrow. Sharq's looking out for me. Albeit...questionably."
The two Inklings glanced over at Sharq, who was rapidly collecting ice cubes from the refrigerator. He placed them on a countertop, then searched in one of the counters, pulling out a small plastic bag. He went back to catch the ice cubes, only to realize that most of them had already melted. Sharq then proceeded to flop around as a squid hysterically. Maria turned back to Splin.
"You're going to be fine though, right?" Maria asked with a hopeful smile.
"Yes. Thanks." Splin told Maria.
Maria rubbed Splin's forehead gently, allowing him to rest, Maria leaving his bedside to sit in the kitchen by the table, Maria laying her arm on the counter next to Ann-Gel and the Tele-Cube, the force enough to awaken the two inanimate objects. Which, in retrospect, not that difficult, Ann-Gel stretching her little figurine arms, the cube making a computer start-up sound.
"...Mmm. Morning Maria." Ann-Gel yawned.
Maria stared across the house at the alarm clock. "It's actually twelve o'clock, but good morning anyways."
As the two females conversed with each other across the house, Ann-Gel surprised at her length of slumber, Splin laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He sighed, his tentacles brushing up against the pillow he laid back on.
How are you feeling, squid kid?
"...Disorientated." Splin spoke up.
Well, don't be. You'll be fine.
"I saw a phantom Salty." Splin said.
And you're talking to a disembodied voice.
"That excuse is going to grow old quick, you know." Splin replied with a smirk.
Maybe it will be. By the by, I've got something for you.
From the hole in the ceiling, a paper card floated down onto Splin's bed. The front of it read, "Get well soon" with a squid drawn on it, a thermometer attached to its presumed mouth.
Splin grinned. "...Thanks voice."
Anytime.
Splin rested on his bed, staring up at the normal sky. As he closed his eyes, they could be seen flickering ever so gently in different hues of colors, but Splin was too occupied with drifting off to sleep, letting the world sort out its own bugs.
AN: Rather late for an update, isn't it? Oh well. I'm just all excited because I finally got to replace my poor old sad dying 3DS with a brand spanking new one. Other than that, hope you all out there are doing well, I guess. This chapter was more of a nod to one of my other stories honestly, but I'll be sure to work on this story more, maybe establish an actual plot line, who knows?
Aside from pointless life updates, let's hop to those reviews! Thanks Ultrapyre and write n wrong for reviwing! Ultrapyre, thanks for your studious criticism as always, I'll work on separating these blocks of text more. write n wrong, who knows? Maybe she shall…
But hey, that's just the brothers. And the others. Thanks for wa- reading.
(I'm never doing that again. Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle. Off to play Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.)