Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others

A Fourth Wall Shattering Narrative Quest!

As Splin walked among the sidewalks of Inkopolis, he shivered again, looking about. A thick wind seemed to wrap around him invisibly, causing him to shake in his boots. He looked around. The sun was beaming down brightly enough. How was it so cold?

"...Perhaps I still retain a sickness." Splin concluded quickly, looking around the city, "Ugh… I wonder why I feel so cold… The sun is out, there's hardly a cloud in the sky."

Splin quickly shrugged off his shivers, moving forward. As he made his way forward through the city, the sun's rays beaming down began feeling much more pleasant.

"...Hmm." Splin hummed, feeling the warmth. "That's better."

The warm feeling felt pleasant. Though Splin did not notice, and probably should not have considering he would receive an unhealthy dose of sun spots if he tried, the sun also jittered and shivered behind him. Splin could not shake that terrible feeling he retained in his dream. A feeling of dread filled a pit in his stomach, like something wrong could happen at any moment.

"Ah, greetings rival." Ari spoke up, walking by casually while simultaneously whistling in a way that did not foreshadow a thing.

Okay, maybe that was a stretch, but still, after uttering a meek "Hello" to Ari, Splin continued on his way, glancing to and fro. Still, though he made his way along the streets, he was thoroughly spooked. The last thing he was "'Any of those dastardly words blocking his path'."

Splin read aloud, reading the newly imagined block of text suspended in front of him As if it were a hologram,

"'It floated in front of Splin…' Oh." Splin sighed, staring at the text suspended in front of him, "This text again."

It was not alike a flyer blowing by in the wind. The textblock was blue, like Splin's tentacles, and sat there in midair, casting a very visible shadow on the ground. Splin scratched the back of his tentacles, reaching out to touch the text. His hand had phased through it as if he were…

"'Dead'." Splin read, "Oh. Okay."

Splin blinked, staring at the words onscreen. Strangely, after reading "Dead" aloud straight from the text, he did not feel any worse. Here he was, reading presumably nonexistent words in the air on the sidewalk of a large city, populated by walking squids and talking cats. After his dream encounter, and practically dozens of universe mishaps that under normal circumstances would have shattered a person's mind, Splin had come to terms with the oddities.

"...Okay, let's see." Splin muttered, staring down, "Either I was given questionably effective medicine, I'm still dreaming, I'm… Dead. Or this is just some… Odd worldly occurrence."

Splin let his dialogue sit in the air for a while. Literally, as the block was detailing every thought, every word he had just said, wrapped in quotation marks. He frowned, looking at the sky. The Inkling cleared his throat, nodding towards the block.

What?

Splin gestured to the text block again. "You see this, right?"

Yes, so?

Splin frowned, glancing around. Freezing in place, an Inkling, just about as young as he was, walked up next to him. She stared at him, then stared forward where the text box was. She frowned, staring at where Splin was, but did not seem to notice the glaring text box in front of them.

"...Weird." The other Inkling shrugged, moving off.

"Other people can't see it? Odd… Why does this remind me of a comic I've read?" Splin muttered.

With that comment, Splin began walking away again. The text block hovered behind, details added word after word as it hovered. Splin noticed that hardly any of them detailed the world around them unless he drew attention to them or thought about the world. For instance, as he crossed over a crack in the ground, the text block began detailing itself detailing the crack, on what might have caused it, on Splin crossing over it.

"...Okay, well, how do I make it go away?" Splin asked.

Have you tried asking nicely?

Splin frowned, adjusting his headphones on his neck. He stared at the text block. The text block wrote that he stared, and that it was writing about him staring very consciously.

"...Here goes nothing." Splin cleared his throat, "Um… Could you… Disappear or something?" Splin asked carefully.

The text block just hovered there, writing about how it was hovering, and relaying Splin's request in text directly back at him. Splin sighed, and the text block wrote about how he sighed.

"I'm not exactly sure how that works, but sure…" Splin muttered, "I guess I should call you something if you're going to follow me around. I mean, that makes as much sense as it does a floating text block you can see, right?"

The text block just repeated Splin's words. Shrugging, Splin took that as an affirmation.

"Okay then… Hmm…" Splin hummed, thinking up a name, "I suppose I could name you anything…"

Again, the text block repeated-

"Nostalgia! That's perfect. You recount the details of everything and- Actually, that's not exactly nostalgia…" Splin muttered.

"Nostalgia" stared in the way only a text block could. By not having eyes. Splin sighed, tousling his tentacles.

"You know what, I've already debated too much on too many things in the past. Alright Nostalgia, I guess… Let's go find Sharq and Maria."

After writing down what Splin had just said, the two set off, looking about Inkopolis curiously.

Meanwhile, Sharq and Maria were smiling, the younger Inkling laughing up a storm as Maria stared down at him, the two sitting by the very same beach that bordered Inkopolis, a strip of stores nearby, with the roads of Inkopolis behind him. An empty space where a video game reference may or may not have been used sat. The two were covered in ink like they had just worked with paint on a building- Which is practically Splatoon's gameplay in general, ink weapons, a roller, odometer attached proudly, and a charger gun sat.

Sharq ceased laughing slowly, clearing his throat. "One more! Please?"

"Alright, alright, just one okay?" Maria said, clearing her throat, the younger Sharq nodding, "So, one time my husband asked if I could play rough. So I punched him in the shoulder."

Sharq blinked curiously, staring at Maria. "...Huh?"

Maria sighed, shrugging. "Yeah, that one didn't go well with Jack either."

Previously, on Splatter Squids X:

Elsewhere, a cyborg with a silver sheen covering his tentacles caressed his shoulder, running his metallic hands over his equally metallic shoulder. He blinked, looking up suddenly.

"Wait, how do I still feel that?" Jack asked aloud.

"I liked the rest of your jokes, though!" Sharq smiled up at her.

"Aw, thanks Sharq." Maria said, with a grin.

"Hold it! Move the text up!"

Splin stared at the text bubble, reading through the event that had just taken place elsewhere, transcribed clearly in front of him. Reading upwards, he noticed the location previously transcribed.

"...Beach bordering on Inkopolis. Huh. Thanks." Splin told Nostalgia.

Nostalgia then-

"'Repeated what Splin said'. I guess there isn't much to talk about when you're just a text bubble… Wow." Splin sighed, "That was too ironic."

"Yeah, well, this story makes no sense either, so it's a lose lose situation anyways." The text bubble wrote on itself.

"Huh?" Splin tilted his head.

Okay! That's enough of that!

The text box began to fade, and blipped out of existence. Splin blinked, rubbing his eyes.

"...Sure." Splin sighed, walking around, looking for the beach.

Splin came across the beach, looking around across the sand and water. No one was sitting anywhere, and it was generally empty. He frowned. Perhaps the text bubble just liked to describe things for the sake of describing, he concluded.

"Or perhaps they left!" Ari shouted behind him.

"What the- Ari?!" Splin gasped, backing away, "What are you doing here?!"

"I see you've been hard at work on finding your brother and Maria." Ari spoke up.¨How did you-

"Have you been following me?" Splin asked, gesturing behind him.

Ari nodded honestly. "Pretty much."

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Splin asked curiously.

Ari blushed, looking away. "Well, Tai said she wanted to go watch a bunch of people… do something-"

Splin deadpanned. "Great explanation. I'm sure the courtroom will eat that up."

Ari frowned, "And Sari, Rit and Bas are off doing whatever…" Ari shrugged, ¨So, I'd figure I might assist you, and your… Text, over there!"

Splin blinked, glancing behind him. The newly named "Nostalgia" text box floated there. Splin frowned, noticing Ari's intrigued stare.

"...This is getting confusing… So apparently you can see the text box, but others cannot? Why?" Splin asked.

"Aha! I've got it! It's just like in my Japanese animes!" Ari smirked.

"..." Splin blinked, glancing back at the text block, then back to Ari. Suddenly, he froze. "Oh Cod I get that reference."

"Really? Good taste there!" Ari laughed, only bothering Splin a bit more.

"I think that just means I'm spending too much time indoors actually." Splin retorted.

Ari shrugged. "Perhaps. But that's where this adventure comes in! I shall accompany you and your- Well, saying an official name would make it less unique, don't you think?"

"...It's still 'Standing' behind me in a way though, I'm sure…" Splin blinked, looking elsewhere almost absentmindedly, "They might understand it."

Splin stared off into the distance. His eyes twitched, and very subtly a glow seemed to come from his brown irises. Blinking, he turned back to Ari.

"But still, that would be pretty obvious and unoriginal. ...Wouldn't it?"

"It's not punching things though, now is it?" Ari pointed out, staring at the text block still describing things behind Splin, "Ooh, wait, if I can see it does that mean I'm a user too?!"

"That's not an inherent- This is dragging on too long." Splin groaned.

"Then let's shorten it! What say you, rival? Can I accompany you for the time being?¨ Ari asked.

Splin sighed, staring at the ground. "...Good grief.¨ He adjusted his headphones, "Alright, you can come. It's getting dark though, so we better hurry."

"Perfect!" Ari grinned, "Onwards!"

Ari marched off into Inkopolis, a hum escaping his lips. Splin blinked, shook his head, and followed the older Inkling, Nostalgia doing the same in its own floaty way on their poorly named "quest" to find the others, Ari taking off into the streets quickly, Splin following behind.

Sharq hummed as well elsewhere, following Maria carefreely around Inkopolis on their way back home. Passing by a fast food establishment, they continued on through the sidewalk-

"There." Splin stopped the text, his finger landing on fast food.

The day had already grown darker. After a few hours of wandering and searching-

"As well as another trip out of our way." Splin sighed, shaking his head.

"Side quests are important to building your status, rival." Ari pointed out with a "humph". "Honestly, I'd expect Sharq to brush it off in favor of chasing after- I dunno, a bird or something-"

The two boys, as well as the ever studious text block, stood in front of a closed fast food building, the smells having disappeared.

"I can't believe we spent the entire day consulting this block of words." Splin stared at the block, "It's been a wild goose chase!"

"Perhaps." Ari nodded in agreement.

A pause followed. Splin blinked, staring at Ari. He glanced back, shrugging, only making the silence that more inexcusably awkward. Splin sighed, waving him off.

"To make matters worse, we still haven't found them! I'm starting to doubt the writing here." Splin muttered, staring at the text block.

"Maybe the writing is just a suggestion? Who's to say that it governs our lives?" Ari suggested.

"Under normal circumstances I'd probably just make it simpler and agree with you from a philosophical point of view, but…" Splin frowned.

As Splin pondered, more text floated up onto the visible screen. Splin read:

"'Maria and Sharq had decided on picking up food-' We were late!" Splin groaned, "Nostalgia's just recalling things that happened! The writing is too slow!"

Well then, why don't you try writing, hm?

"...Uh?" Splin blinked.

"...Hmm, rival, I think I should retire. It is getting late." Ari muttered, staring at the sky.

"Hmm?" Splin's tentacles swiveled around with his head, "Oh, okay. Uh, see you I guess."

Ari nodded, dashing off, giving a goodbye wave once. Splin frowned, looking straight at the screen as the footsteps of Ari vanished in the distance. He gulped, staring straight at Nostalgia.

"...I'm really going to do this." Splin muttered aloud.

With a careful hand, Splin reached at the screen shakily. The sound of something light hitting the ground startled him. Turning around quickly, he noticed a very small, barely noticeable object in the dark. He reached down, feeling around it. Light, small, and thin. Raising it up, he grasped the form of it.

It was a small pen, comfortably grippable in the palms of his hands, without a tip in which to disperse ink.

Splin froze in place, the pen almost gesturing towards the. His mind began formulating dozens of thoughts and theories on what exactly is happening. None of them hit the correct answer however, leaving Splin wrapped in confusion. He gulped.

"...Ah. I get it. This is still all just a dream… Right? Maybe? No?" Splin thought to himself.

Splin stared at the screen, clutching the headphones around his neck. Pulling them off, he placed them on his ears, raising the stylus towards the screen. He hesitated. Nostalgia, the text box, just hovered there, as it "always" did.

"...This is bizarre." Splin muttered.

Splin was sure he was losing it. He swore he saw color swirling across his eyes. With a shaky hand, he took the stylus, and began scribbling. He was frightened, never before in his ink flinging, squid shifting life was he this scared. There was nothing chasing after him, nothing threatening to hurt him. But nevertheless, he was scared. So he wrote.

"I want to wake up." Splin muttered aloud.

Nothing happened. Splin waited longer, the screen hovering next to him in a desolate, night time Inkopolis, lights flickering on, the Zapfish napping on its tower across from him. There was life, safety in the streets. Splin fell to the side, leaning on the building. He watched color flash past his eyes. Words followed suit, and Splin, overwhelmed by his adventures, his weariness, and his fear, passed out.

Sharq looked about the house, frowning. "Oh…"

"Sharq, I know you must be worried about your brother, but trust me." Maria spoke up, sitting across from him by the kitchen counter, "He'll be fine. If he's up on his feet, then that means there's nothing to worry about, right?"

"That, and we bought all this food!" Sharq cried out.

True to Sharq's word, the kitchen counter had bags of fast food. Sharq's mouth was watering.

"Why did you guys get all of this food anyways?" Ann-Gel suddenly asked, popping up behind the counter.

Sharq perked up, lifting the visor of his cap up. "You know, for everybody. But Salty and Splin are missing…"

Ann-Gel frowned, putting a fist to her chin. "How does that snail get so far anyways?!"

"They'll be back soon. I'm sure it's just a matter of time." Maria stated.

A "poof" sound was heard. The household members looked about curiously. Sharq caught a glimpse of a tired looking squid nestling into its bed. Sharq grinned.

"Splin!" Sharq waved.

Splin blinked, the color from his eyes swapping back to his default brown. He glanced away, shivered once, then fell back down on the bed on his now humanoid back, his headphones rattling.

"...Wow." Splin muttered, staring at the ceiling.

"Splin?" Sharq asked.

Splin sat up straight, looking across the room. He spotted Sharq, Maria, and Ann-Gel staring at him curiously, almost as if he were an alien, though Sharq was pleased at the sight of his brother doing well. Except Splin was hardly well on the inside.

He glanced at Maria, who smiled, though somewhat worriedly. A collection of information streamed into his head. Children with extreme power prowess, hailing from a different dimension… Something about death floated about, all detailed in text in front of him.

He stared at Ann-Gel. An amiibo, grants school uniforms and a special Hero Charger lookalike when her challenges are beaten. Compatible with other Nintendo games. Splin blinked.

Then he glanced at Sharq. His older brother. The one who helped raise him when his parents were absent. He too, was detailed in data.

Splin stared at the three. He closed his eyes, then opened them again, a slow blinking process.

"Yes?" He asked nonchalantly.

"Awesome! You're fine!" Sharq cheered.

Splin blinked once more, inspecting himself. Two tentacles wrapped on the back of his head, four humanoid limbs, and four soft tentacle spikes on the back of his head, along with his Inkling characteristics of a mask-like face and two triangular ears. He was fine.

"...I suppose I am." Splin smiled softly.

"Well, come on! We bought a bunch of food!" Sharq told him, rushing over towards the bed.

"Alright, alright." Splin said, getting up off the bed.

Maria and Ann-Gel smiled at each other. Sharq stared from the other side of the room hopefully, Splin walking over without a problem, passing under the hole in the ceiling.

A squawk sounded overhead.

"Oof!" Splin groaned, feeling something drop onto his head.

"Huh?!" The others gasped.

Splin rubbed his head, frowning. He felt something cool and somewhat hard in his arms. Opening his eyes, he was met with the small, black eyes of a snail.

Salty squeaked, blinking curiously. Splin blinked back.

"...How did you-"

Before Splin could properly ask, a seagull dropped in through the hole in the roof. Though completely safe and far enough away from the seagull, Ann-Gel seemed to freak out, instinctively diving behind the counter. The seagull squawked, prompting Splin, carrying Salty, to mimic Ann-Gel's behaviors, hopping to the side. The seagull proceeded to dive by Salty, the Inklings staring in bewilderment. Sensing a delectable scent, the seagull dived towards the counter, picking up a fast food bag with one of its talons, then zoomed out the broken window, squawking as it flew away into the night.

Splin stared down at Salty again. Inspecting him, text buzzed across his eyes. Something about the seagull having missed its one call or something.

"...Rough day, huh?" Splin asked, petting the snail.

The snail blinked, nodding a bit. Splin sighed, shaking his head, walking over to the counter, placing the snail down.

"...Well, that's one bag of food we don't need to finish." Maria commented, staring out the window, "Despite… That, feel free to dig in!"

Splin and Sharq stared at each other. Sharq grinned.

"Care for a food contest?" Sharq asked.

"Heavens no, just let me eat something." Splin sighed.

As such in this world of anticlimactic endings, the Inklings, as well as the snail who had just dropped in, began digging into the bags despite the seagull's bizarre entrance, finishing the night with a meal. Splin could not help but feel unsatisfied while they dined, staring to and fro, details still floating by his vision. He sighed.

"Perhaps things will be much more normal in the morning." Splin shook his head.

Salty stumbled about the house casually, hopping out onto the roof, feeling the breezy hill air, the morning sun feeling absolutely wonderful, and the sights of Inkopolis, with apartment buildings and such in the difference making the natural world combined with Inkling manufacturing wonderful to the little snail. Then it was ruined, as the snail's eyes shot open when he heard a familiar squawk. In a flash, Salty was taken away yet again by a seagull, blinking as the seagull flapped away with its indigestible meal.

AN: Okay I changed my mind, it was either getting off my lazy butt or facing Splatfest salt for the day. And I did not want to get into a heated discussion about the pros and cons of fancy dress clothes versus costumes.

(But I chose costume parties because a Josuke costume would prove fabulous enough to serve as fancy anyways.)

This is like the third time I've seen buggy reviews on this site, geez. They really need to work on that somehow. Thanks Ultrapyre, Dread Angel, write n wrong, and Darkstar248 for reviewing, I suppose, as well as CathyMirii on Steam. Really appreciate your encouraging words, really helps me get up in the morning. Aside from my alarm clock, of course! write n wrong, I was actually thinking of a Star Fox/Splatoon mini-story, that's a great idea. Darkstar248, thanks a lot too.

Well, thanks for reading as always, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, see you.

"Hey Sharq?" Splin asked.

"What's up Splin?" Sharq asked.

"I think now would be the good time to… Do a barrel roll." Splin smirked.

"...Splin, what the-"

Star Squid Zero! Coming… Sometime soon, I hope.