This chapter's idea was brought to you by Dread Angel. 50% Dread, 50% Angel at your local pharmacy.
Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others
serutnevdA 'srehtorB etaB ehT (The 50th Chapter)
Maria woke up swimmingly, opening her eyes, greeted by two pairs of brown eyes and blue tentacles. She sighed, sitting up on her bed, stretching her arms and legs.
"Morning you two." She waved, yawning.
"Morning Maria!" Splin piped up with a grin, adjusting his headphones.
Next to him, Sharq gave a simple smile and a wave, the two walking over towards the kitchen already. Blinking, Maria got to her feet, hopping off of her bed. For a brief moment, she took the time to glance out of the windows at the sun outside. She was immediately disappointed when clouds obscured the skies. Still, if the oddities and past memories of the world she now dwelled in were any indication, it was going to be quite the day regardless of weather.
Maria pursed her lips, however, with little plans there was not much she could say about today. Still, she thought it over, staring at the two across from her. They seemed to be already making towards the stove, with Splin handling a pan. Awaiting breakfast, she walked away from her bed towards the kitchen.
"Be careful with that pan. You know what happened to the eggs last time." Sharq spoke up, staring across at his brother.
Upon hearing that, all Splin seemed to do was shrug, the pan firmly grasped in his hand. "Relax. I've got a firm grip in my hand. He said so him- Whoopsie."
Slipping out of Splin's hand, the pan smashed into a batch of eggs laid out on the counter by the white refrigerator. The eggs, or the remnants to be precise, were now splattered on the side of the fridge, Splin simply smiling awkwardly, taking a nearby towel and switching to squid form, scrubbing using his tentacles. Frowning, Maria cocked an eyebrow suspiciously.
"That's weird. Sharq's usually the one who blunders the food." She hummed, but shrugged, thinking little of it, "Need a hand Splin?"
Blinking, Sharq appeared to turn around for a split second, then turned back, pretending as if he had not heard at all. Maria could distinctly hear him clearing his throat, and as if he were a robot just switched on, Splin perked up, shaking his head with a sheepish grin.
"No, it's fine! Thanks Maria." Splin shrugged, scrubbing harder, his squid brow collecting sweat already.
After a while, it seemed like Splin's battle with the egg splatter was extremely one sided, with the food being the victor. Sighing, Splin switched back into Inkling form, setting the white-covered rag back on the counter.
"Well, I give up. Hey, um, Sharq?" Splin asked, attracting the other's attention.
Looking up, Sharq frowned, his Takoroka Mesh getting in the way. Tilting his hat up slightly, he arched one of his eyebrows, silently signaling that he was all ears.
Splin grinned, already starting for the door. "Let's go outside, huh? We can pick breakfast up somewhere!"
Biting his lip, Sharq glanced over at the part of the fridge that had pieces of yellow and white stuck to it. Considering his relative's poor skills in cooking, it was almost a no-brainer for him to choose an alternative. Standing up, he nodded, and the two began walking out, waving to Maria as they left. Maria simply waved back, but could not help but feel some form of suspicion in her gut. Stealthily switching into a lime squid, she made her way outside, proning throughout the grass, keeping an eye on the brothers as they themselves transformed into small blue squids.
"Last one there's a rotten egg!" Splin announced, preparing to jet off.
Sharq sighed. "I sincerely hope you fall on your face, Sharq."
"And I hope you- Uh… Fall on yours, Splin!" Splin-
"Wait a minute, what?" Maria blinked, staring at the two.
But before Maria could leave and ask them like a normal person, the two brothers jet off into the sky with a burst of blue following them. Staring out at the great azure sky, she watched as they departed into the distance. With a swift step, Maria dashed back into the house, looked about, and started searching, reverting back to Inkling form in the process. Through her search, she stumbled over the alarm clock, Ann-Gel, and a coffee mug, all irritated. Well, the coffee mug seemed rather content with being shattered across the floor, but the others stirred restlessly.
"Aw, Maria!" Ann-Gel rubbed her head, groaning.
Maria uttered a quick apology before searching and searching. Eventually, she grinned, and raised a disgruntled cube in the air, which slowly blared to life, shining throughout the house. There was definitely something up with the brothers, and Maria was definitely sure she knew what was going on.
"Tele-Cube!" She spoke up, tapping on the top restlessly.
Finally loaded and finally peeved, metallic hands stretched out of the cube and slapped Maria's hands away. She yielded, holding both of her hands up in an attempt to pacify the cube's outrage. Then she realized why she had found the cube, and began growing angry herself.
"Wait a minute, I'm the one doing the interrogating here! Cube, I know what game you're playing at." Maria frowned, glaring straight at the cube.
"..." The cube responded with an electric, confused hum.
Gripping the cube like a maniac, she stared directly into its… Eyes? Whatever she was doing, it was unnerving the onlookers, who walked, or slid away.
"Splin screwing up the food? Sharq shooting a retort. It's pretty clear what's going on here." Maria crossed her arms, "There was an accident involving you."
A chirp that somehow translated into, "Did I do that?" was beeped by the cube, which the squid mother simply nodded at.
"Yes. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I definitely know it happened. You…
SWAPPED THEIR BODIES."
While still debatable, Tele-Cube's eyes started drifting elsewhere, as if looking for an audience to shrug at, had it attained arms in which to shrug with. The other objects began moving away quicker, with Ann-Gel whispering something about emergency numbers. The broken mug simply laid broken, acting cool and collected.
Scoffing, Maria simply tossed the cube away after the period of silence, with a groan. "I can't believe this. I'm just going to have to find them myself and fix this… Somehow. ...Without attracting too much attention, hopefully. Can't imagine it would be too good for their self-image," She pondered aloud, one hand on her cheeks.
She then shook her head. "What am I saying?"
There was something up. Splin and Sharq's appearances were all there. Brown eyes, blue tentacles, tannish skin. The headphones, cap, their Anchor Tees of opposite colors, and their shoes were the same. But they were speaking as if they had swapped spirits. With all that said and done and with that on her mind, Maria dashed out of the house, and destroyed the hinges of the doors inadvertently, leaving two awestruck objects watching as she leaped into the sky, squishy squid head first. That left Ann-Gel and the alarm clock in the home. Sighing, Ann-Gel gestured to a still gawking digital clock.
"C'mon clock, we have our work cut out for us." She spoke up, glancing towards the doors and the cup in pieces, resting in peace.
Somewhere above them, a cube screeched as it clashed into a handful of seagulls, finding itself eventually landing in a garbage dump by Inkopolis. But until then, it would be a long fall, and a lot of irritation.
Maria landed in a street, rubbing her head. The trip through the sky had been quick, and the subsequent crater she made was certainly something. Not to mention the threat of something, she was not sure what, going wrong, was intimidating And the car speeding towards her was also something. Something that threatened to flatten her.
"Look out!" A female voice called.
Still in the midst of shaking her head, Maria hardly noticed as a colorful pink and green automobile hopped over her, but from behind, the squid mother could make out another Inkling wearing a pink and black costume, flailing about in her car, screaming in terror as she flew. Blinking, Maria stood up, retaining her humanoid Inkling form with a sigh, dusting herself off as she ignored the bizarre anomaly. Searching around in the middle of the street, she noticed a pair of blue tentacled Inklings leaving from an ever familiar restaurant, with ever familiar staff waving them off. At the head, "Sharq", or at least the one in his skin, waved goodbye, with "Splin" leaving him in the dust. Maria's eyes shot open, and she began her chase.
Willie and Zip waved from the inside of Oahu, as the brothers walked off. Just before they could re-enter the restaurant, Maria stopped them, simultaneously smudging up a glass door with her hands and face.
"Zoinks!" Willie gasped, leaping up into Zip's arms in squid form, wrapping around her neck as if by instinct.
Zip scowled, brushing her mate of of her. "Uh-oh. Pela's not going to like it when she see's this. That's another hour of cleaning."
"Oh man, this day just keeps getting better." Willie gulped, hopping out of her grip.
However, no mere glass can stop Maria. Glancing to the side, she had already lost the brothers. Groaning, she turned to the couple.
"Excuse me, did you two happen to catch where they went?" She asked them quickly.
"Hmm." Willie blinked, "Well, after Music Man devoured most of the food we had prepared, took about twenty minutes-"
Zip shook her head with a sigh. "Which Splin devoured in two minutes…"
"He and Shadey left, and boy was Splin excited to play a Turf War. Like, serious excitement. Sharq didn't seem too hype, though…" Willie adjusted his glasses, frowning.
Maria nodded swiftly, "Alright, Turf Wars, thanks!"
A trail of dust was kicked up in Maria's sprint, prompting the couple to shut the doors, shielding the interior from debris.
"I'm surprised, she really knows how to run." Zip whistled, watching her move.
"I'm surprised Pela allowed us to take such a long break." Willie remarked, answered with a spoon smacking him in the face, "Ow!"
"Break's over! Back to the kitchen, loverboy." A voice called from behind them, prompting Willie to groan, stuffing his hands in his chef uniform's pockets as Zip followed behind, patting him on the back with a chuckle.
Upon entering the plaza, Maria did a sweep around with her eyes. On the left side of the Booyah Base, the shrimp salesman, Crusty Sean, tied one of his many pairs of shoelaces, setting off on a morning jog. Aside from that, activity in the plaza was low, with very little Inkling activity. Even Spyke's tapping on his rug was slower. Frowning, Maria began walking towards the tower under the sleepy gaze of the Great Zapfish, making her way to the doors.
"Make way, make way! For Ari Jabin has arr-"
Ari's orange tentacles and tanned face proved to be too much for the impatient Maria, who clutched the pair of tentacles on her head, stuffing her face in the lime green tendrils, and screamed muffled scream of frustration. Ari's grand entrance faltered to that of a stare, a gawk at Maria. Through the duration of her venting, his cousin approached from behind him, Sari glancing over at the overreacting lime Inkling with the same weirded out stare.
Ari pursed his lips. "Perhaps I should dial my entrances back for the women, don't you think?"
Sari leaned back on the walls of the tower, "I don't think it has to do with attraction, Ari."
"'You never know until you try', like mother says." Ari smirked, nodding to himself
The other orange-clad Inkling shrugged, to which the ever arrogant and prideful Inkling just waved off, walking over towards Maria.
"Miss Maria! I couldn't help but notice your…" He stared at the lime tentacles now sticking to Maria's face, "Condition. Never fear, for Ari, I, the great-"
"Right!" Maria's tentacles flung off her face all of a sudden, startling the teenager, and placed her tentacles on his shoulders, "You're Splin and Sharq's friend."
To that, Ari scoffed. "Friend? You mean rival of epic proportions!"
In response to Ari's own, harrowing remark, Maria just glanced over to his cousin. Sari, leaning back on the wall, just gave another shrug.
"Sooo…" She turned back to Ari, "You know where they are?"
"...No." Ari admitted, but grinned immediately afterwards, pulling out a cellphone from his right shorts pocket, surprising Maria, "But I know someone who might!"
In the dark recesses of Octo Valley, two Octolings trudged under a cloud of darkness, with only a solitary pair of purple lights on one of their faces glowing. They made haste, though the goggleless one was less so than her subordinate.
"Tai, watch yourself." Aussie spoke as she walked, keeping a close eye on the path ahead, "This place hasn't seen too many Octarians recently. You need to take extreme caution, pay attention to every twist and turn. One wrong step-"
A rapid chiming practically spooked the wits out of the commander. Glancing behind with a furious face, she noticed Tai with an object planted by her face underneath the violet tentacle covering her right ear, the light illuminating her face.
"What the carp Tai?!" Aussie hissed in a whispering tone, watching as Tai took her sweet time.
Tai held one index finger up in a shushing manner, only irritating Aussie more and more.
"No," Aussie glared, "I will not be quiet! Where did you get that Inkling communication device?!"
Clamping her hands on the phone she held, Tai rolled her eyes at Aussie. "It's called a cell phone, granny. Hang on."
The two remained stationary, but not without several questions from the red Octoling, who continually probed at Tai: "Where did you get that?", "How are you talking from HERE?!", and "Can you move your butt?! We need to GO!"
Eventually, Tai answered with a "No", and Aussie felt like wrenching the phone out of her hands, confiscating it by force. Shortly afterwards, Tai uttered a "Bye", tossing the phone away, where it clattered among the darkness. The other Octoling's mouth gaped open, Tai standing there with a comatose stare, eventually placing her hands on her hips as the two looked at one another, albeit with different, not great emotions.
"What the shell Tai?!" Aussie asked, keeping her hands inches away from Tai's throat.
"He asked if I knew where Splin and Sharq were. I said no." She stated simply, the grinned, "Then asked me out to another date. I swear, the guy's so-"
Aussie's voice ignored the melancholy atmosphere and rose up to an eleven so to speak. "NO! Why did you toss the phone away?! If something DID happen, we could need it!"
"I wasn't getting good reception down here. Didn't need it." Tai shrugged.
Drips of water echoed throughout the cavern, but Aussie's searing rage was generating noise all by itself. Tai rolled her eyes, walking forward through the darkness, passing by her superior.
"Well? We going or what? If we hurry, might be able to find a phone booth in there."
Thus, a new chase ensued, with the cackling of a normally dormant Octoling followed by the sound of fire sizzling.
"Hmm." Ari frowned, tapping the phone, nothing coming through the other end but silence, "Well, I hope that answers your- Hey!"
Already, Maria had Super Jumped away, and was nothing more than a speck in the sky. The two relatives in orange stared as she passed through a cloud, and was gone.
"I didn't get to ask for any reward." Ari frowned, crossing his arms.
"Eh, I'm sure you'll get it next time Ari." Sari spoke up, patting her cousin on the back, who could only nod in disappointment.
Hitting the top of the roof by a smashed Squid Beakon, Maria sluggishly got to her feet. Already feeling horrible for her supposed failure, she switched back into squid form, dropping on the trapdoor, letting herself roll down the stairs lazily, not sure how she would feel with having to refer to the two without thorough confusion upon doing so.
"Splin! Stop using the pay-to-win characters!" Sharq complained, tilting his Gamepad to and fro, lifting his Takoroka Mesh up somewhat.
Splin smirked, glancing at his brother, flicking his headphones, listening to the sounds of the game. "Racing character DLC is in no way pay-to-win. You just need to get good."
Maria's eyes shot open for the second time. A crowd of Inkling and object clustered around the television, watching the brothers compete. For a while, all Maria could do was stare. There they were. Splin was acting like Splin, and Sharq was acting like Sharq. She coughed once, and suddenly everyone turned around, the music from the video game pausing as well.
"Oh, hi again Maria!" Sharq waved happily.
Maria waved back, noticing that there was a somewhat dirty and irritated cube sitting by him, with a wary amiibo and alarm clock sticking by it.
"...Something wrong?" Splin asked, tilting his head, "You've looked like you've seen a ghost. Which, really, isn't that far off in this universe."
Sharq snickered. "Splin's right! You don't have to stand there, silly! We can make room if you want."
Blinking, Maria just smiled, descending from the stairs, now in her humanoid form. "Oh, it's alright. I'll just… Lie down here."
The lime green Inkling walked towards the kitchen. As she did so, Sharq's ecstatic attitude went to bewildered. Her tentacles were scraggly and roughed-up, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears, but happy tears for the most part. The final kicker commenced; Maria approached the kitchen, flopping down on the main table, and curled up into a confused, tired, and glad ball, while everyone stared, and immediately decided on a consensus:
Find out what the heck is up with Maria.
"What just happened?"
Earlier that day.
Splin and Sharq were wide awake, and while the crack of dawn was yet upon them, they were staring straight at a shut off television screen, wondering about life. Or something.
"...Hey Splin?" Sharq asked, his blue tentacles flowing down his exposed head.
Splin reacted slowly, answering with a simple "Muh?"
Sharq grinned. "Don't we look kinda similar?"
"Yeah. What about it?" Splin blinked, yawning, careful not to awake Maria or any other sentient being in the house.
For a while, Sharq snickered, only confusing Splin more. Reaching at the side, Sharq picked up his hat, placing it on Splin's head.
"...Uh…Huh." Splin adjusted the cap, frowning, "Look, if you want to say something, just say it Sharq."
"Dude! You look just like me!" Sharq blinked, grinning proudly, "Lend me your headphones really quick!"
With a shrug, Splin lifted the Takoroka Mesh, retrieving his Designer Headphones, letting Sharq borrow them. Snuggly fitting them on his ears, Sharq sighed, and the two stared at each other for a moment.
"...Oh dear. Is this what you…?" Splin began, to which Sharq nodded happily.
"It'll be fun!" Sharq announced, albeit silently as not to disturb anyone.
Splin frowned and shook his head. "Brother, with all due respect, this is probably the worst idea you've had." Sharq pouted across from him, "It's pointless, and besides, you're a year older than me. There's still a height difference."
Standing up, Sharq marched up to a wooden wall of the house, again, with silent intentions, and stood up straight. "Here, now." He pointed to the space next to him.
Sighing, Splin walked up and over towards him, and the two stood shoulder to shoulder with each other, the two taking off their headgear. Grinning, Sharq placed on hand on his head, then slowly hovered said hand over and on Splin's, who sighed.
"Eh?" Sharq grinned at Splin.
"...This is even more embarrassing when we went to that inkslide park for our birthday." Splin groaned, helplessly staring at the floor.
With a reassuring smile, Sharq simply hugged his younger brother. "Aw, don't be like that man. Hey, you've grown a bit since then, a lot taller than the little squid I had to take care of!"
"Sometimes I wonder which one of us took care of whom." Splin shook his head.
Thus, the two planned their harmless scheme, turning in for the night, with high hopes for the morning when it came. So forth did the chapter unfold.
"...Not sure why I needed to know that, voice." Splin frowned, glancing at the ceiling as he entered his bed.
Not you, go to sleep.
He did not argue, drifting off to the dreamland express.
AN: Fifty whole chapters of squids. Thanks everyone. Now, with that being said, I think I'll take a break from this story. Yeah yeah, I know, "Not this again", "I just got back from Hawaii", "Chi hasn't been explored at all yet! Neither have a bunch of other characters you pleb!".
Actually I think those are just my own complaints.
Nevertheless, for the sake of my sanity, I think I'll stick to working on three stories at a time, thank you. The Drafted Squid will be high on my priority list, I wanna see if I can really experiment with Phish's story, maybe expand some horizons, probably add a villain who actually accomplishes something in this universe, eh?
But enough planning, let's get into those reviews. Thanks write n wrong for reviewing!
That's always been Aussie, huh? Professional, but with a hint of ordinary friend in her among her companions. Always a pleasure knowing I wrote a character to someone's liking.
Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, I'll be sure to work on Chi the Rebel someday!