Thanks for the cameo character Dread Angel. Sheesh, I really need to come up with more original ideas, otherwise this will be the second Bate Bros. story that has other people's ideas taking up a third of the story. That being said, hope you enjoy.

Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others

amiibro 2

Ann-Gel was not sure how to deal with anything anymore. At least, in a serious sense. Throughout the short time she had been with the brothers, almost nothing came to her as a shock anymore. After all, she was something surprising in itself. It is not everyday when you came across another sentient statue. Two, if she counted the weird cat creature sitting by Sharq. Of course, the main course, literally, of this whole escapade that was meant as a relaxing exercise

After the stunning revelation that took place in the park, suddenly Ann-Gel found herself sitting in front of the largest cheeseburger she had seen in her life. It may have had something to do with her own height, but the sandwich that sat on a plate in front of her could have served as a small room for her. She sat atop a tablecloth, sitting across from a smiling Inkling donning a Takoroka Mesh Cap and another statuette with no hat to his name. In front of Seamond, yet another ginormous sandwich sat, towering over him. Sharq was by his side, already gnawing on his own meal happily. Whether or not he noticed that their meals were twice the size of them, it was intimidating nonetheless. Hardly feeling peckish, she turned towards where her newfound Inkling friend sat at.

Seamond was certainly a shocker. His choice of attire was a Zink Layered LS shirt and Purple Hi-Horses for footwear, his blue tentacles tied up into a bun. Blue irises glanced to and fro, curiosity brimming from within. She was somewhat unsure of how to feel about the new plastic Inkling. In her honest opinion, he seemed strange and awkward. Even though she had just "met" him at the park an hour ago...

"...Seamond?" She repeated slowly, eyes growing wide.

Standing on the cement sidewalk underneath the shadow of Sharq, Seamond blinked confusedly, glancing around. He hummed, taking in the sights of the park as if it were a whole different planet. Sharq stood above them both, a smile creeping up his face. He had something enclosed in the palms of his hands, but he was too busy taking it all in. Then, without warning, he spun directly towards the larger Inkling, humming in an apparent interest.

"Hello." He spoke up to the larger Inkling. "Are you supposed to be my owner?"

That seemed to make Sharq smirk somewhat. "Uh, no. I don't think so…"

Seamond glowered at Sharq, eyebrows narrowing furthermore. Sharq's smirk was replaced with an equally curious expression, the two having somewhat of a stare-off, and Seamond did not look happy about participating in it. Did he say something to offend him?

However, instead of exploding in anger, he simply responded to their unnerved glares with, "So...again, would you like to try a challenge or two?"

A wave of nostalgia washed over Ann-Gel immediately. She was not the only one anymore. Challenges from a little Inkling statuette. It was almost like looking into a mirror. A deadpan, alternate gender mirror, however. She was growing more and more unsure by the minute.

However, Ann-Gel was willing to put her surprise and concern to the side, and so, she cleared her throat, attracting the attention of the other amiibo, who turned to her with yet another confused mien. "Um, hi! You're an amiibo too, right? My name's Ann-Gel."

A few seconds passed, and Ann-Gel admittedly felt as though it was a mistake. Instead of showing even a sliver of interest, Seamond just gave her a stare as blank as paper itself. Standing besides them, Sharq continued to fidget with whatever else he managed to find in the crack in the sidewalk. If she narrowed her eyes just a bit, she could swear that she spied a violet tendril wriggling out of the palms of his hands. She blinked for just a split second, and then it was gone, as if it were just a trick of lighting. Frowning, she pretended as if she had not seen anything out of the ordinary, turned back to Seamond, and yelped. Jumping back, she noticed Seamond had moved considerably closer, and was offering a hand to shake.

"Pleased to meet you." He spoke in a monotone voice, staring directly at her unblinkingly.

Ann-Gel eyed the hand cautiously. For another amiibo, this was definitely not what she had in mind. He was flat in how he carried himself, he was straight to the point, and he hardly made any movements. He was practically just an emotionless stat-

Biting her lip, Ann-Gel took a moment to glance down at herself and tapped her shirt. It was solid and smooth, what she had eventually learned was the opposite of how a shirt was supposed to feel. "Oh, nevermind."

Tilting his head, the amiibo in question gave her a worried stare as if she were the weirdo in this situation. "...Yes?"

She perked up and stared back at Seamond, then felt her face flush in embarrassment. "Nothing, nevermind."

Clearly there was something strange about the other statuette. Seamond himself could not put his finger on it, and neither could Ann-Gel. Before they could continue the conversation consisting of stares and one-way handshakes, Sharq chimed in with a smile.

"Alright, well, now that you guys have gotten to know each other," He spoke kindly, probably unaware that the most Ann-Gel has gotten out of the conversation was that the blue-tentacled Inkling object liked to stare at others in silence, "How about we talk more at lunch? I'm getting hungry."

Pursing her lips, she glanced over to Seamond, who in turn was staring up at Sharq's face. "Certainly. Though I still believe a challenge or two is in order."

With a grin and a shrug, he stooped down, reaching for the other two, miniscule Inklings. "Hmm. You sound like Ari. Alright, let's go!"

After a brief walk, soon Ann-Gel found herself, Seamond, and Sharq sitting at a table in a semi-fancy restaurant, next to the biggest meal she could never eat. Among the tables, a waitress wearing a rather Sporty Bobble Hat whirled about, speaking to other sea-life seated, giving them polite menu suggestions and friendly winks before spinning back around, carrying plenty of plates. It was somewhat awe-inspiring to see her work. She had it all, beauty, confidence, and from the sizable tips that she would collect from each satisfied customer, wealth.

Ann-Gel found herself sighing and staring at the tablecloth. "Ugh...I'm just a trophy."

"Excuse me miss?"

Had Ann-Gel carried around a jar labeled, "Jolt Jar" which was meant for holding a dollar each for every time she was spurred out of her thinking, she might have enough to buy a pack of gum. It was not much, but it was certainly getting old, maybe she should stop overthinking things-

"Miss...um, trophy? Ahem?" Came the voice again.

"Yes!" Ann-Gel yelped, turning around, glancing at a face glowing with pride and a waitress apron.

Making a sound similar to, "Eep!", Ann-Gel stumbled backwards, falling backwards on her plastic bum. Glancing up, the very same waitress she had been watching roll about as if she were on rollerskates was now staring straight down at her. For a brief moment, she glanced at the untouched sandwich that laid on Ann-Gel's plate. The statuette could feel her face flush in a tangerine color from embarrassment again, despite the fact that she could not bleed or have blood in general.

Nevertheless, she just placed one hand by her hip and shook her head, turning to the Inkling that was more on her size. "Sharq, I think you may have overwhelmed your little friends here."

Across the table, Ann-Gel could see yet another violet tendril wave up and down behind another burger. She frowned, watching the wiggling part move to and fro until it vanished behind the meal. She made a secret promise to herself that she would find out what would be at the end of that.

"Ah, really? Sorry guys." Sharq spoke up, rubbing the back of his head.

Ann-Gel blinked, turning back towards the waitress. She smiled back towards the little amiibo, who waved in response.

"Well, just in case," She spoke up, placing a few small plastic containers in front of the table. "Next time, maybe just a loaf of bread will do, huh?"

Sharq simply shot her a thumbs-up. "Thanks Zip."

"Thank you for paying me, Sharq." She grinned back, whirling off to tables beyond.

As Zip spun away with a hum, the orange trophy sighed, turning back towards the others. Again, Seamond hardly displayed any interest in anything. He did not seem to notice the tower of meat, cheese, and veggies stacked next to him and instead continued staring at Sharq. There was something disturbing about how he stared so intently. Then again, when the only other thing you could attempt to do was nibble on a meal twice your size, she could not blame him for finding an alternative.

Suddenly, he tapped on Sharq's arm that laid on the table. Perking up, the taller Inkling leaned down towards the amiibo, the blue Inkling whispering something in his ear. Smiling once, he nodded and picked up the other amiibo, then took a moment to take the other ambiguous item which was driving her nuts. The wriggling violet tendril annoyed her some more before vanishing within Sharq's hands. Before she could go on another mental tangent about the bizarre appendage, Sharq reappeared at her side, with Seamond perched on his left shoulder. He balanced four boxes in his hands, the purple object still taunting her from behind the stack of small containers and was offering his empty shoulder as if she were a parakeet.

"Hey Ann-Gel, wanna head to the plaza?" Sharq asked while a hopeful glint flashed in his eyes. "I mean, I really want to try these challenges he keeps talking about."

Glancing up at Sharq, she frowned, eyeing his occupied left shoulder. He was just standing there, still not saying a word, staring at her with the blankest of stares. His blue, dead, trophy eyes were starting to make Ann-Gel uncomfortable. For a moment, she wondered if that was what others thought of her.

She shook her head immediately. "Nah…"

"Ann-Gel?" Sharq piped up, eyeing the daydreamer curiously, "You alright?"

All of a sudden, the female amiibo just hopped up onto his spare shoulder, leaning on his neck. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh, alright! Well, do you mind if we hang out in the plaza?" He asked with a tilt of his head, nodding towards the male amiibo.

Again, Ann-Gel was just made much more uncomfortable by the other amiibos blank stare. He continually glanced at her as if she were disfigured, and that just made her more irritated. But in the end, there was hardly a chance that this amiibo would hurt anyone, right? She just shrugged and gave a short nod to the taller Inkling. Without hesitation, Sharq made his way out of the restaurant, balancing the stack of food containers carefully as he made it out the door. On his shoulders all throughout the way outside, the two statuettes stared each other down, hardly letting up on the way there.

Stepping one foot into the plaza, still grasping onto the food somewhat shakily, Sharq made his way over to a wooden bench. The sky was growing darker and heavier with clouds that blocked out the sun. On the neon green Inkopolis Tower standing tall above, the Great Zapfish frowned towards the sky. Either it was disappointed with the outcome of the clouds today, or it was just stuck in a perpetual frown. Regardless of Zapfish, the plaza was still bustling with activity, Inklings brushing past in every which way, from the Inkopolis Tower or the Booyah Base, each and every single squid in sight was moving with haste.

Of course, that just meant more trouble for Sharq. Getting the food over the small but nevertheless tricky barrier that surrounded the plaza was hard enough, but attempting to ford the flood of Inklings that spun around hyperactively was also a bit troublesome. Plus, hungry glares shot from a handful that noticed was starting to creep him out. After a few scolding words from Ann-Gel, the Inklings managed to make way for the bizarre squid in the Takoroka Mesh, but it could have just been due to Ann-Gel's own bizarre appearance.

Which only served in annoying her further. "These people have seen Sharq and Splin fall from the sky! What's the matter with me?! I'm just trying to relax"

"Well, here we are!" Sharq announced, setting down the boxes of food, (and the purple thing, Ann-Gel presumed) wiping his brow free of sweat, "We're at...this box."

Looking up, Ann-Gel immediately felt a tinge of nostalgia. There was a plastic box, with the word, "amiibo" written on the front in a language long since forgotten. She hummed, though worry still plagued her mind. It was more of an instinct rather than a direct caution at this point. There was something definitely up, and it was not just the overcast sky.

She took another glance at their new acquaintance. "Hmm."

Or at least, she would have if he were still on Sharq's shoulder. Her statue instincts kicked in, prompting her to stand perfectly still, a shocked expression planted on her face. The orange Inkling Girl's eyes traced the world around her, and her paranoia simultaneously caused her to grip the nearest object which she could use as a weapon.

"Ow!" Sharq yelped, reaching below his chin.

Which happened to be the organic Inkling's scruff. Gritting his teeth, Sharq gently plucked Ann-Gel's miniature hands off of the nape of his neck, giving her a worried stare.

"Ann-Gel? Are you alright?" He muttered, rubbing his chin with a worried mien. "I mean, besides pinching me, you haven't said a word, now that I think about it."

The words sent shivers up her spine. Wait. Reaching back for a moment, Ann-Gel tapped her back. Frowning, she realized that whether she had a spine or not, it was pretty much impossible to feel anything past the plastic skin she had. But nevertheless, her nerves were frayed at this point. She wanted to shout out and rant. She wanted to point fingers at their new amiibo friend and tell Sharq that they should toss him in the trash. She wanted to scream.

"A-" She started weakly.

"Excuse me."

"YEEEEEEEP!" Ann-Gel yelped, swiftly deciding to cover her mouth with her two hands out of sheer embarrassment.

Her head swiveled towards the floor. She was met with another curious stare from the other amiibo. She felt herself gasp for breath and fall to Sharq's shoulder, breathless despite having no real lungs to begin with.

As the other Inkling basically had a panic attack on his own body, Sharq turned to Seamond, concern plain on the cap-wearing Inkling's face. "Uh, Seamond, maybe we should do this later. Ann-Gel is kinda...um, dying?"

It was far from that, but from the way she wheezed on by his face, it was apparent that something was off. As she coughed her breath and anxiety out one awkward puff at a time, she tried to manage a glare, but found herself practically stuck in a loop of catching and losing her breath. She was angry at him for nothing, and yet she felt herself unable to say anything except for, "Hhhhhaaaaaa…". She might look back on that and come to a conclusion that she was overreacting, but for now, all she could do was curse Seamond mentally and hack as if she were Judd who had eaten a bad piece of sushi.

Said cat yowled in his sleep in the background.

Seamond analyzed the odd amiibo, scrunching his face up. After a brief moment of consideration, and much to Ann-Gel's surprise, he nodded knowingly and said, "Alright. Let's let her rest somewhere."

At the end of her bout of coughs, all of a sudden she ceased her coughs and rose to her feet in an instant. "No, no, I'm fine!"

The last part came out a bit louder than she hoped. Curious gazes were shot in her general direction by Inkling and jellyfish bystander that had waltzed into the plaza at their own leisure. Her mouth remained gaped open, and for the first time quite a while, she was at a loss for words.

Unless you counted the several times she was left at home alone.

Face shifting to orange, she turned towards the sky. "Don't you have something you need to do?!"

I'm doing it.

Scowling, the orange statuette just turned back towards the other amiibo. The other, smiling amiibo. Ann-Gel's eyes grew in size yet again. He was grinning at her. Ann-Gel's eyebrows furrowed, and a brief flash of violence flashed across her train of thought. She wanted nothing more than to wipe that smile off of his smug face.

So she thought, but soon, the words that came out of his mouth made her reluctant. "Are you alright? You scared me for a second there."

"Oh, yeah? Uh-" She started, her hand deflating in fierceness almost immediately. "Wait."

Taking up a seat next by the plastic cube, Seamond just shrugged, giving her another smile. "Of course, if you're still feeling under the weather, we can always leave."

Dumbfounded, Ann-Gel just sat on her artificial ink covered pedestal. "Well, I-"

"Yeah Ann-Gel! If you wanna head home, just ask! After all, we came here in the first place to take your mind off things." Sharq beamed, giving her a playful smirk.

She began to sweat, looking from each male Inkling's face. This was practically an ambush of innocence with an angry orange trophy in the center. Try as she might, she wanted to get angry somehow, but she still could not find a solid reason. Keeping her cooped up inside for most of her sentient life? She was only a few inches tall. Not the friend he expected him to be? She had just met Seamond today. For the umpteenth time that day, Ann-Gel could do nothing but let herself ease up and relax, her glare softening.

"...No, I'm sorry." She sighed, waving him off. "I'm just a little…"

She shrugged once and stared at the asphalt, letting her arms flop to her sides. Glancing towards one another, the other Inklings shrugged as well. Walking over towards the nearest wooden bench, Sharq stopped a few centimeters away and eyed the bench suspiciously. Ann-Gel arched an eyebrow in curiosity as she hung from his sleeve. Reaching out with one finger pointed towards the wooden seat, he tapped the bench once, then proceeded to duck for cover a short distance away, switching into a blue squid.

Finding herself hugging onto a squid's tentacle again, Ann-Gel took the time to ask, "Why?"

Blinking once, Sharq reverted back to his Inkling form and dusted himself off, giving her a sheepish smirk. "You can never be too careful? Anyways," He said, returning to the bench, lowering his right arm down towards the wood, "Feel free to call for help if you need any! I'll just check out the challenges and get back, alright?"

With a very slight smile, Ann-Gel managed to nod at him. With a gleeful grin, Sharq jogged off towards the box, greeting Seamond with a wave. Though she could not hear them from the bench, she could see Seamond say something, which Sharq definitely understood. Reaching into his pockets, the taller Inkling pulled out a Gamepad, the screen flashing in an instant. Soon enough, he was most certainly directed to tap the screen, the Bate brother vanishing in a blink of light as soon as he did.

Leaning her head back on the wood, Ann-Gel laid there, staring up at the sky. "I guess I was just overreacting."

"Not exactly." A voice echoed in her mind.

Scowling, Ann-Gel shook her head. "Voice, I really-"

That wasn't me.

Still sitting with a frown on her face, she began glancing around the plaza once more. No one seemed to take too much notice of her, from the Great Zapfish to the shop owners standing inside of their shining stores. Eventually, she remembered the morsels tucked away in their safe little containers, and at the prospect of Sharq getting robbed, she spun around towards the leaning tower of hamburgers.

Her mouth gaped in awe. The violet tendril that continually pestered her throughout the day was now fully exposed. It was not just some random noodle-like structure, it was a tail. A tail that belonged to a strange, cat-like creature. It was not chubby or furry like Judd, rather, it was slender and pinkish, standing tall on two feet, the odd creature's violet trail extending from its back. On the soles of its ball-like feet, there laid a shining trophy stand. As it turned around, violet eyes revealed themselves to Ann-Gel, overlooking her with somewhat of a humor dancing in its menacing mien.

"You let him overtake the boy already." The cat "spoke", its cold voice echoing in Ann-Gel's mind. "How amusing."

She did not know what to say. The strange feline gazed at her with somewhat of a morose glare, which may have made her shrink in fear. Instead, she began to walk. Making her way across the bench, she hopped down onto the cement with a clunk, then continued to walk. The fellow amiibo across from her would have arched an eyebrow if it had any. Her stride stopped at the point where she stood face to face with the strange creature.

Then, she reached out and gripped its tail, petting it multiple times. "Hah! I finally got you!"

The cat just closed its eyes, mentally sighing. "Of course. Ignore my warning and rub my tail. Yes, that's exactly what I needed."

AN: These workloads grow larger every year, I tell you. As if the paperwork was not bad enough, taking a look back into The Bate Brothers' Adventures, the original story, I just realized how Gary Stu-like the brothers were back then and the plot conveniences. I had originally played it off as humor, but now I realize that quite a few of the things I have implemented are kinda...corny and/or cringy, to say the least. Remember when Splin and Sharq completely beat a team of four by themselves without getting splatted and they were never brought up to be good at Turf Wars again? Yeah.

That self-evaluation out of the way, let's take a look at some reviews. Thanks Ultrapyre, Rynowm, write n wrong, and sebastian G for reviewing!

I have to say, I'm somewhat sorry I never got to this sooner, Ultrapyre. Honestly, there's a whole lot of other untapped lore that I would like to add to this set of stories, but like I have said with another fellow writer elsewhere, it may never get truly integrated due to time and work constraints. Then again, I did manage to get The Drafted Squid up and running, and people seem to like that…

Rynowm, I apologize for initially not mentioning you as the one who suggested another Ann-Gel chapter. Sorry for that.

write n wrong, perhaps she did, and perhaps she did not. That's one thing we'll have to look at next chapter.

Finally, sebastian G, nice to see you again. Thanks for chiming in with a positive review, I suppose!

Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, see you.