Splatoon: The Brothers and the Others
"You're an Odd One"
There was a small pause between gasps for breath as Sharq vigilantly focused upon the mop of blue ahead. Tentacles planted and suctioned to the soft, clean wood held him aloft over the floor, although the chair beneath him had the potential to support his squid body easily. A curious, furtive, and distressed glare aimed at him as he worked.
Silence in the Bate household persisted except for few sounds. The sound of wind as it whistled through the canopy of the house. Light creaks of wood. The electronic sound of beeps and dings as Splin tapped at a screen.
Splin's eyes had bags underneath his Inkling signature black outline. His shoulders were hunched over and his eyes remained still in the same position as he stared down at the box.
The Tele-Cube sat patiently as fingers pressed at its face. Ann-Gel morosely glanced at the opening above at the sky with her face pressed in between her hands guiltily. Four spheres coated in red and white bobbed back and forth on the counter table as he tapped away at the screen.
Still stuck in his squid form Sharq bobbed his head up slowly and carefully across the table as he glowered at his brother. It was at this point he cleared his throat, swung himself up onto the table, and asked, "So...what are you doing?"
Splin hardly turned his head and pet the spheres. "Returning these to their rightful owner."
Sharq glanced up at the ceiling. "...Maria?"
His brother's finger hovered over the screen unsteadily as he shook his head. "Her kids."
"Ah." Sharq nodded slowly but surely. "Uh, do you want to go out later?"
"I'd love to, but I'm sort of busy here, Sharq." Splin muttered without even a cursory glance at his brother.
Sharq peered up at the ceiling morosely. "That's just cruel Splin."
"What is?" Splin asked in between taps.
"C'mon," The older brother switched into an Inkling with a bright smile, "Let's go out. It's almost Squidmas. We can pity ourselves with self-bought presents!"
"Sharq, really," Splin began with his hand hovering above the screen, "This is important."
"So is Squidmas!" Sharq argued with an indomitable grin. He reached for his brother's shoulder. "C'mon, we'll just leave for an hour, then-"
"I said I'm BUSY SHARQ!" Splin shouted as he twisted his head towards him.
His rapid movement spurred his hand into an unfortunate incident. His index finger jabbed the Tele-Cube's clean light-blue screen. A flash of light emerged which startled the brothers and snapped Ann-Gel out of her doldrums.
"Wah?!" She hummed in shock.
As if they all shared an instinctive reflex, Splin, Sharq, and Ann-Gel dives for cover. Ann-Gel squeaked, however, as she found herself spiral off of the table towards the ground in a precariously, potentially painful bounce.
Instead she smacked into the back of Splin's head and caused him to yelp. "Gah!"
"Sorry!" She squeaked as she rolled down the back of his tentacles.
The lot of them, including an irritated Splin, planted themselves to the floor in their squid personas. Ann-Gel remained looking as Inkling as ever with her shoes firmly embedded into her black pedestal.
They waited for the incoming storm of horrors the cube had in store. For about five seconds. A chime emerged. A confused trio of squids rose to their feet somewhat reluctantly and glanced at the counter-top. Where a cube once sat a new toaster oven in its place.
Splin suddenly started to shake. "...No."
Splin reached for the microwave. One quivering finger graced a flat keypad next to the empty rectangular chamber. It pressed against a five.
A sentence scrawled across the flat screen above the keypad. "OUT OF ORDER."
The Inkling stood still in front of the stagnant, deactivated toaster oven, the silence permeating the room. As tensions brewed in the room she skedaddled to the side of the bottom of the counter reluctantly.
Sharq retracted his arm and turned away from his brother. He frowned back at his sibling. "Splin..."
The Tele-Cube's screen switched back to its original spectrum of colors. Despite the flashiness of its screen the buzzes it made were nothing less than uncomfortable. Ann-Gel continued to gaze both at them and occasionally glance out of the ceiling hole with all of the guilt of a child who had lost her favorite toy.
"...I'm going out for a walk." Splin shook his head and adjusted his headphones around his neck.
"...Yeah." Sharq narrowed his eyes under the shadow of his cap.
"Good." Splin shot back with a similar mien. "Hope the cube isn't a toaster when I get back."
The two brothers had somewhat of a silent standoff. The standoff ended prematurely when Splin turned his head and headed for the exit. The door swung open and shut with a resounding slam, followed by the noise of something rocketing off into the distance with a splat, the noise level fading back into a minimal breeze.
Sharq gaped at the door for quite some time before sagging back one of the counter stools with his right hand at his temple. "...Ugh."
"...Are you…?" Ann-Gel sneaked up underneath Sharq's seat curiously. "Are you alright Sharq?"
He let go of his temple and tilted his cap back up with another one of his trademark grins. "...Just a little stressed. We kinda all are…"
Ann-Gel frowned up at him from the ground. An audible ding broke through the tense silence. Sharq turned towards the microwave as did Ann-Gel with an equally puzzled expression. Through the clear glass of the miniature oven door, Sharq noticed something, and reached for the buttons on the side. He tapped a solitary button engraved into the machine and watched the door swing open by itself.
He reached in the microwave and pulled out a puffy disc of sorts with seaweed wrapped around it in a tinfoil wrapping. Sharq blinked wonderingly and peered down at the amiibo. "At least we've got pie!"
Ann-Gel narrowed her eyes. "You sure you're alright?"
"Of course I am!" Sharq tilted his head. "Just disappointed that Splin…"
He paused mid-sentence when he noticed the eyebrow Ann-Gel was giving him. The up-tilted brow cock caused a bead of sweat to drip down Sharq's own.
"...Won't be able to enjoy this with us!" Sharq's teeth beamed with the widest smile he could muster.
The taller Inkling pushed the giant pastry towards her. Ann-Gel frowned and pushed it away. "Sharq, please. You're fawning over him like a guppy man. Splin's fine. He just need time away from his overprotective-"
Sharq narrowed his eyes down at her. He pulled the pie back and placed it on the counter with an offended expression.
Ann-Gel held her hands by her hips and a deadpan expression on her face. "LOVINGLY, overprotective, brother. You know we love you but, if I'm being honest, you're kinda overbearing sometimes Sharq."
Sharq's pout leveled up by ten. "What? Since when have I been overbearing?"
The toaster oven's door slammed shut suddenly. Sharq yelped and jumped back while Ann-Gel just glanced towards the appliance. The Tele-Cube beeped back at them from its microwave personage. It seemed to direct the beeps towards the larger Inkling, although with the lack of any facial features, it just appeared as though it was but a malfunctioning kitchen appliance.
"Yeah, exactly, you'd think that a cheery guy like him wouldn't get so uppity." Ann-Gel pursed her lips at the microwave as it chimed in approval.
His mouth gaped open. "Give me a break Tele-Toaster, this isn't about me, this is about Splin!"
The new nickname seemed to strike a chord in the toaster. It chirped, although for the life of him, Sharq had no clue whether it tried to speak to him or if it was offended.
"Yeah see Ann-Gel? Tele-Toaster gets it." Sharq hummed indignantly as the Tele-Toaster beeped back in irritation.
"Sharq, this isn't just about Splin, it's about you too." Ann-Gel scowled back at him with a lecturing tone. "I get that it hasn't been too great for you two this year. But right now, the both of you need to cool off, and let each other get some space. Got it?"
Sharq stared down at the amiibo. With a reluctant frown and a sigh he managed to nod. "Fiiine."
"Now sit down, stop being a worrywart, and enjoy the pie." Ann-Gel instructed Sharq as she pointed to pastry.
"...Yeah." Sharq sighed and glanced up at the ceiling as his arm rested on the counter besides the Poké Balls "It is a nice day outside. The sky's blue…the air…"
He sniffed as he scanned the hole in the ceiling. The extra aroma of the pastry on the counter certainly helped.
"And...we do have this." Sharq turned back around.
Sharq patted the pie crust with a reassured mind. His hand recoiled in shock and he yelped yet again much to the others' confusion.
"Agh!" He yelped in surprise and shrunk into a blue squid. "That's hot! Toaster why?!"
The toaster managed a sheepish beep as Ann-Gel simply sighed.
The sky was blue and the air was crisp as Splin hurled towards earth. As he sped through the sky towards the ground below across several buildings he could only sigh as the air wrapped around him in a violent caress.
"...It is a nice day outside." Splin managed to think to himself.
As he said so a patch of clouds smacked into him. It strung across his small blue squid body and tentacles possessively as if it wanted to drag him and keep him in the sky. All the cloud's hard work was for naught when Splin escaped with water vapor passing off him.
"Ugh." Splin spat and switched back into Inkling form midair. "Wherever I'm landing better be worth it."
Before he could say anything else he felt the scrape of cement on his shoes. Plummeting from the wild blue yonder he smacked into the pavement almost like a fly on a windshield. Unsteadily but surely, he began to ran as momentum carried him forward, and managed to stick the landing as a blue squid as he stopped just before he hit the glass doors in front of him.
On the tip of the toes of his Orange Arrows he stooped in front of the glass doors of Arowana Mall. The sign brimmed festively with red and green lights wrapped around the logo written in the traditional Inkling language. Sea creatures of all shapes and sizes departed from the mall, Inklings with bags of fashion and gifts, foot traffic at a capitally moderate mob of shoppers.
A gloom settled over Splin once more. "I forgot. Squidmas." He sighed resignedly as he rubbed his temples. "And I didn't get Sharq a gift yet-!"
His eyes glossed over the glass pane doors. Something caught his eyes, as the doors swung open with every cheery Inkling with a bag of goodies, a poster flittered in the breeze.
"Holiday Sale! Buy two Splatendo Wii U games at GameShark and get a free stylus pack!" The poster read.
"...That is the most underwhelming deal of all time." Splin thought to himself. "At least it would be if Sharq didn't lose so many styli...eh. I guess I'll need to get him a gift anyways."
Instinctively Splin reached into his pants pockets. He pulled out a small simple wallet, cracked it open, and peered in.
His eyebrows narrowed and the black bags under his eyes felt heavier. "...There goes my Monster Splatter Generations." Splin shook his head, pushed on the glass doors, and entered the shopping mall reluctantly. "At least the day can't get worse."
Prothe was about ready to aim a Splattershot at himself. He would if he carried the weapon at least. His eyes twitched and his gray-green tentacles sagged. His back hunched over and his uniform lazily strewn on with his name tag seemingly about to drop off of his coat he stood crooked over the counter.
Under any other circumstances this would be a good day for him.
The GameShark was booming and Prothe was hardly taken by surprise. Squidmas had passed and several doting squid mothers and fathers had granted their spoiled kids about gift cards or extra funds which they all cashed in for him. He frowned when he looked back at his initial belief that perhaps this would be a little better than his ice cream gig.
"...and it's over-hyped." A flounder in a jersey complained as it stood by the counter. "I don't understand why it got so popular. You ever see that comparison video on it?"
Prothe's scowl deepened. "No."
"Well you should have." The flounder mouthed off. "That game is an over-hyped, piece of trash, and rips off everything about-"
"Yeah, okay, cool." Prothe's eyes were about to glaze over. "So are you going to buy something?"
"Why would I buy from here?" The flounder rolled his eyes and floundered away from the counter to the exit. "This place is a rip-off. Just like Overhyped over there."
He pointed over towards a poster of a video game character posted on the front glass door. She winked back at them from her stationary spot. The flounder shook his head and walked off with a huff and a puff and a wobbly strut that would put a first-time bicyclist to shame as he squeezed himself through the doors.
Prothe narrowed his eyes as he watched the fish bumbled out the door. "You aren't wrong. This place sucks."
Prothe was surrounded by shelves stacked with video games and gift card carousel racks sat stagnant in the middle of the room. Among the shiny cases of unopened digital and physical copies of games a handful of bright-eyed bushy tentacled female Inklings armed with several cases stacked on top of one another approached his counter. He cocked a semi-curious eyebrow at them.
"What do you want?" He asked bluntly with one eye bulged out at them.
"...Uh, could we buy our games?" One young Inkling asked as she hoisted her bag up.
"...Right. Sure." Prothe muttered under his breath and reached for the bag.
With a swift hand and a sore face Prothe swiped the collection of games under a scanning machine set by a cash register just in front of the slob. Tact and quick swift hands punched in the numbers as two sleepy gray green eyes surveyed the work.
"...Two thousand four hundred coins even." Prothe muttered as he glanced at the pair of squids.
One reached into her pockets and pulled out a small red card. As she granted it to Prothe he scanned it just as quickly as the set of items before it and handed it back with a wave of his hand. Before they could blink, Prothe reached to the side and gripped a plastic package of small multicolored nibless pens and tossed them to the Inklings waiting patiently.
"Thanks." Prothe muttered as he waved them off.
Cheer now present on their faces, the pair of Inklings hopped off and out of the store, and rushed through and past the doors.
"Great." Prothe's eyes narrowed as he turned away from the door and as he rested on the counter. "Even fourteen year olds are richer than me." Bitterly he turned towards the ceiling. "I can only imagine how much more mundane this will get."
He glanced towards the door suddenly in an almost expectant manner. Eyebrow cocked, he watched several Inklings outside pass by the store as they chatted among themselves, and laid his chin on his counter morosely.
Nothing happened.
"...Nevermind." He muttered to himself.
The buttery crust tasted wonderful. Emphasis on tasted, as the remnants laid by Sharq's lap, a husk of the former pie glory the pastry once held already gathered dust in its solitary spot.
Sharq however hardly felt satisfied as he laid by the kitchen counters. "...Hmm."
A figure of orange popped itself into his vision. Ann-Gel blinked back at him. "That was fast."
"I guess it was." Sharq hummed with a distracted tone as he stared at the sky.
Ann-Gel placed her hands on her hip. "Sharq. Who are you thinking about?"
"Politics." Sharq answered with a hum.
"...Wait really?" The amiibo asked quickly.
"Yeah." Sharq answered as he continued to stare blankly up into the air. "I mean, the economy's a bit wonky, everyone can practically get money for free at the age of fourteen. Sure, it's nice and all, but what about money inflation?"
Ann-Gel blinked in confusion. Sharq's face was stone serious. "...What?"
"...Just kidding." Sharq laughed quietly and pet Ann-Gel on her small head much to the amiibo's dissent. "I'm just thinking about you-know-who."
"Sharq!" Ann-Gel complained incredulously as she brushed away the giant fingers that rubbed against her head. "My Cod dude! You've gotta get your mind off of your brother. It's not healthy."
"Whuh?" Sharq blinked in response. "I'm talking about Father Squidmas."
"...Wait who?" Ann-Gel's eyes narrowed in response.
"But now that you mention it," Sharq hummed with a curious smile on his face as he stood up straight, "Why don't we go out and-"
"...No." Ann-Gel scowled back at him.
Sharq stared down at the trophy. Ann-Gel stared back at the Inkling. The Tele-Toaster beeped.
Within seconds, Ann-Gel felt herself being swooped up into the air with a gasp, enclosed in Sharq's hand with a very friendly smile. "C'mon! Let's go out!"
"Sharq!" She complained and punched his hand. "You're supposed to stay away from him!"
"I know!" Sharq reassured her with a nonchalant shake of his head. "I'm just going to look for Squidmas presents! Besides, did you actually think you could stop me," He asked with an uncharacteristically mischievous glint in his eye.
Ann-Gel pursed her lips in a sudden enlightened pout. She slowly and reluctantly punched his hand again with her tiny plastic arm. Ann-Gel punched again with more force.
Sharq laugh bellowed like a super-villain as she assaulted him with weak blows. Only a very energetic teenage super-villain. The Tele-Toaster beeped again behind the both of them and Ann-Gel could barely agree.
"...Ship." Ann-Gel cursed in his grip.
Splin yawned and stretched his arms tiredly. It felt like an eternity since he had entered the mall. Probably because of the lines. Arowana Mall's interior was stuffed to its metaphorical gills with Inklings and other sea creatures on legs who crowded the walkways in single file order. From the top floor to the bottom, almost anywhere a clerk was stationed, a line waited impatiently.
He gripped his headphones and shook his head. "Beats awkward sibling tension."
Splin dodged and weaved past one, two, he had counted twenty lines. As he stepped around the top floor past mobs of excitable holiday shoppers he glanced towards the end of the mall. Luckily for him the rest of the floor was mostly clear aside from the occasional potted plant and chair rest stop.
The GameShark appeared suspiciously clear. With a gruff, annoyed huff, Splin travelled across tiles underneath the light of the windows. He glanced back cautiously at the crowd as he made way for the store.
Prothe on the other hand had made a new staring contest partner out of the glass door. As it sat stagnant and clear aside from several video game posters taped on Prothe gazed at it hopelessly.
"Any day now." He sighed as he stared. "Why the shell is this store suddenly so empty?"
He cocked his head towards the door expectantly. Aside from the crowds in the distance and the paper girl winking at him there was hardly anything to write home about.
Prothe narrowed his eyes and adjusted his name tag. "Then I guess my shift is-"
The girl on the door swung into the store as the entrance opened.
"Oh you-" He grumbled with one leg already extended over the counter.
Prothe reluctantly retracted his leg from the air and stuffed it back behind the counter as his next customer strolled through the door. He relaxed his shoulders and stood almost hunched over the counter as his name tag dangled from his shirt and his tentacles sat still and solemn.
"...Welcome to Game-" Prothe began with a single glance. "Hm."
His headphones wrapped around his neck, Splin shook his head and walked across the aisles of polished game cases, with a yawn to spare. "Ahhh."
Prothe cocked an eyebrow. "Look who's back. "
Splin perked up suddenly and turned towards the counter. Prothe had taken up the counter space with both arms wrapped about one another tiredly. "Oh. Hi."
"Haven't seen you in a while. How you feeling?" Prothe asked with an eyebrow cocked.
Splin tiredly rubbed his face under the bags of his eyes. "...What do you mean?"
"Well...for starters…" Prothe muttered with an almost complacent grin. "You look much better than last time."
"Last time?" He adjusted his headphones. "...Oh! You mean a couple of months ago."
"Yeah man." Prothe nodded in response. "You still look terrible. Just a little less."
"...Gee, thanks-" Splin started somewhat reluctantly. Pausing mid-sentence, he stopped, and inconspicuously peered at Prothe's chest. "...'Prothe'."
"Ugh." Prothe shook his head somewhat solemnly as he picked at his name tag. "Hate these things." He tapped it lightly with his index finger. "You know these stab you in the chest if you aren't careful?"
"...Uh…" Splin rubbed the back of his head. "...I guess? I came here for the promotion." He glanced out the door. "The free styli thing."
"...Right." Prothe simply shook his head and pointed across the room. "Then...pick your games."
With a silent nod Splin turned around towards the shelves stacked with games. He slumped over somewhat reluctantly as he pat his pocket where his wallet laid. Behind him, Prothe examined him with an analytical expression and a lax pair of arms wrapped over one another.
Prothe glanced at Splin's shoulders. "...Slumped."
Splin turned almost instantly with an eyebrow cocked. "Huh?"
Prothe waved dismissively. "Nothing. Just keep going about your business kid." Splin frowned and returned to peruse the video games. "Baggy eyes."
"Alright." Splin returned to the counter with a yawn. "Couldn't find anything."
Prothe blinked in surprise. "Already?"
"Yeah," He stretched his arms, "Sorry. Nothing really stood out."
The older Inkling simply scoffed and shook his head. "No problem." As Splin simply turned and made for the exit Prothe cleared his throat quickly. "Where you going next?"
"Huh?" An inquisitive mutter answered back.
Splin turned around to the counter-top. The cashier leaned inconspicuously, his name tag still dangled from his uniform, as he waved Splin off with disinterest painted all over his face. Though mildly confused, Splin turned to the glass doors and reached forward on the handle, and pulled back. The glass doors and the posters upon them pulled forward.
"So, hypothetically, if I were to ask-" Prothe began as he leaned on the other side of the glass.
"Agh!" Splin's blue squid body flung itself back into the store and slid onto its back. As he hit the ground, he sat up semi-straight, and panicked and gasped in and out in an erratic pattern. "What?!"
Prothe shook his head nonchalantly as if they had known each other for years. "Can't a guy be curious?"
Splin switched back into an Inkling and swiveled his head towards the counter where a cash register laid. He glanced back to where Prothe stood at the open doors. Prothe waved back with a frown as the sounds of crowds trampling one another echoed through the door into the GameShark. Splin bit his lip reluctantly.
"...The f-" Splin muttered uneasily for a moment. "Why would you care?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Prothe asked with an arched eyebrow and a small, curious, and very unnatural smile. "Customer service right?"
There came a rapping on the glass pane door still closed. Prothe's smile vanished as he glanced out the door. The flounder glared back at him. "I'm not finished yet! I haven't even begun to draw parallels between the two-"
In a flash Prothe reached for a poster stuck to the door. He picked it off of the glass, shoved the poster in the flounder's face, and yelled. "No one cares about your video game vendetta! Go screw off to your online forums-" He paused as the flounder stumbled off elsewhere in a daze. "...Er...so where were we?"
Prothe turned back to the inside of the store. Where a tired Splin once sat was nothing but carpet strung with dirt. The clerk's eyes twitched as he shook his head and scrambled out the store. "Ship."
Splin listened intently as the beat of shoes pounded on the floor above him. He watched as Prothe sprinted off. Splin sighed in relief. "...That was weird."
The sound of sprinting faded off into the distance. Perhaps now Splin could jump off of this tree.
He bit his lip and stared down. The floor was but a few feet (a few incalculable meters) away from his feet. The tree he hung from erected from the soil of a planter with ferns decorating the trunk. A set of benches stood back-to-back with the planter underneath. Splin swung his legs towards the softer soil somewhat fruitlessly.
As he glanced towards the polished white tiles below he could only think, "Why didn't I take the escalator?" Splin managed to process before his grip on the spiny brown bark of the tree relinquished.
Splin smacked into the planter below with a rather simple "thump". With a groan, he got up off of the edge of the cement planter and stood up straight on his Orange Arrows, and straightened out his back. "Ow."
With the threat of any injury gone in an instant Splin glanced around the bottom floor. The crowds and lines continued to clog and congest the walkways and cover the floor in prints of dirt which mimicked the outline of several different brands of shoes. He clicked the roof of his mouth somewhat impatiently as he scanned the mall.
He noticed a food stand not too far from the planter. The vaguely recognizable scent of dough wafted about the air. Splin took a step forward then paused. "...I just fell and my first instinct is to get food." He gazed almost wistfully in the direction of the food stand. "...You know what? Maybe a bite will help me stop over-analyzing things."
Absentmindedly guided by the allure of food Splin continued on. The scent grew ever enticing as he stepped forward. In the blink of an eye Splin found himself suddenly stationed in front of the stand. Behind the counters and the cash register an employee stooped over a stainless steel counter arranged dough into coiled shapes.
"I guess pretzels will do." Splin shrugged and cleared his throat. "Excuse me?"
Prothe turned around with a well-crafted pretzel shaped piece of dough stuck to the counter besides him. He blinked and leaned as if he had stood at the stand forever. "Yes?"
"What the flip?!" Splin barked in shock and stumbled back yet again. "Prothe?!"
"That's what it says on my name tag." Prothe nodded down towards his new uniform. It was yellow and bright with a blue Inkling carrying a pretzel emblazoned on the middle. A matching name tag was tacked onto the chest.
"But- Why are you here?" Splin demanded suspiciously.
"I dunno, earning coins?" Prothe shrugged in an honest manner. "Life's expensive man."
"No I mean-" Splin shook his head quickly and glared back. "How did you- " He paused for a moment. "Actually, nevermind, I don't wanna know."
"You don't need to know." Prothe leaned over the counter and smirked down at him. "Listen. There's something I need to tell you. So I've been watching you-"
Splin felt his gut tighten uncomfortably. Before Prothe could say anything he backed away again with one hand in his shorts pocket.
Prothe's eyes widened. "Wait a minute."
Splin backed away yet again. His fingers clenched onto his phone nervously.
"No." Prothe's face glowed a flustered tint of green. "It's not like that! I just wanted to ask you about your life and-" His expression turned blank and he stared at the ground. "...Okay that does sound a little weird when I say it aloud. But hear me out here! I know these things-"
The tiled floor he glanced ahead at did not have a reply. The resounding noise of a tentacles smacking into the floor and the fleeting glimpse of a blue squid high-tailing it out of the mall was all he needed to see. With a scowl and a sigh he scaled over the counter and dropped on the other side.
"The one time I actually want to try and help too." Prothe's lips pursed the words soundlessly with an irritated twitch in his eyes.
Splin's tentacles shifted into land mode shortly after the mall escape. As he left Arowana Mall in the dust of his shoes and ran throughout the city without even a hint of where he was going. He was still confused from the encounter. He walked along the ever familiar gray sidewalk under the industrial shadows of buildings.
His ears twitched. "Hm." The roar of motor vehicles and the bustle of busy bodies as they bumbled about the city was nothing new. But as Splin turned around and stared backward he could only take a deep breath and shake his head. "Ugh."
"Fancy seeing you here!"
"Gah!" Splin yelped and dived. The clang that resulted from his noggin and the nearby metal mailbox made him immediately wish that he had dived to his left instead. "Ow- Ow!"
Ari glanced down at Splin in confusion as he stood over him. His proud posture and original smile began to falter. "...Am I interrupting something?"
Splin cocked an eye upwards. The taller, orange Inkling with his Jungle Hat tilted down stared back at him, a mixture of intrigue and confusion in the middle of his face. "...Ari? What are you doing here?"
Ari tilted his head and glanced at the sky with his arms folded around his back absentmindedly. "Oh…you know. Waiting. Just waiting around, walking around Inkopolis, the usual."
"...Huh?" Splin arched an eyebrow.
Ari's morose eyes blinked. "Uh. Whoops." He snapped his head back towards Splin with a smile. "I've been...exploring about this glorious utopia of ours in search of a challenge! Would you perhaps-"
"Oh please no." Splin shook his head quickly. "That's the last thing I need."
"Ah." Ari commented as his boisterous voice began to falter. "W-Well, if you ever feel like doing anything I'll be around here."
As Ari spoke he skulked off with his hands folded in his Varsity Jacket's pockets almost disappointingly. He rounded a corner and left Splin and his head to ache by themselves. Splin frowned, rose to his feet, and rubbed his forehead in a mix of irritation and bewilderment. "What I wouldn't do for a pack of ice...dang it Ari…"
"Ahem." A voice called to him from behind.
Splin blinked and noticed something out of the corner of his eye. By his left shoulder an outstretched hand offered a small damp bag clear enough to notice a series of ice cubes wrapped inside. Splin blinked and snatched it without a second thought. "Thank you."
"No problem." Prothe yawned as he leaned on a streetlight. "That pack of ice is a free sample by the way."
"...No flipping way." Splin's eyes widened as the ice came into contact with his head. Two things came to mind. That one, the melted water from the ice felt about as pleasant as a breeze in a sub-zero tundra, and that two, the Inkling was behind him.
Prothe snickered as he stood in a new uniform altogether. He apron with an ice cube painted on it and leaned over a cart with the exact same logo behind him. "It's ice. Frozen water isn't exactly a commodity."
The younger Inkling's reaction certainly was not what Prothe expected. Splin quickly took the bag and flung it off into the street. The ice spilled about the ground and cluttered the road next to them.
Splin shot a glare at Prothe. "Why are you following me? Just because I didn't take advantage of the deal?"
"...Deal?" Prothe hummed absentmindedly as he leaned on the streetlight. "I don't believe Inkopolis Ice has had any deals as of late. Not that it would really matter."
Just as he hummed with a clueless drone a car zoomed past. Coated in pink and green, the automobile continued on its merry way at a tremendous speed. It was at this point that the car ran over the ice and shattered the cubes into shards of frigid glass and droplets of water as the car rolled past.
Prothe arched an eyebrow. "...Huh. I don't know why but I expected something much more spectacular to happen."
"C'mon Marie!" A new voice joined much to Splin's distaste. From around the corner, a set of pink leggings in a bubbly dress popped out. Callie dashed out from seemingly nowhere after the car. "Just let me drive again this once! I promise I'll keep from craaAAAAA!"
Callie's sentence was cut short as she felt one of her boots friction fail her and carry her off in the direction of the car screaming. Prothe blinked as he gazed down the street with an ice cube underneath her right shoe.
"Uh-huh. Sure. You were saying?" Splin glared at him as the Squid Sister skedaddled away from the scene.
"Are you going to call the cops on me the next time I open my mouth or are you gonna let me speak?" Prothe inquired as he jutted one elbow out.
"No." Splin answered almost immediately and began to walk off.
"...Seriously?" Prothe protested in a sort of offended sense. "C'mon! I just wanna talk!"
"And I just want to be left alone today but that didn't seem to work out very well." Splin muttered underneath his breath.
"That's what I'm talking about." Prothe gestured towards him with an open palm.
"I don't know what YOU'RE talking about that's for sure." Splin berated him brashly as he took off.
"One-liner style quips, sagging shoulders, and bags under your eyes." Prothe tapped his lips in interest. "You aren't feeling fine are you? I can tell. I know these things. I feel how you feel man."
"..." Splin bit his lip as he faced away.
"Now you could let me help you out." Prothe suggested as he leaned on the flagpole. "Or you could go about the rest of your day and, to that extent, your life all sad like that without a purpose. What'll it be?"
"...Mind your own business." Splin muttered as he stepped away.
Prothe watched Splin mosey away. Unlike his breathless sprint such as last time he simply shuffled off with all the pacing of a snail. Prothe sighed. "You're an odd one. You kids always have to be so stubborn."
Regardless of the other squid's departure Prothe continued on. He followed behind as Splin began to pick up the pace. The two broke into a run as Splin jetted off through the city with Prothe followed behind. The two hardly realized the true reason they chased or were being chased. They continued to run regardless as their tired Inkling bodies propelled themselves through the city.
"I just want a normal day! Is that too much to ask?" Splin thought to himself as he sprinted.
Sharq sighed positively as he took in the fresh air. "See Ann-Gel? Nothing wrong with getting a little fresh air!"
"...Mm." Ann-Gel murmured with one hand on her cheek.
"It's nice out too." Sharq commented as he gazed up at the sky. "A little too many clouds though."
"Alright." Ann-Gel frowned and peered up at him. "Yeah, so, just asking, what part of 'Stay away' involves any of...this?"
She gestured below them both. Underneath them the blank face of the Great Zapfish gazed out at the city rather tiredly as it stayed coiled around the tower. Ann-Gel gazed down from their perch above overlooking the city through a set of glass panes.
"...Why? What's wrong with it?" Sharq asked the trophy sat by his leg.
Ann-Gel glanced at the binoculars behind her. The clean glass lenses dwarfed her in size but they were perfect for the Inkling that stood above her. "I just can't believe you're doing this."
Sharq sighed and picked up the binoculars. "It's a brother thing Ann-Gel."
"...Right." Ann-Gel shook her head. "Because Splin always looks for you with a telescope when you're away. Are you at least going to explain why you're doing this?"
"Of course not." Sharq shook his head as his attention stayed directed outside. "I'm his brother so it's obviously my moral responsibility to look out for him with no prompting."
"...That's the biggest excuse I've ever heard." Ann-Gel's eyes narrowed.
"Well I don't have an explanation so you're just going to have to wait!" Sharq fretted and fumbled with his viewfinder.
Trapped on the top of a tower against her will, Ann-Gel disinterestedly gazed down at the Inkopolis Plaza. In the distance the ginormous plastic amiibo box sat in its basic spot against the corner of the plaza. She stared at it until her eyes drifted away in a sort of melancholy manner. Then she nearly had a heart attack. A familiar, small speckle of blue, headphones strapped around his head, ran across the outside perimeter of the plaza.
She glanced back at Sharq. He diligently gazed out the window. His face began to rotate towards the plaza slowly but surely. It was at this point that time practically stopped for Ann-Gel. The little trophy took a moment.
"Okay. So best case scenario, Sharq doesn't see Splin and they'll spend the day by themselves without any more pointless drama," Ann-Gel thought with a puzzled expression on her face, "Worst case scenario they meet and they...argue?" Ann-Gel swiveled back towards Sharq as he gazed out the window. "...Okay nope."
With her little pedestal still attached, Ann-Gel stared up at Sharq as he lowered his head towards the plaza, then leaped up and at him.
AN: How about that Switch huh?
...Oh yeah. I also forgot to update three days ago when it was the one-year anniversary of this story. Huh. Apologies. But now we're but a few years after the debut of Splatoon and already at its sequel ladies and gentlemen. So there's that.
And I hope that the Switch will be able to inspire more material for me to skim through. So if any other writers are reading this I'd hope to see some more quality material from you folks.
With that nonsense all out of the way I'd like to look at the reviews. Thanks sebastian G, write n wrong, Ultrapyre, Anonymous, anon, and Learn to write for reviewing as well as the several guests.
I honestly got a real hoot out of that review sebastian G. I have been slacking off in the chapter kitchen as of late so I hope the judges don't disqualify me from the show!
Thank you write n wrong. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. A little worried now that people are starting to pay attention to the drama which means I'm really going to have to step my game up. ...Not that there is anyone updating much these days.
Thanks Ultrapyre. I apologize for the jarring reference as well as the over-reliance on the Tele-Cube. I'd hope that in the future I'll have more time to pay attention to the plots I draft so that they don't get too unruly or awful. ...Not that this story necessarily has a plot more than a series of drabbles but I digress.
I'd like to address all of the anonymous reviews as one considering it's been a bit of a chain. All I can really say to them all is...thanks.
Thanks for seeing my story as something that could be criticized. Even if some of the reviews were harsh and some were just made by a couple of my buddies as I've recently come to know I'm glad you guys at least picked my story out of the all of the drivel about the Internet to actually spend time to review. Not exactly the most flattering reviews a majority of the time but thanks anyways. A little disappointed in myself for attracting such a negative company but still I suppose it's not to be avoided.
Thanks for reading, this is ThePizzaLovingTurtle, sorry for the delay.