Hey, everyone. So, I'm back once again from more laptop issues, in which I had to send it in to repairs and it was gone for almost a month (yeah, I had similar computer issues two years in a row, isn't that just so fun?). With that said, sorry once again for the gaps in-between chapters, but I'll have more to talk about in the ending AN, and it regards future projects. Anyway, until then, here's another one-shot that was left in limbo while my laptop was out but I was now able to finish, so, hope you enjoy.
Roleplay
"Aaanyway, while we're talking about making Splatsville a better place, that brings me right back to the next thing that people seem to be lacking in Splatsville: Hygiene." Shiver continued her monologue on today's Anarchy Splatcast. "And in general, Splatsvillians not really taking proper care of themselves. And we here at Deep Cut, well, I'd like to think we've become something of an authority in the field."
"A-CHOO!" Frye suddenly sneezed loudly.
"Bless you." Big Man replied.
"Yes, bless you." Shiver did as well. "Anyway. Ever since we've fallen into anarchy especially and our public standards lowered, our population has started struggling with… taking daily showers." She counted on her fingers. "Brushing our beaks 2 or 3 times a day. Getting annual check-ups at the doctor's office. Some people, not pointing fingers, don't even wash their hands. And I, personally, think it's a little disgusting. Now with that said, in Splatsville, there's a 1 in 5 chance-"
"A-CHOO!" Frye exploded again. She awkwardly wiped her nose with her fingers. "Shit, sorry."
"It's ok." Big Man smiled and closed his eyes. "Bless you."
Shiver sighed and clenched her fist. "As I was saying, there's a 1 in 5 chance-"
"A-CHOO! A-CHOO! A-CHOO!" Frye repeatedly sneezed into the air. "Bleeegh…"
"Bless you, bless you, and bless you." Big Man returned.
"For the love of…" Shiver faced her. "Are you sick?"
Frye awkwardly darted her eyes away from her. "…No." She said even though her voice was a bit raspy.
"Really?" She leaned forward. "You're sick and you knowingly brought it into the studio, didn't you?"
"Oh, c'mon. I don't get sick. A-CHOO!" She wiped her nose again. "My name's Frye, people named cool things like Frye don't get sick."
"Oh, well, with that logic..." Big Man puffed up his chest. "My name is Big Man and I am, in fact, not a little man."
Shiver just glared at her friend. "Frye, go home."
"A-CHOO!" Frye again wiped her nose. "No. I'm already here. Let's keep the ball rolling, am I right?"
"You get me sick, so help me, go-"
"A-CHOO!" Big Man suddenly erupted. They both turned to him as he covered his mouth, trembling. "Oh, dear."
Then, they all turned as another "A-CHOO!" could be heard from off-camera.
"Oh, no." Big Man whimpered. "You can't take me back! You can't make me go back to the doctor!" He suddenly ran off-screen.
"Woah, I need the fucking bathroom over here." Frye got up and ran off-screen as well.
A couple crashing sounds could be heard from off-screen as Big Man further freaked out, while Shiver just stared blankly ahead into the camera. "…1 in 5 Splatsvillians get sick or experience other issues from lack of hygiene every day. Together, maybe we can stop this." She held her fan out. "Apparently not gonna be us, though. Remember, it's all… up to you guys out there to make our city a cleaner, safer place. So, uh… good luck."
In a time over 10 years ago, the young, yellow, 7-year-old Squid by the name of Sydney Lachman coughed a bit as she wiped her nose with a tissue. The apartment she sat in was small and cheap, with decaying walls, peeling paint, and only a select few rooms, including this living room, a small kitchen, one bedroom, and a bathroom.
She indeed felt like crap, with clogged up nostrils and frequent coughs and sneezes that plagued her. Yet, she got through it by sitting here in front of the small TV that was placed on the floor, and flipping through channels. Movies, shows like Spongebob, and of course, professional ink battles filled her sick days that she got off from school. At the time, it was probably these ink battles that she watched the most closely. She herself wasn't nearly old enough to play such games yet, but for now, she could see Turf War, Splat Zones, and Rainmaker, all played out by the best-of-the-best players in the world. They all went through this tournament in hopes of winning the grand prize at the end. She could see these players' challenges, their rises and falls, and finally, the one team that came out on top in the end, able to take the trophy and the money for themselves.
Sydney smiled as she slowly got up and moved toward the nearby table, that had a bit of what, to her, looked like white powder, lined up in a small, thin pile. She leaned against it. "Mom?"
The 23-year-old Inkling woman who was sitting at the table, with long yellow hair and a cigarette in her mouth, blew out a puff and pulled the stick out to speak, not even looking at her own daughter. "What, Sydney?"
Perhaps this was the moment that Sydney could even get her mom to look at her. To share an interest with her for once. "One day, I'd like to play in one of those ink battle tournaments. So I could win the prize and get the money for us. Like a badass." She smiled widely at her, swaying back and forth with much energy.
She barely even glanced at her. She didn't even seem to be listening. "That's nice, Sydney."
Sydney's smile melted away as she stared at her. "The… the people on TV look like they have a lot of fun. I'd like to have fun like that one day. I know I can even get the money."
The woman glanced at her phone, and suddenly hissed to herself. "Shit. Where's your fuckin' dad?"
"I-I don't-"
"I thought I told him to take you to the doctor."
Sydney just watched as she lit her lighter, took the fresh flame to her cigarette's tip, and breathed in and out another puff. "Whatever. Just go back to the TV, Sydney. Let me focus."
Sydney looked down, glanced back at her, and slowly moved to sit back down in her original seat. She went right back to staring deeply into the TV, engrossed in its world.
Perhaps one day, it wouldn't just be a dream anymore.
Present Day
A chorus of cheers and chants erupted through the underground Undertow Spillway, the very same site of the Big Run's climax a few months ago, that was still a bit damaged from the aftermath of the brutal battle. Except now, it had been repurposed once again. Inklings, Octolings, and other people from a whole assortment of different races, gathered around the glass cage that now boxed in the area that used to host traditional ink battles. Flashing lights shined through the area, and rock music blasted through everyone's ears, hyping up the audience further.
Some of the lights came to center on a nearby DJ table, where a goth-punk Sea Urchin was working the controls. He pressed a button to blast a loud air-horn sound effect through the nearby speakers. "Welcome back to U-U-U-U-UNDERGROUND ANARCHY BATTLEEEEES!" He cheered through his microphone, to which the audience further freaked out. "Less regulated! More brutal! Pure Splatlands chaos! Who will put their very lives on the line for a prize of no less than 250,000 big ones, huh!? LET'S HEAR IIIIIIT!" He held his mic out toward the screaming crowd.
He returned the mic to his own mouth. "What brutal battles will our doomed contestants participate in today, huh!? Spin it!" He pointed toward the sexy Octoling woman nearby, who was wearing a revealing tank top and shorts, and was standing next to a medium-sized wheel of fortune.
Posing slightly to show off her rear, she spun the wheel. It came to stop on a crude but cartoonish image of a dead squid with his eyes crossed out. The crowd erupted into some "oooohs" and more cheers.
"Oh! The worst one!" The DJ continued. "Looks like we're dealing with FREE-FOR-ALL S-S-S-S-S-S-SPLAT ZOOOONES! With no teams, and NO timer!"
The crowd erupted like crazy, completely ecstatic.
"Who're the idiots who will step up this time!?" The DJ continued. "C'mon, let's see 'em!"
A burly Inkling man stepped up, taking off his shirt and pounding his chest to more cheers. "LET'S GOOOO!"
A punk-rock Inkling woman stepped up as well. She stuck her tongue out and held out her middle finger toward the audience.
Several more people stepped up, most of them holding their own custom weapons. As they came to stand in a line, everyone, including the DJ, looked over as the final contestant called out to them. "Throw me in too!"
"Oh, and look who's back for more!" The DJ continued. "The self-proclaimed 'Big Run hero'." He did air-quotes with his fingers. "As if getting her ass kicked the last time wasn't enough."
The audience laughed as indeed, Syd pushed her way through the crowd, with her Tri-Stringer in hand and ever-accompanying Chase by her side.
"With a Smallfry pet this time, too." The DJ, and everyone else in the crowd, laughed.
Syd rolled her eyes as she and Chase went up to join the other contestants.
As the guards got the cage opened up for them, they all stepped inside, and then turned as the cage was closed behind them.
"You know the rules." The large, muscular guard told them as he put chains on the door and locked them. "You don't leave the cage… and there are no rules."
Syd nodded. "Perfectly not confusing."
The punk-rock girl giggled as she posed with her Brella-Bat, a literal combination of a baseball bat and Brella weapon, designed completely by her. She twirled some of her pigtail hair with her finger. "Ready to get mauled again, braid-y?"
"Wanna get your mouth ripped off, Harley Quinn?"
She just glared at her, squinting a bit.
As everyone took their positions in the different corners of the cage, the borders of the Splat Zones in the center of the stage lit up to clearly mark their location.
"On your marks… get set… START KILLING!" The DJ announced as he activated another horn sound. Gas erupted throughout the cage as the match started.
"RAAHHHH!" The big, shirtless man screamed and briefly flexed his muscles before he and the others ran forward. The brutal battle began as everyone collided in the center of the stage, and each individual fought to take control of both of the Splat Zones with their own individual ink colors. It was indeed a more brutal, deadlier match than your regular run-of-the-mill ink battles, and everyone was coming in for the kill with their often custom, stronger-than-usual weapons. Every one of them desperately wanted that prize for themselves and were going to stop at nothing to get it. Some of them were of course temporarily splatted and revived at the nearest Respawn Point, while some others were straight-up dropping dead after being struck by higher-pressure ink or other physical attacks.
But the force that turned out to be the most reckoned with was actually Syd, who was just fighting the way she normally would. A perfectly normal Tri-Stringer, non-protective clothes, and of course, Chase, who was running around the stage and mauling opponents to give Syd the edge. Several opponents were left screaming and not quick enough to defend themselves as Chase ran up to them, while in the chaos, Syd was able to take hold of the center-stage. Standing on top of the platform that separated the zones, she swiftly charged up shots to color in one zone, turned, and then filled in the other. Overhead on the screen that showed the battle results, her points that started at 100 started dropping.
Of course, the other opponents would run up toward her, screaming in their desperate attempt to take the Zones for themselves, but Syd now had too much of an upper hand. She was twirling around through her turf, charging up shots, and aiming accurately at any opponents that charged at her, splatting them instantly and sending them back to their starting point. Of course, even as this got a bit too much to handle, and more people were able to break through into her territory, she and Chase were still able to work together to fend them off, even at the cost of often taking hits.
Finally, as Syd's points continued to tick more toward 0 on the overhead screen, less people were coming for her, and she had little problem splatting the remainder of them. She herself was hunched over at this point with a sprained ankle, exhausted, bleeding in multiple places, and panting heavily. Yet, all it took was one look up at her score, and then toward the crowd to give her the strength to stand up straight.
The crowd was absolutely going bonkers, extremely entertained by such a feat. The way this small, largely defenseless girl came up and won the day with nothing but her skills and Smallfry companion clearly intrigued them.
A smile etched on Syd's face as she struggled to stand straight. This was it. The prize was hers. Oh, how Johnny and Sally would be so proud of her when she returned home. Sally would stop insulting her so much, Johnny would finally like her as much as she liked him, they could shed their shitty apartment they lived in… she was living the dream. She pumped her fists up, watching her points plummet toward 0. Here it went…
10…
9...
8...
7...
"You little Squid BITCH!" Syd heard before she was struck hard across the head, knocking her off the platform she stood on. Her head collided with the floor before she rolled to a stop away from the Splat Zones, groaning.
"Compare me to a comic character again, you dumb BITCH!" The same punk-rock girl shouted as she took her bat and struck her in the stomach this time. She kicked her in the face to make sure she stayed down, as the Splat Zones were then swiftly taken from her by a couple other opponents.
Syd's world was spinning as she tried looking over, barely even able to tell what had happened. "Man…"
Chase joined by her side, looking her over with concern.
"Don't just stand there… help me take the Zones back." She started pushing herself up onto all fours. "I can still do this… I can still- Oh… Oh, Jesus." She barfed all over the floor.
"I'm telling you, I had it." Syd, her face now horribly decorated with a black eye and other nasty bruises, held an ice pack over her head as she sat at the bleachers more toward the back of the area.
Johnny and Sally briefly looked over as the crowd continued to cheer at the next battle that was going on. Sally looked back at her as she sipped her beer. "Yeah, so impressive."
Syd glared at her, then looked at Johnny. "Johnny… you usually have something nice to say. Tell me I had it."
"Uh… eh." Johnny scratched his head.
"Seriously?"
"I mean, you kind of… ignored the most basic ink battle rule of not giving up and soaking in the victory in the last moments."
"Because it was right there, the prize was right in my hand!" She held her hand out toward the stage. "I could've walked away with a lot of money!"
Sally laughed at that, earning another glare from Syd.
"Syd, that was the first battle of the day." Johnny replied. "They don't give you the prize after one battle. You earn it first. Likely after quite a lot of bleeding and killing."
Syd froze a bit, staring at him with a more blank expression. She looked down, completely embarrassed.
"Just… come back home with us." Johnny motioned toward the exit. "We'll go inside, watch a movie, and forget this ever happened. It can even be a superhero movie if you want."
But Syd, of course, as per usual, wasn't feeling much like a superhero. She sighed. "You go."
"Syd…"
"I'll be home later, just go." She too motioned to the exit.
Johnny sighed as he hesitantly walked off with Sally. Even Chase chose to go off with them instead, only briefly glancing back at Syd as he left with them.
Syd watched them leave, with tears building in her eyes, before she threw down the ice pack and glared off at nothing, completely seething and humiliated. She rubbed her hands together and softly felt some of her bruises, allowing one or two tears down her cheeks.
Another quite handsome Inkling guy in a leather jacket, while looking around, came up to her. "Hey."
She glanced at him, a bit confused and feeling like she was indeed about to be hit on. "…Hey." She said half-heartedly as she turned away from him.
"Pretty impressive fight."
Just like that, Syd's mood lifted slightly as she turned back to him. "Do you… Do you mean that?"
"Of course, I mean… the way you were holding the Zones all to yourself like that, for that long, you don't see that a lot. Most people are dead 30 seconds into a feat like that… but you did it for almost the whole match."
She just stared at him.
"You wanna… get a drink?" He asked.
She just stared deeply into his eyes at this point. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
It wasn't much later into the night when Syd found herself here at this random guy's apartment somewhere in Splatsville, as they aggressively made out with each other against the walls, wrestling each other for control. She desperately pulled off his shirt, ripping it in the process, and he did the same to her, leaving her in her bra.
He chuckled a bit. "You sure this isn't too much for your bruises?" He briefly paused to ask.
"Shut up." She kept aggressively kissing him. After a moment, she too paused to look him in the eye. "You still think I'm a badass, right?"
"Of course." He chuckled again.
She smiled widely and threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him. From there, she allowed him to carry her to bed.
When sunlight streamed in through the windows, Syd was feeling sore absolutely all over her body, with each and every muscle in her body feeling weak and her limbs like noodles. Her head was killing her, pulsating in her head, as she struggled to get redressed, groaning to herself often.
The random Inkling man was coming out from the bathroom, fresh out of the shower with a towel over his waist, as he walked over toward her. "Morning."
"Hey." She couldn't help but smile widely as she quickly threw her shirt on and turned to face him. "Um… s-sorry I ripped your shirt."
"It's cool. Got a whole bunch of those."
"Listen… um…" She looked down and played with her fingers, all of a sudden feeling quite self-sensitive all over again. "I'm just gonna… come out with it if it's not too fast. Last night was… so great. Honestly the best night I've had in a while. So I was wondering… if…"
"Yeah." He smiled a bit. "Made for a great one-night stand."
Her hearts sank and her smile drooped. It took her a couple moments to even think of a response to that. "Right… one-night stand." She cleared her throat. "Yes, one for the books, that one."
He gave her another smile before he went to get redressed as well.
She just stood there, staring at the floor. "I'm… can I… use your bathroom?"
"Of course. Silly question to ask after I already gave you a bed."
She shot him a brief glare he couldn't see before she stumbled over into the bathroom.
The Inkling continued to get dressed, humming casually to himself after such a great night, until he heard violent vomiting over in the other room. Concerned, he moved over to see that Syd was indeed hunched over the toilet, vomiting her guts out.
"You ok?" He asked.
She spit out what was left in her mouth. "I'm fine. I swear, I didn't even drink that much last night, I don't know why I'm puking. I just woke up and I was feeling so… sick."
"You did take a pretty good beating yesterday, I'll bet my ass you have a concussion."
"Yeah, I bet you give away your ass a lot for one-nights, huh?" She mumbled.
"What?"
"Nothing." She flushed the toilet and sat down. "Like I said… I'm fine. Just a little sick."
"Well… you'd better give the doctor a visit, just in case."
She froze. "The… the doctor?"
"Yeah."
She paused, froze even. She remembered the last time she had gone to the doctor's office. When she was just a little girl, watching ink battles on TV, and clamoring her uncaring mom for attention. She remembered that time… when her dad finally did huff and take her to the doctor's office to get her sickness checked out. She remembered how much she cried on that day, and how much that one day has haunted her since. She gulped before she could respond. "I dunno…"
"What's wrong with the doctor?"
"Uh, everything."
"Well, it's better than not taking care of yourself. You know what they say, a doctor a day keeps the apple away. Is that right? Well, either way."
Again, she couldn't help but smile at him. "That's… your concern is appreciated. But I don't need a doctor. All I need is to pick myself up off my ass and get back to that arena so I can go ahead and win that money."
He shrugged. "If you say so. But you'd better hurry. That tournament is only gonna last another week."
"...Oh."
"Eh, I'm sure you've got it. Again, I haven't seen a feat so impressive since, well… that last tournament, with those Team Jackpot guys. Man, they were cool."
"Uhhh, I'm pretty sure those guys turned out to be racist."
He shrugged. "Either way. I'm gonna head out. Oh and, hey, would you mind tidying up my bed after last night?"
Again, she glared at him. "Ok?"
"Thanks." He walked away without another word.
Syd looked down. "I always fall for the idiots." She then worked at pushing herself up.
Syd returned to Johnny's apartment with absolutely no intention of going to the doctor's office. After all, she was just a bit sick, right? She was gonna feel better in a few days, and her life was gonna move forward like normal. She was gonna be able to go back to the underground ink battles, and continue to practice at eventually obtaining that money she so desperately needed.
Days passed, and Syd's head only felt worse, and worse. Her body was making no noticeable improvements, and she was still vomiting fairly often. Yet, despite her illnesses, she plain and simply didn't rest much either. She was still up and about, doing things, and even training and pushing herself to head back to the arena, even if she occasionally got dizzy and had to sit down, and even if her head was constantly killing her.
This quickly reached a point where Johnny, Sally, and even Chase were noticing she was unwell and grew extremely concerned. On this particular day, they were watching her as she exercised in the living room, doing fairly slow push-ups, grunting and groaning often as she did.
Johnny sighed as he looked at Sally. "You wanna talk to her this time?"
Sally sighed as well. "Syd, go rest."
"No." Syd replied without stopping.
"You look like absolute shit. You look like you're gonna pass out and I'm also getting tired of how often you've been stinking up the bathroom. Go. Rest."
"N. O. No." Syd kept training. "I told you guys before, I'm perfectly fine."
"Oh, yeah?" She held up her phone, turned on its flashlight, and waved it at her eyes.
Immediately upon being met with the bright light, Syd collapsed onto her butt and held her head, wincing heavily. "Ow ow, ow ow."
She lowered her phone. "You're not gonna get better by pushing yourself like this."
Syd scoffed as she faced them. "I don't see either of you gearing up and going out to fight in that arena."
"...Because we're not idiots."
"Whatever." She kept trying to work-out. However, only a few seconds into her attempt, she suddenly sat back down, covering her mouth. She lunged toward the nearest trash can, which she once again barfed into.
"Oh, lovely." Sally winced and turned away, covering her nose.
Johnny sighed. "You need to go to the doctor and get checked out. At the very least. C'mon, we're all worried about you."
Syd groaned. "No! For the last time, no!"
"What is it with you and doctors?" Sally asked.
"They're scary!"
"Scary?"
"Yes!"
"Well, when was the last time you had a check-up?"
"I dunno, when I was like… seven?"
Her eyes widened slightly. "Hoo-lyy shit. I guessed right, your parents were awful."
"I prefer the term 'neglectful'. But I wouldn't be the strong woman I am today if it weren't for them being so uncaring."
"Uh-huh."
"Well, hey, remember that time when you got crushed by Cohozuna and got put in the hospital?" Johnny asked. "That wasn't so bad, right?"
"Oh, I got out of there as soon as I could." Syd hand-waved them off. "Well… ran out of there is more like it." She admitted. "Besides, this is Splatsville. Willing to bet money there's not even a good doctor here, more likely a bunch of quacks. No way I'm even trying it."
"Ok, well, look at it this way." Sally interjected. "You're not gonna be able to return to the arena, and you're most definitely not gonna win in this condition you're in."
"Sally." Johnny gave her a look.
"What? Look, I'm trying to get her to shut the fuck up and stop puking all over our apartment." She turned back to Syd. "Think about the prize money. Think about how badly you want it. We'll all be good to go from there, right? So, heal up, so you can go back to the arena."
Syd groaned. "I don't need to heal up. I just need to practice, and my body will heal itself. I promise you."
With an unamused look on her face, Sally again turned her flashlight on and waved it in her face.
"Ah, ah." Syd again looked down and shakily held her head. "God, stop doing that, that makes me feel like there's glass shards on fire in my brain."
"Whatever, dipshit. I've made my point. Getting better is up to you from there." She put her phone away and walked out.
As Syd sat there in defeat, Johnny knelt down next to her and rubbed her back. "Just… go to the doctor, please. Just once. Then come back and rest 'till you're better."
She looked him in the eye. "Johnny, I only have a limited window to nab that prize money and neither of you are stepping up to help me. We lost the Stamperoni Family's money in that collapsed building, I gave up that Fiddler asshole's deal, Sally broke off contact with her Grizzco team… Do you want us to remain poor like this?"
He shrugged. "Syd, I think we've been over this already. We'll figure it out. And I'd rather you didn't kill yourself in the process."
Syd looked down.
Johnny kept rubbing her back, sighing. "You know… you've never really told us much about your parents."
Syd didn't respond, and even avoided eye contact with him.
"Did they do something that's so heavily convincing you not to go to the doctor?" He continued.
She sighed, looking down. "My parents… weren't that great, Johnny. But it's fine, that was years ago. I'm with you guys now."
"Is it really fine, though?"
She didn't respond.
He sighed. "I suppose it's up to you whether or not you want to go. Just take care of yourself, please, that's all I'm asking." With that, he finally stood up and walked away as well.
Syd's gaze remained on the ground, as she leaned back against the wall and curled up. Even as Chase joined at her side, who she of course reached to pet, she found herself looking right back up at that poster she had up on the wall, of the underground ink battles tournament that these guys were hosting in the Spillway.
She clenched her fist. She needed that money… which meant that she needed to heal up fast. Even if it meant going to… ugh… she shuddered just thinking about it… the doctor's office. In Splatsville, the City of Chaos of all places.
She audibly gulped, absolutely filled with dread. "Oh, God, protect me."
The Next Day
The gray, somewhat run-down health clinic, with its emblem that depicted a Squid in front of a cross, stood in its place below the foreboding gray skies as Syd hesitantly walked up to it. She squinted up a bit at its sign; The only light this sign produced was occasional flickering, and one of its windows were even smashed out.
But then again… this kind of scenery was normal for Splatsville, right? It was going to be fine. All Syd had to do was go in, do her appointment, and then she'd be able to go back home and return to her 'normal' life as if nothing happened.
She was about to take a step forward, when she again looked up as a black crow came in to land upon the cross. It looked directly at her, tilted its head, and cawed.
At this point, Syd just sighed. Ok, maybe not. She took in a deep breath, stretching her arms slightly. She remembered the last time her dad took to her to a health clinic just like this. She remembered how much fear she had looking at that place, too, how hesitant she was to go in… and the memory made her absolutely shudder. Mustering her bravery, she moved forward, and with somewhat shaky hands, opened the door.
The place didn't exactly scream 'sanitized' to her as she walked down the initial hallways, with decaying paint on the walls, and somewhat moist carpets. She jumped and winced, looking around as a woman's horrified screams echoed through the hall.
Unable to locate where it came from, but determined to just get this over with, she kept moving down the hall. This place was even structured bizarrely, with it being a challenge to even find the waiting room. As she moved through the hall, she passed by some open doctor's offices, where she was able to peek in through the doors to see what these doctors were like.
"Right. Right. All you do, is you put the lime in the coconut, and you drink it all up." A doctor was talking on the phone. He rubbed his forehead. "No, you put the lime- you put the lime-" He struck the desk, growling and screaming. "What aren't you hearing!? You put the LIME IN THE COCONUT…"
Syd winced again as she continued on, checking more of these offices. One of them didn't even have doctors at all, but rather had a few figures in black full-body cloaks that were standing in a circle, moving their hands in ritualistic ways. "Praise Galamah, praise Galamah…" They uttered repeatedly. They suddenly stopped as, all at once, they turned toward Syd, eerily staring at her.
Syd gulped as she speed-walked onward this time.
Finally, some semblance of normalcy came back to her as she came into the waiting room where the reception desk was. Somewhat frantically, she moved toward the desk, catching the attention of the bored nurse who was sitting here. "Hi, um… Sydney Lachman? Appointment for 1:30?"
The nurse confirmed her meeting, and got her some paperwork to sign. All ready to go, Syd moved to take a seat, where she was able to examine the people here in this waiting room. There was a couple sick people, a blobfish with snot dripping from his nose, a kid who was playing with a magazine they had here for entertainment… actually pretty normal. Hey, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
In the corner of her eye, she briefly noticed that the man she had sat next to seemed to be staring at her. She briefly turned and gave her a nod before she returned to her previous position. She then did a double take to notice that no, she was sitting next to nothing more than the corpse of a random guy in the seat next to her, who just happened to have died while leaned back and facing her direction. There was even a couple flies that was buzzing and crawling around him.
Whimpering somewhat, Syd awkwardly moved a couple seats over, and then stared on at nothing with wide, terrified eyes, now even unable to sit straight.
She sat like that for the remainder of the time, even as 1:30 came and went, and spent the entire time wondering if, after all, she was going to make it out of this place alive.
Finally, after a while, she looked down as her phone rang. She pulled it out to look at it, seeing that, indeed, she was being called by this very clinic she sat in. Confused, she answered and held the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hi, Sydney Lachman?" The voice on the other end replied.
"Yeah?"
"I know that you had an appointment scheduled for 1:30… but would you mind delaying that to some other more convenient time? What times work best for you?"
Syd's baffled expression only grew as she stared on at nothing. "I… I'm already here, in the waiting room. I confirmed my meeting 20 minutes ago."
The person took great pause. "…Oh." His voice held mild panic. "Right. It is 1:50. Right, I'll… we'll come get you. Stay there." He hung up.
Syd glanced at the phone with one last baffled look before she slipped it back in her pocket.
A couple minutes later, an Inkling nurse who actually looked pretty young, even with some acne on his face, came out from the side door, holding his clipboard. "Sydney Lachman?"
She stood up and walked over. Choosing not to question how young he looked, she just pointed toward the corpse she had previously sat next to. "Um... can I just ask… what happened to that guy?"
"Oh, that guy." He nodded. "Heh, yeah, I dunno, but he's been sitting there since yesterday. Yeah. I wonder what he's doing, exactly."
Syd blinked and lowered her finger, her baffled look turning back into one of more pure terror.
"Anyway, if you'll come with me." He led her down the hall.
They headed down, where they went through the typical routine where the nurse took her weight, height, and her ink pressure. Well, at least they tried to take her ink pressure, but the ink pressure cuff, which squeezed her arm, simply… never loosened.
The nurse hit the monitor next to her as he tried reading the results. "Man, come on."
Syd grimaced, feeling like her arm was gonna pop off as the cuff continuously squeezed her. "Are you… sure you know how to work that thing?"
"I do this all the time, I promise you." He hit the screen again. "Come on! You piece of shit."
A couple minutes passed like this, as they tried a couple extra times to take her pressure. Ultimately, he just returned to her and took the cuff off. "You know, I'm sure you're very healthy. I'm very sorry about that."
Syd didn't respond as she rubbed her arm where it had been squeezed and stood up.
"Well, right this way to your appointment." The nurse kept leading her.
Now, as she followed him to the doctor's office, it was eating away at her a bit too much. She had to ask. "…How old are you?"
"15."
She blinked as her eyes again widened a bit. "E-Excuse me?"
"Hey, it's ok. The actual doctor will be in with you shortly." He finally led her into the doctor's office, where there was blindingly white walls, a medical examination bed, and life-sized models of the Inkling's muscular systems in both the Inkling form and Squid form in the corner.
"Wait right here." The nurse closed the door on her.
Syd huffed a bit as she decided to just sit on the bed, lazily kicking her legs as she waited, trying to think of peaceful thoughts to keep herself calm.
Several minutes passed before finally, the door opened again. "Sorry for the wait, Ms. Lachman." The white-coated doctor told her as he came in.
She sighed. "It's all good- uhhhh..." She paused as she looked up at the 'doctor', seeing that it was still the same nurse from before, just now changed into a doctor's coat.
He looked up from his clipboard. "What's wrong?"
She stared at him. "What the hell is going on here?"
"Your appointment. Remember? You called for it?"
"Uhhh, I think the more likely situation is that I'm being punked."
He laughed. "Sense of humor, I like that. You're funny. Well, I'm here now, so let's get this show on the road." He took a seat on his swivel chair. He dramatically put his hands on his knees as he faced her. "So, what brings you here today?"
"Shouldn't you be in school right now? Maybe health class? Are you skipping out on math like I used to, is that what's going on here? What happened to the actual doctor?"
"It's ok." He chuckled again. "I'm a fully trained professional."
"You're too young to even be a med student. Where's your doctorate? Huh, you little shit?"
He shrugged a bit. "Don't worry. I have my GED, I know what I'm doing."
Syd actually started to feel a bit light-headed as the panic started to return to her. She held her hands forward somewhat as she took some deep breaths. "Is this whole place fake or something? Is…" She gulped. "Oh, god, actually, please tell me that dead guy out there is fake, too."
"No, the clinic's real."
"Then what is going on?"
He shrugged again. "Your appointment."
She angrily balled her fists and shook somewhat, ready to punch him.
The 'doctor' ignored that and turned back to his clipboard, flipping some of his notes. "So, says here that you've come here over concerns of a headache, dizzy spells, and frequent vomiting."
She sighed as she eased and lowered her arms. "Well I guess now, I'm here to die because my doctor's a 15-year-old."
"Please. Don't discriminate against age."
She glared at him. "I want an actual doctor."
"Ok." He nodded as he pulled his gloves on and stood up. He suddenly grabbed her jaw, forcing her to open her mouth. "Say ah."
She just grunted as he poked a flashlight into her mouth and looked around.
"Throat looks good. Glands are just a bit swollen." He let go of her. He grabbed his thermometer next, rubbing it across her forehead. He looked over the results afterward. "Uh oh. Little bit of a fever."
Syd groaned. "Why do you gotta say 'uh oh'?" She muttered.
"Time to check your ears." He grabbed his Otoscope next and tried shoving it into her ear, but Syd smacked his hand away before he could really check anything. "Ok, ears look good." Next, he pulled his Stethoscope from around his neck, stuffed the earpieces into his own ears, and held the diaphragm. "Breathe in for me?"
"Fuck you."
"Ok." He just checked her heart-rate before again putting the Stethoscope around his neck. "Uh oh. Heart-rate's a little high and breathing's a little unsteady."
"Because I think I'm having a mild panic attack."
"Well, try to relax." He sat back down. "You do indeed appear to be a bit sick. Have you been feeling sore? Exhaustion? Tell me a bit more about your symptoms."
She groaned a bit, clapping her hands together as she considered what to tell him. "I dunno, just… headaches that won't go away, I keep getting dizzy, having trouble looking at lights… I did kind of have an incident where I hit my head, so I was told I might have a concussion?"
"Concussion." He nodded. "Ok. Well, I know how to test for that." He stood up.
"You do?"
"Well, I am a doctor." He got his flashlight and briefly tested it on his hands. He shined it into her eyes.
"Woah, ok, don't like that." Syd blinked, but ultimately let him.
"Yep, your eyes look like you're concussed." He put the flashlight down, then suddenly rose his hands as he jumped in her face. "RAAAAHHH!"
Syd actually jumped a bit before she gave him an unamused look. "What the hell was that?"
"Testing your reflexes. You're very brave." He turned back to his chair and picked his clipboard up again. "Well, I'd say you are very much concussed."
She scoffed. "Where'd you learn such knowledge, huh? What medical experience do you have? Is it watching TV? Let me guess. The Doctor's Office show? White's Anatomy? That other show where the dude is pretending to be autistic?"
"I've never seen those, but I do love Murder Hospital."
She suddenly gasped a bit. "Ohhh, with Callie Cuttlefish?"
"Yeah."
"Wow, me too. Man, I was bummed to hear there was gonna be a second season, but they canceled it after that whole Splatoon leak fiasco."
"No, the second season is still on. I hear they're casting Zoey Cook in a new lead role this time."
"Oh, shit, seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Man. I gotta watch that again, then."
"Yeah, you should."
"A-Anyway, we're getting sidetracked." She put her angry face back on. "I don't know if I'm really comfortable getting diagnosed by a 'doctor' who is literally younger than me."
He shrugged. "That's ok. Old people go to the doctor's all the time."
"That's not what I'm- uurgh." She again clenched her fists.
He wrote down notes on his clipboard. "There isn't really a way to speed up the healing process of a concussion, but I can suggest you take basic pain-relief meds, like tylenol, or ibuprofen, and it should help relieve the symptoms until you're healed."
She sighed, somewhat out of relief. "It's really that simple?"
"Well, just stay rested until then, and if things still don't seem better in the next couple weeks, you can come back."
"A couple… weeks?" She stared at him. "I can't just rest for a couple weeks."
"Why not?"
"Because I have… a life. Things to do."
He chuckled. "Sounds important. But if it's physically demanding, I'm afraid I can't recommend it. I can only recommend that you rest."
"I'm not listening to your recommendations, anyway, you're 15!"
He leaned forward, not breaking eye-contact with her. "Do you wanna know why I'm a doctor?"
"You're not a doctor." She growled.
"Because my mom used to get sick a lot, too. And she, well… it led to her passing away."
Syd didn't respond to that, staring at him.
"But you know, I'm an only child, so you know who always had to take care of her?" He briefly poked his pen against his own chest.
"That's…" Syd sighed. "Oh god, I'm sorry."
He shook his head. "It's cool. You wanna know what the hardest part of it was? She was always trying to push herself, even when she was losing her strength. She always wanted to be active. She hated being in bed all the time. So the first thing I did after she finally did pass away? I vowed to do for everyone else what I couldn't do for her. Save lives. Help a couple people. Do what I can."
Syd didn't respond to that, staring at him.
"So my official doctor's recommendation?" He pointed at her. "Help yourself. And the people you care about. Take a bit and smell the roses while you're at it. Give your mental health time to breathe so you can improve all your health and be ready for the next curveball life throws you."
Syd paused a good couple moments. "If I don't get to the prize money in that arena within the next week… if I don't push myself hard… my life won't get better either way."
He shrugged slightly. "And what makes you think such a thing?"
Again, Syd paused. She leaned back, having to really, really think about it. "Do I really… really have to say?"
"Well, I wanna hear it from you. What is so important about this thing to you?"
Syd didn't realize it, but tears were starting to build in her eyes as she thought back to why she was even doing this. She was thinking back to that cheap apartment she used to live in, how often she used to dream about living somewhere better. How much she wanted to win that money, to finally earn her parent's love… to win anyone's love, and get that better life for herself.
She was thinking back memories she had… kind of buried. To the last time she had gone to the doctor's office.
It all happened in one day. The day that her mom finally convinced her dad to take her out to the doctor's office… Except, the doctor's office itself, surprisingly, wasn't really what she remembered the most about that day. The doctor's office was scary, sure, and she had to get poked with needles and all that, yada yada, but what stuck out most to her was what happened after.
She remembered surprisingly clearly what had seen when they just coming out from the lobby. Little Sydney had just gotten a candy from the lobby that she was sucking on, when flashing red and blue lights that lit up the lot came to her attention. She looked up as a couple police officers came up to them.
"Mr. Lachman?" They held their badges out toward him. One of them was even holding cuffs. "We'd like to ask you a couple questions."
Mr. Lachman, however, just looked back and forth between them. Sydney could only gasp and back up as the struggle between them continued, as her own father tried shoving them and running off, only to be grabbed and pinned onto the car hood. He grunted and screamed as they aggressively searched him, confiscating multiple plastic bags of what, to her, appeared to be a bunch of smushed-up green stuff, and another bag with what looked like white powder. It was the same type of 'white powder' that she previously saw lined up on her Mom's table. With that, they cuffed his hands, and then stood him up. He didn't even bother looking back at his own daughter as he was dragged forward, and shoved through the car door into the backseat.
She never saw him again after that day. She was only ever left with this last memory of him… from a day that was forever tainted, and forever changed the trajectory of her life. Yet, it was only now that she was older, and understood the world better, that she realized her parents always did have the money they desperately needed… they just spent it on their own addictions. Addictions that they already spent so much more time and effort on than they ever did on her.
Back in the present, Syd opened her eyes as tears barreled down her cheeks. She let out a long, shaky breath.
The 'doctor' was still staring at her. "Are you ok?"
She couldn't respond with words, only mustering a nod.
He nodded back a bit, and looked down. "Some heavy stuff, huh?"
Syd just looked to the side, this time really not responding.
"That's ok. Whatever it is… why don't you relax… take it home… and take the thought to your friends, instead?"
After a bit, finally… she sighed, nodding a bit.
He smiled. "Good for you. Why don't you have a candy on your way out? My treat."
Syd began shaking pushing herself back up. She reached to grab a candy from the jar on the counter, and bouncing it in her hand. "Well… I'm sure that your mom would be proud to see you now."
He nodded a bit. "I hope so."
She looked at him, wiping her tears. "You know, that was all very touching, but… that still doesn't explain the dead guy in the lobby."
He looked at her, puzzled. "What dead guy?"
"...Nevermind." She opened the door and stepped out.
As she headed back out of the clinic and out to the parking lot, she looked around, taking another deep breath. It was a deeply unsettling feeling that the place gave her. There was no father or mother here for her now... it was, after all, just her standing here alone. With that, she had one more thought.
Perhaps it really was time to let the whole thing go and… just head back home to see her friends again. With that last thought, she smiled a bit, and walked off.
A week passed. The underground tournament came and went, and ultimately, the final winner was selected for the final prize. The last event was broadcasted on TV, too, which Syd, Johnny, Sally, and Chase all watched as they laid back on the couch, eating popcorn and drinking beers.
In the aftermath, they turned on the Anarchy Splatcast, which was just coming on.
After going through the usual introductions, Shiver's eyes widened slightly as she read something on the teleprompter off-screen. "Well… we're getting the word now, this is just coming in. Turns out there was no real winner to that whole underground ink battles thing that had people talking. The winner's dead. Yep, she won while injured as hell, just barely got that last Rainmaker to the goal, doubled over immediately after, and just passed away in the hospital."
Frye suddenly laughed. "What an absolute fucking loser! Can't even hold on to the one win she had in her life!"
"Do we… do we have to show the image?" Big Man asked shyly.
"Eh, it's Splatsville, everyone's already desensitized." Shiver shrugged.
An actually pretty graphic image came up on screen, of the very same punk-rock girl who had previously struck Syd in the head with her weapon. She was in a hospital bed, with all the injuries she had sustained and the large bag of money that sat next to her head.
Syd, Johnny, and Sally all winced at the same time. "Oooh…" Syd winded.
"Would've been you." Sally nudged her shoulder.
Syd just rolled her eyes.
"So, who gets the money in the end?" Big Man asked.
Shiver shrugged. "They're saying she doesn't have any family, so… we do." She suddenly stood up. "Someone go wake up Master Mega. No way I'm letting that money go to waste."
As the Splatcast ended, Johnny turned to Syd. "Well? Glad to still be alive?"
Syd chuckled a bit. "Glad my head's not killing me right now. And…" She looked at him. "Glad I'm not alone."
He smiled. "Me too."
She looked him in the eye, thinking for a moment. "If… I ever told you more about my parents… you'd listen, right?"
He nodded sincerely. "Of course."
As they smiled at each other, Sally awkwardly glanced at them before she abruptly cleared her throat. "Ok, losers. For now, who's in the mood for a movie?"
"Oh, uh… sure." He replied.
Syd shrugged. "Sure."
With that, Sally went to get them a fresh bowl of popcorn, and they relaxed to watch a violent movie together for the night. As Chase bounced onto Syd's lap, she happily pet him, holding him close.
So, while I have you here, quick update for recurring readers: As I said above, my laptop issues did halt my writing for a little while there and resulted in some plan changes. Here's the run-down. My original plan was to use July to work on side projects (being this and my other newly-started FNaF horror story), and then start the Agent 3: Execution sequel in August. Obviously, any July plans are completely dead in the water, but because I still want to make up for some of that lost time, I may still take a bit to work on this story before getting to Agent 3. I'm still aiming to start Agent 3 this month, but it now may end up happening later in the month, or possibly in September, depending on how things go. I'm really excited for it so I don't wanna delay it too much longer but please forgive me if it does take another while. Either way, it should be September at the latest. In regards to the FNaF fic, because I lost interest in it over July and because no one really read it anyway, I decided to put that one on the back-burner entirely. For now, it's not cancelled, but also don't expect it to be updated frequently.
Anyway, I have something a bit different planned for the next 3 one-shots in this story, and they're gonna be pretty bonkers, so stay tuned and hopefully I'll have them out in good time. See you then! *waves*