Chapter One:

A Close Shot At Victory

Flounder Heights, Inkopolis' top apartment complex. It was usually calm and peaceful, all day and all night, save for whenever the Inklings and the Octolings living in the city threw parties or whenever a pop concert was held. But today, the place was the sight of a Splatoon game, just as it had for a while now.

A brown Inkling male in a cowboy hat ran past a house, panting for breath, his hands gripping the handle of his dualie. He threw himself behind a wall with his comrade, a white-haired Inkling male wielding a Roller, wearing red shades and a blue vest.

Just a few feet from them, pinned against another wall, was an Octoling male wearing full-on cowboy attire with a hat like the brown Inkling and spurs on his boots. He wielded a green Splat-pistol, which nearly resembled his Inkling comrade's dualies. They braced themselves as red ink screamed by them, nearly wiping away a good chunk of their territory.

"WHERE THE CARP IS WREN?!" Orando yelled in an impatient manner.

"I dunno where he is, partner." Dualie Dan replied, "But I bet he's doin' his gosh-darned solo act again somewhere else, leavin' the Calamari Cowboys to take the heat!"

"This is gonna be one rotten splatfest, ain't it?" Joran quipped, "We have a minute left and the Zapfish Riders are lettin' us have it, I'd say the Calamari Cowboys are about to go down in history as the lamest Turf players of the age..."

"WE AIN'T GIVIN' UP YET!" Dan yelled. He threw himself from his hiding spot and opened fire, taking aim at a masked Inkling, the leader of the Zapfish Riders. Red ink streaked towards him and Dan morphed into squid form, racing off to a safe spot while his team provided cover fire to protect their friend from the volleys of Zapfish Rider ink.

"JUST GOT HIT!" Joran shouted as a blast of red ink struck him in the shoulder.

"We got twenty-eight seconds left!" Orando yelled, taking cover hard, "It's over for us all..."

POW!

A shot rang out and an Inkling shrieked, the Calamari Cowboys watched as a pellet of black ink struck one of the Zapfish Riders, reducing them to a puddle on the ground. A loud holler made them look up, watching as a black-haired Inkling came soaring in by jetpack.

"It ain't over until the cowboys ride high!" Oneshot Wren cried, "YEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAW!"

He twirled his charger, shot down another member of the Zapfish Rider team, and splatted up the area surrounding a nearby house. Wren swooped in, heading right for the masked Inkling who was the leader of the Zapfish Riders, and aimed the Charger right at his face.

"Splat." Wren said with a grin.

KA-PYEW! The Inkling's spirit floated away, with his clothes left behind in a puddle of ink that Wren mopped up with his own. The Calamari Cowboys hollered with excitement, then they raced around the nearest houses, laying ink everywhere, and Wren provided cover fire.

He then pulled out a pair of Splat-Bombs and threw them towards the roof of a house, the bombs detonated and black ink sprayed everywhere. The Calamari Cowboys let out a cry of "yeehaw" with Dualie Dan tipping his hat to the incredible Inkling.

They kept firing and avoided shots from the Zapfish Riders, taking more ground as best as they could, until a whistle blew.

"Looks like the ride is over, partners." Wren said with a smile. He powered down his jetpack and came in for landing on a rooftop, standing beside the Calamari Cowboys as the Zapfish Riders came forward, their weapons put aside.

The large yellow-eyed cat made his appearance, followed by his shorter clone. Judd and Li'l Judd, the Turf War judges. Judd was quite a mystery, especially regarding his origins. He looked like a cat, but it was believed that he was some kind of byproduct from an ancient civilization that had fallen a long time ago.

Li'l Judd wasn't so mysterious either, he was created from Judd's DNA through a machine, likely as a backup for if the real Judd kicked the can. Rumor had it that he despised Judd so much, he wanted to replace him.

But for now, he had his job, both Judds had their job; judging Turf battles.

Wren stood by Dualie Dan's side, watching Judd and his clone gather the results. Moments later, Judd raised his arm, holding up a flag with the symbol of an Inkling that had a cowboy hat on its head, and Li'l Judd fell over in a way that made it look like he wanted a belly rub. The Calamari Cowboys were the champions!

"YEEHAW!" Wren punched the air and held his charger high.

"Rootin' tootin'!" Dan hollered.

"Cod, that was lame..." The leader of the Zapfish Riders groaned.

"Yo, you did alright out there." Orando quipped, "Don't be so sad."

A yellow Inkling wearing a Zapfish shirt nodded, "Fair point, Orando. You guys did good and we all had fun, having fun is what matters, losing isn't the end of the world."

The Calamari Cowboys were gifted a heap ton of Sea Snails and Sea Coins, most of which Wren took for himself, to the slight annoyance of Dualie Dan. But overall, they were content, Orando and Joran talked amongst themselves about how awesome Oneshot Wren was, while they discussed grabbing a Sea Dog from Crusty's in Inkopolis Square.

Wren and the gang began to leave the apartment complexes, heading to the Spawning Pad that would return them to Inkopolis, breathing in the fresh air and wiping sweat off of their foreheads.

"Yo, Wren." Dualie Dan said to the charger-wielding Splatfest champion, "Quick word?"

"Is there something you want to tell me, cowboy?" Wren asked with a wink.

"A lot." Dan put a hand on Wren's shoulder and gestured for the others to go on while they had a little talk.

Orando and Joran stepped towards the Spawning Pad and Dan took Wren aside, moving towards a nearby bench next to a two-story house. Dan looked at Wren firmly, then he said, "You gotta chill with that solo act of yours, Wren. You had my team worried. I know you're 'Oneshot Wren,' but on the field, you are up against a team of four Inklings."

Hearing Dan's words, the dark-haired Turf player was surprised, then he flashed a light grin. "Dan, are you sure you know who you're even talking to?" Wren quipped, "I'm the King of Splatfest, the greatest Splatoon player ever! Why are you so worried? I came out on top in DOZENS of Splatfests, like my father before me, people love Oneshot Wren!"

"You're not gettin' it, Wren!" Dan exclaimed, "Yes, I know you're a Splatfest champion and you got dozens of them cups at your mansion. I heard you were nominated for the Golden Squid Award three times, not to mention there are so many kids out there who want to be players just like you.

"But we can't let fame get to our heads. You gotta understand that your skill isn't going to always be enough. You can't just fight battles on your own or pull what you pulled in this battle, even though we came out on top with just seconds to spare. Do you remember your last Splatfest, that last match with Captain Squid Star?

"Yeah, you came out on top again, but he almost defeated you. You need to know that teamwork and sharing credit is important and you're not always going to be number one. The 'one man show' thing isn't going to always work and, at some point, you're going to push too far and go up against someone who might be better than you out there in the field."

Wren thought about Dan's words. "Fair point there, partner." He remarked, "You wanna grab an ice cream cone?"

Dan obliged and the two Inklings left the area together. But, behind Wren's back, Dan was rolling his eyes and dreading that the Splatfest champion wasn't going to listen to him.

One of these days, Dan was going to say 'I told you so' to Wren if he got whooped...