CZEŚĆ! GREETINGS FROM POLAND! i wrote this when i got to my great uncle's house there, i never met him before and i still suck at polish but he's rlly cool!
tysm for all the votes and kudos and stuff on my coroika fics! kocham cię~
A tall, handsome yellow inkling took off the apron he wore at the Crust Bucket. "A king admits his mistakes, and I got fired today for them!" he announced to his little brother. "Eh?!" gasped Prince. "What happened, are you okay?"
"I burned the truck down when I forgot about one of the grills, but no one was hurt." he answered. The younger inkling was in shock. "How'd you forget about the grill?"
"Not sure, but I have my sights on a new job. I want to give back to everyone by helping weaker teams train." answered the older inkling. "That sounds amazing!" smiled Prince. "How are you gonna find trainees, big brother?"
"I'm the king, they'll be finding ME!" smirked Emperor. He went upstairs to change into another black octoking T-shirt and cleaned himself up a bit. "Ayo Emp, what's with the rush?" asked a short inkling girl. "Pearl, I've found the next chapter of my journey!" smiled the yellow inkling.
"Cool! I'm getting ready for a date with Marina!" replied Pearl, hogging the bathroom mirror. "Where's your partner at?!"
"I already told you, I don't have one!" scoffed Emperor. "Really? Not even a crush?~" smirked Pearl. Her taller, younger brother shook his head. "I haven't even seen any of my friends in a while, since I've been so busy. A king prioritizes his journey of self-discovery over finding love!" he said as he finished getting ready.
The square wasn't busy which slightly disappointed him. "I think I'll go for ten customers, since it's almost empty today…" A few fans spotted him and signed up, but no one notable was around to see him. "Remind me to make a Squidtok campaign or something before I run out here like an idiot." sighed Emperor.
"I can only keep my cool for so long!" growled a green inkling boy. "Hey! We'll win the next one for sure, Gloves!" smiled Straps, giving him a thumbs up. "It's as if something cursed us with a losing streak…" sighed Half-Rim. Clip-Ons nodded in agreement.
Gloves didn't know it, but he was loud enough to catch Emperor's eye. "That's the one I gave my dualies to." thought the yellow inkling, a smirk appearing on his face. "He's quite cute, I think I've found my advertising target."
Gloves sighed, recovering from his angry outburst. "How about we take a break and get-"
"I see you're quite upset about losing~" greeted Emperor, startling Gloves and his team. The green inkling glared at him. "Are you here just to taunt us about our losing streak?!" he barked. "After what you said to me in the past, I expect you to act so uncool and nasty!"
Emperor was a bit surprised by Gloves' sudden outburst. "Leave us alone, we don't have time for you." said Half-Rim, lowly. "Or tell us why you're REALLY here!" demanded Clip-Ons. "OR LET ME KICK YOUR ASS!" shouted Straps. "I'm helping teams with their battle skills, and I know you would've all loved my help." answered Emperor.
"HA! As if I'd ever ask you for help!" laughed Gloves. "I'm a pretty popular guy, which says a lot about how I battle. I don't think my team needs help at all!"
Pain hit the yellow inkling right in the heart, he didn't show it though. He knew he hurt Gloves, but wanted to repair their relations so badly. "A king is persistent." he told himself.
"I think it sounds fun!" smiled a blue inkling, suddenly showing up out of nowhere. "GOGGLES?! What could make you think that?!" asked Gloves. "You may be great at battling, but he is Emperor! He's gotta have some secrets if he could win so many cups in a row!" replied Goggles. Gloves thought about it for a moment– The offer was now tempting.
"I'll let you think about it~" smirked Emperor. "I'd love it if you would sign up though." he said before walking off. "Idiot." muttered Gloves. Half-Rim quietly death-stared the yellow inkling. He was also deeply hurt by what Emperor said in the past, feeling upset for Gloves.
"Don't let that bastard hurt you again." Half-Rim muttered to Gloves. "I won't, because I'd never sign up for his stupid training club!" scoffed the dualies main. "Seriously, that 'king' has lost his mind!"
That evening, that fateful day wandered back into Gloves' mind– The day Emperor gave him his favorite weapon. "I was so naive." he thought to himself, polishing those exact dualies. "And…Stupid for thinking we were ever gonna be close…"
"Hey Gloves, Clip-Ons just finished dinner." greeted Half-Rim softly, cracking the door open. "Is…Everything okay?"
"Emperor hates me and I still don't get why…" sighed the dualies main, holding back his urge to break into tears. "I just admired him so damn much and he-"
"Gloves, you know there will be people who will just hate you for no reason." replied Half-Rim. The charger main sat next to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder. "But I know it hurts, since you admired Emperor so much. We know you don't just mindlessly chase every trend, even if he doesn't."
A soft smile came to Gloves' face. "Thanks man, I'll be out in a minute."
At the table, Straps was laughing with Clip-Ons. Gloves' heart sank when he watched the two kiss. "I can't believe no one's asked me out yet." he thought. It already took him ages to get over Rider asking out Hachi instead of him, and now he struggles to even look at happy couples.
"I'm gonna go out and grab extra chips for tomorrow's game night!" announced Gloves, getting up from the table. "Have fun out there!" smiled Straps. "Make sure to get lightly salted chips for me." responded Half-Rim. "Straps and I want sour cream and onion flavor!" smiled Clip-Ons.
Gloves nodded and waved as he got his shoes on and left the house. He gently breathed in the nighttime air. "I need to clear my mind." he said to himself. "I can't sit here and feel sad about Emperor or romance."
The green inkling continued walking down the dark path. "I'm sick of everything, from Emperor to Rider…I'm sick of losing myself in all these vulnerable emotions!" He quickly wiped away the tear that was about to fall from his eye.
"If it isn't the so-called coolest turf war player!" laughed a large inkling. "He looks pathetic." commented one of his lackeys. The main inkling laughed. "Where's your weapon?!"
"I bet you aren't as tough as you say you are!" smirked Gloves. "My weapon? It's right here…" He reached into his pocket.
He forgot his weapon. Gloves' eyes widened in terror.
The large figure laughed. "Someone as mighty as you forgot their weapon? How pathetic. Men, destroy him…"
"I'll fight you all by hand!" responded Gloves, taking his signature gloves off and fighting off the first inkling that charged at him.
Meanwhile, Emperor was at home and watching TV with Prince. "I really hope Gloves accepts my offer…" thought the older of the two.
"HEY EMP! YOU FORGOT TO BUY MARINA'S FAVORITE CAKE!" shouted Pearl from the other room. "YOU GOTTA GET BACK OUT TO THE STORE!"
Emperor sighed. "It's a bit late…" But Pearl didn't seem to care. "You gonna go or not, dude?!"
He didn't have much of a choice, so he got his shoes on and left. The yellow inkling continued thinking about Gloves as he walked down the road. "I want to get to know him better, there's a lot more to him that I don't know about."
"I DON'T CARE IF I'M BLEEDING, I'M GONNA FINISH YOU OFF!" shouted a familiar green inkling. "FORGET IT, YOU'RE GONNA BLEED OUT AND DIE IF I LAND ANOTHER HIT!" yelled a less familiar voice.
"Gloves?" Emperor asked himself, following the sounds of shouting and fighting. He eventually found Gloves severely hurt, but still trying to fight off the delinquents. "He's in trouble…"
The large inkling smiled crookedly. "Gloves, your time is up…"
"And WHAT do you think you're doing to him?" Emperor asked in a serious tone. "You shouldn't start fights with someone unarmed and innocent."
"Coming to Gloves' rescue in shining armor, eh?!" growled the large inkling. "Actually, I'm taking him away and we're leaving. A king doesn't waste his time on delinquents like you." replied Emperor.
Gloves blushed subconsciously, and stared at Emperor for a moment. His usual attitude towards him quickly came back to him though. "What do you mean by taking me away?!"
The yellow inkling took his hand. "I'll walk you back and help you rest." replied Emperor. Gloves didn't like the idea. "I promised my friends that I-" Emperor cut the green squid off. "Your safety is the priority right now. Let's go."
Gloves decided not to argue, he knew that it was either die to these nobodies or follow Emperor. The green inkling wanted to keep his usual cool demeanor but Emperor's protective hold on him was extremely embarrassing. "Why is he acting so overprotective, he's supposed to hate me?"
"I hope I did something nice for you today." Emperor said internally, smiling at Gloves. Gloves noticed the smile and looked away. "What are you smiling about?" he asked. "You, of course~" chuckled Emperor.
"What's the real reason?" questioned Gloves. The feeling of guilt hit Emperor again. He wants to love the green inkling so much, but Gloves understandably doesn't trust him. "You are the real reason." replied Emperor. "I…don't hate you." Gloves froze for a moment. "...What?"
The yellow inkling let go of him once they reached Gloves' front door. Emperor moved his hand to Gloves' shoulder. "If I hated you, I wouldn't of approached you today. I want to help you with battling because…"
The door slowly opened. "What the hell are you doing here?" asked Half-Rim. "He saved me from a bunch of weirdos." answered Gloves on Emperor's behalf. The splatterscope main was a bit shocked to hear it. "Interesting…" he muttered before going back inside. "So, why do you want to 'help' me?" Gloves asked Emperor.
"I want you to be a mentee because…I want to enjoy your company." said Emperor. Blushing, Gloves said nothing and went inside. "I hope you accept~" smiled Emperor before leaving. The green squid flopped onto the couch and sighed. "Idiot."
"IS IT TRUE THAT EMPEROR JUST RESCUED YOU?!" gasped Clip-Ons. "Y-Yeah…" sighed Gloves. "That's pretty weird for him, maybe he's going through a redemption arc!" smiled Straps. "He said he didn't hate me, but I don't know if I should believe it…" added Gloves. "That's valid." replied Clip-Ons. "He really betrayed your trust, so it's hard to tell what he's really up to."
Later that night, Emperor was about to fall asleep until his phone went off. "A text message at midnight?" he asked himself as he opened it.
Gloves: i'm accepting ur stupid training class thing…but don't be shocked if i drop out because i seriously don't trust you.
Emperor: perfect, see you tomorrow at 1~
The yellow inkling happily put his phone down. "Gloves…" he sighed while smiling. "This is going to be so much more than training…"
To be continued!
YAYAYAAYA! this fic will prolly be short like my ochowire one but I NEED MORE EMPLOVES ik its a popular ship but yk that feeling when most of the fan content for a ship doesn't fit ur oddly specific thoughts and hcs abt it? ;-;