"Nice to meet you, Ms. Vanessa," my mother said, rubbing the top of Vanessa's head. The girl giggled, peering over at my location. I was in the kitchen washing out my mom's coffee cup, placing it in the dishwasher. I jumped up onto the kitchen counter, watching my mom and Vanessa talk from there.
"So you guys only met two days ago? Mmhm..." My mom murmured, gazing at me briefly. I blushed, pretending to look at something else in the distance.
"Yup. I'm sorry for just coming in, Devonne should have told me about you and your rules." Vanessa said, gawking at me. My mother chuckled, grinning at the girl.
"I'll allow it. For you, of course," she turned to me. "Have you paid the apartment people? Do you need anything?" She asked, standing up. I nodded, still not looking at her.
"What's the matter?" Vanessa said, rising as well. I shook my head, wiping my eyes.
"I... I just missed you, Mom. You guys get along together too, which is great. I paid them, Mom. For the next three months," I admitted, hopping off of the counter. Giving me a short smile, my mom sighed.
"Look at you. Such a hard worker. That's good, keep it up. It'll pay off, I promise. Listen, I have to go. But I'll be back soon, OK?" She replied, gathering her briefcase. Going into her room to toss in new clothes and old paperwork, she packed herself up and reached for the door. I ran up to her and gave her a hug from behind. She laughed, turning around to hug me back.
"Love you, Mom," I whispered.
"Love you too," she whispered back. She exited the room just as fast as she had entered it, closing the door quietly behind herself.
"Awwww..." Vanessa groaned in the background. I smirked at her, diving over the couch and tackling her to the ground. We both laughed as I pinned her against the soft living room carpet.
"You got busted. Straight up," she giggled, poking my stomach. I pretended to fall over in pain, cringing in agony. Laughing some more, she rolled over me, taking my breath away for a short bit.
"So, what are we going to do today, mister?" Vanessa said tauntingly, crawling onto the couch. I sat up, watching her stretch out on the piece of furniture.
"Well, I always get weekends off. So, how about some Turf War? We can finally form the team!" I grinned, pumping my fist in the air. Vanessa nodded at my answer, yawning.
"Alright. I gotta go change then, so I'll meet you at the Tower. M'kay?" She replied, standing up and heading for the door.
"See you later then!" I yelled happily after her. She smiled, opening and closing the door. I sighed, suddenly hearing my stomach grumble. I looked up at the door, hearing the closing sound repeat in my head.
"W-wait! You didn't make breakfast!" I yelled out loud, sighing in defeat. I treaded to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl from the dishwasher.
-~-
Grouping up at a nearby lobby table, Tuesday, Ethan, Vanessa leaned into what I had to say.
"Alright guys, here's the plan. First, our team is all about fairness. Everyone gets a say in everything we do. And with fairness comes trust. In and out of the battlefield, we have to trust in everyone to do their part. OK? I think that's OK." With everyone's serious face present, we all nodded in unison.
"Alright then! LET'S GET OUR TURF WAR ON~!" I shouted, jumping from the lobby table and scurrying into the elevator. The gang followed suit, grabbing their weapons from bubbles that floated down from above like angels. Inkbrushes and guns in hand, we were ready to take on the world.
...except that it was only us in the elevator for a good ten minutes, and probably more than that.
"Uh, where is everyone? There are TONS and TONS of people usually playing Turf War on a Saturday! This is unbelievable." Tuesday scoffed, practicing her jabs and swipes in the elevator.
"Dude. This is insane. Ugh." Ethan sighed, sitting down in the circular room. I scratched my head, as this situation was very peculiar.
"Here, c'mon guys. Maybe there's something going on in the Plaza," I said, trotting out of the elevator. Hearing whimpering close by, I spotted an Inkling girl hiding underneath a table. With my curiosity overwhelming me, I walked over and bent down to her.
"Uh, miss? Why...?" I uttered to her in a calm voice. All she did was point to the exit of the Tower. I shook my head and stood up, making my way there. The rest of the team caught up with me as I stopped in my tracks, gasping in complete shock.
There was ink everywhere. All over the Plaza.
Magenta covered signs, railings, and windows was what made up the Plaza, which made the echoes the screaming Inklings louder as they ran around the space frantically. The group and I stared in awe as a crazed kid flew around the Plaza with a weird flying machine strapped to his back.
"BEHOLD! My ink-fueled jetpack test was a complete success! Now, time to wreck up some maps in TURF WAR!" The Inkling screeched into the electric-filled air. I scowled angrily as I took aim, shooting at the winged boy. He noticed the blob of ink hurdling at him, which reflexively made him dodge out of the way.
"You're trying to stop me... your resistance is FUTILE!" He smirked and pointed the ends of his jetpack down at us, making it shoot out massive waves of the purple goop he carried. I reached for Vanessa while Ethan grabbed at Tuesday, pulling us all out of the way. The Inkling took that as his chance to blast off into the Tower, escaping anyone that could stop him. I rubbed my head as I rose to my feet, helping Vanessa up in the process.
"Geez... who was that guy?" I exclaimed. Vanessa looked out into the mess that the boy had made. Kids poured out of alleyways and stores, hoping that the madness was over.
"I've never seen ANYTHING like this before. That guy was crazy," I heard Tuesday say from behind Ethan. I gripped my gun tightly in my hand.
"Guys, first exercise. Stop that maniac!" I suddenly announced, rushing into the Tower. Upon entering, I swished my head back and forth, noticing that one of the elevator doors were closing behind itself. I sprinted for time, jamming my Splattershot in between the opening.
"EEEEP!" I let out silently as the floor of the elevator was already filled to the brim with ink. I held onto my weapon, trying not to sink into the ink just yet. The others came racing up, peering through the slit of the elevator. Ethan squeezed through and pushed the doors open so that the girls could sneak their way in a bit.
"Ready to stop this kid?" I asked the team. Just like earlier, we all nodded in unison. Turning into squids, we all dived into the pool of ink to face what was ahead.
"KIDLINGS!"
-~-
"AHH!" I yelped as we were all thrown out of the respawn pad in a furious hurry. The bubbles were back, popping to reveal our weapons once again. They all dropped into our laps, picking them up proudly.
"Woah, this is new. Where the heck are we?" I muttered, straightening up and staring out at our current location. I held my gun close to my side, trying to be on guard.
"Bluefin Depot. A somewhat abandoned port of some sort," Ethan replied, stretching awkwardly. "This was just made valid to play on not too long ago."
"THERE HE IS!" Tuesday bellowed, pointing into the evening sky. The Inkling was floating about, spurting his nasty-colored ink all over the playing field.
"Hehe... this'll give them some trouble..." He said with a evil smirk on his face. I leaned over to Ethan and whispered that he needed to get his gun ready.
"Squid jump over to the other respawn point and take aim. Shoot him on the count of three." I uttered closely to him. He nodded slightly and did what he was told while I leveled my Splattershot at the foe. Placing my finger on the trigger, I thought up something witty to say.
"One..." Ethan murmured to himself.
"HEY, SQUIDDO! YOUR FLIGHT'S BEEN CANCELLED!"
"Two..."
"READY..."
"NOW!"
Ethan and I blasted the Inkling with all that we had. The Inkling turned around in surprise as he was instantaneously coated with our color ink. He was soon splatted, his clothes and jetpack quickly soaring out of the sky and down into the deep water below. There was no time to waste: I jumped from the pad and inked up the ground, hoping that the others would follow.
"Wait, where are you going?" Vanessa yelled after me.
"He's going to respawn any minute! Cover the terrain and meet me over there!" I answered back. The two sisters hopped down as well, going their own separate ways. Eventually, we scurried up to the other pad, watching as Ethan had his Blaster trained on it. I smiled, crossing my arms.
"Guys, I would just like to say that this was really fun. But right now, we have a boss to defeat. And I'm just glad you guys are here to defeat it with me." The others gave me a small 'hmph' as we focused on what was at stake.
The ink inside the pad started to swirl, with a being forming and slowly rising out of it.
"Give it up! We've stopped you already, and we're prepared to do it again." Tuesday said with anger steaming out of her voice. The Inkling shook off the purple ink that covered him, revealing that he had two weapons in his hands.
Wait, TWO WEAPONS?!
Two weapons aren't allowed... anywhere... how did he get two?!
"Uh, guys..." I said cautiously, us all taking a step back. The Inkling started to laugh maniacally, fully loading them with his dark purple stuff.
"Aerosprays... the best guns that Sheldon has put out in a while... and you have two of them?!" Ethan shouted, his finger that was on the trigger of his gun starting to twitch. The boy nodded delightedly, holding one up at Tuesday.
"You're not going to stop me, not today. Now, which one of ya am I going to take out first... in one hit?" He twirled his gun and shot Tuesday in the stomach, watching her fall and disintegrate into nothingness faster than we could all blink.
"TUESDAY!" We all yelled in surprised fury. Vanessa retaliated by whacking him with her brush, his head turned to the side. He smirked and kicked her down to the other level, pointing his other gun at her. My eyes flashed as I immediately blasted him multiple times with my Splattershot. He twitched, taking the hits gracefully.
However, it wasn't enough. With amazing strength, he jumped up to one of the steel beams that overlooked the Depot.
"You wanna splat me? You're gonna have to try harder than that!" He yelled. I turned my head, scowling at him angrily.
"WITH PLEASURE!" Tuesday said from out of nowhere, stabbing him mid-squid jump. I smiled and high-fived Tuesday as she touched the ground, watching his clothes fall once more. Something leaped from the opponent platform once more; the boy Inkling swiftly jumped from one beam to another.
"Catch me if you can, losers!" He laughed, hanging upside down from the one in the middle. I gritted my teeth as Vanessa and Tuesday went to one side of the Depot, covering the ground with ink. They started to climb up to him, trying to splat them.
"Dude, I think this is still Turf War. The three minutes are almost up! Think of something and let's go!" Ethan said as he fled into the action. I did what Ethan said, visioning it fully. I nodded and ran after him, going to Vanessa's side.
"Ethan! Give Tuesday a lift! Vanessa! Prepare to fly!" I yelled at them proudly. I skidded and ran down the metal grate ramp, leaping down to the bottom level and Vanessa.
"YOU GUYS READY?!" Ethan cupped his hands together as Tuesday placed her foot in it. I bent down, doing the same.
"You guys this little scheme is going to work...? Whatever you're doing?" He mumbled, examining our movements.
"AND... GET 'EM!" I threw Vanessa into the air as she launched into the boy Inkling with her Inkbrush, along with Tuesday. The boy's eyes widened in fear.
"Oh... I see what you guys were––"
SPLAT!
GAME!
-~-
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