"You... want to do... what?" I mumbled, the covers sliding off of my body in the darkness that surrounded me. I couldn't see a thing.

It was freaking 4 in the morning.

"Wait wait wait... do you even know what time it is, Charlie? I don't have work, but still..." I groaned, crossing my legs. I heard a "fffsshh" sound near the end of my bed, meaning that my sheet came off. I must have been thrashing around in my sleep. And now I'm going to have to put it back in the morning... great.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm just excited to hear your answer. Do you mind... training with me? At the Dojo later?" I sucked in a breath, my eyes looking from side to side. We just beat this guy's butt... saved him from the cops... and now he wants me to train with him? I know me and Vanessa went to the Dojo earlier this week, but that was just for fun...

"Um, sure... what time?" I muttered reluctantly, squinting at my fingers in the dark. Yup, still couldn't see.

"Around two? That's not too late, is it?"

"No, it's fine. I'll meet you there, OK?" Charlie responded with a yes, ending with us sitting on the phone for a moment.

"Hey, how did you get my number?"

"Uh... nothing!" CLICK!

"Hmm..." I said before falling flat and turning over to get more sleep.

-~-

I made my way up the stairs and into the Dojo, my memory of Vanessa and I in here coming back to me. The laughing, the hugging, the...

The Octoling. Uh oh.

I hope...

I gulped, walking up to the counter. I punched in a couple of numbers on the keyboard, setting the pad to activate in about an hour's time. That should give us plenty of time to 'train'.

"He must be late... I hope he didn't ink up another Plaza..." I uttered under my breath. I leaped up onto the counter, holding my hands together as I waited patiently for him. As I was suddenly awoken by his phone call earlier today, I slowly began nodding off to sleep...

Mmm...

"C'mon Vanessa! Keep up!" I laughed, continuing to run around in the field. I shot ink between my legs to get a boost of some sort, propelling me forward. Ethan and Tuesday were far behind even Vanessa, who wasn't even close to my location.

Vanessa giggled, slowly falling behind even more. I rolled my eyes, turning to look at our trail that we had left behind. Stopping me in my tracks, my eyes widened as I thrusted my hand in her direction, hoping that she would grab on before what I saw wouldn't get to her.

"VANESSA! RUN!!!" I screamed ferociously. She glanced over her shoulder to see an army of Octolings chasing after her. Guns fixed on her, their goggles had a evil glint on them.

They were going to kill her.

"No no no... NO!" I yelled, going after the helpless girl. However, it was already too late.

She had already fallen. My shoes scratching against the grass, I flung myself away from the Octolings and continued to run.

Ethan and Tuesday are all dead... and it's all my fault... and now Vanessa...

What if... I'm not strong enough to save my team... the ones I hold near and dear...

...no...

...mmm...

"HEY! WAKE UP!" My eyes opened to see that Charlie was standing in front of me. Shocked by his presence, I flipped over the counter and fell to the floor, banging my head against the ceramic ground.

"Geez! Are you OK...? Sorry for... sneaking up on you..." Charlie questioned me, giving me a hand. I rubbed the back of my head, grunting in slight pain.

"Grrr... I think I'll be fine... thanks for coming," I sighed. Making sure that everything was in order, I limped over to the pad. I stood atop of it, waiting for Charlie to join me on it as well. As soon as he made his way onto it, we were instantly transported to a random stage.

I hope he's ready...

-~-

The smell of seawater, wood and trees flooded my nostrils as I grabbed my weapon from the floating bubble. I blinked, as I immediately recognized the place that we were in.

"Camp Triggerfish! Oh my goodness, I used to love going here as a little squid! We used to fish, kayak, braid hair..." I said, memorized by the sight of it all. Charlie scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Braiding hair, huh? You're weird." I smiled and nudged him on the shoulder, chuckling.

"Anyway, we're gonna start out on a simple Turf War. Squid jump to the other respawn pad and we'll get started. Charlie nodded and followed through, landing on the other platform shortly.

Ready...

GO!

I started out on the left, spraying down the area before coming to a wall, shooting and swimming up the wooden board with ease. Standing on top of the wall, I spotted Charlie coming straight down the middle, inking up his territory very slowly. I jumped from the top to the bottom, continuing to the left and getting as much territory as I could while on my walk through the park.

Er, woods. Logs? Meh.

"Where is he at?" I heard Charlie speak in a low voice, throwing a bomb at the path I was currently making. I chuckled and sustained my goal: inking the rest of his territory. Sprinkling my ink around his respawn pad, I acted as if I was at my own pad and made my way back, showering the rest of his territory the way I made my way to it.

ONE MINUTE LEFT! The gates are down!

"Uh oh, time to hustle!" I yelled, squiding back to my own base. I spotted him dive into his own color ink, swimming to a new location. I leaped out of my own ink and confronted him, splatting him gracefully. I smiled and continued along my way, reinking my own territory.

I could feel the countdown in my head. Boy, was this a quick match.

Five... four... three... two... one...

GAME!

As he approached me, Charlie's sigh sat on my shoulder before I turned to him.

"Great, you won... And I haven't learned anything..." He said in a quiet and sad voice.

"Hey, it's alright! Look, I'm only Level Four, but that doesn't mean that I'm the best player in the world!"

Suddenly, my sight began to go white as I looked up. I blinked, but all I saw was white. Was there something wrong with me? Fear overwhelming me, I looked from side to side, wondering where the heck I was or what was happening.

"HEY! Show yourself––" I gasped as I tightened my fists, my gun not present not in them. The LED lights flashed on around me, turning on one by one. I slumped over, my hand meeting my head.

"Geez, why am I so surprised... what level am I?"

"Level Five, young Inkling. You are growing everyday, becoming stronger and stronger. You may even become Level Six as little as tomorrow." The anonymous voice returned, proclaiming those words to me.

"Would you me like to return you-"

"Yes... please."

FLASH!

"Uh..." Charlie said with a confusing tone.

"Scratch that, level five." I moaned. "Aren't you way higher leveled then I am?"

"Yes! Level Fourteen, to be exact... I haven't earned a lot of points in a while because... well, nevermind that. But what was I supposed to learn from that? That I'm a bad player?"

"Well, technically you weren't really supposed to learn anything, I just wanted to see how good you were on a one versus one." Charlie sighed, turning away from me.

"Maybe training with you wasn't the best idea... you're not taking this seriously... I quit." He started to walk away, dropping his gun on the wooden platform. A bubble formed around it, sending it back up to wherever it stores everyone's weapons.

"Hey! You didn't let me finish. BUT... what you can probably take away from that is to rush the enemy. If they're not near you, you make a mad dash for their base. You'll get a lot of points, and you should get as much as you can before you get splatted." Charlie looked back at me with a smile on his face.

"And...?"

I guided him through what I knew to be the basics of Splatoon, how to avoid enemies and how to cover areas with the most optimal speed. Soon, the hour was up and we had to leave. I climbed back up to the pad, reaching my hand down to Charlie to help him up.

"C'mon, kiddo. Let's go," I turned into a squid and fled into the ink, feeling myself being transported back to the surface.

No Octoling encounter this time... that's good...

-~-

Turning back into my kid self, I felt my Inkphone going off in my pocket. I dug around for it until I retrieved it, pulling it to my ear.

"Eeee––yellow?" I said, leaning against a wall. I watched as Charlie made it back as well, me putting a finger to my lips to signal him to to be quiet.

"Hey, did you get the text? Tuesday's inviting us over to her place for dinner. You didn't respond, so I was making sure that if you wanted to go..." Ethan mumbled into his phone.

"Uh-huh... First of all, why do you sound half dead?" I asked curiously, chuckling.

"Ugh... stayed up just a bit too late last night..." He groaned, ultimately sounding he just woke up and hasn't moved from his bed. I rolled my eyes.

"Yea, I'm going. Hold on––" I put my hand over the speaker, looking over at Charlie.

"Hey, did you want to go to a dinner party later on today?" Charlie shook his head no, slinking his way to the exit.

"What time does it start? Oh, OK. Yea, I'll be there. Alright, I'll meet you at her place. K. Oh, I have bring a dish? They know I can't cook! Well, sorta kinda... ugh, OK. See you later, then," I concluded our conversation. I hung up and placed my Inkphone back into my pocket, glancing over at the exit.

Charlie was gone.

I ran to the balcony of the Dojo which looked out into the Plaza. I scanned the area, but Charlie was nowhere to be found.

"Mysterious little bugger, isn't he... hmm..." I scaled down the stairs and back to the train station, watching as one luckily pulled up. I turned back to the Plaza, peering through it one more time.

"That kid..."

-~-

After several attempts at making it, I finally sealed the deal on my mother's Shepard Pie. Luckily enough, she answered the phone and stayed on it long enough to guide me through how to make it as well. Taking a shower as soon it was done baking, I cleaned myself up and journeyed into my closet.

"What is fancy enough to wear? All of these clothes seem like... Turf War clothes..." I said as I scrolled through them, the hangers sliding against the metal pole in a hurry. A Green-Check Shirt caught my eye at first, but I soon put it back. Settling on an old Red Plaid Shirt and my Red Hi-Tops, I went to fetch my Backwards Cap and ended up in the bathroom soon after. I bent over the sink, dousing my face with small amounts of water. I looked up at the mirror, immediately gasping.

My tentacle hair was red.

"Wha-what? It wasn't red just a couple of minutes ago! It was... It was..." I yelped, getting more water to wash it out. Rigorously rubbing it as if it were a stain, I stopped to look back at myself in the mirror.

It was still red.

I must be able to change my ink color, at will no less. Or is it because I'm wearing all red... strange...

Finishing up and grabbing the completed food from the oven, I wrapped it up and placed it in my backpack, turning off everything before heading out.

"Hope they like this! Thanks Mom!" I exclaimed before running to the train station. While I waited for the train to arrive, I started to think about how much was fun I was going to have.

"Oh man, should I have bought flowers? Urg..." I tried to let my mind be at ease, telling myself not to worry. With a blaring horn that rang in my ears and making me shake, the train appeared once more, changing its destination to Inkopolis.

"Alright..."

-~-

"Oh, I'll get it!" I heard someone from the other side of the door yell. The door opened, revealing Ethan with a sarcastic look on his face.

"Devonne! You're late," he scoffed, his face drooping into a honestly laughable way. I pushed through him and placed my bag on the counter. I swiveled around in a circle, noticing all of the decor that littered the walls and various small tables.

"Holy mackerel! How did they get so much... stuff? China, paintings, instruments?" I heard a 'BA-DUM' come from a nearby room, triggering me to scurry over to see Ethan in a corner with a drum set. He smiled nervously as he set the drumsticks down, but not before he tapped a cymbal: 'TISS!'

"Anyway, where are the girls? I brought my dish..." I said, taking the Shepard's Pie out from my bag. Still looked fresh from the oven.

"Oh, I think Vanessa went to the store to get utensils? And Tuesday's in the bathroom, I think." I blinked, ultimately facepalming moments later.

"All of this fancy china and they don't have forks and spoons?" I sighed, picking up a ceramic pot and pretending to pour it on the plate that it sat on.

"I guess. Apparently, this used to be their parent's old room, when they stayed in the Tower. And they still have the lease and everything, so they let their kids have it, which is pretty cool."

"Jesus, how do you know this? Do you stalk them or something?" I stated with an eyebrow raised.

"Me and Tuesday text late at night. And one time, we met at the top of the Tower at night too. Man, that was quite a night." I closed my eyes and turned away from him.

"Alright, you keep your love life to yourself," I laughed, leaning against the wall. "Man, where are these girls?"

Like magic, one door opened. "I'm done!" proclaimed Tuesday. She came out of the bathroom with a red, long dress on, looking very pretty.

Another door opened. "I got the stuff!" shouted Vanessa. She came through the door with a similar blue dress, only a bit shorter.

"Alright then, let's get this dinner underway! I'm starving!"

Vanessa set the table, Tuesday prepared the food, and Ethan got the drinks while I got any other supplies, the dinner party slowly coming to a start. After everything was set up, we all gathered at the table, ready to dig in.

"Thanks you guys for coming. I see that Devonne brought some Shepard Pie––which looks delicious by the way––while Ethan bought... Ethan, what is that?" Vanessa asked, scared. Everyone peered at Ethan's dish.

"It's Mac and Cheese, but with a little bit of added flavors. Don't judge it on how it looks, I'm pretty sure you'll love it once you get a bite of it." Ethan reassured us. We all nodded, now feeling kind of worried.

"Well, I'd like a toast," I said, grabbing my styrofoam cup and holding it in the air. "I'm so glad to have met you guys, you are all the best friends an Inkling like me could ever ask for." They all cooed mockingly, which resulted in a laugh from all of us.

"No, but seriously. To Kidlings."

"Kidlings!" We chanted happily.

"Enough talk! Now, let's EAT!" Ethan screeched, dipping a spoon into the Shepard's Pie.