Great Turf War

Day 0

"Fight! Fight!" soldiers exclaimed. He could hear it. The sounds of bombs bursting filling air, screams of despair and rage, weapons being fired, the ground being destroyed as the battle raged on. The chaos kept enveloping every last corner of his mind until he could no longer bear it.

Shio woke up to his noisy and jarring alarm. It was time to get enlisted in the Inkling army. He had perfectly prepared everything for this event. The army enlistment trials were the most important event of any young Inkling's life. The choices were to support from the shadows, die a dog's death, or become a living legend.

He did his simple morning routine consisting of brushing his teeth, changing his clothes, etc. Shio then went to the cabinet that was covered in squid designs and opened it.

Man, this design sucks. Well, what could I expect from a guy like him? Shio thought. He saw his trusty Hero Shot in all its glory. Freshly polished and war-ready. Then, Shio grabbed a seaweed cracker for a morning snack and left his comfy home to see what his destiny would be in life.

Before closing the door all the way, he hesitated. A veil of sorrow cloaked his face. He glanced at all of his favorite memories. He hoped that this was not the last time he'd see them. Shio then closed the door, resolute.

Shio then saw a car waiting for him, with words on the car saying, "FOR THE RECRUITS." He opened the unlocked door and then saw no driver.

Geez they even give me an auto-pilot car. There really is no turning back. Shio thought. He wanted to look back at his residence just one last time, but stopped himself.

Shortly after, the car arrived at the enlistment site. It was a giant building, with three floors and a modern exterior. He spun around his custom weapon the Hero Shot trying to gather all of his inner resolve somehow and walked towards the building.

However, before he could go in, a familiar voice greeted him.

"Oh, we got the same enlistment group," a dull voice called out.

Cool! I've got a friend here! Shio thought. Maybe it won't be so bad after all.

"Hi, Marie," Shio greeted.

"Hello," Marie replied back.

Marie was geared up for battle, her Hero Charger slung across her back inside a high-tech looking case.

"What happened to your cousin?" Shio asked.

"Oh she and your clothing buddy got tested earlier today. I haven't heard from either of them, so I hope that means they passed," Marie responded.

"I sure hope they did."

"Yeah, same."

The two both arrived at the gate for the army enlistment. There was a security guard right at the front. He had sunglasses on and had an Inkling army uniform on. Additionally, he had a high tech pad on his right hand. His hawk-like eyes shifted from the pad to the two Inklings.

"Your names?" the guard asked menacingly.

"Marie," Marie said without any hint of fear, nor hesitation.

"Mine's Shio," Shio said afterwards, voice also confident.

He then looked at his pad, presumably typing in their names.

"Alright squiddos, you may enter," the guard said in a kinder tone.

Marie and Shio saw the gates open with a creaking sound and the duo passed the threshold. They were greeted with a swarm of people. The people all varied, with different types of Inklings, hair colors, and weapons. Additionally, the doors were pretty far from the entrance.

"What a crowd," Shio remarked.

"Eh, saw more at my aunt's concert," Marie replied.

We've been friends since childhood... but I still can't get used to her tone. Shio thought.

"Well, she is a big superstar," Shio argued.

"Tell me about it."

Before the two could continue their conversation, a loud sound blared throughout the crowd, silencing everything.

"Hey hey! It's your leading commander, Captain Cuttlefish!" the cheerful old man exclaimed.

Huh? My old man's making the announcement! Shio thought.

"Wow, grandad's pretty brave to leave the front lines for this," Marie remarked.

"You may think it's me in the flesh! But nope! Pranked! I'm just a hyper realistic hologram!" Cuttlefish exclaimed once again.

"Never mind."

"Anyways, it's time for the test to see if you squiddos can make it to the front lines! There will be three types of tests for this examination, lasting three hours!" Cuttlefish exclaimed.

The room was then filled with whispering. What are the tests? They change it every year, right? Wait but my friend said they don't. Pointless chatter echoed throughout the room, even thought speculation was futile.

"However, we ain't gonna start with the tests! You guys still gotta pick your gear! Even if you brought some, at least look for something that may suit you better!" Cuttlefish declared.

Ooo, clothing! I wonder if Sairento made some of it. Shio thought. He shed a little bit of the stress he had and covered it with excitement. The other Inklings also cheered, as fashion was a core part of their culture.

"Well, I'm out guys! May luck be with you!" Cuttlefish concluded. The doors in the front of the room then opened pretty dramatically to see a room with clothing hangers all over the place. Then, the Inklings saw the back walls open. What they saw was astonishing. Gigantic, massive, vast couldn't describe what appeared. There were bowling balls, very very large, bowling balls. The expressions ranged from confusion to astonishment.

"Hehe, I'm still here!" Cuttlefish announced to the Inklings who were running for dear life.

"These are Octoballers! The strongest ones! Don't worry though, as the Octarians aren't in this ball," Cuttlefish explained.

"Oh yeah don't worry about death, since there are spawn points, but you won't just be crushed by these bowling balls, yo dreams going to be crushed too!" Cuttlefish exclaimed in his regular tone.

What a crazy idea, as expected of that old man. Shio thought. He decided to not just run, but get a little bit of a nice ride. He stopped running and looked up at the bowling ball.

"I'll see if my jumping exercises have worked out well!" Shio exclaimed with a grin.