Squid Heroes

1

Inkopolis was the home of turf wars, ranked battles, and trending brands. The city was home to thousands of sea creatures such as Inklings, Jellyfish, Shrimp, and Octolings. Inkopolis was rather large, for it held many of the finest places; Mahi-Mahi Resort, for example, is a beautiful vacation spot— a  tourist trap as some might call it — for everyone to bask in the sun or go swim in the water. Camp Triggerfish is where those between the ages of five to eighteen attend during the summer season; however, anyone older than fourteen is able to participate in turf wars. Blackbelly Skatepark, where all of the wars and battles take place and the jellyfish spectate with anticipation as Judd watches intensely on which team will win. The game was in the rotation to be broadcasted around the Square. Who would win: the Good Greens or the Villainous Violets? That was the question the spectating jellyfish wondered as they sat on the edges of their seat.

One squid, in particular, was wiping the map clean of the opposing team's ink. His eyes were filled with a scorching determination as he coated the turf green. Suddenly, he was forced to stop when an opposing member appeared from the violet ink with a Splatling in hand. As the green inkling hurriedly moved to make a jump attack, his efforts did not in vain as he landed; the Villainous Violet's ghost went flying up to return to spawn. The Good Green squid couldn't help but cheer for himself in success. Hearing the song for the one minute mark, Now or Never, he felt victorious. Surely the win would go to the good guys. He squid jumped over to a teammate, whose eyes were violet. The ally squid wielded a N'Zap 89, which was a beautiful neon orange color.

"Need some backup?" The roller asked, watching his teammate move swiftly on the field.

"I can handle it," the gunner with the violet eyes answered. "Besides, there is only thirty-five seconds left in the match! It'd be a miracle for those guys to try and ink this turf back from us before time's up!" He looked ahead and saw something he believed to be funny. "Volga," he pointed, "Look! That violet has your exact roller."

"Oof, I hadn't seen one in a while." Volga chuckled.

"Should I?" The gunner asked veggie he dived into the ink to refill the empty canister on his back. "Volga you better make a move now, or you won't be able to-"

"Relax," The roller ordered, "I know what I'm doing!" Volga had a strategy he loved using when the time was scarce. Instead of being a go-getter, he waits for the other team ink up some of the turf; when it strikes fifteen seconds, however, he goes back to coat it with his team's color once again. He left tidbits of the opposing team's ink so they could still make an attempt to compete. It was the nice thing, he thought. He often wondered if he should let the opposing team win for once, but why? They will just lose again.

"Volga!" the gunner called out, " Are you ready, yet?" He filled his ink canister. "Stop wasting time! Are we doing this, or are you going to make us lose?"

Volga swallowed his pride and looked the gunner in his victory seeking eyes. "Let's do this! Normal plan, as usual, right Ghirahim?"

"Duh," they dove into the green ink and swam through. The plan was to try and flank the last members of the opposing team. But little did they know that they were about to encounter some unexpected inklings. Volga leaped from the ink with his roller ready to slam. Oddly, it felt like time remained still when he saw a violet-haired girl with purple eyes start brushing at him, quickly ending his winning reign. While Volga remained in shock, the opposing team immediately took back the turf, destroying his plans.

Ghirahim, too, had lost to a squid who had wielded the same weapon as him, only an upgraded version. His furious ghost went back to respawn, but when he stood back up, the match was well over. He glared at Volga, who was leaning against his roller in grief. He knew very well that the map was being broadcasted live in the entire city. He felt guilty for the rest of his team who worked hard to succeed. However, to him, the attempts were in vain because of his own failed plan. He mumbled and grumbled when he watched the violets cheer in victory and taking silly pictures with their friends.