Inkblot [A Splatoon2 Fanfic]

Chapter Thirty

As expected, Turf Wars were pretty much shut down with the disease on the loose—nobody wanted to risk getting sick. Yet Salmon Run shifts were still operating—nothing seemed to be stopping Mr. Grizz from getting his salmon eggs.

   Two Inklings were working as lookouts today—Cliff and Regal. Cliff was a bit on the crazy side, with wild orange hair and a face covered in freckles. Regal seemed a bit more poised with his gray hair tied, but could be just as reckless as his friend. The job they had was easy—Regal watches for boss Salmonids and when he sees them he tells Cliff so he can blow the horn to warn the kids that were collecting eggs. If anything went drastically wrong then they contact Mr. Grizz to get them with the boat. Easy money for doing almost nothing.

   "Man, I'm fuckin' starving..." Cliff fussed as he leaned on the railing. "I didn't have shit for breakfast this morning,"

   "Why didn't you buy something, you got paid yesterday didn't you?" Regal stared at the outpost intently with binoculars. "Steelhead coming from the east."

   "My boss shut the shop down! He's scared of that fuckin' disease shit!"

   Cliff took a deep breath and blew the horn to warn the others.

   "Makes sense. Mom shut the bookstore down because of the disease too—two Stingers on the west and north."

   "So has—" Cliff stopped to blow the horn, "has Tres tried calling you?"

   "I wouldn't know, my baby brother dropped my phone in the sink again." Regal shrugged and fixed his glasses.

   "Tres has been tryin' to call me nonstop. I've been ignorin' him though! To punish him for blowing us off all those times!"

   "What are you, a married couple? That sounds stupid. Flyfish on the east."

   After blowing the horn, Cliff let out a loud whine and put his hands behind his head.

   "Well can ya blame me! Ever since he got his lil' Octofuck we all barley hang out! I'm tellin' ya, Tres hates us now!"

   "To be fair, you crashed his car twice and slept with his girlfriend in high school,"

   "It was ONCE on accident! And he was gonna dump her anyway! There was no damage!"

   Regal rolled his eyes and continued to watch the waters for Salmonids. The others had just wrapped up the third wave and were heading back to the boat as a fog slowly rolled in. They had a few minutes to take a break before the next group of kids showed up. Regal set his binoculars down and faced his friend.

   "You know, you could be a little nicer to Tres. You've been picking on him since we were kids. Don't you remember what he went through when his parents died? He was seriously hurting and you kept calling him a crybaby,"

   "I was tryin' to toughen him up. My dad always said boys couldn't cry, not for nothin'!" Cliff retorted.

   "Your dad's a dumbass." Regal ignored the face Cliff gave him. "Besides, Tres seems to really like Hachi, and they're happy. I don't see why you gotta rain on their parade."

   "I don't see why you gotta be single!"

   "Don't you dare change the subject!"

   "Like, get a girlfriend man! How many times do I gotta find you at home on weekends listening to that weird lofi shit like you're depressed?"

   "I will throw you off this damn tower right now!"

   "Ohhh noooo~! Scary drop, what's gonna happen if I faaaalll~!" Cliff leaned over the railing a little and laughed as Regal glared at him. That's when he saw something in the water below...