After the Storm (A Splatoon 2 AU Fanfiction)

Chapter 1

"You know what time it is!"

"It's Off the Hook, coming to you live from Inkopolis Square!"

Both girls began their news segment, with cheering fans outside their window. The morning sky seemed quite cloudy, but to the varied Inklings standing outside in the Square, they didn't care if it poured on them. At least they got to see their newest favorite idols, even if it was separated by a glass barrier.

Of course, within the safety of the glass barriers, sat Pearl, a shorter-than-usual Inkling in pink, and Marina, the Octoling in teal who seems to be described by others as 'the exotic-looking Inkling'. Both girls seemed to have a good time bantering about the usual happenings around Inkopolis.

Talking about the weather was inevitable, however, and as the screen behind them switched to an outdoor camera, they started to talk. The camera feed showed a view outside the top of Deca Tower, overlooking Booyah Base (and the inklings outside) and showing the skyline.

Marina glanced slightly at the screen as she bantered, and looked back at it alarmed. "Wait, hold on," she interrupted. "Isn't the sky greener than usual?"

Pearl glanced at the screen as well, but she didn't seem alarmed. "Oh, yeah," she replied. "Chill, 'Reena, that's how the sky usually looks when it's about to pour. Speaking of--."

There was a sudden gust of wind, and several inklings found themselves struggling to stay on their feet. The camera feed began to show the sky getting darker, followed by something sprinkling onto the lens.

Marina began to stand up. The stuff that had fallen onto the lens certainly didn't seem like rain to her. It seemed too thick, too dark to be rain.

"Well, better get your umbrellas handy, Inkopolis," Pearl quipped. "'Cause it looks like quite a storm."

"Pearl? I don't think that's a normal rainstorm."

"What?" Pearl stood up, looking out both the window and at the camera feed. It seemed like there were a lot less inklings outside, and they all seemed to be panicking, running away in a crowd. "...yeah, matter of fact, stay inside."

Pearl knew that Marina would get all nervous when a storm came up. Usually it wasn't a big deal; it would take a bit of humor on both girls' parts to actually reassure Marina. Though, this time, no amount of humor would help.

The 'rain' began to fall harder, and in bigger clumps. The live feed was knocked out with the amount of stuff covering the lens. Marina began to back away from the glass, her tentacles twitching nervously as the window began to get covered in increasingly large clumps of sludge. It was a while before Pearl, too, backed away from the abnormal storm. The clumps almost seemed like ink, only, it had an oily, almost yellow discoloration to it.

The increasing chunks of ink stacking on the window caused Pearl to back away, alarmed. "...hey, 'Reena?"

"Yeah?"

"This ain't a regular storm."