Splatoon Manga: NightRoad

Chapter 58: Regroup

⭐️Chapter 58: Regroup

The squidbeak were still inside. Now that the whole "blaming Prince" thing was done with, they were ready to move on. They needed a new plan now that the shadowlings had been healed. They needed to take them out quickly too, as they might not get this chance again. With Prince's condition though, they might have a problem.

"Okay, we need new plan now that all 8 of them are here" Rider said.

"Yeah. Something to defeat them once and for all!" Goggles added.

"Wait, how do we know they aren't spying on us right now or something?" Nana asked.

Hachi perked up at the sound of that.
"Oh, you're right. Someone go check for them outside-"

"I will!" Gloves said quickly, before anyone else could.

"Okay then, we have a volunteer."

Gloves  got up and went outside, only to spot someone walking down the sidewalk. He squinted to try and get a better view of them. He saw a dark ponytail, a hoodie around the waist...hey wait a second!

"Hey Seira!" He shouted.

Seira looked up upon hearing her name, and turned towards the source. She saw Gloves and waved. Gloves looked around before beckoning her over. If she wanted to help them, they were going to need her. Seira looked both ways before crossing the...rather empty streets, and walked up to him.

"Hey Gloves! How's it going?"

"Good-well, actually. We need your help. Come on in" he said, beckoning her to follow.

And with that, the two walked back inside. The group looked up and saw Seira.

"Hey guys!" She said.

The squidbeak waved back. She suddenly noticed Prince and the condition he was in. The smile on her face dropped.

"What happened?" she asked worriedly.

"Prince fought a mind-controlled Ebony and now we're planning an attack" Hachi explained.

"I see...it looks bad..."
She didn't get closer in case he was sitting there for a reason.

"Yeah well. What can you do?"

The squidbeak went back to their planning. Seira hesitated, but eventually went over to Prince and closely but gently inspected his wounds. Prince let her without complaint. He wanted these things off him or fixed as soon as possible. The team needed him.

"He looks so beat up...." Seira mumbled.

"You have a cure?" Flip asked, not really paying attention to the plan conversation at the moment.

Seira thought for a second.

"Actually yes, I think so! A health potion from shadowling turf wars! It helps with the damage done! It should be in here somewhere..."

She dug around in her pocket for a while before pulling it out. It was a transparent light red color, not exactly pink. It was also contained in a small glass vial with a cork stopper. The squidbeak looked at it. It was pretty.

"This is enough for one person. It should help" she said as she handed it to Prince.

Prince accepted it and drank it. Immediately, he felt better. He could feel all of the pain and aches go away as a cool, refreshing feeling washed over him. The rest of the squidbeak watched in awe as they saw all the damage on Prince disappear. Guess it had worked, then.

"Wow...that felt...amazing!" Prince exclaimed.

"Glad it worked! Now, what's this plan you all are talking about?" Seira asked.

"Well, we don't know yet. We can either separate the group again and fight one on one or battle everyone as a group" Rider said.

Seira thought for a moment.
"Well, each has its pros and cons. Separation would be easy to deal with but would take more time. All out takes less time, but just might be harder."

"You're right. Do we have enough time?" Emperor asked the group.

"Well, maybe we can take advantage of their downtime now and surprise attack them! That is, if we finish this plan fast enough" Flip suggested.

"Well, in that case, maybe we shouldn't. We need a decent plan compared to a rushed one" Hachi said.

"But what if they get the advantage and decide to sneak up on US?" Goggles asked. It was a possibility, since their shadow forms were way harder to detect than the humanoid forms.

"I can guard the outside while you plan out your fight" Seira said, ready to help.

Gloves looked up at her.
"Thanks! That'll help us a lot!" he said with a smile, giving her a thumbs up.

So with that, Seira went back towards the entrance and out the doors to stand outside. She kept a lookout for them as promised, eyeing every spot they could hide. The squidbeak were thankful for her offer, and continued talking battle. Now that they had more time, they had less stress on them. Hopefully, they could come up with something before the shadowlings did. Prince still stayed quiet throughout the entire thing, as he didn't want them yelling at him for nothing.

"Alright, what if we set up some minor traps to at least give us a bit of an advantage?" Emperor asked.

"We could, but the shadowlings might be in the square as well. I'm not saying we can't but that might wind up starting the fight early on, and we're not ready yet" Rider explained.

"Right, right..."

"Didn't Seira say an all out fight was an option?" Nana asked.

"Yes, that's what we want to do, but we need all the advantages we can get" Hachi replied.

Goggles was still confused.

"So...what's stopping us from doing it without traps? It's still daytime right? Unlike when they first showed up, which was night, but we have plenty of advantages now! Our new weapons, knowing what everyone's attacks are, and so on!"

The squidbeak thought. Goggles was right. They HAD come a long way from where they first started. And he was right about knowing attacks too. They had forgotten about that, and now that they knew, they should probably be sharing the information. They all nodded amongst each other.

"You're right Goggles, let's exchange weapon and attack info while we can" Gloves said.

"Every last bit helps!" Goggles chirped.

And so they spent another half hour or two discussing weapons. Seira never came in from keeping watch, but she was still outside, and Prince would continuously check for her. The squidbeak were surprised that the shadowlings didn't try and attack them, and the longer they went on, the more nervous they became. Eventually, however, they felt confident enough in themselves to be able to take them on. They planned on taking on their counterpart 1v1 again, but if they tried any shady (haha) business like trying to help another ally, then they would be there too, either trying to bring them out of the fight or double battling them.

"Alright. Our plan is going to be an all out attack."