Parasite

That Happened... I Think.

'Welcome, guys! What do you want to do for this video?' Octoboy asked via discord message.
"Well," Jay started. "We should all sing 'The Name's Viantastic' while we think."
"Why?" Viantastic asked genuinely, not in annoyance.
Gabriel tapped his Switch controller. "We should play something special. After all, this is the first time we..."
"Uh..." Daniel stopped him. "In memory of splatfests."
The previously mentioned song began playing through someone's mic. "Sorry, it's just perfect." Fyrus stated.
"Thanks, I think." Vian responded.
Etce joined the call out of nowhere. "What's happening?"
"Get your Switch!" GG ordered instantly.
"I already did!"
'Is anyone in a game yet? My Inkopolis Square looks weird.' Octoboy interjected.
"Yeah..." Vian agreed quietly.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a magical event happened. Timo, Gabriel, Fyrus, Daniel, Vian, Jay and Etce were in the game they planned on playing. Now, I know, it sounds insane. Because it is! It could never truly happen. Let's... ignore that. Keep your comments to yourself! Ha, I'm joking.
"What is-?" Fyrus looked around, seeing tons of life-sized inklings and octolings. "AH!"
"Woomy!" Most of the characters vanished, but the rest were recognizable and confused. "Voo-MAY!" They looked to a particular octoling boy who wore a coat and had red tentacles for hair. They also had purple spots underneath their eyes.
"Timo?" Another familiar one asked.
"Woomy!"
"Ehhh-AHH!" An octoling with an afro threw up their arms in alarm and looked down at himself.
The oddest thing was... two of them weren't inklings or octolings. With purple tentacles and glasses, an octoling walked up to Fyrus. "Fyrus?" They asked.
Fyrus blinked for a second before jumping, "Jay?"
"Wait, wait, wait! What is happening?" The other non-sea creature exclaimed.
"Daniel?" Fyrus questioned.
"OH MY GOD!" The afro'ed one shouted. "AHHHH!"
An inkling looked down at their shirt. "This is weird." Their shirt had a box with an arrow in it, 'VIAN' written underneath.
"Vee-oh-me!" The original octoling exclaimed.
"BOOYAH!" A certain, short, pink inkling practically screamed, gathering their attention.
The more blue and black octoling smiled. "Thanks, Pearl."
"Anytime."
Another pink inkling with a straw hat crouched and held their head in their hands. Hesitantly, Vian patted his back. Marina continued, "Hello! It's nice to meet you."
Jay sighed, "This can not be happening right now."
"Hey, booyah back!" Pearl ordered, then laughed. "You wanted to know why you're really here?"
"Woomy." Octoboy stated to the confusion of everyone else.
"That's not it, but thanks for the try." Pearl replied.
Marina waved her off. "We need your help and—I'm sorry—this is the only way and form we could have you here. I'm sorry, Octoboy, but you will have to use Squidspeak while you are here."
"Aren't these the sprites from Timo's videos?" Vian asked.
"Yes! Nice conclusion!" Marina grinned. "Now, for why you're here."
Octoboy asked, "Bada?"
"No." Pearl didn't go into depth about her answer.
"We brought you because we have a massive problem and you qualified. We couldn't have a team who was too used to the controls, but having a team who didn't know what they were doing would just be disastrous." Marina explained. "With no controllers, you will need to use your weapons as they are."
"Yeah... can you say that all again, but maybe more reassuring and supportive?" Gabriel asked the pair.
Pearl sighed. "You're going back home when you're done."
"Good!" Etce exclaimed.
A loud crash was heard before Marina quietly commanded them, "Go to the alleyway! Now!" Etce led the group to the familiar alley, Marina and Pearl double checking they couldn't be seen. After a moment, they relaxed and stepped out.
"Wait... What was that? What happened?" Vian asked.
Marina let out a little breath, "Since the Splatocalypse, it's been... chaotic. Like we knew it was. Except a certain group decided to take over in support of order. They were... extreme." She gestured to the green area where a bomb had exploded.
"Not to be pushy, but we'll need to separate you guys into groups. Based on their ink, like it usually should be, some of you are immune. To be specific, JayMoji is immune to their purple ink and Viantastic is immune to all of their ink since he's both." Pearl stated. Vian looked a little uncomfortable at that.
"How is he both? He's green right now." Daniel questioned.
Marina smiled a little at Timo. "His sprite ended up in both at some point. In theory, he can change on command." As if by magic, Vian's tentacles turned to purple, still leaving spots of green that slowly shrunk to nothing.
"I'm so glad we all can do that." Etce stated sarcastically.
"Everyone run to the drain over there and go through!" Pearl shouted, running in that direction.
"Voomy?" Octoboy exclaimed in alarm.
Fyrus has the same face, "That read as 'how' to me!"
Marina and Pearl glanced between the group and the open space. "Fine!" Pearl offered, "Get over here, okay?" She then grabbed the grate covering the opening and yanked it away. They all leapt through, then Marina and Pearl closed it behind them. When the passage opened, Callie and Marie were sitting in wait.
"You're sure these aimless wanderers are the ones?" Marie asked.
Pearl replied, "Of course! How couldn't they be?"
"...What?" Daniel questioned.
"Two of them aren't even- how sure are you?" Callie interrogated.
"Completely." Pearl decided confidently.
Gabriel opened his mouth to say something, but Callie stood to circle the group. She hummed before walking straight through them to face Vian. She stared at his purple tentacles for a second before pulling out a dualie from nowhere to point it at his head. His tentacles instantly shifted to green while the group simultaneously argued in alarm. She lowered it and stared again before grabbing his wrist and simply stating, "He needs work. Good job."
"Woah, excuse me?" Gabriel stood in the way she was trying to drag him. "We know who you are and all, but what gives you the right to do that?"
"I need him." She decided and shoved GG out of her way. She dragged Vian off before anyone could protest again.
Marie sighed, "I'm sorry. This has all hit her very hard. She has been attempting a very special mission for a while, but she's been without resources." Jay tried to say something, but Marie warned, "Look out with what you say, too. She might take you next." Marina and Pearl were just standing near the wall the entire time.
"Vee-bo-with-ou?" Octoboy asked.
Pearl stepped forward, "Now, we train you all, so you don't get splatted too much."
"So not ready..." Etce complained.