A Duel and a Clear Sky (Splatoon fanfiction)

Chapter 2

Susan leaped off the platform and shot a balloon above her in midair. Music started blasting in the speakers and the timer started ticking. The song playing was really familiar, but Susan was too focused to care. She dashed from crate to crate, scanning for balloons she could shoot. She had to focus, if she was too quick, then she wouldn't hit a bullseye. Susan glanced up at the counter. The scores were 5920 to 5970. Lens was winning! Susan grunted as she landed badly and missed a balloon she had been aiming at. "Damn it," she murmured and shot another one a little to her right. "Stop panicking," she whispered to herself. "It's not gonna get you anywhere."

The sun shone through the windows above her. "It's like a microwave in here," Susan thought and looked up at the counter. Lens was still winning. The points were 37.040 to 38.010 with three minutes left. Susan cursed and picked up the pace. She had to do better! She hadn't seen Lens once the entire match. Where was he? Right at that moment, she saw the sunlight reflect on something. It was like the world slowed down. The music blurred into the background and her vision focused on that one spot. She was just about able to register the scope aiming at her when she heard a familiar click through the silence. The sound of a trigger being pulled. Susan leaped backwards just in time, and the shot flew right past her nose. Susan ducked behind a big crate and took a deep breath. "Alright, he has me," Susan thought. "Best try to get around him."

She turned to Octo form and swam to her right. There had to be a way for her to get around him. She turned back to kid form and shot at a balloon above her. Bullseye! Maybe she had a chance of turning this around! She aimed to her left, looking for more balloons. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lens aiming at her. Her eyes widened as she rolled behind a crate just as the shot flew over her head. She had forgotten how far the range of E-Litters was. He had her pinned down, there was no way for her to move without entering his sight line. Susan took a deep breath and took out her little mirror. She usually used it when putting on makeup, but she also used it to peek around corners. Lens was crouched down on top of a big pile of crates. His aim was right where she was. He noticed the mirror and tried to shoot it, but Susan pulled back her hand in time. There was no way for her to get away without him having a clear shot on her. But she had noticed one thing. One of the crates holding up the pile was very wobbly, and was only holding up the rest by the edges. If she could knock it down, the whole thing would come down, and Lens with it. But how would she do that? Susan thought for a moment. Then, an idea struck her. She aimed her charger to her right and shot ink in a straight line, creating a path. Now, if she was correct, Lens would shoot ink across the trail of ink to stop her from swimming through, but when he did, it would take some time for him to charge up his next shot. Then she could shoot a trail to her left and get away safely. A split second passed and she heard a bang as the loud E-Litter fired. His ink flew across the path she had created and closed it. Susan turned around swiftly and shot in the other direction. She transformed into Octo form and swam across it behind a big stack of crates. She heard the sound of the E-Litter again as Lens shot across the path she had created, but she was away from harm. She looked up at the timer. Two minutes left. She didn't care what the points were, it would only make her nervous. Susan crept around the big pile of crates and peeked around the corner with her mirror. Lens was still aiming at the spot she had disappeared, occasionally lifting his aim to pop a balloon that appeared in his range. A big box protected him, so it would be impossible to shoot him from here. Susan took a deep breath. "No mistakes," she muttered. Then, she jumped around the corner, shot a trail of ink to where the wobbly crate was, turned to Octo form and swam as fast as she could to the crate. Lens heard the sound of her charger and turned to see what it was. Susan could see that he was shaken as he tried to put his aim on her, but he missed by a few inches. When Susan was only a meter away from the crate, she turned back to kid form and slid across the floor, kicking the crate. The impact knocked the crate out of the way, and the whole pile came crashing down. Susan rolled out of the way as huge crates crashed all around her. She saw Lens stumble down with the crates, but lost sight of him. Susan stood up and began charging up her shot. "I have to splat him," she thought. "It's the only way for me to catch up to him."

She noticed a balloon floating a few ways from her, and she shot it out of the air. Bullseye! But her rejoice was smashed as she saw Lens jump up from behind a crate, his charger aimed right at her. She stared at him, unable to move. He started to pull the trigger and Susan snapped out of it. She bent down behind the crate, feeling the ink flying overhead. She immediately started charging up her shot, and then shot up, aiming where she had last seen Lens. He was still charging up another shot, and his head twitched when he saw her charger aimed at him. Susan clenched her teeth and pulled the trigger. Lens was just about able to duck behind cover, the shot missing him by inches. Susan saw a balloon a few meters away from her. She charged up another shot and shot it out of the sky. Another bullseye! Susan charged another shot and aimed where Lens had been last time. But he was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, the music changed and the familiar tunes of Now and Never started playing. That meant that there was only one minute left! She had to hurry! Susan spun in circles, her eyes darting from left to right, looking for just a slight movement. She noticed another balloon. She had to be only a few points away. She had to lower that difference, even by a little. She turned to aim at it and fired. She regretted that decision the moment she pulled the trigger. She did hit a bullseye, but the moment the balloon popped, Lens leaped out from behind a big box and shot. He hit her in the right shoulder, so she fell down to the floor. Pain shot down her arm, and she clenched her teeth so she wouldn't scream. She was really lucky he had hit her in the shoulder, otherwise she would've been splatted. There wasn't much time left. "I have to do something," she thought to herself. "But what?!"

She looked up. There was a gap between the crates, and she could see Lens's foot sticking out between them. Susan's eyes widened and she reached for her charger where it lay on the ground. She aimed it between the crates and put the foot between her sight. She could see her own hand trembling. "Relax," she thought. "This is your last chance. Don't screw it up. Just breathe. Breathe."

She took a deep breath and aimed down her sight once more. She was no longer trembling. Her steady arm guided her aim to where Lens's foot was. Susan took a deep breath. Then, she pulled the trigger. The ink flew between the crates and hit Lens straight in the leg. She heard him crumble to the ground and leaped from her hiding place. She climbed over the few boxes that were between them and stood over Lens, aiming straight at him. His sunglasses had fallen off and his eyes widened when he saw her charger aimed at her. They stared at each other, the music muffled in the background. Susan was starting to put more pressure on the trigger. But something was bothering her. This didn't feel right. It felt... wrong. She felt like she was executing him! He would survive if she shot him, right. Lens's movement pulled her back into reality. He quickly reached for his charger and tried to aim at her. Susan acted on instinct. She pulled the trigger, and Lens was splatted before her. Susan looked up at the timer. Thirty seconds. But Susan stood still. "What was that feeling," she whispered to herself. This had never happened before. She always knew that these battles were a game and that everyone in them were safe. Then why had she felt that way? Susan shook her head and shot a balloon that was floating next to her. When the timer had reached one minute left, the points had disappeared off the screen, so Susan had no idea who was leading. Susan dashed between the piles of boxes, shooting balloons left, right and centre. Ten seconds. She shot every balloon she could see and kept an eye out for Lens, in case he might come back for her. Five! She saw a balloon, just out of reach. Four! Susan leaped off the crate she was standing on and dashed towards the balloon. Three! She aimed at the balloon and put her sight on the middle of the balloon. Two! She pulled the trigger. One! The balloon popped with a loud bang. Bullseye! The bell rang and all balloons vanished. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, what an exciting match!" Marina's voice boomed in the speakers. "I was holding my breath for the last minute! What do you say Pearl?"

The speakers made a crackling sound as Pearl picked up her microphone. "Yes, this was an amazing match indeed! Both sides did amazing! But, one did better than the other. So tell us Marina! Tell us who won!"

"Well, I have the results here Pearl, best not to make the crowd wait!" Marina boomed. "The winner of the first match in the quarterfinals of the Inkopolis Sniping Tournament, is..."

Susan held her breath. "Did I do it? Was I successful? Or was that stupid moment of hesitation the reason I lost? Was all this trouble not worth it?"

Susan looked up. "Was it all in vain?"