*Turf War*
*Manta Maria*
*ink the most turf to win!*

The match was finally underway, and from one side of the ship, Dawn and Rose emerged from their spawn pads alongside two other cephalopods. Dawn stretched a bit before taking a glance towards Rose.....noticing her looking down at the E-Liter once again....taking a deep breath and gently tightened her grip over the charger.

Rose looked straight back at her and gave off a adorable smile, holding out one of her fists to Dawn, signaling for a fist bump.

Rose: *Veemo!*

Dawn:........y-yeah...

Dawn sighed and raised her own fist, returning the small fist bump to Rose, only seeing her light up in joy, which made Dawn roll her eyes as she firmly grasped her Tentatek Splattershot.

Dawn:.....alright then......let's crush them, Rose........

On the other side of the stage, the enemy team of Squid Cakes emerged from their spawn. Within the middle of the team, stood Lyra who was holding her own E-Liter as the kelp on her head swayed in the wind......she took a small glance towards her left to see an Inkling girl holding onto a Bloblobber with a scared and nervous face, silently whimpering.

Lyra heard a huff from her right side, and she turned her head to see an Inkling boy who was holding his Splat Roller over his shoulder, glaring past her and straight at the inkling girl with a stern glare....being the same two inklings that Dawn encountered earlier.....Max and Nina.....

Max: for Fucks sake, calm down, idiot!!

Lyra saw Max look at her during Nina's whimpers, and heard him let out a disrespectful scoff towards her.

Max: the fuck are you staring at!?

Lyra:....

Max: before you even think about it, I don't fucking care about your damn rank.........so don't expect any form of respect from me......stay out of my way.....

Lyra simply stared at Max before letting out a sigh, looking towards the stage....hearing a large siren go of, signaling the beginning of the match.

*GO*

After noticing their two extra teammates using the N-Zap and Aerospray, Rose immediately dashed off of spawn and began to ink her turf in the process.

Running up the ramp and taking the right route into the middle of the map, already seeing the enemy team's ink from the other side of the map. Rose positioned herself properly and took aim with her E-Liter.

She scoped the area, but soon saw a small glimpse of the other distant enemy E-Liter......instead of taking her shot, Rose quickly shifted her body aside JUST in time to avoid the piercing and painful shot.......noticing her tentacle slightly damaged from the perfectly positioned shot of ink.........

Her tentacle sizzled, and Rose suddenly felt a hand place on her shoulder. When she looked aside, she saw Dawn right beside her, taking the exact same route as her without even noticing.....

Dawn: already starting off by almost getting shot straight in the face.

Rose:......*looks away*

Dawn: don't feel bad........you'll perform worse and worse as the match goes on if you have that negative mindset....

Dawn raised her hand from Rose's shoulder, taking a glance at the simmering steam that finally dimmed down until it was no longer visible......

Dawn: looks like that charger is gonna be a pain in the ass...........listen to me, okay?

Rose: *nod*

Dawn: follow my lead. I'll try to give you some clear shots by exposing myself a bit.......only move up when I do, got it?.....I'm gonna make sure none of them get past me to threaten you.

Rose felt her heart slightly thump within her chest for an odd reason......even though Dawn was simply telling her what to do.......her tone sounded more calm than usual when she spoke.....she forced herself to nod once more just as she saw Dawn turn away from her to begin the true battle she was aiming for.

Dawn: remember......calm.....just focus and your fear will vanish............

Rose saw Dawn jump down from the ledge of her position, landing on the ground and immediately shooting her Splattershot to cover more turf.

The last cephalopod that was on Lyra's team, an Inkling girl who used the Splash-o-matic was the first to see Dawn on the team of Octo Buns. She glared at Dawn and immediately dashed towards her to begin their brawl with no form of hesitation, seeing Dawn do the exact same.

The Inkling girl threw a burst bomb straight towards Dawn, but she reacted quickly enough to shift her body and dodge the bomb while still maintaining all of her momentum by drifting across the ink with her feet.

Dawn shot straight at the Splash once she was close enough, seeing them barely dodge her assault. She jumped back slightly from Dawn, but Dawn dashed forward quickly to come face to face with the inkling, completely shocking Rose from her incredible speed and reaction timing.

Dawn pulled on her trigger once again to attempt to splat the splash, only noticing them leaning backwards and shifting into their squid form, diving into the ink to swim back.

Dawn grabbed a splat bomb and threw it towards the swimming splash, aiming the bomb to land directly next to the right side of the splash. The Splash noticed the bomb and turned back into their inkling form, dashing away from the bomb as fast as possible.

From up top of the grates, Lyra looked down at Dawn and began to charge up a shot. She noticed Dawn pressure the Splash further and further back, but she then saw the splash grunt towards Dawn in annoyance as her tentacles began to glow.

Dawn returned the glare of the Inkling with her own......but she soon stopped in her tracks.......Dawn took a deep breath after noticing another distant threat.......and within the blink of an eye, Dawn shifted her head over, seeing a fast stream of ink shoot straight past her face without even touching her at all, unlike Rose

Lyra stood in a slight stage of shock and confusion after seeing Dawn ignore her completely.......not even a glance towards her, casually continuing to fight the Splash.

Lyra:.....interesting....

Dawn saw the Inkling grit her teeth and summon her suction bomb launcher, allowing the launcher to begin to throw suction bombs all towards Dawn.

She quickly jumped, ducked, and swam through her ink to avoid the bombs, seeing many explosions go on around her. Instead of running backwards to retreat, Dawn STILL continued her pressure towards the Inkling, seeing her fear build up more and more, throwing one extra suction bomb at Dawn, only to see her hop out the ink, turning back into her inkling form before grabbing the suction bomb in mid air, spinning her body and throwing it straight back at the splash.

She quickly covered her body to protect and not blind herself from the blast of her own ink right in front of her, only feeling ink splatter on her arms and stomach.

She quickly shook her arms to flick the ink off of herself, but when she looked straight in front of herself, Dawn was nowhere to be found, disappearing behind the explosion prior.....yet it didn't take to long for the Splash to feel a deeply uncomfortable surge run down their body, turning themselves all the away around and grabbing one last suction bomb JUST in time before her special ended.

As expected, Dawn was directly behind her, and just as she thrusted the bomb towards her, Dawn flipped back and kicked the bomb out of her hand, making it soar high in the sky above them.

The Inkling lifted her splash to try and shoot Dawn, but........nothing.....no ink was fired........she looked down at her own hands to notice that she wasn't even holding onto her splash-o-matic in the first place.

She looked at Dawn and saw her holding her tentatek Splattershot in her left hand, but also holding onto her splash in her right hand, twirling it on her finger.

Dawn: looking for this?..........here....

Dawn tossed the splash-o-matic straight at the ground in between them, allowing it's pointy end to stab straight into the ink, making it stand straight up instead of falling over.

Dawn: take it.........this is your one warning.......you were actually putting up a decent fight..........

The Inkling girl stared at her weapon, and back up at Dawn, seeing her stern glare that only hid her true cocky attitude underneath. She gritted her teeth, and instead of grabbing her splash, she immediately dashed at Dawn instead, curling up her fist in rage, but Dawn simply raised her eyebrow and let out a sigh.

Dawn: alright then.......

Just then, the Inkling girl heard a strong sting of Ink Pierce the air at unbelievable speeds.....and it was only for a split moment that she felt the ink Pierce her head and completely splat her from the inside out. She yelped as her soul and weapon faded from the battlefield to reform at spawn, and Dawn simply watched her body ink shift into their own color to represent team Octo Buns.

She looked over at Rose and gave her a small thumbs up, which made Rose smile in a embarrassing way.

Dawn: a headshot..........nice.....

Dawn saw Rose hop adorably in joy as she made her way towards her in the middle of the map.......just then, Dawn saw Max dash into the middle of the map with a crazy look in his eyes as he glared at her, and she only tilted her head towards him slightly.

Dawn: oh.....it's him again.....

Rose: *head tilt*

Dawn: remember when you got knocked unconscious at Blackbelly?

Rose:.......*embarrassed blush*.....

Dawn: yup.....he's the dickhead who caused that shit.

Rose stood slightly shocked and looked towards Max, seeing him immediately pull out a curling bomb with a dirty chuckle, throwing it as hard and as fast as he could towards Rose and Dawn.

Rose stumbled slightly from the curling bomb, but when she looked at Dawn, she didn't move a muscle......with barely any effort, Dawn raised her hand and caught the curling bomb from Max, stopping it's pressure that sent a small wave of wind towards Rose, enough to gently sway her tentacles.

Max:....*smirk*....not bad.....

Dawn: with the sole fact that you even said that just shows how low your standards are for a "strong opponent"

Max: sheesh, you got a sharp tongue....I like that though~....

Dawn: you'll like my "sharp" aim as well......watch.....

Dawn positioned her body and Rose watched as she threw the curling bomb straight back at Max, creating her own thrust of wind pressure strong enough to ripple the ink beneath their feet.

Max was shocked from the curling bomb's speed, and he lifted his roller JUST in time to block the bomb, feeling the immense amount of strength that pushed him back in the ink slightly.......making him pant.....

From above, Lyra watched Dawn closely to witness her ridiculous strength.........the strength that an average cephalopod would never obtain........Dawn was.....different in a way......

Her E-Liter was rested on the ground as if it was a staff.....but she picked it up soon later with her finger pressed down on the trigger.....charging up another shot, leaning out to aim at Dawn again.

Lyra:.........(is it truly......her?.....)....

Max: alright.....fair game......

Dawn:.............Rose.............I'll take him......but as for you......

Rose saw Dawn jump in the air and raise her foot up......and even though she was confused at first.......that's when she noticed a suction bomb in the air directly above Dawn.....and since Dawn was equipped with splat bombs, it was clear that the suction bomb didn't belong to her.......

Rather, the bomb actually belonged to the splash-o-matic Inkling girl's bomb rush, and was the one bomb that Dawn kicked into the air a while ago.......since bombs have standard explosion requirements, they don't actually explode when it's not touching a surface like the ground, grates, a special, or body of a Cephalopod.....

The bomb came tumbling back down as it glowed, and Dawn kicked the bomb with the heel of her foot, launching it towards Lyra, making her immediately cancel her aim on her and raise her E-Liter to block the explosion in front of her, letting out a grunt as well.

The Ink fell and began to rest after the explosion, and when Lyra opened her eyes, she saw Dawn glaring deep into her soul.....

Dawn:......take care of that bitch for me..........

Lyra could only stand in pure disgust from Dawn, yet when she looked beside her and noticed Rose, she already saw the other E-Liter wielding Octoling immediately tensely hold her own trigger as well, charging up her own shot.

The two Octoling's glared at each other, and from one swift movement from both sides, they both aimed, fired, and barely missed their respective shots on one another, with Lyra gently using her thumb to swiftly wipe the ink from her cheek.

Lyra:......alright then.....I almost splatted you earlier......so this shouldn't take long.....

A different glance was shot towards Lyra.....an awkward glare of sudden courage that emitted from Rose.....she could only look towards Dawn for a slight moment one last time.....then put some extra pieces of her puzzle together in her mind...........and just then.....Rose held the scratched and dented E-Liter with both hands.......taking a deep breath.....before beginning their true battle.

~~~~~~~~

Pearl let out a long groan at their autograph stand in the middle of the square after signing yet another piece of gear from a cephalopod in front of her, hearing the Squid Sisters sing and echo from behind her. She looked at the long line that still awaited her, and could only slouch in her chair as she grabbed onto a aerospray.

Pearl:.....*scribble* this line is never gonna get shorter, is it?.......

Marina: *scribble* not for a while sadly.

Pearl:.....*sigh*..........here ya go, dude.....

Inkling boy: Thanks!

Pearl:.....man.....how long have we been going on for?......*scribble*....

Marina: for around.......uh.....30 minutes?......

Pearl:.......come oooooon.....it feels like it's been hours!..........here.....take it....

Octoling girl: Much appreciated!!

Pearl: yeah yeah....next please?....

Marina: are you doing well, Pearlie?......*scribble*.....You usually don't really......act this way when it comes to splatfests and autographs?.....

Pearl:.......well it's only for two reasons tonight.......one: we're going to be signing autographs for like, twice as long unlike prior splatfests.......and two:...............y-you know......

Marina:...........Dawn......

Pearl: *scribble*.......I-it's just cuz.....no matter how hard I try.....I just seriously can't stop........feeling.....worried for her.......

Marina:......well it makes sense, Pearlie.....you and Dawn were pretty close back then.......

Pearl:.......

Marina: you and Mr. Cuttlefish were the main forms of support for her when it came to......her feelings.......

Pearl: yeah I....I know that...*scribble*..........and you.....were the same way for 8......

Marina: of course. I had to make sure that she never felt......a-alone.......since she was the first octoling on the surface after me......

Pearl:........I just.....I hate that me and.....Dawn......

Marina:.......

Pearl: we can't go back to the way we used to be........I miss the days when we'd hang together.......I'd make her laugh.......and smile.......and open up to me..........we'd play video games.....go to parties.......but...........it all changed that one day..........that one damn day......

Marina: when 8......passed....

Pearl:......no....it was before that.....

Marina:.......

Pearl: it was specifically when Agent 4.....died........on their mission....

Marina:.....they encountered them.......the one entity that was creating a form of disturbance......

Pearl:........static..............and never saw Dawn ever look so...........scared......and motionless.............I've never seen such a......strong individual...........and even talented squids like them.....didn't stand a chance.......

The simple word of "static" made Marina stop for a minute unintentionally.....feeling a uncomfortable shock coarse through her inky body..........only from the simple name of the entity.....

Pearl: if only we were faster........we could've saved 4 too.........but we were too late...........and we could only save Dawn........who was on the brink of death herself........the mission was a failure.....

Marina:........

Pearl:.........Dawn wasn't the same ever since then.......and I tried everything I could to help her.........but she only pushed me away every time......

Marina:.....her sadness and anger built up so much......

Pearl: and when she finally broke.......it was unleashed towards 8........

The two idols sat in silence for a slight moment.....completely stopping what they were doing and sinking not only into their own thoughts, but unintentionally into each other's......

Octoling boy: u-uh....excuse me-

Inkling girl: what's taking so damn long!

Marina:...w-what!? Oh goodness, we're sorry!!

Pearl: be patient and shut the fuck up!! Do you want an autograph or not, bitch!!?

Marina: P-PEARLIE!!

Pearl: *shugs* she decided to say some shit first.......ugh........alright.....next in lin-

Callie: thank you all for showing up and participating in this splatfest, ladies and gentlesquids!!

Marie: we are very grateful!

Pearl:......*rolls her eyes*.....

Callie:  considering that the strong and amazing Lyra is within the square today, we have decided to play and showcase her most current and thrilling battle as a means of respect to the first top 500 octoling!!

Pearl: wait what!!!!?

Just then, the crowd suddenly was turned back to the squid sisters, and they cheered after hearing the news, which already deeply alerted Pearl and Marina to turn around and notice the two cousins smile gently towards the crowd.

Marie: heh......that really did wake you all up, huh?.......

Callie: now that's what I'm talking about!!

Pearl: No!! We didn't discuss this beforehand!!........hey!!!.......CALLIE!!! MARIE!!!!!

Marina: t-they can't hear you, Pearlie.

Pearl: no no no no........dammit!!!

Marina: what's the problem? You know that everyone here loves Lyra-

Pearl: I don't give two shits about Lyra!!! It's Dawn, Rina!!!!

Marina: wait, what about her!?

Pearl: she walked into Deca tower around the same time as Lyra, like, RIGHT after her!!! They're synced together!!!

Marina:..............oh no.....

Just then, the Jumbotron that usually illuminates to show Pearl and Marina do their map and mode updates begin to shine before everyone in the square.

Callie/Marie: alright! Let's show our support to the one and only amazing octoling herself!!

~~~~~~

Max swung his roller straight at Dawn with great force, yet Dawn dodged his swing with a calm, yet collected and confident face. The two inklings took their fair share of turns towards each other to land a blow, and even though they both were equally unable to land direct hits, Dawn still showed a beginning and growing state of progress each time the tides shifted in her favor.

She began to adapt, and with each dodge, Max's cocky grin faded more and more as he felt the swift wind from Dawn's shots pass by his face, slightly spreading ink over him.

Dawn: you're already exhausted?......what happened to your confidence?.....

Max: *tsk*.....don't even try to start with me! I'll make sure to aim for YOU instead of your Octo slave next time I see you out in public, bitch!

Dawn: ah, so you do remember me from the skatepark.

Max: trust me, spotting your disgusting face in a crowd is easier than you think. You just have a shitty grudge against me for knocking out that little Octo bitch, huh!?

Dawn: true. Also I wouldn't really call it a grudge....but it's something along those lines.

Max:.....do you seriously think I give any form of care in the world to that pit dweller!? It's nothing but a joke that you hold up so much pride for that underground piece of filth!

Dawn: a joke?

Dawn shot straight towards Max, but he jumped up into the air as he curled up his fist and his tentacles began to glow, with Dawn looking up towards him to notice his splashdown.

Max: yes!! Did I fucking stutter!!?

Dawn stood completely unfazed and watched Max yell as he dove down towards her to splat her. Instead of dodging and moving herself away from the blast, she instead jumped straight into the air right towards Max, allowing his glowing fist to inch closer and closer towards her.

Dawn: okay, let me tell you this.....

Dawn shifted her body and Max's glowing fist shot straight past her body just as her own tentacles glowed themselves. With no hesitation, she extended her hand and summoned her Ink Jet, grabbing tightly onto her canon as her jet pack began to form on her back.

She immediately countered and thrusted her canon straight at Max, slamming the entire weapon straight onto his face, canceling his splashdown as ink shot from her exhaust pipes.

Dawn: the term of "pride".....is something I take pretty seriously...

She flew up in the air further, aggressively shoving her canon more and more into Max's face. He grunted and gripped onto his roller, still trying to blindly swing towards Dawn, yet she firmly used her other hand to grab his wrist as a vein pulsed from her hand, flying down and slamming him straight into the ground.

Dawn: don't act like you know me.....my motivations.....or my aspects of pride.......especially when you're just a shitty brother, dude.......

Her tentacles ignited and and her backwards cap stood proudly on her head, with a small sense of a prideful glare coming from her.

Dawn: I couldn't relate to that however........because my brother was nothing but an amazing form of inspiration for me..........so get out of my fucking face.......

With one firm press of her trigger, she splatted Max immediately and hovered in the air afterwards, gently feeling her backwards cap.....and letting out a small sigh.........just as she was wacked straight in the face by another sub weapon.......she rubbed her cheek in annoyance and looked to see what hit her.....noticing a sprinkler fall on the ground and topple over, not even activating properly to disperse ink.....and right before her eyes.....stood Nina with her bloblobber.

Dawn:....did you just throw a fucking sprinkler at me?......

Nina:......I.............uh.....

Dawn looked at Nina in pure disappointment and aimed her Inkjet straight at Nina, making her yelp as Dawn fired a shot towards her, but she jumped and immediately ran off from her.

Nina: NO I'M SORRY!! STOP STOP!!!

Dawn:.....(the hell?....)

Dawn rushed Nina down and shot towards her multiple times, hearing Nina yelp and dodge the continuous shots, not even trying to fight back whatsoever. Dawn rolled her eyes and shot down towards the ground near Nina, making her stumble and fall instead, dropping her bloblobber.

Nina stumbled back until she hit a wall, seeing Dawn deactivate her Ink exhaust and land on the ground, then walk towards her, aiming her canon straight at her, but all she did was tremble and cover herself.

Nina: PLEASE DON'T SPLAT ME!!!!

Dawn:......oh come on......stop being a pussy and just take a splat like a real squid..........

Nina:....Please don't....I just.......j-just want to......turf....

Dawn: wow, no shit....and I'm on the enemy team, idiot.....do you just expect me to let you stroll by and paint our turf?....

Nina: yes!

Dawn:.......you're such a fucking coward.........

Nina only trembled more as Dawn gritted her teeth on her and gripped her canon harder.

Dawn: can you stop with the shaking!!? you remind me of-

She noticed her own arm tremble as she wielded her canon.......and a flash phased before her own eyes.......seeing a younger Inkling girl take Nina's place within her glance.......

*6 years ago*

A young, 13 year old Dawn stood within bluefin depot with her Splattershot, absolutely cornered by 2 Inklings, yet she gritted her teeth at them and aimed her Splattershot straight towards them.

Dawn: stand back!

Inkling girl:....you're trembling..*pff* you're actually scared, aren't you?

Inkling boy: *shrugs* it makes sense....we've been splatting her left and right. It was only a matter of time before she noticed how good we are.

Dawn: I-I'm not scared!!! I'll splat you both right here!! Right now!!

Inkling girl: you said that last time before we splatted you.

Inkling boy: and the time before that.

Inkling girl: AND the time before that.

Dawn trembled more and more, but she refused to even show her sign of weakness, and she gritted her teeth harder while grumbling towards them......she saw the two squids laugh at her......and the Inkling boy aimed his blaster straight towards her, ready to end her once again.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a sudden gust and tornado of wind hit him from behind, shredding his body from the outside and making him yelp in pain before splatting before Dawn's eyes.

Dawn saw the Inkling girl grip onto her .96 gal, but before she had the chance to attack, a tornado came straight for her as well, shredding her exactly like the Inkling boy.

Dawn heard the explosion of the Inkling alongside her yelp in pain, seeing ink splatter before her...........specifically when she saw an Inkling boy holding a Inkzooka and walking towards her.

The boy wore a simple tee with a backwards cap resting on top of his head, and just as his Inkzooka faded from his hands, he could only smile towards Dawn.

Dawn:....Atlas....

Atlas: saved your bum again, huh?

The Inkling boy lifted his hand and poked Dawn on her forehead, making her whimper slightly.

Atlas: you gotta stop running off on your own, dummy. Doing that will only get you splatted more tha-

Dawn: It's not my fault that they keep making fun of me!! They keep saying I'm a scaredy squid, and I'm not!!! I'm trying to give them a piece of my mind!!

Atlas: well, you don't have to throw in any extra effort to prove them wrong. You're letting them get in your head, Dawn.

Dawn: they're not in my head!! I'm gonna beat them dow-

Atlas: hey....

After Atlas cut her off, she stood and watched him in silence, seeing him reach towards her hand and gently touch it with his own, feeling her uncontrollable shaking......Dawn felt embarrassed and ashamed, yet when she looked at Atlas, she saw him give her a comforting smile, grabbing her hand properly and holding it, feeling her shaking hand get slower and slower.

Atlas: I know you're scared......and it makes sense. You're still new to these ranked battles, and it's a big step up from your casual routine of turf war.

Dawn:.......but I don't want you to see me.....like this........

Atlas: like what? Afraid!? *snicker* Sis, you're definitely handling ranked battles way better than me when I first started!

Dawn: I am?

Atlas: yeah! Dawn, I was so scared that I didn't even notice that I was holding the rainmaker backwards one time! I shot our hydra splatling by accident since he was watching my back!

Dawn: wait what!? Were you banned!?

Atlas: uh.....n-nah......but my team was kinda pissed at me so Um.....there's that......

Dawn laughed a bit as Atlas rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, but he even let out a chuckle himself. He took a minute to simply look at his little sister with pride.....raising his hand and placing it on top of her head, ruffling her tentacles a bit.

Atlas: it's okay to be afraid.......you just need to acknowledge it instead of ignoring it, sis............

Dawn:.......y-yeah.....I Know.......

Atlas: you're a strong girl........very very strong............so keep fighting Dawn....but remember that me, or someone else will be there to help you...

Dawn:.............

"Keep fighting".........it echoed in her head........Atlas chuckled after hearing a large shimmer of light shining down on the map, then he nudged his head back towards the main middle ground of the map.

Atlas: the Rainmaker just reset. Wanna do the honors and carry it?

Dawn:.....hm.....fine! I'll make sure I hold it properly though!

Atlas: oh come on! Don't hold that against me now!

Dawn: you sealed your own fate!

Atlas:.....*sigh* yeah, yeah I did.....

Dawn: *poke* now let's win! For mom!

Atlas:............*smile* of course.......for mom.....

*present day*

Dawn stood in front of Nina and gritted her teeth as her arm shook with her Inkjet canon........she scoffed and lowered her canon, looking away from Nina, which made her slightly uncover her face.....

Dawn:.............get out of my face........

Nina:........

Dawn:..........and the next time you have the chance......tell your brother to go fuck himself........

Her Jetpack began to glow and overheat, and within a short span of time, her Inkjet exploded and launched her away, landing her back in the middle of the map and far from where she chased Nina down.......

Dawn huffed and stood up properly, looking out of the corner of her eye to see a blinking red light in the distance......she glanced a bit closer and noticed a little drone on the outside of the map, recording the entire setting.....

Dawn: (of course it had to be our match that was being filmed live........it's because of that hotshot octoling girl).......

Just then, a large eruption of fireworks emitted above Dawn, indicating and spelling out "one minute remaining"...

Dawn:.....(speaking of her........).....

When everything clicked for Dawn, she heard a large and swift strike from a charger, piercing through the wind in the distance, which made her instantly turn her head.

Dawn: Rose!

Dawn rushed down the map and followed the sounds from the two E-Liters. She inked her way through, but from below the Ink, the Splash-o-matic showed their face once again, throwing a burst bomb straight at Dawn, only for her to dodge the bomb and throw her splat bomb to counter.

The splash jumped from the bomb, and just as they got ready to shoot at Dawn, she was simply too slow, and Dawn kneed the Inkling in their stomach, making them cough in pain just as she planted her tentatek on their head and shredded ink into her to splat them once more.

Dawn ran through the map while turfing along the way until she finally reached the source of the noice, turning a corner and gripping her Splattershot harder than usual.

Dawn: (......at least she held her own long enough for me to.....)

Dawn immediately stopped in her own tracks just as she noticed Rose and Lyra in the distance, having a ridiculously quick paced battle.

Lyra shot her E-Liter directly in front of Rose, but she ducked under the shot and attempted to sweep kick Lyra to make her fall over, and just when Lyra jumped over Rose's kick, she already charged up another shot.

She aimed directly for Rose's head, and before she could fully press down on her trigger, Rose flipped her body back and kicked Lyra's E-Liter to relocate her shot and make her miss by firing into the sky, and Rose soon shot her E-Liter back at Lyra, with her swiftly dodging to the side, only suffering a slight burn from the ink.

Dawn:.........(she looks......different)....

Dawn noticed Rose shift and saw her eyes begin to slightly glow.........giving off a completely different vibe from her, compared to her normal self.....

Dawn: (she's getting faster offensively and defensively.......holy shit....)

Dawn could only stand as stiff as a plank of wood as she stared at Rose, noticing her eyes glow more and more by the second.......Lyra quickly shifted her E-Liter and fired another shot towards Rose, only noticing Rose duck below the shot and quickly summon her ink mine, with it simply being a small, black disk that an Inkling or octoling would have to bury under the ink.

Instead of burying it however, Rose thrusted the disk forward and forced it against Lyra's stomach, making it explode right on her from point blank range, with Dawn noticing the ink Pierce through Lyra, shooting out of her back, which immediately made her grunt as she was pushed back.

Lyra:.....you're quick to adapt.....

Rose:.....

Lyra: mere moments ago, I almost shot off your head.......yet you stand before me.....confident.

Rose dashed straight towards Lyra with no hesitation, and Dawn simply smirked at her as she watched. Rose saw Lyra quickly summon her ink storm to counter her, throwing it straight at her, which she was able to dodge by blocking it with her E-Liter.....sadly the ink storm still ignited and soared in the sky to create a large and powerful storm cloud.

Just as it Rained, Rose felt her skin burn from Lyra's ink, steaming from her body as if it was acid. Instead of retreating, Rose continued to pressure Lyra with small grunts coming from her as she did so. Lyra gave Rose a small smile, then willingly let Rose get straight up in her face with her fully charged E-Liter, breathing heavily, also noticing a small streak of blood flow from Rose's mouth.

Lyra: I guess you're at your limit, little octoling.......you definitely aren't a pushover......that's what you proved to me today.....

Rose: *pant*......*pant*.....

Lyra: are you finished?........just one more shot.........that's all you need......

Rose panted slightly more and more, and her E-Liter shook as it slowly began to lower from Lyra's face, but unexpectedly, Lyra grabbed onto the E-Liter herself, lifting it back up and placing it against her own head as she simply glared at Rose.

Lyra: go ahead........splat me.......show them that you are indeed on equal terms with Lyra............

After hearing Lyra say her own name pridefully towards her......Rose's eyes faded and returned to their normal state......she saw Dawn right from the corner of her eye.....watching her....and even saw her own gaze straight back....as if the Inkling was...confused and curious of her........

She looked back towards Lyra......Lyra......Lyra........The name echoed in her mind......she saw her small gaze down on her, noticing her kelp flow from her head......and Rose could only feel her body warm up from the inside.....

A completely dumbfounded Rose stared at Lyra.......not even noticing who she was actually fighting due to her mind being completely blind and mellow throughout their battle...ever since Dawn gave her those words earlier....it's as if her mind shut down....and her body moved on its own due to her overwhelming love for the Inkling......

She blushed.....her face completely changed in color.....and she stumbled after noticing who, where, and what the fuck she was even doing........when she glanced at Dawn again.....she saw her curiosity fade.....and it only made her heart drop slightly, only before Rose felt every last ounce of oxygen flowing through her get immediately snatched away as Lyra firmly punched her straight in her stomach for letting her guard down.

Rose stumbled back....dropped her E-Liter, and the Ink storm finally took a toll on her body, feeling herself finally melting away, being on the brink of exploding and getting splatted by the storm, but instead of the storm taking her out, she noticed Lyra look at her......but she saw a small smile on her face as she charged up her own shot.

Lyra: you did well.....

And with that, Lyra finally landed a clean and sharp shot straight on Rose, piercing through her body and splatting her right in front of Dawn......and when Lyra lowered her charger, she looked at Dawn, seeing her glare straight back at her, noticing Dawn firmly grip onto her Splattershot in silence.........but she could only let out a small chuckle after finally putting every last piece of the puzzle together......

She looked down after seeing the E-Liter that Rose dropped, and she noticed a small piece of tape on the weapon, a piece that slowly worn down over the coarse of the battle they had......revealing a form of engraved text towards her.............just as their battle finally concluded for the splatfest.

Lyra:..........Agent 8....huh..........

~~~~~
~~~~~

Inkling boy: HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!

Octoling girl: THERE'S NO WAY THAT GIRL ALMOST SPLATTED LYRA!!!

Octoling boy: DO YOU THINK SHE'S TOP 500 MATERIAL!!?

Octoling girl: DEFINITELY!!

Inkling girl: Oh don't get your hopes up!!

The crowd of Inklings and Octolings began to scream and wail from the battle, wether that be towards the actual match, or arguments against each other. Everyone was completely shocked in their own ways.....even Pearl and Marina......

As Marina held onto a simple Takaroka hat and Pearl held onto a singular emperry dualie, pausing their autographs as they watched the squid sisters stare at the screen, even shocked themselves.

Marie: sheesh......now that's honestly what I call a real battle.....

Callie: Yeah!! And that was Rose too!! Who knew she had such skill!!

Marie:.......and Dawn too....

Callie looked towards Marie and saw her let out a small sigh.......and Callie simply walked towards her and put a hand on her shoulder.

Callie: you okay?....

Marie:.........yeah.....I just........

Callie:.......

Marie:.......mind if a ask you something?......

Callie: oh....yeah, go for it......

Marie:.......do you.........truly.....believe we deserve any of this?........

Callie: w-what do you mean?....

Marie:........ya know.....our lives...our money....gramps.......Dawn.....heh...do you think our lives would've even been the same if we didn't win that singing competition when we were kids?....

Callie:.......Marie.....

Marie: would if our downfall right now......is a good thing.....

Callie:....h-hey, don't say that....this is.....kind of a....dark question....u-uh.......even for the likes of you....

Marie: you don't have to answer it...sorry....I was jus-

Callie: no no, it's fine! I uh.....just don't know how to go at this......it's a very....

Marie: blunt question?.....yeah, I know.......

Callie:.......this is something we should discuss with Dawn though, Marie.....like.......I can't live with this guilt anymore........it....

Marie:......

Callie: hurts me...........

Marie:.....I know....

Callie: this is our big chance.......after tonight........we won't be in Inkopolis anymore.......we will never know when our next chance to see Dawn again will be....

Marie:......

Callie: I-I gave Rose that backstage pass......we can try to at least talk with Daw-

Marie: do you truly believe she still has that pass?.......

Callie: of course!

Marie: think about it......Rose is a big fan, Callie......there's no way she'd simply hide that pass from her friends or junk like that........I bet you that the pass is gone....tossed away.....

Callie:......why would Rose do that?.....

Marie:......it wouldn't be her........it would either be Dawn......or....

Marie turned her head slightly and saw Pearl and Marina from the corner of her eye, staring at them in concern.....and she felt her grip slightly loosen around her microphone that she held low below her hip.

Marie: them...

Callie:......

Marie:.....*sigh*......Callie.........I understand how you feel.....obviously because I feel the exact same way.......but........we can't fix this.....for the rest of our lives.......this feeling will be permanent.............It's..........a punishment.......

Callie:.....b-but I still-

Marie: even if you apologize, what good would that do? Nothing will change....

Callie: M-Marie......don-

Marie: we broke her trust years ago, Callie.............

Marie looked up at the screen once again to see Dawn walk up to Rose and gently pat her head a bit after finally getting the results from Judd, showing off their victory...........her thoughts were interrupted by a small sniffle, which made her turn and look towards Callie, seeing tears slowly roll down her face..........

With no form of hesitation, Marie walked up to Callie and brought her into a gentle hug, allowing her to bury her head in her shoulder.

Marie:......let's drop it......okay?......maybe things will change when she gets older......

Callie:.....Mhm.....

From below the stage and in front of the crowd, Pearl and Marina looked towards the two cousins sharing their hug, making them both go completely blank.

Pearl:.......is Callie.....crying?

Marina:............I-It looks like it......

Pearl: the hell?......

Just then, as Callie and Marie separated, Marie gently grasped her microphone.......and walked closer to the edge of the stage to allow every squid and Octo in the square to notice her clear her throat slightly.

Marie: uh........thank you all for coming out tonight to participate in the splatfest. Both me and Callie both understand that we had some hiccups throughout the weekend. We will definitely get back on track for you all, so we apologize for our behavior.

Marina:....why is she......speaking up now?......

Pearl: *shrugs*....

Marie: sadly me and Callie have to leave Inkopolis by next week to continue our travels. But it was fun passing by this place for sure.

Pearl and Marina looked at each other, then stood up together, walking towards the stairs that lead onto the stage. When they approached the squid sisters, they saw Callie look away from them, but they still noticed her red eyes due to her crying.

Marie: hey.......

Marie walked towards Pearl and held out the microphone for Pearl to grab with her own hand......

Marie: thanks for the invite.......we highly appreciate it.......

Marina: w-wait, but you're not leaving now! You two said you wanted to stay in Inkopolis until we got the splatfest results!

Marie:.........I'm pretty sure our presence doesn't matter at this point.....we did it to ourselves........

Pearl: what the hell is with the sudden change in attitude?

Marie:..............Dawn.....

Pearl/Marina:.....

Callie and Marie walked past Pearl and Marina, making their way down the stairs......approaching the crowd....

Marina: H-HEY, WAIT!!

Inkling girl: GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!

Marina:....goodness..

Pearl:.........sheesh.......she poured her heart and soul out for that.....

Just then, every single cephalopod in the square began to "boo" the squid sisters and chant towards them, separating to allow them to walk past.......and for the first time ever.....not a SINGLE cephalopod tried to get in their way for an autograph.....they didn't care anymore......not one bit......avoiding them as if they were a disease......

The ridiculous screaming, shouting, throwing empty cups and plates....it made Pearl look down at the microphone before Marina could only feel a full force punch of guilt straight in her stomach.......

Marina:......we......did the right thing......right, Pearlie?......

Pearl:........I.......I don't know how to answer that.......but.....I do know that after this night.............things will never be the same for the squid sisters........

Marina stood and stared in silence.....and Pearl grabbed her phone from her pocket, scrolling down her messages......then began to text straight to Dawn........hesitating to send the message......but managing to press it....

P: It's over...