Splatfest was considered a celebration of life. It was one of the most memorable moments in any inkling’s life. This one, however, was something much more special. It was the biggest Splatfest in all of recorded history. The first-ever month-long Splatfest.

And I was going to take part in it.

Bryson had taken the position of leader and had called us all to his home to discuss tactics we would use and how we’d approach Ana and how we’d take her down, as well as do what we can to keep Team Off the Hook in the lead.

Now, when I said Bryson’s home, I didn’t mean the top of the Annaki corporation building. Apparently, that was only a place Bryson occasionally went to in order to to see his brother, Edward. Bryson’s actual home was by the shore and it was a very large, very old-fashioned mansion with polished oak wood and beautiful decor.

Bryson had us all gathered in his room. I had expected his room would have had tons of things surrounding Turf War, and maybe even a few trophies here and there.

Seeing this… was a little concerning. It was completely bare, with only a bed, a single dresser, and a closet. Me, Ace, and Henry all stood on one side of the room while Bryson paced back and forth on the other side.

“If we’re going to fight this psychotic girl, we’re gonna need to use older Annaki tactics,” Bryson informed us. “We need to separate her from her team and we need to subdue her when no one’s looking. I’ve given you three a list of ways we can do that.”

Ace promptly raised his hand.

“Yes?” Bryson answered.

“This just says to grab her arm and run,” said Ace.

Bryson’s eyes shifted back and forth. “S-So?”

“That sounds like it would draw attention,” Henry added.

“Hey, who’s the leader here?!” shouted Bryson, looking angry.

The door suddenly opened, an octoling with dark skin and strange features on his face peeking through. On the right side of his face were teal spots on the skin surrounding his eye. His right eye surprised me more than the teal spots, however, as his pupil was glowing the same teal color.

The iris surrounding it was purple, and the sclera surrounding that was green. His left eye was different though, looking a little more normal than the other. It was a simple hot pink iris that matched well with his long, rose-red tentacle hair.

“Hey, Bryson, you tracked dirt in the halls,” he said. “Gotta remember to wipe your shoes on the mat, bud.”

“Hey, I’m kinda busy!” Bryson shouted back. “I forgot, okay?”

“Bryson, it’s the third time this month,” replied the octoling.

“Who’s this?” I asked, gesturing to the stranger.

The octoling immediately replied, “Uh, Alex. I’m the housesitter.”

“Can you leave the room, please?” asked Bryson.

Alex raised a brow. “Did you just say ‘please’ this time?”

“Yeah,” Ace responded. “His manners are getting better.”

“HEY,” Bryson shouted. “Both of you, zip it! This is a very important Splatfest! We’re brainstorming and we don’t need a distraction!”

Alex stepped into the room. He was pretty tall, almost as tall as Edward. He sported a Sudadera Roja hoodie and black ripped leggings, and on his feet were Squid-Stitch Slip-Ons. “Splatfest? I actually managed to get your dad to give me the month off.”

“How did you manage that?!” Bryson questioned, glaring with suspicion.

“Edward,” Alex answered.

“Oh,” Bryson responded with disgust. “What’s your point?”

“Well, maybe I could help you out?” Alex suggested with a genuine smile.

I noticed the tension between these two. Bryson obviously didn’t want Alex to help with the Splatfest. Meanwhile, Alex seemed to want to help Bryson out. Was there something going on that I didn’t know about? Did Bryson not get along with Alex?

“Maybe,” said Bryson, crossing his arms. “But you can’t tell anyone anything about this plan. This is top secret and it could hurt our goal if word gets out.”

Alex sighed, his smile still there but a little weaker. “Bry, I know a thing or two about keeping secrets.”

Geez, this apprehension from Bryson was making me feel unsettled. He just kept glaring at Alex, making me want to leave the room. 

Bryson finally replied, “Fine. There’s a psychotic inkling who’s trying to hurt our friend here.”

Alex looked at me as I was gestured to by Bryson. The moment our eyes met, he suddenly asked, “Are you a huma–?”

Henry interrupted quickly, not wanting this whole thing to happen again. “Yes, she’s human. No, you’re not the first to notice. Yes, this is supposed to be a secret. If we could just move along, please? There’s an inkling trying to kill her.”

Alex looked right at Henry, his face reflected in Henry’s visor. The tense energy from my brother seemed to frighten Alex a teensy bit. “U-Uhh… Okay then? What’s, uh, the deal with the inkling?” Alex asked, his voice a little shaky. “Who is she and why does she want to kill this human?”

“Simply put,” said Bryson, “the inkling’s name is Ana. She’s been dissecting humans for a while now and she’s been adding their minds to her brain. With each life she claims, the more insane she becomes.”

Alex blinked twice, looking unsure as to what to say. “Bryson, is this what you’ve been doing while you’ve been away?”

“Does it matter?” asked Bryson, his glare intensifying even further, as if it were possible.

Alex shook visibly until the door to Bryson’s room opened once again, Edward stepping in this time. “Hey, little brother, I was wondering if you’ve seen Alex, I can’t fi–”

Silence filled the room as Edward’s gaze moved to each person individually before settling on Bryson. “Uh… Is this a party or something?”

Bryson’s fist clenched tightly. “Ughh…”

“Hey, Edward!” greeted Alex with a smile. He seemed more confident now for some odd reason, but when I saw another smile return from Edward, my brain was a little confused. What was the story between these two? Did Bryson know Alex was an octoling? Did Edward know? What about the Annaki father?

I shook my head, distracting myself from it. What was more important was Ana's downfall. “Can we please just… move on with the plan?” I asked, looking up at Bryson with worry. Ana was still on my mind, because with Splatfest here, it meant so was she.

Bryson, noticing it, released his clenched fists and nodded. “Yeah, just… alright. Uh, Alex, if you want to join us, meet us tonight by Deca Tower. We’ll be prepping up, so bring your game face.”

Edward gestured for Alex to follow, and as Alex walked out of the room, Edward looked at Bryson with a troubled expression. “Father’s been tense lately. You need to do your best this Splatfest to represent our clan.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bryson growled back, fists clenched up yet again. It seemed he could barely get any kind of break for long.

After some suggestions from Henry and Ace, we were inevitably able to form an actual strategy. Ana was looking for me, so I had to be the bait. I might not even have to enter a Turf War for her to approach me.

Later that day, Ace and I met out in the square. I was sitting down at one of the tables, scrolling through my phone when Ace walked over and sat down, asking, “Have you been doing okay?”

I looked up from my phone, caught off guard by the question. “Yeah, why?”

“Talked to Nem earlier,” he said. “She said you’ve been going through some things. Why didn’t you tell me it was getting even worse?”

Guilt hit me right then and there. I tried to play it cool. “I just didn’t want to bother you with it.”

He had a skeptical expression, looking at me with a bit of a glare. “Amelia, this is serious stuff. I’d do anything to help you through this.”

Strangely, this… annoyed me even though he was just showing concern. My mood shifted. “I already feel bad enough telling Nem about everything. I didn’t want to worry you too.”

He didn’t back down. “You’re keeping a lot of feelings locked away. It’s not healthy and it’s going to eat away at you. It’s okay to share things with me.”

“B-Bad idea…” I muttered, scrolling through my phone some more.

“Why’s that a bad idea?” he asked, his tone firm. “You’re not planning on doing something stupid that could get you hurt, are you?”

I remembered making that promise to Ezra, the one where I’d let her speed up the transformation for the battle with Ana. “...N-Nuh-uh.”

He stood back up, walked over, and placed his hands on the table, leaning forward. He had an obvious worry in his eyes. “Amelia, please. What are you doing?”

“It’s nothing,” I answered.

Ace wasn’t taking that for an answer. His answer startled me, the squid shouting, “Amelia, this is not a matter we should avoid! Don’t you see that keeping all that stuff inside is going to hurt you?!”

I looked away from him, stressing out. “Ace, I just– I just want to get it all done and over with! All I need to do is stop Ana and everything will be fine! I’ll be okay!”

Ace took my hand, looking into my eyes. “Do you promise everything will be okay? Do you promise that you will be okay?”

I looked back at him. My brain was a mess. I could’ve promised right then and there. I could’ve told him what I’d planned with Ezra. Maybe we could’ve come up with a better plan, but this girl was seriously twisted and I didn’t know what she had in store for me. I could only say, “I promise we’ll stop Ana.”

The conversation was left at that. I knew Ace wasn’t satisfied with the answer and I knew I was risking a lot. Something was wrong with me and I knew it, but did I care? Even I didn’t know. I was scared. I was excited. I was angry. I was sad. I was everything at once and I didn’t like it.

The moment the clock hit seven at night, it was pure chaos. Inklings from both Inkadia and the Splatlands had gathered to see the opening acts for the Squid Sisters. I was informed that Wreckage’s band, Stray Ink, would be the opening act for Deep Cut later this month, so it’d be a while.

I saw Bryson and Ace by Deca Tower, but Henry seemed to be gone. I thought he was supposed to be here with us. Walking over, I asked, “Where’s my brother?”

“He’ll be here later tonight. Right now, we’ve got Alex getting ready,” Bryson answered.

“Don’t worry,” said Ace with a smile. “I’ve got your back, Amelia!~”

I returned the smile and pumped my fist into the air. “Let’s do it! If Ana shows up, we’ll take her down!”

“Let’s go meet Alex in the prep room,” said Bryson.

The moment we stepped into Deca Tower, we were suddenly warped, startling me. Normally, a warp wouldn’t surprise me, but this was different. We didn’t even get a selection screen prior to the transport. I was expecting to head into the lockers, but it seemed the technology was modified to streamline the flow of battle entries for this Splatfest, as we were already in Mako Mart.

The store lights were out, with only the glow of glimmering graffiti on the shelves and the ground to illuminate the way. Something felt off about this. It was too sudden. It was too soon. It felt like I’d just gotten on the rollercoaster and someone kicked it into overdrive without any buildup. Looking down, I saw that I was already in my usual Turf War suit, my helmet fitting snugly around my head. Ace had his usual Hydra, and Bryson had his Brella.

Bryson looked disturbed, his eyes and tentacles glowing in the dark, but instead of questioning it, he promptly jumped off the spawn point the moment our phones beeped to start the match. He then went rushing to the middle.

As for me, I felt like I was toast. No prep, no time to think. Ace, however, smiled and took my hand before leading me to a shelf and helping me climb atop it. “Must be a glitch. It’s gotta be, right?” he said.

I looked down at him from atop the shelf, nodding and steeling my nerves. With my Splattershot Nova, I was about to test myself. If I could get through this match without being splatted for the first time in my entire life, I’d thank whatever was out there watching me. I just needed to be careful.

Something felt even more off, though. Was Alex with us? I didn’t remember him meeting with us just ye–

There he went, the house-sitter jumping across shelves with some kind of tri-stringer I couldn’t recognize. It seemed smaller, more compact. How was he here with us? What was up with this new technology? Did it predict who we wanted to fight with? I couldn’t wrap my head around it at all!

Ezra appeared in front of me, my alter ego smiling. “Breathe, Amelia. Just breathe and relax. Maybe we can figure out what’s going on.”

I nodded. “Y-You’re right,” I replied. Looking around, I saw Alex perched on the edge of an aisle shelf, his small tri-stringer pulled tight as he aimed. I quickly jumped across the shelves and approached him from behind.

I reached out and tapped his shoulder, causing him to let go of his shot and miss an inkling, who tried to counter with a tri-slosher bucket. We both stepped back, barely avoiding the ink. Turning at me, Alex was confounded. “Uh, I’m k-kinda busy here,” he said. “I need total focus.”

Looking at his expression, I started to understand. “You don’t know what’s going on either, do you?”

“P-Pardon?” he replied.

“I mean… the system just warped us here the moment we stepped into Deca Tower. We planned to meet you in the prep room,” I explained.

Alex bit his lower lip, then replied, “Yeah, I was… I was in the prep room and I was getting ready, but there was this bright flash. I was just suddenly transported here before I could finish readying up.”

“So maybe this isn’t Splatlandian culture,” I said with sweat dripping down my forehead. “Maybe something went wrong.”

“Hopefully once the match is over, we can go tell the managers what’s going on,” Alex reasoned, looking like he was trying not to think about it too much. I could definitely understand. My anxiety was through the roof too.

I nodded in agreement, just as nervous as he was. I tried to change the subject, pointing to his bow. “What kind of tri-stringer is that?”

“I’d love to talk, but we need to finish the match first,” he said.

I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe I’d tried to distract myself from all this. With a nervous chuckle, I gave a thumbs-up before jumping over to another shelf. I just needed to focus on the match, right?

Just focus on the match.

Firing from up above, I hit the inkling carrying their tri-slosher, feeling a little more confident. The Nova had a long range, so it was comforting to me to know I could potentially keep any inkling from approaching me and splatting me.

But why was I so uncomfortable?

Was I afraid of temporary death?

I’d be brought back by the spawn point, right?

Ezra stood by me and I could feel her hand on my shoulder from behind. “Relax,” she said. “I know it’s scary. It’s okay to take a step back and breathe.”

“B-But if I’m splatted… how do I know I’ll come out of the spawn point?!” I said, starting to panic. Why did I have to worry about this now of all times? Why didn’t I think about it before?!”

Suddenly, I heard a reassuring voice. “Hey, Amelia!~”

Looking ahead, I saw Liv on the shelf across from me, smiling and sitting down. I quickly jumped across the shelves, hopping over to her with relief. A familiar face in this fight was good! If she was here, then so was Hector, two people who wouldn’t want to hurt me! “Liv!” I shouted as I sat down next to her. “Oh, thank cod, I was stressing out!”

Liv tilted her head, setting her blaster beside her. “Why’s that?”

“Oh, just… this stupid fear in my head,” I replied. “I’m afraid of not respawning!”

“Everyone’s first fear when entering Turf War,” she commented. “Only, uh, you’ve always been human, so you didn’t really have that kind of fear until now.”

I nodded, leaning against her. She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and smiled. It was good to have her here. Though, it made me wonder where Hector was. “Where is…?” I mumbled, swerving my head to try and spot him.

Liv pointed to a corner of the Mako Mart stage, where I saw Alex standing atop one of the shelves. Hector was already speeding in close and running up the shelf, jumping high into the air and twirling with his brush at the ready!

Alex’s eyes locked on and he quickly drew back the string of his compact bow before releasing, the three shots suddenly dodged just barely as Hector went into octopus form to shrink the chances of being hit. This caused Alex’s eyes to widen. The moment Hector landed on the shelf, his brush swinging downward, Alex had stepped to the side and jumped to another shelf, firing off another three shots mid-jump.

“Hector’s not going to let that octoling get too far,” said Liv. “He’s got this thing where he won’t let his opponents think of their next move.”

“That’s the housesitter for Bryson’s family. He didn’t seem like the fighting type before,” I said with worry. “He actually seemed really nervous.”

“He’s a housesitter? For Bryson’s family?” questioned Liv. “Ouch. I feel sorry for the guy. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being Bryson’s friend, he doesn’t like octolings very much.”

“I’m guessing because his sister ran away with one,” I replied, watching intently as Alex moved with split-second precision, ducking, side-stepping, and even jumping to avoid swings from Hector’s brush. “Do you think Bryson knows the guy’s an octoling?”

“Bryson’s not bright,” Liv answered. “Most inklings aren’t.”

“Whoever this guy is, he’s fast,” I commented, noticing how his body moved as if he were predicting each swing.

“I see the patterns in his movements,” Liv muttered. “That’s… octarian military tactics.”

Oh cod.

“But there’s something extra in his movements too,” said Liv. “There’s a bit of an extra twist in some of them. The way he’s moving reminds me of…”

“Of who?” I questioned.

Liv stayed silent. I continued watching, my hands gripping the edge of the shelf in anticipation as Hector kept moving in, swinging relentlessly. Alex kept jumping back, firing off his shots when he could, and each time, something felt off to me.

That’s when Liv suddenly spouted, “He’s missing his shots on purpose!”

WHAT?!

Examining the environment, I noticed there was a lot of ink on the ground. Alex seemed to know he couldn’t hit Hector enough to take him out, as Hector was fast and deadly. The best thing the housesitter could do was take blind shots and…

“He’s fully charged up!” I shouted, watching in astonishment as Alex’s tentacle hair lit up in teal flames. His damaged eye glowed brightly as Hector went close in, and as he did, I tried to shout, but it was too late.

Alex had activated his special, Tenta Missiles. One of the missile launchers was pressed directly up against Hector’s chest, the two standing still for a few seconds. Hector shook visibly as he stared in wide-eyed horror.

Alex fired, and Hector was gone, making me wince.

Liv stood up and held out her hand to me. “Come on. I need to talk to him,” she said. I grabbed her hand and after she pulled me up, we quickly ran over to Alex. The moment Alex’s eyes locked onto Liv’s, he quickly pulled back his drawstring.

“Wait!” I shouted, stepping in the way. “D-Don’t! She’s not an enemy.”

“She’s literally on the other team,” said Alex, his timidness no longer there.

“You’re one of them,” said Liv. “The Squidbe–”

I felt the sudden rush of air as an ink shot whizzed right past my cheek, just barely missing me and hitting Liv straight in the face. Turning around, I couldn’t see Liv anymore. “Wh-What the shell, Alex?!” I screamed. “She just wanted to talk to you!”

“She’ll respawn,” Alex answered. “I’ll talk to her alone once the match is over. You don’t need to hear any of it.”

As Alex ran off towards the enemy spawn point, I just stared, shouting after him, “That’s so not fresh!”

I sighed in frustration but tried not to dwell on it. Taking out my phone, I saw thirty seconds left on the clock, making me a little relieved. Once I was out of here, I was going to go grab a smoothie. I wanted to actually prepare.

Three…

Two…

One…

…

…

…?

I blinked, surprised. My scenery had suddenly changed from Mako Mart to Wahoo World, standing on the spawn point next to the others.

“O-Oh no…” I muttered. Looking beside me, I saw Ace, Bryson, and Alex, all looking as concerned as I was.

Bryson and Ace exchanged glances and nodded. “A glitch?” Bryson questioned.

“Yeah,” said Ace. “We’re usually tied to the system until the match is over, but it warped us to another match anyway.”

I saw Alex frantically texting on his phone, his eyes widening in horror. “Just, uh, go have fun, Bry. I’ll stay here and see if I can message the admins.”

“You can’t just stay idle,” Bryson said with an angry glare. “Once you’re in a match, you have to fight, even if it’s for a little bit. That’s literally Inkopolis law.”

“Why is that a law?!” shouted Alex.

“BECAUSE IDLE TEAMMATES ARE BAD TEAMMATES!” Bryson shouted back.

Alex grumbled in slight annoyance, finishing his text and jumping off the spawn point towards the center tower. Once Bryson followed, I gave Ace a fearful look. “Do you think Ana’s behind this?”

“Nah,” Ace responded. “I think I know what’s going on though.”

Confused, I asked, “What?”

He shook his head. “It’s fine. It shouldn’t last too long.”

But he was wrong. After every match, we were just teleported to another location to fight again. There was no break from the constant Turf Wars. I stayed back to ink the home turf, afraid of being splatted for the first time.

I thought it would’ve been fun, entering another Splatfest, but now that there was a chance I’d be splatted, I was afraid of what would happen if the machine didn’t recognize my DNA. Or maybe it’d rebuild me the wrong way.

I even counted the matches. We had gone through ten matches straight, unable to leave the stages.

After a while, we ended up in Blackbelly Skatepark, and as our phones beeped to indicate the start of a match, I saw the inklings on the other side of the park going into action, inking the turf. One, however, didn’t look confused. In fact, this inkling was the face I dreaded seeing.

“A-A-Ana Emberz,” I stammered.

As we went out, I climbed up to the top of the tower with Ace’s help, then I looked down from above to see Ana dash right past Bryson, her special already activating. Her warbling speakers fired off the familiar beams of inky death, making me fear her even more.

She could easily splat me if I wasn’t careful. Gripping my weapon tightly, I fired at her. The definitely caught her attention. The moment she looked at me, my image reflected in her goggles, her mouth widened into a terrifying grin. I was frozen as she made a powerful leap up towards me!

“You’re mine!” she screamed, her .52 Gal aimed right at me. I wanted to dodge, but I couldn’t! Fear had overtaken me!

“ACE!”

There was no hesitation. He’d come through for me like he said he would, blowing her away with his Hydra fire. As I jumped down, I decided I was going to go with the plan. Yeah, I was afraid, but I realized I needed to carry out the plan. I made sure she saw me again after respawning, then I ran to one of the side lanes of the stage. I needed her away from her team. Let Bryson handle them. Ace would follow me closely.

My hope was that the Deca Tower malfunctions would be fixed before this match was over, so this was a long shot. If it wasn’t fixed, we’d probably be sent to another match and Ana would as well, going free to plan another way to get to me.

This could be my only hope. Looking around, I hoped to see Ace, but I couldn’t see him anywhere, goosebumps now on my skin. “Sh-Shell…” I muttered, scared out of my wits. I was acting way too quickly and even I knew it, but with less than three minutes, what was I supposed to do?! I didn’t think these malfunctions would be happening! What if I failed? What if Ana escaped?! OR WORSE?!

Ezra manifested in front of me. “Amelia! Calm down!”

I jumped, shaken. “Y-Yeah… Sorry…”

“Remember. You wanted my help with Ana, right…?” Ezra reminded me.

I’d almost forgotten. I wanted to push myself to my limits just to take Ana down. Nodding, I checked behind me again. No Ana just yet, but soon… I knew she’d be here…

“I still can’t believe you’d trust me,” said Ezra. “You’re really stupid, you know that?”

“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW?!” I screamed. “J-Just wait until I signal you!”

Once Ezra vanished, I waited, my grip on my Splattershot Nova tightening. I could feel my own weapon creak despite its newness. I was on edge and didn’t want to be splatted by Ana of all inklings should things go wrong.

I heard the familiar warbling of her speakers. “I have you now, my little specimen.~”

I turned around and strafed quickly, outrunning her beams of sound and firing my Nova as I did. Ana cackled and did the same with her .52 Gal. My heartbeat accelerated as I moved in. I knew she’d move. I knew she’d avoid my hits. I just needed to keep her busy until Ace got here.

But where was he?!

As my movement towards her made her jump back further into the narrow lane, I kept my aim steady, just barely missing her to keep her occupied. This went on for what felt like forever. She definitely wasn’t trying to move in, though. That scared me. Was she planning something? Did she know about the plan?

That was when she grinned wide, stopping in her tracks. I halted my fire, knowing I couldn’t just splat her. A soft giggle burst forth from behind her lips, slowly turning into maniacal laughter.

“Wh-What’s so funny?” I fearfully asked.

“He’s not coming,” she said, stepping forward. “A friend of mine is keeping him at bay just so I can have you all to myself.~”

I wanted to scream when she stepped forward, but a high-pitched squeak came out instead. This only made her giggle as she came nearer.

I really didn’t want Ezra to push me closer towards the end of my transformation. I was hoping fear wouldn’t have struck me, but as I pressed up against a wall, I stammered, “E-Ezra, Ezra, Ezra, Ezra, Ezra!”

She didn’t answer.

“EZRA, EZRA, EZRA!”

Still nothing.

Why wasn’t she doing anything?!

“S-SOMEONE HELP ME!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Her hand lunged for my neck and grabbed it, tightening her grip with an eager smile. “You’ll be so grateful to me when I add you to the collection!”

I struggled for air, but her strength was too much, no matter how hard I tried to pull her hand away from my throat. I could only make brief squeaks and quiet gurgles as my vision started to fade.

Why?

I trained for this.

I prepared myself for this.

But… I was so scared of this girl.

Just seeing her face alone was enough to make me feel helpless again. I could only think of the table, the other humans trapped in her mind, my inability to move. I was useless here and now even Ezra wasn’t helping.

“So scared, even your alter ego is afflicted with fear,” she whispered.

But… that couldn’t be it, could it? Was Ezra just as scared as I was? As I questioned this, I slowly noticed an odd There wasn’t just one heartbeat pounding against my eardrums.

There were three. Ezra was doing something. She just needed more time, but who’d buy that time for me?

I got my answer.

Vengeance came in the form of Bryson, tackling her from the side and pinning her against the wall, his brella pressing against her neck. “HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?!” he screamed. “DOESN’T FEEL SO NICE, DOES IT?! YOU KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF HER!”

He took a knee to the stomach at least three times but he wasn’t budging, his eyes wide in fury. I shakily stood on my feet, watching with wide eyes. “B-Bryson, we’re not trying to kill her!”

Bryson shook his head. “THIS IS THE DUMBEST TIME TO TRY AND CAPTURE HER! THE SYSTEM WILL JUST TELEPORT HER AWAY ANYWAY!”

Ughh…

I really did need to think these things through. Emotion just kept driving me today, it seemed. “Then what do we do…?” I asked. “What if it’s like this all month?”

“I don’t have any problem with inflicting pain on her all month long!” Bryson answered. “Here’s my plan! I’m going to put fear into her, so much fear that she’ll never want to hurt anyone else!”

“B-Bry…” I groaned. “Seriously?”

“What do you expect?!” he said, letting go of her and turning to face me. She collapsed, gasping for air as Bryson approached me. “The way I see it, she’s not going to stop. Yeah, we can capture her after the month is over, but now I want to hurt her because she hurt you!”

Bryson was getting as emotional as I was. It all felt like a mess and I didn’t know how to reason. Why did everything have to be so confusing? Why did this stupid glitch have to happen? I tried to respond, but before I could say anything to him, I heard Ana scream, “WEA- VER!”

…

Weaver? The human I met from Splatsvi–

I wasn’t sure what it was about Bryson that made him so aware of his surroundings, but he immediately looked up before pushing me out of the way, a blinding flash striking down in the form of a powerful splashdown and taking him out.

Standing in the aftermath was Weaver, but he definitely wasn’t the same Weaver I met in Splatsville. Sure, he still had all his human features, but coming out from his back were four maroon octopus tentacles, unnerving me greatly.

This was getting insane. First the system glitches, then Alex straight-up sniped Liv, and now Weaver was just like me?!

“This is ridiculous,” I groaned. “All of this is just ridiculous.”

“I took care of the Hydra main,” Weaver said to Ana, holding his hand out to her. “But he’ll be back.”

“Oh, my darling little freak,” Ana responded as she took his hand and adjusted her goggles. “So quick to please me.”

…

…

…

I remembered when I’d first met Weaver. When I had gone to Splatsville for the very first time, a friendly octoling named Splatt had led me to him because she knew I would’ve been interested in finding other humans.

But when we had first met, he had been a complete jerk. It had been revealed that he’d been leading humans to Ana, who would do horrifying things. I wanted to hurt Weaver so bad, but Ezra had taken over me temporarily and had forced me to turn away.

Now, here he was, going through the same process as me, the same transformation. But how long had he been going through this, and why was he still doing things for Ana if he had the ability to fight against her?

Ezra stood next to me, her hand on my shoulders. “Remember what I said about holding back in Splatsville?”

I turned my head to look at her. “Yeah…?”

“I feel like that stays in Splatsville,” she responded. “And thanks to Bryson buying me some time, you’re now in control of those extra appendages in your back.”

“The tentacles Ophelia said I had hidden away?” I queried.

She smirked and stepped back, vanishing from view, her voice echoing, “You’re so close to the finish line. I can’t wait to take my place in this world.”

Why I wasn’t surprised was pretty obvious. I just felt more fed up than anything at this point with all the excitement going on around me. I remembered what Weaver did. He’d led humans to Ana and I wanted so badly to hurt him. I was done.

My suit seemed to be adaptable, the back opening up just enough for my own tentacles to sprout from my spine. I stared down Weaver with pent-up rage. I knew what I needed to do.

Bryson was right. If this glitching was going to keep happening, I might as well have my fun. I was going to deliver karma to Weaver and Ana was next.

Weaver didn’t look too pleased with seeing me wearing these appendages on my back. “I thought I was the only one,” he said, looking slightly conflicted.

“No,” I answered. “Once this fight is over, I’ll be the only one.”

I lunged at him, firing off my Splattershot Nova, but he was quick, and I mean quick. The tentacles on his back pushed on the ground behind him, sending him flying past me.

I tried to turn around but was hit from the side with a powerful swing of his extra appendages. I was quickly slammed into the wall and he bolted towards me, one tentacle going right for my head.

Had I not moved it in time, it would’ve completely crushed me because when I jumped out of the way, his tentacle was deep into the concrete wall! It was a little difficult for me to process this kind of power and it made me fearful.

I wanted to run, but with my unending anger towards him, I wanted to continue fighting as well. I’d already been pushed towards the end of my transformation, and so I wasn’t going to let it be for nothing!

I felt the ground with my back limbs, lifting myself off the ground to give myself the height advantage, allowing me to fire down at him. It was very difficult to coordinate my strange stalks, but I felt if I had more time, I could probably use them with better harmony.

He sped at me, his cephalopod arms throwing him across the ground. This made me panic a little, pushing myself back and away from him, but as I found myself being pushed into the main lane of Blackbelly Skatepark, I found my tentacles grabbing onto different-leveled platforms.

I was losing balance and I needed to find a way to get proper control of these. Luckily, I saw Bryson running towards me, but he stopped, staring.

“Amelia, what the shell are those?!” he shouted.

“O-On my back?” I replied. I then realized Weaver was still chasing me! I let go of the ground, falling down and narrowly avoiding a swinging tentacle. “I-I have no idea how to use these things!” I shouted. “I need help!”

Bryson facepalmed. “S-Seriously…?”

I chuckled nervously as I got back up and began running, my tentacles receding into my back and allowing me to focus on the only two legs I *knew* how to use. At least I was able to put them away when need be. *That* seemed easy enough.

While Weaver chased me across the central lane, Bryson chased after him, after which I saw Alex, who just stared from atop a platform, his mouth slightly agape as he watched with confusion.

Finally, Alex asked out loud, “Bryson, is this normal for you when you’re not at home?!”

“I GUESS SO?!” Bryson shouted back, firing his brella at Weaver’s back. One of the hybrid’s tentacles slammed down towards him, hitting the canopy and taking it out in one hit. A second tentacle went in for the kill, but my eyes caught the entire scene.

Alex had jumped right in there, grabbing it in his arms. “BRYSON, TAKE IT OUT!”

Ace took the spotlight instead, shooting at it from atop the tower. The tentacle quickly exploded upon being pelted with the full barrage of a Hydra Splatling, making Weaver shout in pain.

Weaver turned around to face Alex, his teeth gritted. “I’m going to tear you all apart.”

Alex and Bryson stood side-by-side. With Bryson’s brella canopy opened as a shield and with Alex’s bow aimed right over it, they made the perfect combination of attack and defense.

Alex replied, “You don’t have the guts to fight without those freakish arms.”

We all thought we’d had him surrounded. And with Ana’s teammates all staring wide-eyed at the unusual display, we thought it was going to be an easier fight. But the familiar warbling of demonic speakers broke the confidence we all had.

Ana’s Killer Wail 5.1 was firing at Ace, Alex, and Bryson with two beams each focused on them, forcing them to scatter. She cackled and shouted from afar, “Weaver, focus on your target! I’ll take care of all the trash.”

While Ana had gone in to attack Alex and Bryson, that left Weaver focused on me, but Ace was willing to try and stay on point, getting back up onto the tower and aiming at another one of Weaver’s tentacles, firing off another deadly flurry of ink.

Weaver gripped onto an orange, iron rail near the tower and tore it out of the cement with his tentacles, then quickly flung it right through Ace, making him explode into ink. “Pest…”

As I was backed up into another side lane by Weaver, I shook, staring wide-eyed. I’d bitten off more than I could chew. I should’ve stayed on the spawn point. I would’ve been safer that way.

“You’re such a stupid kid,” said Weaver as he approached me, lifted in the air by his extra appendages. “You’re too naive and you don’t deserve those things in your back! I’ve had these for years!”

“Y-Years…?!” I stuttered. “B-But why hasn’t your transformation finished?!”

Weaver tilted his head. “Hm…? Ah. You’re on the prototype serum? That would explain your confusion. Sorry, kid… I’m the perfect being here. This is my final transformation. Looks like you’ve been dealt with the imperfect serum.”

I remembered back… I remembered way back, right before I found out Henry was my brother. Ezra had said something I never had the answer for.

“We were supposed to be hybridized soldiers, capable of changing the host into any species we’re pre-marked with, but… we’re prototypes. The serum I am made up of is supposed to be the predecessor to what the octarians have now. We lacked something the new serum has.”

I’d asked her if she knew and she told me she didn’t. This must’ve been what the new serum had, an ability to stabilize and allow the victim to remain hybridized without going full octoling.

I was out of my league. I had no idea what to do. He was going to kill me!

But something about this made it so… exciting. I had these goosebumps on my arms as I was backed against the wall. I suddenly feared the worst, but not for me.

I feared the worst for Weaver.

“I’m going to destroy you once and for all,” he said to me, his eyes glaring into mine as his appendages raised up like snakes ready to bite and kill.

“N-No,” I replied, looking back at him, a familiar overwhelming me. “I’m not losing anymore.”

“And what makes you think you can take me on?!” he asked with an amused grin.

“T-Turf Madness…” I answered, grimacing in pain as two extra appendages unfolded from my back.

Ezra hadn’t steered me towards octoling DNA, I’d realized. She’d steered me towards inkling DNA. I was more tenacious, with two extra tentacles while he only had eight limbs. I could now realize the clear difference in how our tentacles looked.

His were strong, capable of punching through concrete. Mine were slender with a bulbous end, faster, and willing to lash out at anything, and they did, my appendages striking quickly, blocked by his stronger ones, but I was eager now, my extra two going right past his blocking four and gripping his neck tightly, making his eyes widen in shock.

“I’m going… to k-kill you…” I said with boiling anger in my tone of voice. “You’ve hurt too many and it has to stop!”

His hands tried to claw at the tentacles around his neck, attempting to pull them off, but he kept failing, struggling now as I lifted him off the ground. He couldn’t speak and I wasn’t going to let him. My mind was made up. I was done with being weak.

His tentacles couldn’t seem to move while I had him by the neck. It was like he’d lost control of them. Was this my weakness too? I pushed those questions to the back of my mind because it didn’t matter right now. I had this scumbag right where I wanted him.

“Do it now,” whispered Ezra. “Make him pay!”

“I plan to…” I whispered back.

Hearing Ace’s voice as he approached startled me. “Amelia…”

“Wh-What?” I muttered, looking back at him.

Ace stared in awe at the scene. “You’re not acting like you! This isn’t how we win Turf War!”

“He’s leading humans to Ana!” I shouted, my gaze intensely locked onto Weaver’s fear-filled face. “He’ll respawn anyway…”

Weaver suddenly screamed with what little air in his lungs he had, somehow forcing it through my grip, “I WON’T!”

I quickly let him back onto the ground, lessening my hold, but keeping it around his neck. “What?”

Weaver took a deep breath, looking relieved. “I-I can’t respawn. M-My DNA is too unpredictable to replicate because it’s constantly changing!”

Ace looked at Weaver, then at me, stress in his expression. “Amelia, you’re stuck in a state of Turf Madness and I can see it on your face. Don’t do something that you might regret.”

“But you don’t have a problem with Salmon Run!” I replied. “They probably don’t have spawn points!”

Ace shook his head. “I don’t have a problem with it. You do. Turf Madness makes us do things we might not normally want to do. Do you really want to kill him right here, right now? Or do you just want justice? The Amelia I fell in love with wouldn’t do something like this.”

My mind was scattered. Something in me felt seriously wrong, super broken. The cogs in my brain were trying to turn, but rust was keeping them from going. My reasoning looked for every excuse to hurt Weaver, a ny excuse. I didn’t care. “M-Maybe I’m not that Amelia anymore.”

I regretted saying that.

Ace looked hurt and my heart jumped in both panic and distress. I let go of Weaver immediately and I tried to run over to Ace, but he held up his hand, stepping back from me.

“Amelia,” he said. “That stings…”

“I-I didn’t mean it!” I blurted. “Please, I–”

Ace shook his head. “Don’t. Just… don’t, please.”

My heart broke in two, and as the final three seconds of the match ticked away, I couldn’t help but clutch my chest in grief, my tentacles receding into my back. Since that moment, I couldn’t–no, wouldn’t bring them back out. I’d pushed myself too far and I was now someone who had been willing to leave behind my old self.

After we warped to a Mako Mart match and the next battle started, I didn’t leave my spawn point. Ace went on ahead, and as he did, Bryson, seeing my wide-eyed, startled expression, tried to comfort me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, what happened? Did that guy hurt you?”

I moved away, not wanting any of it. “N-No, he didn’t. No one hurt me…”

Bryson didn’t know what had happened between Ace and I. He’d been distracted by Ana the previous match. I wanted to tell him everything, but I knew he already had enough on his plate regarding his family.

“What’s going on?” he asked. Behind his shades, his eyes were hidden, but I knew from his tone of voice that he was very worried.

“Just leave me alone, please,” I responded, feeling empty. “I just wanna be alone for a bit…”

Bryson was hesitant, but he did as asked. The glitches were eventually fixed. According to Alex, he’d managed to contact the admins about it, but something didn’t sit right with me. It felt like he wasn’t telling the entire truth but I didn’t really care anymore.

When I finally got home that night, I laid back on my bed, looking up at the bottom of Safaia’s bunk. Pineapple, the smallfry who was now part of the family, hopped up onto the bed, noticing my troubled countenance. He nestled next to my side and closed his eyes while I pet him. It was a little comforting, but it couldn’t fix the emotions brewing in my heart.

Ana and Weaver had gotten away.

I had been pushed towards the brink of my transformation and I wasn’t sure how long I had left.

And worst of all, I couldn’t help but think about how I’d hurt Ace.

 

This whole thing was a big mess.

 

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The new character, Alex, was created entirely by a very good friend of mine. They are on Instagram under the username octariancaptive. I'd post a link, but I don't know this website's stance on links to other platforms within fics.