Ethan rolled through the ersatz Blackbelly Skatepark in one of Octo Valley’s mini-domes - the same one where he had that brush with death two years ago.
The arena was remarkably well-preserved, if only because it wasn’t exposed to the elements, and the layer of dust that coated it wasn’t particularly dense, either. But with limited power, the dome was only dimly lit. Not that it was much of a problem for Ethan, he was good at seeing in low light.
He stopped at a corner, imagining his enemy’s next move. He waited, and swung the roller around the corner, splatting an imaginary Octoling soldier.
This was part of his personal ‘image training’, recreating the battle that had nearly gotten him killed. Not ideal, but without the real thing to practice against, it wasn’t like he had other options.
He took deep breaths. One last ‘enemy’ left, and without ‘losing any lives’ this time. His best run yet. Now for the most problematic foe, who always managed to get the drop on him.
He rolled forward, eyes closed, headed towards the goal.
To his left.
He swung, finally catching his enemy mid-pounce, and-
Someone tackled him from the right, pinning him down on his back. “You know, handsome, you need to be more aware of your real enemies rather than imaginary ones.”
His hearts went into overdrive and his eyes widened. It was happening again. And Ayane wasn’t here to save him this time.
“Are… Are you… Oh cod!” The Octoling who pinned him suddenly scrambled off of him, her playful expression changing to concerned in an instant. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise that would give you a panic attack!”
Ethan looked her over. It was Marino. But she was wearing a heavily modified version of her old Octarian armour, recoloured pink and white, under a grey jumpsuit, and her goggles were over her forehead rather than her eyes. And she wasn’t armed.
Marino put a hand on his chest, “calm down. Breathe. It’s okay, nobody’s going to hurt you. Especially not me.”
He took deep breaths. His hearbeat slowed, and his mind stopped racing.
Ethan sat up. “Marino… What are you doing here?”
Marino stood up, stretching as she looked out towards the fake sky, turning away from him. “I come here sometimes to reminisce. I didn’t know you were actually doing image training here, though. So when I saw you, I decided to try and pounce you, since I have my own hidden respawn point set up out here in the Valley. I didn’t realise you still had trauma over that. Again, sorry.”
Ethan had only met Marino two times before. The first time didn’t give him much of an opportunity to think about her aside from the fact that she was going to kill him. Last time, it turned out she was actually a nice person, and looked really pretty in that dress.
Now, though, with that skintight outfit… Oh boy.
“You have a fantastic ass.”
Ethan immediately covered his mouth with both hands. Somehow he had blurted out what he had been thinking.
Marino looked over her shoulder at him, initially looking bewildered, but then she burst out laughing. When her laughter died down, she shook her hips a bit, smirking, “why thank you, Agent 3. Never thought I’d have my ass complimented by my old enemy, but that works for me~”
He had been entirely honest there. Marino had curves for days. Her armour covered her chest, but those shorts and the bodysuit left little to the imagination regarding her hips, butt and thighs, and he was not found wanting by any means.
Ethan got back up onto his feet. He decided to roll with it. “I didn’t know the Octarians recruited supermodels as elites.”
“Where’s all the flattery coming from? I’m not just a pretty face, you know,” said Marino as she turned towards him. “You’re not bad on the eyes, yourself. You’ve been working out a lot more since we first met.”
“Well, gotta stay fit now that I’m a part-time agent,” Ethan grinned, flexing a bicep.
“So this is the legendary Agent 3, huh? Well, I want a rematch,” said Marino, pressing her finger against his chest, “since you’re not some scared rookie anymore. Your partner cheap-shotted me, after all. I want a solid one-on-one fight this time.”
“I’m down for that, but this place won’t do. I’ve got somewhere better in mind…”
“Hey, Koji, could you help me with something in the bathroom?” Orion asked.
It was after school, and the boys were getting ready in their dorm to head out. Koji blinked, “oh, sure, why?”
“It’s… private. Only something you’ve got experience with.”
Koji seemed to nod knowingly, and followed Orion into the bathroom, closing the door behind them.
“What was all that about?” Axl wondered out loud, as he finished getting dressed and sat down at the table.
“Got some ideas on what that might be, I guess,” said Liam as he also sat down. “Might as well wait for them, hopefully it shouldn’t take too long.”
“So. ‘Boss’. I noticed you’ve got an explosive temper.”
Liam took a deep breath and sighed. “Yeah. Can’t deny that. Problem I’ve had since I was a kid, dunno how it started, but my parents started taking me to a child psychologist when it started getting bad. Been working on trying to channel my anger so I don’t lash out at people. I’m… Not always good at it.”
“Good thing you’ve got Koji to temper it, then.”
“Before Koji, it was Karlene. It’s why we didn’t get along for a while until this whole agent business - she got sick of my squit. I really don’t blame her, especially after she transitioned.”
That last part gave Axl pause. “Wait, Karlene is-”
“-a trans girl? Yeah. I guess you wouldn’t have known,” said Liam. “I don’t have anything against her for transitioning, honestly, I’m happy she figured herself out and is happier for it. But my friend seemingly disappearing and being visually replaced by someone else didn’t help my issues at all. I’m just glad Koji was patient enough to stick by me.”
“How did you two meet?”
“Believe it or not, it was because Koji was being bullied by some bigger kids. Koji was kinda like Ori at the time, a bit shy and way more unsure of himself than he was now. I guess if there’s one thing anger helped me get good at, it’s beating the carp outta people. I just saw a kid who was being beaten up for no good reason, and I sent those jerks packing. Next thing I know, Koji and I started hanging out so he wouldn’t be bullied again, and I helped him come out of his shell more. When I’d start getting angry, he’d grab my arm. Now he’s more overt about telling me to calm down, and I listen.”
“Sounds like you two are pretty good for each other,” Axl smiled.
Liam chuckled. “Funny thing is, as it happens, Koji is also-”
“Uh, hey, how do I look?”
Axl turned towards the pair leaving the bathroom.
Orion’s hairstyle and eyelashes had changed, and he was looking rather nervous. Axl realised that he now looked almost identical to his sister. “Oh. Um… You look cute. Also you look like your sister.”
“Yeah, I told you he’d say that, Ori,” Koji chuckled, “you need something more unique to stand out.”
“Should ask I what exactly going on?” Axl asked, realising his broken Inkling a bit too late.
“Ever since I was part of Leviathan, I realised I wanted to try being more… Feminine,” said Orion. “Though I don’t feel like I want to be a girl? If anything I felt more physically whole when I was Leviathan. It’s hard to explain, I guess.”
“Ori, it’s okay. You’ve got all the time in the world to figure yourself out, whether you want to be a guy, a girl, or anything in-between,” Koji said, putting his hand on Orion’s shoulder. “You can talk to me about your feelings whenever you need to.”
“Yeah, as I was about to tell you… Koji’s a trans dude. It’s partly why he was being bullied, it was before he transitioned and he was dressing like a guy,” said Liam.
“Huh. Never would’ve guessed,” said Axl, looking over Koji.
“Physical therapy. We can transform, dude, our bodies are fairly malleable for the most part,” Koji chuckled. “Sure, it’s not perfect, but I’m pretty happy with my body as it is now. I owe a lot to Liam for helping me become who I really am.”
“’Who you really are’, huh?” Axl muttered, looking at his hand. He watched it shift before his very eyes, as he took on the forms of everyone he knew in quick succession, before he returned to his original look. “All I know for sure is my name. When I can be anyone… Am I still my own person? I think this is just the look I’ve settled on as ‘me’. But is it really ‘me’?”
“Ooof, shapeshifter identity issues, huh?” Liam winced. “I’m not sure any one of us knows exactly how you feel there. But, uh… We’ll do our best to help you figure it out.”
“Let’s start with what we know you are - you are Axl, you are Agent 7, and you’re our friend,” Koji smiled. “And that’s not gonna change. Think of that as your anchor point for your identity.”
Orion nodded enthusiastically.
Axl mulled it over, internalising those facts in his mind. It wasn’t much, but it had struck a chord in his head. He could work with that.
The smile and the nod he gave his friends was enough to reassure them that their words had indeed sunken in.
Ethan had taken Marino to one of the Splatoon’s new training facilities, since she was already basically in the know and he felt she could be trusted. Besides, might as well have more people help put the facility through its paces now that it was actually finished.
Marino whistled, looking out from the observation room. “Wow, this is really impressive stuff. Even the most elite Octoling troops don’t get training facilities like these. Did my sis help design this?”
“Yep, I don’t quite understand how it all works myself, but from what I do understand it’s basically based heavily on Octarian tech but taken even further. Marina made something similar for the ‘Shifty Stations’ she designs for Splatfests,” said Ethan as he previewed some layouts on a nearby computer. “The whole thing will automatically come apart and reassemble into whatever design we want. Observe!”
He changed the layout to an approximate simulacrum of Blackbelly Skatepark, and pressed the apply button. The whole stage began to disassemble into its component block parts, starting from the outer circumference until the whole stage was basically gone, and then it began reassembling into the new specified layout. The process took only a few minutes, and was mesmerising to watch.
“You have no idea how lucky and privileged you guys are,” Marino said.
“Believe me, we kinda do,” said Ethan. “Alright, all we need to do next is to sync the respawn points to our teams and we’ll be good to go. On on one, three lives each, first person to lose all of their lives loses. That good with you?”
“Sounds perfect,” Marino smiled, “I’m going to absolutely enjoy this.”
Last time he had been panicking, scared out of his wits by the unexpected scenario, respawn point out of power and having foolishly split off from Ayane because they had decided they were getting in each other’s way. The most terrifying experience of his whole life - one that he had decided he never wanted to repeat, and he had been training his butt off to make sure of that.
But this was different. As familiar as this was, the respawn point’s reassuring hum kept him from panicking. It was still powered, and he knew at the back of his mind there was a backup in the observation room if something went wrong, and the dual green lights to his right indicated that was still working just fine. And even then, he could just super-jump to safety.
But fleeing was the last thing on his mind right now. He felt excited. Exhilarated. Sure, this was basically a regular competitive ink battle, but fighting such a capable opponent ignited something inside him that, in the last two years, only Ayane, Axl and a few others had inspired in him.
He had always been something of a battle junkie. But when few opponents can really challenge him… The fire had mostly gone out. Now it was back with a vengeance.
He raced towards the midpoint, Hero Roller Replica in hand. Fortunately, he had splatted Marino twice as well. It all came down to this, and he was here for it.
Marino was sitting on the edge of the tower, her goggles over her eyes and an Octo Shot in one hand. She did a cheeky little wave as she spotted his approach. Trying to sneak up on her was a futile effort, she had already covered the surrounding area with her ink. So he sent a curling bomb ahead of his advance, and the moment she was in range, he swung a vertical strike, to cover the tower and to hit her, but she flipped back and out of sight.
Oh, no. He wasn’t falling for that trick again. He had already chased her and splattered the top of the tower once, only for her to be hanging from the ledge opposite from him and flipped up right after he had swung, splatting him immediately.
He started painting his side of the tower, before racing around to the left to the other side, refilling his ink as he went, watching the top carefully.
But she wasn’t on the other side.
“Nice try!” Marino taunted, standing on the wall of the right side alley on her side of the map, spraying ink down onto him before tossing a Splat Bomb. When did she get over there?!
Thinking quickly, Ethan dashed over to the ramp over near the alley, taking cover behind the bumper and fully refilling. This section was where she had the advantage, with her speed and agility, she could ambush him from anywhere.
He advanced cautiously, checking his corners. She wasn’t up high, so… He took note of the short wall in the half-pipe, pulled out a curling bomb, and sent it right past the wall… Timed to explode just as it passed.
Marino flipped right over on top of the wall as the bomb exploded, hurling another Splat Bomb right at his position.
If he tried to escape, he’d lose her. So he rushed her with a horizontal swing instead, knowing he’d be right in her sights.
She leaped back, spraying ink at him, hitting him a couple of times as she disappeared from sight, though his ink had splattered her body as well.
If he stopped here, she’d disappear and this chase would happen all over again. But if he gave chase, she’d have the perfect ambush opportunity. She’d nail him if he went right at her. So he had to try and mix up his movement instead.
He splattered the half-pipe around the wall with ink, swam right up it, and launched himself off the half-pipe with as much force as he could muster, moving diagonally.
The instant he saw her, he swung.
Marino’s aim tracking was just barely off. There was a brief look of panic on her face before she was splatted.
He heard the whistle go off as he landed, followed by the victory theme. He was panting and covered in sweat and ink. He won. He had actually won.
He super-jumped back to the observation room, roller over his shoulder as he walked in. He saw Marino sitting on a chair near the respawn pad, goggles raised. “Gotta say, that was a close fight.”
Marino chuckled, standing up and walking over to him. “You beat me fair and square. Congratulations. You really have improved since we first met.”
“Well, I have you to thank for giving me the motivation to really improve, so… Thanks,” Ethan said, as Marino came up right up in his face. “Uh… So what do I wi-”
She planted a kiss right on his lips, hands on the sides of his face.
Ethan’s eyes widened, but he didn’t resist, instead reciprocating and leaning into the slow, sensual lip-lock. He was just going to enjoy this while it lasted.
After a good minute of kissing, Marino pulled away, with a smirk. “I’m not your first, am I?”
“Ayane and I used to date. It didn’t work out,” said Ethan, face flushed, but he was smiling regardless.
“Well. Too bad for her, and lucky for me.”
Ethan blinked. “I don’t get what you mean.”
“Geez, you’re kinda dense when it comes to anything other than fighting,” Marino shook her head with a chuckle. “Lemme make this simple. Wanna go out sometime?”
Oh.
Ooooooooooohhhhh.
He grinned, “it would be my pleasure.”
“Good~! Let’s exchange numbers.”
They did so. And when they did, well… Marino immediately goosed him, before walking out. “Call me later so we can make plans, handsome. I’m thinking a nice cafe or something. Later~”
“Uh… That’d be nice!” Ethan said, completely red in the face.
Oh boy. Ooooooooohhhhh boy.
He didn’t know if he was more nervous about fighting Marino or dating her, now.
Axl wasn’t sure how the girls would react to Orion looking feminine when they met up at the Square.
Any worries he had were immediately assuaged by the fact that Artemis, Iris and Hinata immediately squealed and crowded around Orion when they saw and recognised him, though it did make him very flustered.
“Oh my gosh you’re adorable!” Hinata said, “you and Artemis look like you could almost be twins!”
Iris nodded, “yes, I thought he was a second Artemis for a moment there! I was so confused…”
“I know, right?!” Artemis stood side by side her brother, “I don’t know what brought this on but it works really well!”
“Well, I still need to figure out my own look,” Orion mumbled, looking down at the ground, shifting awkwardly. “Koji helped me with this, but he said I was just copying Artemis.”
“I mean, using your own sister for a reference point isn’t a bad idea in this case, it obviously worked,” Koji said.
“There’s no rush to do that,” Axl said, putting a hand on Orion’s shoulder, reassuringly (or at least trying to). “We’ll figure out what works for you as we go. You’re only just figuring this out.”
Karlene had been staring with an open jaw the whole time, but she closed it and came over to Orion, “so you’re thinking of transitioning, then?”
“Well… Maybe? I’m not sure if I want to stop being a guy,” Orion said, rubbing his arm. “Ever since I was part of Leviathan, I just felt like I should try out being more feminine… And also I felt like Leviathan’s body had something I felt like I had been missing all my life. Just not sure what, exactly…”
“I totally understand. I’ve been where you are, when I wasn’t sure of who I wanted to be,” said Karlene, taking his hand. “If you want to talk to me about anything, I’ll do my best to listen when I can.”
“Thanks, Karlene,” Orion nodded.
“We’ll figure out what style suits you best. For now, just get used to having a feminine look. No need to do everything at once.”
Axl smiled. Maybe this whole thing might work out after all.
“Hey, Karlene…” Liam stepped up, “this is pretty overdue, but… Sorry. For making you put up with my anger issues. I wasn’t being fair to you, and, well, we were supposed to be…”
Karlene blinked, and then chuckled, “bros? Yeah, I know. I guess it wasn’t fair for me to just abandon you, either.”
“Just because you’re a girl now doesn’t mean we can’t still be bros.”
That actually got Karlene to laugh. “I don’t think that makes sense, but I get what you’re trying to say. Sure. We can still be rivals, but I’m happy to be your friend again.”
Liam smiled softly, “thanks, Karlene.”
Yep. Things were definitely looking up.
X rubbed his chin. “I didn’t realise a fusion might inspire that kind of realisation in someone, but it make a surprising amount of sense. Orion’s true gender identity might actually end up being some form of intersex.”
“Hey, good for him,” Pearl said.
They were all at the Outpost once again, meeting up after another round of ink battles for the day. Ayane personally didn’t care what gender Orion wanted to be, it was entirely his choice and she’d respect it.
But there was something else that was very much occupying her mind right now.
“Where the shell is Ethan? He’s late,” Ayane grumbled.
“Maybe he got held up at Octo Valley?” Artemis suggested. “Or maybe he got jumped…”
“If something happened to him, we’d know,” said Marie. “But yes, he is oddly tardy.”
Ethan suddenly popped out of the manhole, looking rather awkward. “Hey, everyone, sorry I’m late. One thing lead to another, and some stuff happened…”
Ayane’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t be vague, Ethan.”
“Okay, okay, I ran into Marino at the fake skatepark in Octo Valley, turns out we were both there to reminisce. Then she challenged me to a proper one-on-one fight, and now, uh… Well, I did win, so that’s nice…”
“Ethan, there’s something else you’re omitting from your story.”
Ethan bit his lower lip. “Ah hah… I’m now dating Marino.”
“WHAT?!” There was an immediate uproar from everyone else present.
Ayane was just flabbergasted. Ethan, dating Marino all of a sudden?! How did this happen?!
“You’re going to be my brother in law?!” Marina squeaked.
Everyone stared at her, bewildered.
Pearl said, “I think that’s a rather premature thing to say, ‘Rina…”
“Sorry. Panicked. Just blurted out the first thing that somehow came to mind,” Marina said, blushing.
As everyone else crowded around Ethan asking questions, Ayane just sat there, trying to process the notion in her head.
And she wasn’t sure she liked it one bit.
