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That damn roller.
That damn roller!
How in the SHELL was he doing that? That blasted, infuriating stupid player with his STUPID Dynamo Roller. They ensured that their shots were perfectly accurate, they could easily pick off the opposition without much issue from their perches. But that roller… They could swear that they even shot them looks after barely dodging their shots.
That mothershucking, detritus-eating grinning, piece of carp roller!
He was recognizable anywhere in the Adults’ Ranked League. They didn’t see him every match, but it was just barely enough for them to remember his stupid smiling face. His stupid crooked smile he shot their way, as he wiped out their teammates, as they picked off HIS teammates.
They snorted and took a quick look around their surroundings. No one seemed to be flanking, and Gooey, their .52 gal, was advancing on the Rainmaker. They took one more look around the immediate area. Urchin Underpass was especially open for flanking. With held breath, they advanced forward to their next area, close to the safety of their teammates. Besides, they didn’t want to stay perched forever. What were they, an Eliter? They weren’t THAT arrogant and elitist. They were a ZF-Charger, for shuck’s sake! And they didn’t even need to use scope, heh.
It should be absolutely zero issue splatting that coddamn Dynamo Roller. They were normally slow, big, hulking targets, weighed down by their hubris.
Gooey was charging forward, like she always does. Fortunately, having a .52 gal made it slightly less of a horrible habit. Katzumi had the Rainmaker, tailing behind Gooey and Seltzie. They would act as the guard behind them, if anything happened. They had their Splash Wall and Triple Inkstrike fully ready, just in case. They were getting closer to the second checkpoint.
They held back a gleeful grin. Hah! First win against this team in Ranked, finally. And Rainmaker, no less! There was only a few dozen feet left between them and the capture point. Gooey and Seltzie were shouting for Katzumi to charge forward, despite them getting splatted almost immediately. Katzumi turned and looked at them. They nodded, as if to silently reassure him.
They’ve got their back. They’ve got this in the bag. They were so close. They were so –
–SPLAT!!–
…
…
Katzumi aloofly walked with his hands relaxed and behind his head. Gooey slurped loudly on her boba drink. “I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal. Even if they beat us usually, we’re still cracked enough to hold our own in this rank,” Katzumi said.
Contrary to Katzumi’s demeanor, they were FUMING. They let their guard down again, and got their team a Wipeout because they weren’t alert enough. Just when they thought they were about to get the final checkpoint with the Rainmaker, only for that damn roller to get them from behind. “He got me again. I cost us the match.” They said.
Katzumi flipped a stray tentacle out of his line of sight. “Nah, it’s not you. But that guy is totally getting your tentacles twisted.”
“Because he always dodges my shots! ” They growled.
Seltzie came back with more drinks for the rest of his teammates. “I got some Dr. Kelp. Want some?” He asked.
“No.” They hissed. Seltzie shrugged and sipped at his, passing the extra drink to Gooey to slurp loudly some more.
“Well, what’s he doing to dodge?” Katzumi asked them.
They growled in frustration. “I don’t know, that’s the thing! I don’t know his gear specs, and it always just feels like he just knows and reacts before I can take the shot.”
“Hm. Maybe Haunt?” Katzumi suggested.
“No, because he needs to actually get sniped by me first for that to work?”
“Thermal Ink?” Seltzie tried.
“It’s definitely not that.”
Gooey continued slurping. Their eye twitched at the slurping. Before she finally spoke, “Why don’t you just go and ask him?”
They glared at their teammate. “You tell me where the shell he’d be in this City, then?!”
Gooey smirked at their teammate. “Doesn’t that team hang out around Hagglefish?” She casually said. They looked at her like they wanted to pop her head open and pick her brain manually.
“H-how– what– how?!” They spluttered, eyes nearly bugging out.
“Dude, I follow them all on Blueslime.” Gooey laughed, patting her pants pocket.
They huffed and gripped at their jacket, to avoid squeezing their tentacles. They needed to be aware, vigilant. Mindfulness only further honed their focus. It might not have been a Ranked Match, but they needed to stay focused. Eyes on the prize, or something like that.
They recognized that Octoling anywhere. The Dynamo Roller that infuriated them to no end was across the street from them, shopping bags in tow. It was now or never. Steel yourself and find his secret.
Just what were his gear specs?
They closed the distance between them. Their voice sharper than intended, they barked out to the Octoling. “Hey!”
The man in question looked at them with surprise on his face, seemingly recognizing them instantly. “Oh! It’s you!” He said, before offering them a hearty smile. “Good games yesterday!”
“You.” They said, glaring at him with scrutiny. “You… you…”
“Okea.” He corrected them. “That’s my name. I’m Okea. And you are?”
They ignored him and approached him even further. “How are you dodging my shots?” Just what is he doing to react so quickly? The question bit at them incessantly.
“Oh, that?” Oh, that? They thought incredulously at him. “...huh. Didn’t think you’d come see me all the way over here just for that.”
“What do you even mean by that?” They said angrily.
Okea looked away for a moment, feigning innocence, clearly. “Oh, well… uh. Y’know… y’know.” He said, smiling.
Their eyes narrowed at him. “Know what?!” They squawked at him.
“...y’know.” He said.
“Don’t be cryptic with me!! This is serious!” They hissed at him, baring their fangs at him.
He laughed and avoided their sharp gaze. He shifted his groceries to one arm and crossed his arms. “Hey, hey, no need to get your tentacles twisted! Here, I gotta reach the stop so I can catch the shuttle boat home. Walk with me?” They obliged their despicable rival and followed him as the two made their way through crowds of Inklings and Jellyfish.
Okea sighed and continued. “Look, I’m not… I’m not really… er… I can’t really just give away my Gear’s specs, y’know? I’m not that type of man.” He explained. “I don’t… I don’t even know you all that well.”
“Does that really matter to you?” They asked. “We’re rivals and we’ve had our battles more times than I can count.”
“You, I– I’m your rival?” Okea asked. Why did he look surprised? Why was he smiling at that? He frustrated them to no end, and they hated being out of the loop for anything.
“Stop smiling.” They hissed again. That only made the Octoling laugh, for some reason.
“Okay, okay!” He said, not stopping his smiling. He turned his attention to them again. “I don’t give away my secrets so easily, y’know? And I don’t give them away to just anyone, either. You wanna beat me in our Ranked Matches? Then we oughta get to know each other first.”
They didn’t stop glaring at them.
“Know your enemy, or somethin’ like that.” Okea added. They just glared at him more… before conceding. He had a point. And… getting to know more about Okea, the roller , would mean that they could beat him in maybe even more than just Rainmaker. One step closer to getting his gear specs, one step closer to finally beating him. And maybe… one step closer to even knowing his team’s specs, too.
He was challenging them, and they weren’t backing down from a challenge. Not from him.
“Alright, fine.”
“Hah, awesome.” Okea chirped, before looking behind him and spotting the shuttle boat approaching them down the road. “Wanna meet up here again? Hagglefish actually has some pretty cool shops when it’s not opened up for Turf or Ranked.”
“Fine. We’ll meet here again.” They said. Okea gave them a friendly smile and wave goodbye before stepping onto the shuttle boat.
They huffed irritably, and took out their shellphone. They sent Seltzie a text to come pick them up. Almost immediately after, they got a text from Gooey, asking them for the deets. …and then immediately spammed smirking emojis as soon as they did. They rolled their eyes and typed back ‘stfu’ to them. They got a heart emoji back from her, and they sighed.
It wasn’t their fault why he was so weird and smiley.
There was no shucking way.
How did they even get into this situation in the first place…?
They sighed and looked at Okea again. He gazed back at them with nothing but admiration in his eyes. That smirk of his and those warm eyes. Neptune below, he was so annoying. …and they loved how annoying he was. He was adorable.
Their hands touched another on the table, and their ink color shifted to a matching magenta.
…how long ago even was that first encounter?
He gently squeezed their hand and they couldn’t help themself but giggle a little as they sipped at their drink little by little.
Okea Octariana was strong; strong enough physically to heave up three different kinds of Dynamo Rollers (and them), and strong-hearted as well. Strong enough and patient to wait until they realized why he had invited them to spend time together in the first place. Strong enough to realize he wasn’t happy on his team… strong enough to join theirs. Katzumi was fine with giving him his previous spot on the team, to their surprise…
They might be a little blind, but Okea loved them, and his presence helped them be a little less wound-up. He really, really didn’t mind it. He was a fearsome roller, too. A formidable wall and backup to when they didn’t feel secure in matches, and he was a surprisingly good flanker, too. Said Octoling boyfriend giggled next and played footsies under the table with them. Their smile widened, despite everything, and played back with him as they enjoyed their lunch together.
…they really did wish that he’d stop wearing those ugly all-Intensify Action crocs, though.