Entry 14: A Burn too Great

A dull thumping echoed throughout the apartment. The neighbours would have complained about it, if they didn't know just what it was about, and allowed the young man his venting out of sympathy.

Rider cursed many things over the course of the day. He cursed his luck for going up against opponents that so thoroughly outclassed him. He cursed those opponents themselves. He cursed Bangaichi. He cursed the entire damn world.

And most of all, he cursed himself, for choosing to fight a battle he should have known he'd never truly win.

He should have known better. He should have known that he wasn't Goggles. What sort of friend was he, mistaking him for someone else?

He hated that he lost, yet he hater more that losing was the only way to go forward.

His phone buzzed. Picking it up, he checked the message.

Chatlog:

Uniform: You doing alright? I can hear you from down the hall.

Ghost_Rider: Take a guess.

Uniform: Right. Stupid question. You sure you don't want to talk to someone about it?

Ghost_Rider: I just need some time.

Uniform: Alright. Just... We're here with you.

Rider allowed himself the first small smile he'd had in days. It was at least comforting to remember he wasn't the only one on this sinking ship.

Stepping away from the cracking wall, Rider dropped himself down on the bed.

Specs found himself sat by the Crust Bucket, an empty drink cup in hand. Like Rider, he was busy coming to terms with the facts that presented themselves. Unlike Rider, though, he was managing to internalise most of his grieving.

In his opinion, it was a bit more uncomfortable than punching something.

In his opinion, though, what hurt him the most was the fact that Bobble Hat and Headphones knew, and he didn't believe them. He was really hating himself for that.

"Specs?" a familiar voice called out.

Specs didn't need to turn around. He knew who it was. "Hey, Headphones," he muttered sadly. "You sound like your handling this alright."

"I'm really not," she responded. "Can I join you?"

"Sure," he replied. What reason would he have to turn her away? They grew up together, to crying out loud. Headphones sat down beside him, and Specs noticed the redness around her eyes. "You've been crying too, huh?"

"Yeah. Kinda hard not to," Headphones admitted.

Specs let out a small hmm. "How'd you learn, anyway? I don't think I asked before."

"Bobble Hat showed me," she answered. "It was... quite something. It was the day after their match with Team X-Blood, some of them had gathered to discuss how to help one of their friends' gloomy mood. There was... a certain fire to that guy. After that, I just couldn't... see him as Goggles."

"I see," Specs noted. "I think, the moment that should have sold me was when we made him angry. It was... very scary. Rider was starting to think he was being brainwashed, and that guy just... snapped. I actually thought that, for a moment, one of us wasn't going to leave in one piece." Specs turned his gaze downwards. "We... really screwed up big time, huh?"

"Yeah. We really did."

Silence fell once again. "I know... we were in the wrong. In general," Specs continued. "But... were we wrong to want him back?"

"I don't think so," she replied, "just wrong to try and force it."

"Well, you kids try not to beat yaselves up too much about it," a new, older voice spoke. "Cod knows he wouldn't."

The duo turned, to see an old Inkling dressed in a green track suit -In fact, they were fairly certain that he was wearing the Old Timey set-, and using an old Bamboozler as a cane. "I'm sorry," Specs began, "but who are you?"

"Me? Name's Craig, but most folks just call me Captain Cuttlefish," the old man responded. At that moment, Specs noticed the ink tank on his back. Was he... planning on taking part in a Turf War? A guy who didn't look a day under 100?

"Um, does that mean you know him?" Headphones asked. "Timey, I mean."

"Know him? Of course I know him!" Craig responded. "I taught him most of the things he knows, after all."

"Only... most?" Specs asked.

"Well, the rest he learnt on his own. Trial by fire, ya know?" Craig chuckled. "Kid's been through a lot, really. It's kinda surprising he hasn't gone absolutely bonkers."

Remembering the day after the first rounds, Specs fell into sombre silence again. "He must... really hate us, huh?"

"You squidding?" Craig asked incredulously. "I doubt that kid's even capable of an emotion as strong as 'hate'. I think, more than anything, he was just disappointed."

"Disappointed?" Headphones parroted.

"Yeah." Craig took a seat beside the two. "Those kids come from all wakes of life. They've dealt with things that would make most kids your age think back to the Great Turf War, yet they've pushed through, and retained the most important thing. You know what that is?" He tapped Specs on the chest. "Heart. Even that Shades lass, who constantly worried about being a jerk, held on to the compassion within. Even you kids ended up using that sort of power. Only difference was the fact that they used their drive to move forward."

"Moving forward..." Specs muttered. "I don't know... if I can."

"'Course you can!" Craig said. "Yer a cephalopod, ain't ya? You can do anything ya set your mind to." He checked the time quickly. "Ah. Best get going. Finals are about to start."

"Ah, so they are," Specs noted. "They're being held at Moray Towers, right? You got a front row seat for it?"

Craig chuckled heartedly. "Squiddo, I've got a front line spot for it."

As it turned out, he was being quite literal when he said 'front line'. As it turned out, Craig Cuttlefish had joined up with Team Bangaichi for this match, hoisting their numbers up to eight.

Specs thought it somewhat unfair to have gone for a 2 for 1 advantage over Team Idol-lescence, until said team showed up with a grand total of five more team members. Said five also happened to be the remaining members of Team Old-School Literature, including the Giant Squid known as Devil.

What had originally gone fro t 8, had just gone up t 8. Certainly a jump in numbers, to say the least.

Both teams stood centre stage at Moray, while Mesh went on her needed spiel about the match.

"So," Timey began, "you brought out the big guns."

"Well, what can we say?" Callie replied. "Thought we'd give them a chance to see a full match through. You know, to top this off."

"Don't think that quite eclipses who you've brought on to the field," Marie added. "You sure you want to do this, gramps? You're not exactly the fittest squid on the block."

"Poppy-cock!" Craig harrumphed. "Just because I'm old, ya think I'll fall behind? I've been going back and forth to Cephelon for the past month and a bit, and ya think I've not beefed up by now? 'Sides, someone has to make sure you girls are still fighting in top form, yourselves. Don't think I ain't noticed your snacking, Callie."

The Inkling in question baulked expectedly at the accusation. Over the sound of mass laughter, Devil crouched down besides Timey. "Excuse me," he said softly, "but I need to ask... Is he really the grandfather to the Squid Sisters?"

Timey made an amusing mental note of how the big guy was as polite as Basic. "He is. I've seen the photos."

"Can... can I see them?" Devil asked. Timey pulled out his phone, and displayed a classic 'picture of a picture' of the captain playing with a young Callie and Marie. "Bloody adorable," he said with a smile.

"I know," Timey agreed, putting his phone away.

"You are a lucky squid, you know," Devil continued. "Many would kill to have the sort of connections you've got."

"I'm quite aware, friend," he replied. "We've all had our fair shares of ups and downs. But, no matter what, I wouldn't trade what I have right now for anything."

"Not even world peace?"

Timey gave a curious look to Devil. "Some prices can just be too great to pay."

The conversation continued for a while, before Mesh called for both teams to head for their spawns.

"So, think you can beat us, Tee?" Callie asked. "We do have one up on you, and it's a big one."

Timey gave a confident smirk. "You sure this is all we're bringing to the table?" he asked. "Trust me, after some discussion, we have one last surprise for you."

Both leaders super jumped to their spawns, yet Timey's was slightly to the left, leading to him landing on one of the light fixtures. He raised his off hand to the sky, and with a snap...

"Hey, DJ!"

Much to the surprise -nay, shock- of Team Idol-escence, a massive floating machine appeared behind Timey. A machine known as the Octobot King II. Within the main compartment of this machine stood a fully armoured Octavio, sporting a grin to rival Timey's.

"You thought you had overkill?" Octavio shouted. "Somebody better be ready to hold my damn drink!"

"Now this is something no one would see coming!" Mesh announced. "A true, 9 v 9 match, with each team having their own damn juggernauts and heroes! This will certainly be a match for the history books, folks!" There was a set of pings from her console. "And it looks like both Marina and Bangaichi's big player, King Boom Box, have sent me their recommended music. They're... both the same song, how about that! Well, if the players want it, the players get it!" The music was set, and to the absolute hype of every Inkling and Octoling present, it was the Calamari Inkantation (Spicy mix, if you're curious). "Alright, ladies and gentle-squids... Let's get ready to Splattle!"

From the comfort of home, Octi watched the battle begin with rapt attention, as a cavalcade of emotions and thoughts swam through her mind.

So, not only was her younger brother working alongside her princess, but also her king? Who seemed more than happy to be working alongside Inklings? What was even going on in the world right now?

It was doubly confusing to see him fighting alongside THE Craig Cuttlefish. Any Octoling worth their salt water knew who Captain Cuttlefish was; he was the sort of person parents told their children about to ensure they behaved. He was a sort of boogie man, with the only difference being that Craig Cuttlefish was very much real.

Moving on from that, though, Octi couldn't help but pay close attention to the song that was playing. It was Squid Sisters, that much she knew, but it carried a tinge of Octarian to its beat, and that was without mentioning the welling feeling it was causing in her. It was... mystic, in a way.

She could see that the crowds at Moray were feeling that same energy as well. She believed she could make Specs and Headphones (if she remembered correctly) cheering along to the song, and she was sure that, at this point, they'd be feeling rather down.

The Octolings in the crowd seemed the most into it, she noticed. Was this the 'Calamari Inkantation' that she had heard so much about, then? She could get behind this, she thought.

The first four minutes passed in absolute mayhem.

To start, Captain Cuttlefish was proving himself to still be able to live up to the legends that surrounded him. While he did need longer to refill his ink tank, the simple fact was that he just couldn't get hit. For an old man, he was surprisingly agile when he wanted to be. That wasn't to say anything about his Bamboozler, either. It was an original model, so it actually managed to do more damage per shot. In short; old man outclasses them all.

Octavio, on the other hand, was more than content going one on one with Devil. The giant squid was just nimble enough to get around Octavio's big AOE attacks, and strong enough to go fist to fist with even the drill punches. Safe to say, they were both enjoying the exchange of blows they partook in.

Basic, Moni, and Ahato had taken to backing up the captain against the other member so former-team Old-School Literature. Not that the old man really needed the help, but they had to be somewhere.

And lastly, the OG quartet of Team Bangaichi were goin against the OG quartet of Team Idol-lescence. The only way it could be, after all. It was Dualies vs Dualies, Tenta Brella vs Heavy Splatling, Bloblobber vs Charger, and Squeezer vs Roller. Subs and Specials were flying left, right, up, and down. If the balance of turf control so much as tipped one way, it would quickly go back, and then forth again.

"We're coming into the final minute now, people!" Mesh announced. "I don't think I've ever seen a match as close as this! This is easily any-ones game!"

Pearl let off a grin. "Then, let's blow this stand!" she shouted, activating the Tenta Missiles Super.

Basic, noticing this, jumped back a few steps, and responded in kind. "Bring it on!" he shouted back. "I can do this too, you know!"

What followed was an onslaught of missiles that targeted all on the field. Most ended up getting splatted, and the few who didn't retreated back to spawn anyway. Those few included: Timey, Octavio, Cuttlefish, Callie, Pearl, and Devil.

"Devil!" Callie called as they landed. "Toss me to centre!"

"Roger!" he replied. The throw was akin to a super jump in its own rights, only with a greater deal of speed.

"'Tavio!" Timey shouted. "Launch me!"

"Don't die from it!" Octavio responded. When the Inkling landed on the Octobot King's fist, he launched the punch, throwing him with great velocity.

Twenty seconds on the clock. Noticing they had similar plans, Timey and Callie smirked, and activated a Splashdown each.

"It ain't done yet!" Pearl shouted, drawing forth the Princess Cannon.

"Bring the heat, squid!" Octavio shouted when he noticed the Cannon, pulling forth the in-built Killer Wail in his mech. "I'm about to drop you like a fresh beat!"

The beams collided, and unlike against Rider, these ones were closer to being evenly matched.

"Dont' count us out just yet!" Deej added, as he and the rest of Team Bangaichi pulled out either Tenta Missiles or a Sting Ray.

"Like we'll let you!" Marina responded, as she and the rest of her team did the same.

Five seconds left.

"Callie!" Timey shouted, as the two rocketed towards the ground. "I just want to say, this is the most fun I've had in a battle!"

"I hear ya, Tee!" Callie replied. "I glad this could be the finals!"

Three seconds left, and they were barely a metre from the ground.

"Callie! I just need to say..."

"Just gonna put this out there, Tee..!"

One second, and the Splashdowns land.

"I love you!"

The buzzer sounded.

"And that's that, folk!" Mesh spoke. "Dunno what those two splat birds were shouting about over all that chaos, but my Cod, what a finale! We... actually can't make an educated guess as to who won! The Judges are finishing their calculations as we speak. Who will walk home with a wish in the bank?!"

A drum roll could be heard from somewhere. "Our winners, the first champions of the Square Jokers Cup is... Team Idol-escence! By one blooming point!"

Cheers erupted throughout the area. Most were not too surprised to see that Team Bangaichi was also cheering Team Idol-escence's win.

Many were envious, though, to see Timey and Callie having a celebratory hug down in centre stage, or Ahato and Kashimi doing the same. Or the smooches Marie was giving to Shades and Moni, much to their embarrassment.

But that was none of their concern.

"So, with all that said and done," Mesh continued, "I am proud to announce that the Square Jokers Tournament is now, officially, over!"

Callie and Marie found themselves walking down a particularly familiar part of town. It was the day following the finals, and they -as the defacto leaders of their team- were to head to a certain location for this whole 'wish granting' shebang.

Said location, as it turned out, was GrizzCo. Somehow, no one was surprised that this whole situation involved GrizzCo.

"About time you showed up, champs," the bear statue known as Mr Grizz said. "Thought you'd've shown up yesterday."

"Yeah, well, we were celebrating then," Callie responded. "So what gives? Why go through all this trouble?"

"Gotta see what you kids are willing to put on the line," Mr Grizz answered. "I was interested to see who had the drive to get what they wanted; what lengths people would go to, and for what."

"So, what? This was a test of character?" Marie asked. "And what if the winner wanted something... immoral? What would you have done?"

"Depends on whether I could grant it," he replied, and the Squid Sisters were positive he would have shrugged at this point. "There's only so much a guy like me can do. I can't, for instance, raise the dead."

"Figures," Callie muttered. "Kinda feel sad for Rider, now, all things considered."

"With you on that one," Grizz added. "Now, what will it be?"

"Don't suppose 'world peace' is on the table?" Marie asked, to be met with silence. "Figures. In that case, we may as well blow it on that question, then."

"You wanna know if it is possible to revive the dead?" Grizz asked. "You sure you wanna blow it on that? The moment I answer, that'll be the end of this. No refunds. And don't think I'll be doing too many of these tourneys."

"We talked it over with everyone," Callie answered. "Realising we didn't exactly have any personal need for it, we thought it would either be this, or a banquet." There was a brief pause. "You know, a banquet does sound nice, though."

"Callie, you're forgetting that we're basically loaded," Marie interrupted. "We could just have one all our own."

Grizz let out a sigh. "So, will that be you're wish, then? An answer to whether it's possible to actually bring the dead back?" The Squid Sisters nodded in response. "Alright, then. The answer is... Yes. A way does exist. However, knowledge of it is beyond me."

"Yeah, go figure," Marie muttered. "Well, it's over now, so whatever. Let's bounce, Callie."

"Right behind you, Marie!" Callie shouted, as the duo left.

Mr Grizz was left sitting (presumably. He is a wood carved bear, after all) by himself. "Interesting kids," he muttered. "Well, guess that's Cuttlefish's line for ya."

The following day, Rider found himself staking out the back alleys of Inkopolis. After a good while, he had finally decided that he had enough sulking, and felt the need to seek something out.

In particular, he needed to seek out that hooded man, and learn just what his endgame was. He had alluded to his own agenda when he gave him those weapons, after all, and Rider doubted it actually had to do with Bangaichi.

As turned around the next corner, though, he was met with a figure that was distinctly not the same as the one from a few days ago.

This new person was a male Inkling, if he could guess correctly (they were standing in the shadows, and it was rather cloudy today), dressed in some odd pair of headphones, heavy jacket, and runners. He was also wearing what Rider thought was a cape of some kind.

"If you're looking for your weapons broker," the Inkling spoke, "then he's already been arrested."

"What, he been on your radar for a while?" Rider asked, feeling ever so slightly peeved that he didn't get the chance to get some more answers.

"Only a few weeks," came the reply. "Considering he was outed for forging contracts and creating illegal weaponry, the only place for Khan Sharkfin is behind bars."

Sharkfin? That guy was the one who gave him those weapons. "So, that means his agenda was against the Squid Sisters?"

"In essence," he responded.

"So, does that mean you're Squidlock Holmes?" Rider asked. "I'll be honest, you looked taller last time you showed up."

The Inkling chuckled lightly. Rider noticed that it was a distinctly familiar chuckle. "No. That was a few associates of mine, done for the sake of anonymity. You can just call me Agent Three, though."

Agent Three? That was... odd, to say the least. "You sure you should be revealing that fact to me?"

"It'll be fine," Three answered. "Besides, who would believe something like 'secret agents', anyway?"

"Fair point, I guess." Rider fell silent for a moment. "I'm guessing... that you know about the things I did recently?" Agent Three nodded. "Then... what do you think? Was it... wrong for me to want him back?"

The agent was silent for a moment. "Suppose I'll answer that question with a question," he said. "Tell me, Rider, what lines would you be willing to cross?" Rider looked at the agent in confusion. "Would you sacrifice someone for the sake of another? Sacrifice one to save five, or five to save one? I want to know where you draw those lines."

"The trolley dilemma?" Rider confirmed. He was familiar with the thought experiment. "I... I'm not sure I can safely answer that, given recent events. I'd like to say I'd save the five, but..."

Something told Rider that Agent Three was currently smiling patiently. "The fact that you hesitate still means you're a good person," he said. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be selfish every now and then." He held a hand up, stopping Rider from trying to argue. "To open yourself up to others is to bring the risk of pain. To gain, one must be ready to lose. Sad as it is, that's just how life is."

Rider let out a sigh. "Sucks, is what it does."

Agent Three chuckled. "Yes. It does." Silence fell, before he continued. "Something you might like to know, though: There is still the possibility to bring him back."

Rider looked surprised. "What? How?!"

"We don't know," Three responded. "Our source could only confirm a way existed. What it is, though, is anyone's guess."

"And I'm guessing it doesn't involve Timey?"

"Depends," Three responded. "You could always ask him for help."

"I somehow doubt he'd be willing to help a guy like me."

"You never know," came the rather coy reply. "Well, I should get going. Got to keep some semblance of a social life going."

"Wait!" Rider called. "What am I suppose to do with this information?"

"Whatever you want, really," Three shrugged. "Just don't mistake anyone else for your friend, yeah? The odds of Inklings looking alike are 1/588, after all."

And with that, the agent had jumped away. Rider was certainly left confused, but, in a way, he had a little bit of hope again.

"Yo, T-dog!" Deej shouted. "What took ya so long?"

"Sorry!" Timey called, readjusting his lab coat. "I just had some loose ends to tie up."

"Geez, that just typical of you," Shades muttered. "Just can't leave things for later, can you?"

"Well, he wouldn't be Timey otherwise," Kashimi stated. "Would he really be him if he wasn't trying to do so much?"

"Yeah. Guess you're right, Eigh... er, Kashimi," Shades corrected herself. "Cod, I still can't get use to that."

"Right with ya on that one," Deej agreed. "So, we ready to get this show on the road?"

"Yeah," Timey replied. "It's been a while since we were this stress-free. It's kinda nice."

"What do you mean, kinda?" Shades asked incredulously, flicking Timey on the nose. "For once in the past one to two years, none of us have any baggage. The only one I'm still up in the air about this is Deej, but he's far too positive for his own good."

"Damn right I am."

Timey let off a calm chuckle. "Alright, alright. You've made your point," he said.

Kashimi giggled at the exchange. "You know, we're really looking like more of a team now," she said. "Back then, we were more just a group that feigned cooperation and friendship, and look at us now."

A smile was shared amongst the team. "Yeah, we've come a long way in the past few months," Timey said. "And we'll go further yet." The four members of Team Bangaichi turned to face the lobby. "Watch out, world, 'cause here we come!"

As the day kicked off, the train pulled into the station, and a lone Octoling took her first nervous steps towards a new future.

You Know The Name:

Despite it all, I'm still me.

Although we fought, we were still taught.

And haven't you heard? We're Bangaichi!

A/N:

Ooooh man. Here we are, at the end for this story.

Of course, that doesn't quite mean I'm done with these characters (I mean, I did post The Splatocalypse Cometh before this), but this part of their lives now has a neat little bow on it.

I'm sure it's a surprise that our favourite idols actually won the finals, and the reason for that really boils down to the fact that I subverted things before by defeating Rider in the semis, so might as well go the whole hog.

Besides, win or lose, there were no real stakes involved aside from having fun.

For now, though, I'd like to mention the 'what could have been's of this story. Y'know, for fun.

First and foremost, would be the fact that Timey and Shades were originally not going to be Agents Three and Four. Instead, they were just going to be Eighter/Kashimi's named team mates. Agent Four was still going to have that whole 'racist' problem to her, and Agent Three was still a nice dude, but they were not related to Bangaichi. They were quickly merged into being the same characters not long after the first part.

Next was pairing Timey/Agent Three up with Marina. Strong stance, I know. After some time, though, I felt Timey worked best being paired with Callie. The entire basis for a Timey x Marina relationship would have tied back into that hospital incident from early on, and lead into Timey helping Marina get a footing in Inkopolis. On the subject of Marina, though, those reading this on AO3 probably noticed I removed the Marina/Pearl tag. This was mostly because, if I didn't, it would have just been there for click-bait. I would have ended up doing next to nothing with it, so why claim it was there? Pearl was kinda more of supporting cast in this story, anyway (not to say I don't like her, but Team Order FTW).

Next up, and I've probably already mentioned this, was Basic. He was originally just a throwaway character, before being put on Bangaichi to basically (ha) keep the squid/gender balance of the team. Afterwards, he kinda spiralled into his own thing.

At one point, I even considered making Timey/Agent Three actually being Goggles, believe it or not. The way this would have been was a falling out between him and Specs, caused by Specs wanting to focus more on the professional aspects of Splat Battles, and Goggles just wanting to have fun, leading to the disbanding of Team Blue. This was scraped rather quickly, as I just wanted Timey to be his own character.

I'm pretty sure the only character to stay true to original plans was Deej. He may have only been a supporting main character, but damn if he wasn't one of the best boys.

Heck, even Tartar wasn't in the original plan. I decided to add him in mostly because 'redeeming villains' is a trope I like very much. And besides, who wouldn't see the best in society by being in the head of someone like Timey?

Next will have to be the inclusion of Moni. As I pressed forward, I felt I couldn't properly portray Shades as some who's actively racist, outside of the few instances in early chapters. So, I made it her backstory. As for the team she was on, Old-School Literature, that part wasn't set in stone. Teams Old-School Literature and Arland were both kind of throw away team names I drew from a hat (as were the rest of them, sans X-Blood), and a basically flipped a coin as to which team she was on.

Finally, the last thing I'll cover is the finals. It was originally going to be the climactic Bangaichi vs Sunlight-Yellow-Green, and ending with Timey making good on that threat of winning by three points. Was going to top it off with a good old 'say my name' scene.

And so, we'll end this off here. While Strangers Like Them has concluded, the tales that are the Heart of Matters shall continue.

Allons'y!