Chapter 8 - Lost in Thought

I just don’t understand how they could buy into something like that?! Callie didn’t actually say anything! ‘Hey you’re strong! Help us out!’ Like what? With what? Doing what? You don’t accept an offer like that without knowing what it is!

Mavi’s breath shudders as she tries to relax herself. It doesn’t work very well. And then she had the audacity to say yes FOR me! I was to dumbfounded to reject the offer outright, and they took my silence as compliance! In Nora’s case, I’d bet that’s exactly what happened, but Quinn? He seems smarter than that. Maybe the Captain had a better sales pitch, that’s the only thing that makes sense. He proba-

“Mavi! Down!” someone shouts. She ducks into a side roll without thinking. A yellow-inked splatana slash passes through the space she was just in. Wordlessly, she levels the barrel of her classic custom jet squelcher at the octoling boy desperately turning to face her. Two shots and a direct hit from a burst bomb leave a puddle of purple ink where the enemy octoling was.

Mavi shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts to focus on the game. Get it together girl, you’re in the middle of a turf battle, not the time to be thinking about poor arguments. Zone control, jet squelcher, Lusca, Asari, Tim. Focus. She looks around for her teammate. “Thanks!” She calls out, hoping whoever it was would respond.

“Don’t mention it!” comes Lusca’s usual sarcastic drawl, “Though paying attention would make things easier for both of us!”

“Right!” Mavi shouts back. She paints a nearby wall before swimming up it for better vantage. Currently, they had control of the zone, they only needed to hold it for under a minute to win. From her newly raised position, she can see the enemy making a rush for the left side of the zone. Alright, there’s the carbon roller, looks like Tim’s dealing with him. Glooga dualies flanking on the side…

Mavi moves to intercept them from her range before Asari practically flies in from a side corridor, and rips through them with her octo brush. She violently rips the brush upward, creating a long, thin trail of ink. Without ever breaking stride, she drops into the new line, swimming forward to recover ink.

Mavi has always been impressed by Asari’s fighting style. Where she herself tended to play safe and strategic, Asari wielded a octobrush like it was a dynamo roller. She put incredible power behind her vertical swings, effectively turning the melee usual melee attack into a charger blast. Over the years, she’d gotten quite good with her aim. The only downside was how much ink she used, only able to attack four times before running out ink, a weakness she mitigated this with a full set of ink recovery gear.

Damn, she’s good. Mavi continues forward, scanning the battlefield. Lusca’s keeping the zone in control with his aerospray, ah! The splatana’s moving on the left. She fires some shots into the zone as she moves, the purple ink from her shots covering yellow, undoing the carbon roller’s recent work. Before she can make it to Asari to ward off the splatana, Mavi hears the distinctive beep of a Kensa Charger.

For a moment, Mavi’s standing on a grate, brella disintegrating in her hand. The weight of four glares freeze her to the spot for a second. Mavi shakes her head to try and get back into the game.

Asari bursts, hit by the shot. I should have stopped that Mavi chides in her mind. She’s moving again, tracing the shot back to the charger, but her mind isn’t keeping pace with her body. That charger wasn’t normal… I’ve seen modded weapons before, nothing should be that strong. And it looked identical to a normal charger too! Mavi watches as the enemy charger, an octoling girl, moves slightly to get a better shot at Lusca, Mavi moves faster. I shouldn’t be surprised the Squid Sisters are capable of getting something like that, they’ve made more money this year than I’ll ever see in my life. What other things could they have? Obviously they have the secret grate line, I don’t imagine that was easy to get…

As the charger lines up their shot, Mavi lines up her own. She’s less accurate while running, but she doesn’t need to splat them here. She fires, and the first 2 shots go wide. The third, however hits, and causes the charger to panic, missing her shot. A yellow ink trail lands harmlessly next to Lusca, he glances around for a second before looking back and giving Mavi a thumbs up. A quick trip up the nearby wall and 3 more shots takes the charger out of play for several seconds.

You can’t panic like that, it will always lead to disaster. Dad taught me that early. She sweeps the area from her new vantage while shooting into the zone to re-cover ground. *Did the Squid Sisters learn something similar? I can’t imagine they didn’t, being trained by the Legendary Captain Cuttlefish, a squid with actual wartime experience.

Mavi scans the battlefield, thoughtlessly firing a couple shots into the zone for more coverage. I guess they have actual war experience too. Dad wasn’t a slouch but he was just a turf fighter. I only learned all this to get close to him, they learned because they had to.

The timer freezes, 32 seconds left. She hops down from the perch as the enemy take control of the zone. She fires into the now-hostile zone, landing a few hits on the carbon roller in the distance, but not enough to spat him.

It makes sense why the Zapfish wasn’t that big of a deal on the news. They’re the ones who were saving it! Things wouldn’t go well if it was revealed just how exactly the zapfish went missing, it’d be a political nightmare.

Mavi catches movement on a raised platform behind her. She subtly flips back and swims up an inked wall, towards the movement. Once she’s near the top of the wall, she waits a moment, before rolling her way up, squelcher barrel aimed steady using both hands. She expected to find the charger, instead she meets the barrels a pair of glooga dualies aimed right at her.

Mavi’s a “Gah!” of panic echoes right alongside the octoling boy’s “Ahe!” of alarm. Mavi’s reflexes are faster, she hurls a burst bomb right at his feet, which makes contact the moment before he starts shooting. Mavi falls forward, swapping to swim form in the last second, narrowly dodging most the dualies’ fire, only catching two stray hits to her shoulder.

She swims to the edge of her ink puddle, and jumps out of it landing in the enemy ink, out of his line of sight for a brief moment. She’s re-leveled the barrel of her squelcher before he makes eye contact with her again. He’s splatted before he can pull either trigger. She quickly aims a 4th shot down, under her feet to clear the foreign ink below her.

Come to think of it, it makes sense why Quinn is as strong as he is. He trained under both of them AND the captain! That’s not even accounting for the fact that HE’S fought a war too!

She takes a moment to breath as she reanalyzes the battle field, shooting to cover any pockets of yellow she can see. They’d retaken control of the zones but had an annoying 40 seconds stapled onto their timer. Asari’s off to her left, flinging so much paint from her brush you’d think she was using a full sized roller. Lusca’s to her right, aggressively painting turf while smoothly dodging around charger fire. She can’t see him around a corner, but the distinct sound of Tim’s slosher covering ground in the zone.

I wonder how I’d stack up to them in a straight fight? I only beat Quinn with a desperate last second trick, I doubt I’d win an actual fi-

“Mavi!” Asari hollers. Mavi quickly looks left, expecting that her friend is calling for help. Instead, the distinctive thud of a superjump lands behind her. Mavi swings around in a panic, burst bomb in hand, but she meets the front end of a splatana wiper swinging right at her.

A few seconds later, Mavi respawns. She runs forward on auto pilot, her mind left wheeling even further behind. How didn’t I see the damn marker!? Punishing a reckless superjump is the most simple turf skill in the book!

Fish Food had maintained control of the Zone. All they needed was to hold it for less than 30 seconds, not that Mavi was counting. She rounds a corner, squelcher mindlessly aimed in front of her. Pure instinct sends her back around the corner after a charger beep sounds. It fires a moment later, not at her. Mavi peeks around the corner again.

Tim desperately hops between a decreasing number of purple ink puddles. The charger doesn’t give him a moment of rest, firing as soon as the beep sounds. Tim can barely passively recover enough ink to slosh another puddle every few shots.

There’s no way I could measure up to any of the fighters trained by the Captain.

She brings the barrel of her jet squelcher to bear, steadying her aim as she prepares to jump around the corner. In her off hand she grabs a burst bomb.

I’ve only got turf training… incomplete training at that. I couldn’t hope to help them, not really.

She slides around the corner. “Burst!” she shouts, tossing the burst bomb into the enemy ink near Tim. He jumps towards the bomb before it’s even landed. Mavi levels her squelcher at the charger, now bomb-free hand quickly steadying her aim, as 4 rapid shots make quick work of the charger.

Even with full turf training I don’t think I’d measure up. They’re just too far ahead of me.

Tim remains submerged for a few moments longer, recovering his ink. The battle is 20 seconds from ending. “Thanks for the save!” He calls, already creating a path back to the central zone for one final stand. Mavi doesn’t respond beyond an absent nod. She paints and swims up a nearby wall, a few seconds of running place her in an uncontested nook with easy access to a corner of the zone.

Mechanically, she aims and fires into the zone. The regular thrum of her squelcher a comforting background rhythm to her thoughts. I don’t get it though. Why invite me *to join? I’m probably more capable than the average squid, sure, but I’m not military! I know how to dodge common roller attack patterns, not rescue national assets!

Her ink tank hits half empty, she drops into squid form, quickly recovering the ink. She changes back and continues shooting.

How exactly have they kept something this big a secret though? They weren’t the news casters the second time the zapfish went missing. That was Off the Hook. They were more worried about… Callie’s disappearance.

Ink tank half empty, she drops to fill it again. She reforms, and resumes firing.

Just how much power do these people have exactly? Enough power to have one member of the most famous idol group in the country ‘go missing’ for YEARS to cover up another national scandal.

That’s gotta be why she was uncomfortable when they were talking about it. I can’t imagine she was happy about having to duck out of all the different things she had going on.

She drops to squid form. Ink recovered, she pops back up and shoots again.

*That brings it back to me though. If they have the power to do that, why are they so worried about one squid blowing their cover? If they have the power to blindside the entire general public, surely they could shut me up before I let their secrets spill.

The match end whistle sounds, she doesn’t hear it. Drop, refill, reform, fire.

*Unless they’re not that strong. Maybe they paid Off the Hook to downplay it, they’ve got more than enough money to do that. They probably invited me out of desperation to cover up. Like, ‘Yeah! Oopsie! We have a secret military that saved the country! You can’t tell anyone though! I know, what if you were part of it? That way if it goes down you go down with it!’

Drop, refill, reform, fire. Her grip on the handle of her squelcher tightens.

That makes the most sense actually. There’s a lot of stuff they still haven’t told me. Instead of answers the decided to try and butter me up. Appeal to my sense of justice, compliment my abilities. Pepper in just enough threats throughout to try and intimidate me into submission.

Drop, refill, reform, fire. Her grip tightens further.

‘We’re probably the strongest fighters in all Inkadia.’ ‘Wow you beat Quinn?!’ ‘We’ve been trained by the most legendary war hero our country has!’ Yeah. And you nearly killed me for stumbling across your little hideout after I was INVITED.

Her knuckles are practically turning white as she grips the squelcher. She moves to drop back into squid form, tank at half ink, before she feels something on her shoulder.

Mavi’s hands move faster than she can think, empty hand finding a burst bomb. In one fluid spin, Mavi twists around her left to punch whoever’s behind her, burst bomb poised to burst on contact.

The punch lands. The bomb bursts, and an “Fuck, shit!” rings out from the target. Mavi can see Lusca desperately pulling his parka off, neon red ink staining it around the right shoulder. He quickly turns back to her after tossing it aside.

“Mavi! Breathe!” He demands with the most serious tone Mavi’s ever heard from him.

His tone shocks her, she’s following his instructions before she can give it a second thought. Suddenly, she feels very light headed. She’d been hyperventilating. Slowly she looks towards her hand, seeing the death grip on the squelcher she’s still not let go of. Numbly she tries to release it, she can’t.

“Breathe!” Lusca demands again. “Match me!” He begins taking exaggerated breaths, moving his hands in slow, deliberate movements in time with his breathing. Slowly, Mavi gets her breathing under control. Only after some time does she recognize the streaks of red ink that line Lusca’s face as.

Finally, her hand lets go of the squelcher, it clatters to the ground with no ceremony. Slowly, Mavi turns behind her, at the field where she’d been inking.

The entire corner of the zone, and all the turf adjacent to it glow the same candy red. A circle, matching the range of her squelcher, all almost 100% evenly coated in the red of rage.

“O-oh!” Mavi sputters. “I- I d-do, I- I don’t-”

A very gentle hand on her shoulder cuts off her thoughts. “Let’s head back,” Lusca states very gently. His other hand subtly wipes at the ink on his face.

Mavi just nods.

===

Mavi sat with her back against her temporary locker. She wasn’t thinking, not really. She had changed out of her turf gear, again back into a simple long sleeve shirt and pants. She hadn’t put on her jacket yet.

Absentmindedly, she massages her jaw, she had clenched it so tight it was still sore 20 minutes later. After a few minutes of kinda-sorta getting herself under control, she climbs to her feet, and makes her way to the door back into the map’s lobby.

As she exits the locker room, she can see her friends waiting across the lobby. Lusca’s lanky form is casually leaned against a wall, his arms folded over his chest. His parka has been cleaned off and redonned. Asari stands beside him, looking decidedly less casual. She towers over him, at 6’3”. She’s very broad, strong despite her rounder figure. She’s rough, gruff, tuff, and one of the most steadfastly loyal people Mavi knows.

As Mavi moves closer, she can overhear their conversation.

“Dude, she overrode an Huelock!” Asari insists.

“Yeah. Whatever’s bothering her isn’t pretty. I haven’t seen her this upset since we helped her move out years ago.”

“Are we supposed to just sit on the side while she practically boils in anger?” she demands.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Lusca admits with a shrug and a frown. “It’s not fun, but I’m not about to go sorting through her personal life. You know Mavi, She’ll ask for help when she needs it.”

Asari grunts. “I don’t like it.”

“Me neither, but it’s not our place to pry. If she need…”

Mavi walks towards the vending machines, moving to far to be able to hear her friends. Great, now I’ve worried my friends too. She deposits her coins, and punches in the code a little too hard, enough that her fingers hurt for few moments after. She takes a steadying breath before leaning over to grab her drink. She puts her jacket back on, sliding the drink into a pocket.

She turns back to her friends. Lusca’s spotted her, he offers a lazy wave and an easy smile. Mavi shuffles over.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Lusca asks as she approaches.

“I’ve… calmed down,” Comes Mavi’s hesitant reply.

“Good to hear.”

The silence stretches between them. “Where’s Tim?” Mavi asks.

“He’s changing too, should be out in a moment.”

The silence continues.

Asari cuts through the tension with the grace of a sledge hammer through glass. “Mavi, what’s going on.” Lusca sends her a scowl.

Mavi doesn’t respond, opting to look away instead.

“I’ve only ever seen you that mad once before, and that was–”

She’s cut off by Mavi’s sudden glare and harsh tone. “It isn’t like that.”

“Hey, breathe.” Lusca calls from her side. “Your ink was bright red.” Mavi looks away again. “Clearly something’s bothering you. What’s going on?”

There’s that phrase again. “what’s bothering you?” The same thing she had said to Nora. It’s like the world is mocking me for trying to help my friend. “I… it’s… I can’t tell you, sorry.”

Asari and Lusca share a look. “Alright,” Lusca says gently. “But you remember we’re still here. We’re not just your goofy friends you know, we can help if you need it.”

Mavi nods weekly. “m’ Sorry I punched you with a burst bomb.” she mumbles.

“Yeah, what was up with that?” Asari asks. “You moved so fast I wasn’t entirely sure what happened.

Mavi sheepishly looks away, “I-I was startled. I didn’t k-know who was behind m-me so I just kinda reacted.”

“With one hell of a punch too!” Lusca adds, playfully clutching his shoulder. “Your instincts are crazy!”

“We-Well I have b-been practicing since I was 4!”

Asari barks out a laugh, placing one of her fists on her hip.

“What’s so funny?” Tim pops up beside Asari. He’d changed into his work uniform.

“Ah, it’s nothing.” Asari assures with a chuckle.

“Wait Tim, I thought we were going to do turf for the afternoon, why are you dressed for work?”

“Well, I figured since you’re, uh, done for the day, I’ll head out too. I was scheduled for the evening anyway, but I’ll just show up early and get the evening off instead.”

Mavi casts her glance towards Lusca and Asari. “Then what are you guys doing?”

Lusca pushes himself off the wall, and stretches his arms over his head. “Rex and his group are gonna split after a few more rounds. We’ll join up with him and Sam when they do.”

“That makes sense,” Mavi pauses for a few moments. “Man, I haven’t done a match with Sam in a while!”

“Well he did only just get back into town.” Tim answers.

The group makes light conversation for a few minutes, before a chime plays over the lobby’s speakers.

“That’s the bus, we’ll catch you guys around.” Tim calls as he walks away. “Yeah,” Mavi echoes. “Umm, thanks for, not… making a big deal about this.”

Lusca just shrugs. “Happens. No one got hurt so it’s fine in the end. Though you may want to get a handle on whatever’s going on before you play more.”

Mavi nods, “I’ll have this under control soon. See you guys around.” Lusca and Asari wave as Mavi jogs slightly to catch up with Tim.

As the two pass through the doors, they’re met with a crowd of inkfish, who rode in on the bus. Mavi and Tim move to the side of the crowd as they continue forward. They board the bus back to Decca tower without much fanfare, a few others join them. Mavi slides in the window seat, Tim sits next to her.

“Any reason you didn’t use your brella today?” He asks once they’d gotten settled in.

It’s broken. She thinks. That damn charger BROKE the shield. “I’ve been needing practice with my secondary. Done too many brella matches recently.

“Ah, yeah. Honestly, good call, I’m more rusty with my slosher than I thought.”

Mavi nods, her mind trying to drag her back into her thoughts. Tim, pulls a pair of Cephallo pods out of his backpack, and sets them in his ears.

Mavi sighs, and slouches against the bus window. Her mind somehow still on the meeting, more specifically her “invitations”. Internally, she whispered bitter nothings as she half-unwillingly ran through everything that happened again. ‘Oh, I’ve always wanted to do this!’ Callie’s voice echoes through her mind. Her thoughts freeze. She’d initially just brushed that line aside. The more she thought about it though…

Mavi feels a sudden cold as realization dawns. *She was genuinely excited to invite me. Oh my cod.

Mavi quickly ran through the entire encounter again in her head. ‘Who sent you?’ Nora didn’t tell them I was coming. I couldn’t have gotten there if I wasn’t following her. They might have thought I… That doesn’t justify nearly killing me but makes more sense. And then Nora ran towards Marie to stop her, she probably hurt her leg doing that, and she didn’t say a word about it.

Nora wouldn’t pity invite me. She’s not like that.

Mavi’s mind continued to race through the encounter. *The introductions… Nora’s interrogation…. Clover. What was Clover doing in the background? I only noticed her a few times, I was too busy watching, Callie, Marie, and Nora. Ok, she was looking between Me and Nora, then she went to Quinn, then to Callie. That was right as Quinn stood up for…

Mavi’s eyes widen as the realization strikes her again. Clover convinced them to vouch for me.

Even Callie’s awful sales pitches were earnest. The Captain recruited Quinn and I assume Clover, Marie recruited Nora, I have no idea about Agents 5 and 6, but I’d wager it wasn’t Callie. It seems like she really just wanted to invite someone…

The invites weren’t pity. They weren’t a ploy, or a coverup. The were honest.

The bus pulls to a stop, jolting Mavi from her thoughts. A moment later, she and Tim shuffle off with the rest of the crowd back into Deca tower.

“Good luck with sorting your stuff out,” He says once they’re out of the mass of inkfish.

“Hmm? Yeah you too.” It takes Mavi a moment. “Ah! I-I mean, enjoy y-your evening off!”

Tim chuckles and waves as he walks out of the tower.

Mavi sighs and finds an empty bench to sit on. Try as she might, she can’t be mad at the group anymore. It’s fair to keep their secrets, they don’t even know me. Honestly, its a wonder I got as much information as I did.

As she rests, she lays her hand against her pocket, bumping into the can of soda in the process. She doesn’t pay much attention as she pulls it out and opens it. The flavor of orange Squish greets her a few moments later.

But why me though? I’ve not gotten to train under the captain like they have…“ Finally, at that moment, Mavi’s brain makes the connection. Quinn only trained under the captain after he joined. Nora only trained under Marie after she joined. She groans as she holds her head in her hands. Her embarrassment at taking that long to figure out something so obvious threatened to cause physical harm.

Mavi sits and thinks for a while, but unsurprisingly doesn’t come to a conclusion. Ultimately, she walks out of Deca tower more conflicted than ever.

===

When she woke up the next morning she hadn’t made any further progress. She decides to eat a bowl of cereal in an attempt to avoid Tiara’s poking. Luckily for her it works, though they both know the that it is a temporary thing.

She opted to go out and walk. Mavi didn’t have anything to do today, and it sure beat an interrogation from her sister. Out she went with no real destination, mind unrelenting all the while.

An hour later, and the only progress she’s made is cardio. Frustrated, she stops her way down a side street, weaving around slowly forming crowds. Her thoughts bounce around the inside of her head like a game of breakout.

It’s kind of obvious isn’t it?

There’s another person in this equation.

Me, I’m not accounting for myself.

And yet…

I don’t know why I still want to join!

Her thoughts still for a moment. That was it. That was why she couldn’t just drop this stupid offer. At least is was the start of something. If she could just figure out why she wanted to join… . . . . Easier said then done I suppose.

Well, why NOT join?

Really?

But what do I want?

None of those things were MY dreams. They were goals, sure, but where is MY dream in that list?

Yes! Turfing was my fathers! The band is my sisters! Where is MINE?

I… don’t know.

Mavi looks around. She’s in the Plaza, near the entrance to of Inkopolis Tower. She looks at the ground. In front of her is a grate. The grate. She stares at down it, her thoughts truely silent for the first time in days.

Eventually though, she pulls back, and starts walking away. No, I couldn’t. I don’t know the way. Yeah, I couldn’t get there on my own. She continues walking, still no real destination in mind.

Mavi was finally of one mind as she thought. My dream…? I… I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever really had a dream. Not since I was a little kid at least. After dad died I just… existed for a while. And then it was the drive to move out and establish myself… and it’s been nothing since. I’ve just been existing again. That thought holds in her mind. It’s not an easy thing for her to come to grips with. She wasn’t miserable, there were parts of her life she enjoyed a lot. But was that enough?

Is it enough to be just ok? Can I live ‘good enough’ and be happy with that?

Before she can come to a conclusion, her thoughts are interrupted by the growl of her stomach. Her sudden onset of hunger was enough to break her train of thought. Mavi sighs and looks around. She’d wondered into the square. She was lucky with her timing, too much longer and the place would be swarming with hungry turf players. She glances around, considering her options. The thought of eating something right now is not one she wants to entertain. Still, doesn’t mean I can’t do anything about it, she thinks as she works her way into to Deca tower.

Stepping inside, Mavi quickly makes her way to the attached café. With most of the morning turf crowd is out playing right now, its quick work to get through the line. A few minutes after walking in Mavi finds herself sitting on a stool along the bar on the back wall, a warm cup of tea in her hand. Immediately behind the shelf-style table she’s propped on is a window outlooking the square. Mavi’s eyes filter over different parts of the scene without really processing any of it. She rests her head in her hands as she stares.

A few minutes in, her blank staring is interrupted by a voice to her right.

“Eh, you look a bit lost there mate.”

Startled, Mavi turns to look. One seat to her right, sits a very tall urchin. His orange skin starkly contrasts the large afro of purple spikes on top of his head. A white and black striped poncho covers most of his chest. A tuft of spike hair covers one of his bright green eyes.

“Spyke?” Mavi asks, not having expected to run into anyone, much less someone she knew.

“’S Me love, ow’re you Mavi. Been a minute.” He says with an easy smile, spinning his stool to meet her.

“Hey! Good to see you! I Wasn’t expecting to see, well, anybody today.” She sets her cup down after taking another quick sip.

“Surprise then, ’ere I am.” He says with a shrug and an easy smile. “Ow’s ya gear been? Keepin up wif it, yeah?”

“Oh! I had to get some new pieces when they ruled out some of those old chunks. Still have the gear though.”

“Real shame innit? I ’emmber elpin ya make those when you only just started really playin turf. Ow’s Murch been treatin ya? He’s a bit mild but got a good ’ead on his shoulders.”

“I’ve umm.. I actually started doing my own chunks, back when the recalls happened. I… wanted to keep the old chunks for myself,” she tepidly admits.

Spyke’s face lights up with a smile. “Atta Girl Mavi! Good on ya mate. I can getcha in contact wif some people if ya want ink for ’em.” He reaches into a backpack up on the counter. After a few moments of fishing around, he pulls out a business card, and passes it to Mavi. “Don’t tell no one ’bout them, yeah?”

“O-of course!” Mavi quickly pulls out her wallet, and slides the card inside. “What have you been up to now that you’re not pulling chunks anymore.”

“Well, I took tha money all you blokes gave me, and I’m goin ta Inkblot wif it! ’M In class right now actually.” He gestures to his laptop.

“Ah! I’m so sorry to distract you!” Mavi quickly panics.

“Love, I started talkin’ ta you. I’s nofing I’ve not heard before, I’ve more skill wif fabric than that ol’ bag anyhow.”

“Are you studying fashion?” she eagerly asks.

“Easier to break tha rules once ya know ’em.” He says with another shrug and a self assured smile.

“The rules of fashion?”

“Them’s the ones. How bout you Mavi, what’ve you been up ta? Aside from illegally modifin gear and all.”

” All the gear I-I use is turf legal I’ll have you know!” Mavi insists. Spyke just gives her a lazy smile. “I’ve been, alright I guess. I work at the Squid Sisters merch shop, and that, that’s fine.” She trails off, the argument with herself rom earlier echoes in her head.

Where’s MY dream?

Spyke just watches for her several moments, easy smile on his face, content to let her mind turn.

“Was it hard?” Mavi asks a few moments later, her voice small.

“Hmm?” He asks, leaning in slightly.

“To-to go for something you wanted to do, e-even if what you had at the moment was good enough?” She finishes, voice not more than a whisper

“Mmm, lil’ bit, not to lie. School ain’t exactly a party, yeah? Don’t regret it though, if that’s what’cer askin.”

A few seconds of silence pass before Mavi speaks up again. “A friend i-introduced me to a group of people, they… run a… service. The introduction was t-tense, but once we got past that, they were nice. They… invited me to join them, it took me d-days to even realize their offer was genuine. I-I don’t know what to do…”

“Ah, caught ’tween doin somethin new or stickin wif what’s safe?” He raises an eyebrow as he asks. Mavi’s bashful nod tells more than she thinks it does.

Spyke leans back in his chair, finger tapping against his chin thoughtfully. “This group, do ya like tha people innit?”

“I-I think I do. Even if I don’t know t-them that well,” she admits.

“Mmm… d’ya not wanta do what they’re doin?” Spyke asks.

“It’s not that… It’d take t-training but I’m ok with doing it,” she answers.

“What’s stoppin ya from sayin yes then?”

Mavi is silent for almost a full minute. She looks down into her lap as she thinks. “I’ve got a good life.” She quietly confesses, voice slow, like she’s forcing herself to say it. “I’ve got a job I like, friends I trust and can play turf with. A sister who loves me and includes me in her projects.”

Spyke doesn’t say anything, electing instead to watch as Mavi fights with herself, a neutral look on his face.

After another minute Mavi continues, voice even softer. “I should be happy. Its everything we dreamed of when we were kids.” Mavi’s fists ball. “I love what I have, I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but I’m not content with my life.” She looks up at Spyke. “I was resigned to it.”

Spyke’s face splits with a smile that’s equal parts smug, proud, and happy. “Sounds to me like ya already know wot ya want mate.”

Mavi smiles as she nods.

===

That night, Mavi sits on her bed. Her room was dark. The only source of light was spilling in from under her door. It had been a week since she was invited to join the New Squidbeak Splatoon. She had spent that week at war with herself.

At first she was so firmly set on her gut reaction’s “no” that it took her days to even realize she was hesitating. Why couldn’t she just make the sensible choice? Joining a paramilitary group couldn’t be a good idea. It was dangerous, stupid even. But for some reason the question remained with her.

The light in the hallway clicks off. The now engulfing darkness is broken only by the light from the numbers on her alarm clock alongside the faint glow of the moon through her closed curtains. And the screen of a smartphone.

Mavi sits on her bed, her phone held in her hand, she stares down at its bright screen.

Once she’d broken and acknowledged that the question wasn’t as easy as she thought, she had become angry. Why would they invite her? It had to be because she knew their secrets. You don’t go through all the lengths of hiding a group like that to let some random squid who finds it walk away free. It had to be a coverup, or pity, it had to be. Only to realize that it wasn’t. They were genuine in their invitation, in their compliments. Callie’s excitement, Clover’s efforts to invite her, Quinn’s conviction, how Nora ran forward for her despite her leg. Even Marie’s easy quips were genuine in their ease.

Mavi had received a text from Asari a few hours after her meeting with Spyke. It simply read “Noras phone broke”.

Mavi sits on her bed, the phone held in her hand open to Clover’s contact page.

But why her? Surely there’d be someone better for the job. She only had informal turf training from her dad, and not even complete training at that. Surely that wasn’t anything compared to those who trained under THE Captain Cuttlefish. How could they even consider her? It was only when she stopped being angry that she realized the truly unfair standards she was holding herself to. And despite that, as much as she would hesitate to admit it, she was capable in her own right.

Mavi’s gaze slowly slid over to the brella that had saved her life. It sat propped up against the wall. She could see along its side where several of the prongs that would hold the shield were bent wrong. Some were snapped completely. Bits of the shield still clung to the edges of some of the prongs.

Mavi sits on her bed, the phone held in her hand. Her fingers rest overtop of an empty text field.

Why did she even want to join? She had everything she could want for in her life. Everything but a purpose. Everything she had done up that point had been either necessity or someone else’s dream. Even if she enjoyed everything that she did, it wasn’t enough. Until she received an invitation from some friends. She didn’t have to simply resign herself to existence, she could do something, something she wanted to.

Nothing else in her room stands out. There’s no other motion, nothing else to stare at. No other distractions. I was just her.

Mavi sits on her bed, phone in her hand, she doesn’t watch as her fingers slowly dance across the screen.

Ultimately, she had realized, she was scared. Scared to lose what she currently had by trying to take more. By trying to be herself. She could just live with what she has now, and in the end she’d die not bemoaning an awful life. But could she live with herself until then, knowing she wants to do more, but actively deciding not to? How could she ever hope to lead a fulfilling life when she actively stops herself from seeking out the joy she so deeply desires. In the end, Mavi knew what she wanted. She knew from the beginning. She wanted to do something herself, to BE herself. She knew what she wanted, and for the first time since her childhood, Mavi acts on it.

Mavi sits on her bed. She no longer holds her phone, instead it rests on the bed beside her. The screen still glows, on it, a single text, stark against the otherwise blank screen.

I’ll do it