Chereads / Squidbeak Saviors / Chapter 8 - Chapter 7: Rolling Around Town With Gustavo

Chapter 8 - Chapter 7: Rolling Around Town With Gustavo

Great work, Agent 3, said the captain as Roenaldo emerged from the boss kettle, "We may not have found the Great Zapfish yet, but at least we broke down a Great Octoweapon. I still can't believe that these Octarians were able to revive it…" As he was talking, Roenaldo noticed a faint humming in the distance. He looked towards the source of the sound to see a wall of glass bottles vibrating as an electric current traveled to them. Unable to withstand the power being transferred to them, the bottles shattered, revealing a usable launch pad. Seeing this, Cuttlefish exclaimed, "Well, would ya look at that. Defeating the Octostomp must've short-circuited that gate. Now you can Super Jump to the next Octarian island. You're sure to find many more Zapfish there!" Looking up at the now darkening sky, Roenaldo replied, "That sounds great, captain, but I think that I've had enough for today. I'll come back tomorrow when my mind is rested." The captain nodded, responding, "I see, I see. You can't splat octos without a honed mind, after all. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Rest well, Roenaldo!" With that, Roenaldo dived into the manhole and back to civilization.

Roenaldo went back to the restaurant that he went to yesterday and decided to use his saved-up money to order a helping of spaghetti with trout meatballs to go. He took the food back to his place and started to contemplate things as he slurped the pasta. "Hmm," he thought, "These Octarians seem to be pretty serious about what they do. I'll have to stay on my toes if I want to survive out there; things will probably get harder from here. It's too bad that we can't just get along; it would make life so much easier. Oh well." Once Roenaldo finished his spaghetti, he made his way to his bed, happy to finally calm his nerves after the altercation in Octo Valley.

After a refreshing rest, Roenaldo once again looked around his room, and his mind began to stir. "You know what," he said, "I'm tired of living in this bare apartment. I'm going to go and buy some furniture. I'll need to go and get some money, though…" Hoisting himself out of bed, Roenaldo prepped himself for another day. He attached his ink tank to his back, put on the clothes that he had bought yesterday, and grabbed his Splat Roller that was standing against the wall. Once again, he paid no heed to his hygiene and instead went straight towards Inkopolis.

On his way there, he saw Gustavo chatting with an Inkling boy and girl. Seeing Roenaldo coming his way, Gustavo waved at him, saying, "Mornin' Roenaldo! What have you been up to lately?" Roenaldo answered, "Oh, you know, nothing much other than me getting a Splat Roller. I feel like I'm going to enjoy using it a lot." Gustavo raised his eyebrows, responding, "Ah, so you've got a Splat Roller! You're one step closer to becoming a Roller master. Hey, why don't we do a few Turf War matches together so that I can see how well you perform?" Roenaldo nodded, replying, "Sounds good. I could use the coins, anyway." Gustavo turned towards the two other Inklings, asking, "How about you guys? Do you wanna join us?" The glasses-wearing girl nodded, saying, "Sure, we're game." Gustavo grinned, saying, "Perfect. Come on, Roenaldo, battle awaits!"

Now in the Lobby, Roenaldo and the others queued into a Turf War match and waited around for more participants to play. Soon enough, more Inklings registered for a battle, and the eight-member group stepped into the elevator and travelled to today's arena, Camp Triggerfish. There, the campsite-like terrain was made completely out of log wood, and there were flags in the background that were flapping in the wind. Roenaldo and his team got themselves ready on their respawn pad, preparing their weapons and changing their ink color to orange. "Welcome, Inklings," said the announcer, "I hope that you're ready for another ink-flinging fight! Let the battle begin!" A bugle sounded followed by the playing of upbeat, electronic music. Immediately, Roenaldo pressed his Splat Roller to the ground and began running, creating a solid line of orange. Gustavo did the same with his CoroCoro Roller, taking the path to the right of Roenaldo. As the two Rollers were moving about, the two other Inklings focused on making sure that their base was well inked before moving forward. As Roenaldo was moving, he came across an enemy, blue-haired Inkling who was holding a Splattershot. Seeing this, Roenaldo attempted to swing his weapon at the Inkling only to be met with the harsh truth: he was out of ink. Not taking into account the toll that dolling all the way to the center of the map had taken on his ink supply, Roenaldo was left defenseless as the enemy shot in his direction. Unable to avoid the spray in time, Roenaldo was very quickly splatted. As his orange ghost rose into the air, Roenaldo could see that Gustavo had come in for a revenge splat. He felt a twinge of happiness before he got sent back to his spawn point.

After getting revived, Roenaldo wasted no time in getting back in the action, and he quickly swam back through the path he had made, where he met up with Gustavo. "Here's a tip," Gustavo said, "I would make it a habit to refill your ink tank very often when you're rolling. Making a path like that takes away a lot of ink, and you never want to run dry at the wrong moment." Roenaldo nodded, replying, "Noted." He then continued rolling to the left, keeping an eye out for any other foes. He eventually came across a dup that was covering a square section next to a totem pole. Taking heed of Gustavo's advice, Roenaldo took the time to submerge in his ink before advancing on the two while their backs were turned. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Roenaldo took out the Inklings with 1 swing of his weapon, garnering a "nice work" from Gustavo. At this point, the Inkling boy on Roenaldo's team holding an ink bucket was advancing his position along a wooden bridge. Opting to help out his teammate, Roenaldo took the initiative and inked a path for the boy. Because of this positioning, Roenaldo was the 1st person to get shot at by the remaining member of the opposing team, who used her own Splat Roller to crush Roenaldo. Thankfully, Roenaldo's teammate managed to hurl enough ink at the Roller while stepping back, and she was eliminated. Roenaldo once again respawned, and he got to work painting the spots of ink that his teammates forgot to get. After he did that, he swam forward to help out Gustavo, who was inking another path to sneak into the enemy base.

As this was happening, the announcer said, "There's one minute left, folks! Make each moment count!" This message was followed by even faster music, prodding each battler to give it their all. Roenaldo and Gustavo moved in tandem, covering each other's sides as they pushed forward into enemy territory. Along with the help of the Inkling girl on their team, who was taking an upper route atop a wooden wall, the duo was able to claim a good amount of land. The enemy team noticed this commotion happening, and they focused all their attention of the two Rollers. Gustavo looked at Roenaldo, saying, "Are you ready, bud? Time to show me what you're made of! The two promptly held back a bit in order to refill their ink reserves before charging into battle. Roenaldo made full use of his swimming ability in order to maneuver the battlefield, swinging and swinging until he couldn't take it anymore. The air was a violent storm of blue and orange ink, so chaotic that the other two Inklings could not even tell what was going on. Roenaldo and Gustavo, however, were fully aware of their surroundings during the scuffle, and with their combined power they were able to decimate the competition. With 30 seconds left on the clock, the two got to work painting as much as they could. Marked by a final swing of Roenaldo's Roller, the battle had ended. "That's it," said the announcer, "Everyone, back to the Lobby!" All of the inklings did as the voice said, heading back into the elevator to find out the results.

Judd looked at the map, assessing the performance of each team. To Roenaldo's satisfaction, the map was almost completely orange. As expected, Judd deemed Roenaldo's team the winner, and they were granted their prize money. Gustavo gave Roenaldo a high-five, saying, "You were awesome, Roenaldo! You're a real natural when it comes to Rollers." Roenaldo replied, "Thanks, Gustavo, you were great too!" The boy on their team added, "Do you all want to do another one?" Everyone unanimously agreed, and they proceeded to engage in many more Turf Wars.