Once again, Roenaldo was dirtied up, being covered in leaves, dust, and all. He did not feel like going all the way back to his house to take another shower nor did we want to look for another wet wipe, so he decided to head to a public bathroom in the back of town to get a quick rinse with a faucet. After doing that, he took his new Carbon Roller and made his way to the Lobby, where he registered himself for a Ranked Battle. Once he had confirmed his decision, he waited for some more Inklings to join him before they all were transported to the battle grounds.
Now in the urban area of Arowana Mall, Roenaldo and the others stood in their base as a different announcer, female announcer said, "Welcome, everyone, to another Ranked Battle! You goal here is to carry the Rainmaker to the other side of the map. Best of luck to both teams!" After that introduction, a pleasant chime played, and the contestants proceeded forward. Like in the training room, Roenaldo was very satisfied with the speed of his tool; he glided across the floor like butter on a pan. In no time at all, he was at the center of the outdoor mall where a golden replica of a dragon head was sitting. Encasing the object was an electric force field, causing Roenaldo to say, "Oh, they have shields up here, too? Well, I guess they break the same way…" Knowing this, he flicked his Carbon Roller up and down repeatedly, flinging orange ink at the protective layer as he did so. Although the process took longer than he would've liked, he eventually shattered the electric shield, revealing the Rainmaker for him to grab. Once he picked up the item, he immediately felt a jolt of energy flow through him as of he were struck by lightning. Rather than feeling in pain, he instead felt immensely empowered, experiencing the same sensation he felt whenever he activated a special. He laughed with pleasure and said, "Woah-ho! Insane power, just like that? I like it!" Distracted by the benefits of the Rainmaker, Roenaldo failed to realize that he had fallen into a trap. An Inklings girl with a brush weapon had actually reached the middle area before Roenaldo, and she showed no hesitation in jumping out from the cover of a decorative tree and slapping Roenaldo into oblivion. As his ghost rose into the air, Roenaldo saw the girl repeatedly whack the remade shield of the dropped Rainmaker, with another member of the enemy team coming to assist.
"Darn," said Roenaldo as he reappeared at his base, "I was wondering where my opponents were. I can't be tricked like that." He pressed his Carbon Roller to the ground before continuing, "Doesn't matter. I'll run down that girl and splat her faster than she can think!" With that, he ran as fast as he could to the point where he was eliminated. Once he got there, he saw that the Rainmaker carrier was making her way to his base. He appeared in front of the enemy squid, saying, "Oh no you don't!" He rolled as fast as he could towards the girl, hoping to crush her on one go. Unfortunately, this was not the case, and Roenaldo simply bounced off his foe. As Roenaldo gasped in disbelief, his slightly-damaged enemy narrowed her eyes, shook the Rainmaker, and aimed at her assaulter. This caused a giant blue ink whirlwind to emerge from the mouth of the weapon, and Roenaldo was caught right in the middle of it. In a matter of milliseconds, his body was ripped to shreds; a giant splotch of blue was all that was left of him. Thankfully, as Roenaldo's spirit returned to its safe place, one of his teammates had picked off his foe with a long-ranged weapon.
"Okay," said Roenaldo as his body returned to him, "Note to self: rolling doesn't work with this weapon. I guess that's the downside of being lightweight…" He shook his head and said, "Whatever, that doesn't matter to me. I don't need to use this Carbon Roller if I can get my hands on that Rainmaker!" Rushing over to the spot where his teammates splatted the enemy squid, Roenaldo looked eagerly for where the Rainmaker had dropped only to find that the shield had already been broken and that one of his teammates was holding the ultimate weapon. "Hey," he said with disappointment, "I wanted to—" He paused mid sentence. Although he was desperate to get an upgrade from his weak Roller, he knew that it would be unfair to strip away the privilege of wielding the Rainmaker away from his own teammate; he was more mature than that. "Actually," he said, "Never mind. Do what you were doing." The Rainmaker-holding boy shrugged before making his way for the enemy's base. As for Roenaldo, he rolled alongside his teammates, hoping to at least cover some ground during the match.
While Roenaldo did end up winning the fight, he did not feel good doing it. Due to the lackluster power of his Carbon Roller, he was unsure of how to engage the enemy, and was thus forced to take more of a backseat role, prompting his teammates to get th victory for him. Roenaldo shook his head and thought to himself, "Hmm, I'm pretty sure that there's some technique to using this thing, but I don't have a clue about what it is. Maybe this weapon isn't for me…" Wanting to think about this more, Roenaldo exited the Lobby to take a walk in the streets.
As Roenaldo moved past all the squids, jellyfish, and buildings, he came across Valenteara, who was watching a mother bird tend to her hatchlings. The young squid turned around and said, "Oh, hello, I didn't expect to see you here." Roenaldo put his hands in his pockets and returned, "I could say the same to you. I assumed that you lived around the area where I met you." Valenteara shook her head and responded, "That place is just a meetup spot; I actually have a house in this zone." She looked at Roenaldo and continued, "Anyway, didn't you say earlier that you wanted me to teach you how to cook? Well, if you really mean that, then we should start right away; the dish I have in mind requires time to complete." Roenaldo looked up at the sky and said, "Really? The afternoon is just about to end! Does this dish really take that long to complete? Well, if that's the case, then let's go ahead and get to it; I wanted to do something else anyway." Valenteara nodded and replied, "Perfect. I'll spare you the trouble of getting ingredients; just tell me your address and I'll bring the materials myself." Roenaldo proceeded to tell his ally his location, causing her to say, "Great. I'll see you soon!"
Valenteara arrived at Roenaldo's door about 15 minutes later dragging along a wheelbarrow full of cooking ware and foodstuff. "Wow," said Roenaldo, "You sure are strong for your size." Valenteara chuckled softly and responded, "That's what working in the kitchen will do to you! Let's start, shall we?" Roenaldo invited the girl in, allowing her to dump all of her contents onto the counter before organizing everything into place. "Okay," said Valenteara, "Since you seemed to like my pizza, I'll teach you how to make one. First things first: the dough." She retrieved a mixing bowl, a jug of water, and bags of yeast and granulated sugar. She gave Roenaldo a wooden spoon and said, "Go ahead and mix these ingredients together. Once you do that, you must wait 5 minutes for the dough to rest." Roenaldo did just that, swirling the mixture in a rhythmic fashion. Once 5 minutes had passed, Valenteara got some olive oil, salt, and flour before saying, "Add these ingredients to the mix and stir again. Afterwards, lay it onto something flat and start shaping it into a circle with your hands. But PLEASE wash your hands before doing so." Roenaldo sighed and headed to his bathroom to clean up. Once he returned, he got his wooden spoon and got to work, finding that the mixture was turning more solid as he stirred. Once he felt as if he moved the ingredients around enough, he used the spoon to scoop the thickened dough onto Valenteara's chopping board before shaping the mass. Because he played with clay a lot as a kid, this proved to be no issue at all. Valenteara looked over at Roenaldo's work and said, "Done? Good. Let me test the softness." She poked the dough, noticing that it slowly bounced back after getting touched. "Okay," she said, "It's ready to rise." She grabbed a can of spray-on butter and coated the inside of another bowl. "Now," she said, "Fit the dough so that it lines the inside of the bowl. You must then wait for about 30 minutes for the dough to rise. I hope that you're patient." Roenaldo followed the girl's instructions, picking up the mass and pressing it against the sides of the container. Valenteara then covered the bowl in aluminum foil, and the two waited for the required amount of time.
Once that was over, Valenteara said, "Okay, here comes the fun part. I'll preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit. In the meantime, you just start punching the dough to remove the air bubbles. After that, make the dough flatter and rounder. Once you do that..." She returned to her wheelbarrow and retrieved a large bag full of all kinds of ingredients, "You can put on the toppings! I wasn't sure what you wanted, so I just brought some random things. Take your pick!" Roenaldo smiled happily; this was when he would get to be creative. He immediately got to work, shaping the dough into a desirable shape before searching the bag of toppings. He decided to choose some carp fillet along with some olives and of course, cheese. Once he had made his choice, he put some tomato sauce on the dough as per Valenteara's orders before laying on the toppings. "Okay," he said afterwards, "What now?" Valenteara smiled and answered, "Simple. Just place the pizza on a pan and place it in the oven for 15 minutes." Roenaldo did exactly that, placing the unbaked product into the oven with some donated gloves. He watched eagerly as the dough hardened and browned, and the toppings became crispier. After some time, the pizza was ready.
Roenaldo retrieved the finished food and prepared to set it on the counter (Valenteara had to quickly get a heat-absorbing towel, placing it under the pizza before giving Roenaldo a judgmental look). Roenaldo laughed nervously before cutting off a piece of pizza for himself. Once he tasted it, he felt an immediate sense of pleasure; this was way better than his own cooking. "Woah," he said with a mouthful of food, "Thiff if rewwy goo! Thak u!" Valenteara laughed* saying, "I'm glad that you enjoy my help. Hopefully you learned how to become a better cook after this. By the way, do you mind if I take a slice?" Roenaldo shook his head, and Valenteara picked up a piece and ate it. "Mmm," she said, "Delicious. Just as I expected." She packed her things and headed towards the door, saying, "Have a good night, Roenaldo, and you're welcome again for the help! Maybe we'll meet again one day…" With that, the squid travelled back to her house.
Roenaldo sat in bed that night with a full stomach and a sense of accomplishment. He had successfully made a satisfactory homemade dish; this gave him increased confidence in his ability to survive without restaurants. With this good feeling, he drifted off with no problem at all.