SplatDance: Spyke's New Groove

:Chapter 1:

It was early in the morning when she figured out. And when she did, she felt something she had never felt in her life: Pure anger. It wasn't any type of generic anger either, it was the type of anger felt from pure betrayal.

Annie marched down the corridors of her above store apartment, paying absolutely no mind to the complaining fish inside the glass dome she carried. "HEY NERD! SLOW DOWN WOULD YA' MY BOWL'S LOSING A LOT OF WATER HERE."

Annie only scoffed as a reply to his pleas, marching down the stairs and to the front of the store, sternly setting the bowl onto the front counter and glared at the fish who was still regaining his vision. "Ugh... It's about damn time."

"What the hell did you do Moe?" Annie firmly asked, placing her hands on her hips, trying to look as angered as she could.

"'The hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, I think you know Moe." Annie grumbled as she pulled out her phone, which was silenced due to the numerous notifications she received over the past few hours, fidgeting with the device as she pulled up a certain application on her phone. "'Spiky Idiot Dances to Gray Haired Teenager's "hit single."' Does that string of words-- HAPPEN to sound familiar to you?" Annie showed what was displayed onto her screen, making Moe grin proudly to himself.

"Hmmm..." He hummed, nodding his little fishy head. "... Ten million views already? That's pretty impressive, especially for a loser like him."

"That's not the point Moe." Annie shoved the phone back into her pocket, leaning towards the fish with furrowed brows. "How many goddamn times did I tell you not to go though my shit? Let alone upload something that I found super private for the ENTIRE world to see!"

Moe leaned back. "Jesus Annie, why are you so close to me right now? Are you trying to kiss me or something?"

"MOE I SWEAR TO-"

Annie was cut off by a sudden knocking at the storefront door, making the two turn to see who was there.

"Ah... 'Ello... Can eh... Either of you let me in?"

Annie gasped, ducking behind the front counter. It was HIM; standing right there at the door, probably bottling up his rage for when he actually got into the store. She tucked her head between her knees, hoping that he'll go away. Moe made a clicking sound before calling out for Annie. "Are you going to let the loser in or not you nerd?"

"A-Are you CRAZY!?" Annie whispered, beginning to quiver in fear. "I-I don't want him to hurt me for invading his privacy the way I did!"

Suddenly there was a sound of glass shattering, an audible click from the door being heard shortly afterwards. Moe froze. "Well..." He spoke, a sliver of shock in his voice. "It looks like the Idiot let himself in anyways."

...

Spyke was, in a way, fuming. He felt more and more angered as he marched towards the front counter, slamming his hands on the wooden countertop, disregarding the pain he felt in his right hand. "Alright, I'll just jump straight to the point." He said trying to keep his calm composure. "Which one of you uploaded the video to SplatTube." He leaned over the countertop a bit, catching a glimpse of Annie, who was still huddled up in fear. "Was it you, pinky?"

Annie slowly let up from her balled up state, still keeping her guard up as she turned around to meet eyes with the stranger staring her down. She gulped, trying to help herself up as she nervously maintained eye contact with him. "N-No mister-"

"Then who was it?"

Annie gripped onto the countertop, trying her best to stay on her feet as she continued to stare into his eyes. They were burning with some sort of bottled up rage, kind of like the anger she felt before he showed up; but she knew that his fury was much more worse than any sort of anger she displayed that morning. But they also, strangely enough, had a gleam of curiosity and embarrassment; both feelings, of course, only contributed to his anger but still stood alone as separate emotions themselves. "I--"

"IT WAS ME YOU LOSER!"

Both Spyke and Annie looked down at Moe, who was glaring daggers at Spyke. Spyke leaned forward, squinting at the clownfish. "It was you 'uh?" He snarkily asked. Moe hopped up onto the edge of the bowl. "HELL YEAH IT WAS. ARE YOU GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT YA' PRICK!?"

Spyke grunted as he yanked the fish out of the bowl, almost knocking it off the table. "Do ya have any idea how humiliatin' this is for me?" He shot a mean glare at him. "All mornin' I hear chuckles from some 'o them inkling blokes while others just stare at me. It was like I 'wos caught in the middle of town wit nofin but my dignity ta wear."

Moe pouted. "I'm pretty sure nobody would want to see you like that anyways, loser."

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT I WAS TRYING TO MAKE H-"

Before Spyke finished his statement, Moe spat ink in Spykes face, causing the urchin to immediately drop the him, clutching at his contaminated face. "yOU TWAT." Spyke shouted, grunting in pain from the ink that seeped into his exposed eye.

Annie rushed out from behind the counter to retrieve the fish that was flopping on her tile masonry floor. "Moe what the hell did you do to him?" She whispered, still a bit panicked.

Moe huffed. "It was a form of self defense." He bluntly stated hopping into Annie's hair. "That idiot could of thrown me 'cross this damn shop if he held me for another second."

Annie shook her head before turning to Spyke, who was already wedged between a display stand and a couple of empty crates, one hand desperately trying to rub off the ink. She sighed. "You're not going to get that off with just your hand... you know."

"Y-yeah." Spyke winced. "I sorta figured that one out myself a moment ago."

"I know how to remove ink from certain clothing that got inked on at Port Mackerel." Annie muttered, walking over to Spyke.

"Why d'ya mention that?"

Annie frowned as she noticed the sudden change of dynamic of the urchin's voice. He sounded so distressed and in pain, it almost seemed that he wasn't angry moments ago. "The formula I use is non-toxic. It should be safe to use on your skin if you let me help you clean off that ink... it's the only thing I can offer right now as a form of an apology..."

Spyke sighed.

...

"Okay... Now hold still..."

Spyke could only oblige to the anemone's polite command. Trying the best he could to remain stiff as a board as he felt a cold, damp cloth gaze his skin. He breathed sharply through his teeth, making her stop abruptly.

"O-oh! I'm sorry" She removed the cloth from his face to wash it off. "I should've warned you about it being a bit cold." Spyke could hear her nervously giggle, making his shoulders droop in response.

"It's okay there, love." Spyke forced soft chuckle in an attempt to calm the girl down. "Just git this stuff off my face, yeah?"

Annie nodded, retrieving the rag from the wash bowl.