Splatoon Manga: NightRoad

Chapter 15: Blueprint

⭐️Chapter 15: Blueprint

"Okay, so now that we have our weapons, we should probably figure out the plan."

The group was now sitting around a table inside the shack. Gloves turned to Hachi.

"Finally. Okay, so first we're going to need strengths and weaknesses of our weapons." Hachi explained.

"Well, the dualies are already covered. I don't stand a chance against longer ranged things, and their speed in shadows might make it harder for me to hit them." Gloves said.

"Swords are mainly offensive, and short range as well." Emperor said.

"My blaster is more of a defensive weapon now. I won't be able to do close range, but I can support." Hachi explained.

"The Shadowshots also are short range...but could probably work further away compared to swords" Nana added, with Goggles nodding.

"The Dark Dynamo is literally just the dynamo with a different design. I have no problem with it." Rider shrugged.

"The hookroll will take a while to get used to, but it too indeed acts like a roller, so I should be fine too." Flip said.

"Hm. We may need long rangers if we're going to take them all on..." Hachi mumbled.

"Waitwaitwait hold on Hachi, are you saying we're going to face them all at once again?" Gloves asked.

"Yes, why?" Hachi turned to him.

Was there a problem? Surely there wasn't something he was overlooking...

"Uh. I'm not sure about you all, but...have we NOT been in this situation before?" Gloves asked everyone.

"How do you mean?" Nana asked.

"Oh I dunno...the LUMINOUS maybe?"

It then hit Hachi like a ton of bricks. It hit EVERYONE, actually.

"Oh my cod you're RIGHT!" He said, slamming his fist into his open palm, "We can just pull a Luminous and fight them each one on one!"

"I know, I'm a genius." Gloves smiled, sitting back in his chair.

"But how to separate them..." Hachi said.

"Maybe we could have Seira spy on them to find their weaknesses?" Emperor asked. She had snuck in there once, and could so it again.

"No, I wouldn't want to put her through that alone...besides, what if she was caught? We'd be unprepared for another full on attack." Hachi replied.

"Right, Right..."

"What if we made a promise to only fight them one on one with none of the rest of us interfering?" Goggles asked. 

"Still a bit risky, I dunno if they'd cooperate." Nana replied.

"Well...what about..." Prince was about to speak, when he was interrupted.

"You can travel to their homes and try and get the shadowlings there to go against Noir."

The squidbeak turned towards the new voice. Marie was standing in front of the door, having closed it on her way in.

"Huh?" Goggles looked at her.

"The shadowlings are a very Lawful kind of species. They are aware of Ebony being the leader, but are also aware of Noir's plan to find a stable home. If they learned our side of the story, and what Noir has done, they'd be sure to have him in prison in no time."

"And you know this becaaaauuuse?" Rider turned to look at her.

"Seira." She looked at him, right in the eyes.

"Oh. Right." Rider shrunk back down into his seat.

"So where's their home?" Prince asked.

"Black Forest. I have it here."

She gave them a map on a scroll, which they all took a look at. It was within a huge forest nearby Inkopolis, and pretty darn far too. Dang. There were also several other odd places on the map as well. Everyone made sure to get a good, long look at it.

"Is there a...a shortcut, or...?" Emperor started. Surely there was a quicker way to get there.

"Unfortunately not. The forest is home to many mysteries, so you have to go by foot. We can't risk vehicles making noise or starting fires or anything."

"Right..."

Hachi switched his attention from Marie to the group.

"Well. All we really have to do for now is train some more, and then we should be good to g-"

"It may take days to get there, so the sooner the better."

"Oh."

"So...should we start preparing now?" Goggles asked.

"Yeah, probably should." Nana replied.

Marie left the group to attend to those in the medical area.

The group checked the map again. There were odd lines and weird bumps they could only assume were rocks or mountains. There were no notes on monsters or creatures within the forest, unfortunately. The group would have to be prepared. They exited the cabin, and walked over to their dirt-and-leaf beds to search through their small collection of items they had gotten from others, to see if there was anything they could bring on the trip. Unfortunately, nobody found anything.

-----

Ebony and the small group of 3 were in the forest. He had successfully found Kuro and had finished his drink too, throwing it away into a nearby trash can. They had to sleep in trees when night came, tying themselves to the trees with shadow bindings so they wouldn't fall off. It was a trick they had learned from the guards when they were hunting.

The Black Forest from inkopolis was a long way. They had flown (Someone carrying Ebony because this wasn't his plan and he refused to partake in it) over on the night of the party, but now had to walk in order to be secret, as they had only taken over the square. The other areas of Inkopolis hadn't heard because they were either asleep, didn't hear the party, or just didn't go. They couldn't risk a different part of Inkopolis seeing them flying and calling those 8 heroes. Yes they overpowered them, but also sometimes there were moments when you didn't want them to know where you were.

They were currently in a forest, and had to use natural formations within it to lead them back, as they remembered seeing them while flying. The group had then come across a pathway that split into four separate ways. They agreed to each take a path, sending up a shadow signal when they found the way out, by an oddly shaped rock. Ebony had reassured the group he would be fine on his own, and headed down the second path.

He just wished this was over.