Splatoon Manga: NightRoad

Chapter 65: Mansion

⭐️Chapter 65: Mansion

"Welp! Here we are! Black Forest!" Ebony said as he gently put Prince down.

The rest of the shadowlings transformed back to their humanoid selves. The squidbeak looked through the gate. Currently, all they could see was a dirt path and one, maybe two houses. They were eager to see what lie behind it though. Ebony went up to the gate and pushed it open. It creaked to the side with a noise that made everyone a little uncomfortable (a rusty screech, if you will)

"Hehe. Sorry. This place is a little busted up" Ebony said with a smile.

The squidbeak looked at each other before walking through the gates. Thy were made of metal and covered in some kind of black coating, but it was wearing off. The metal it was made out of was also beginning to rust, which explained the squeaking. Gosh, the shadowlings hadn't changed this despite the conditions? When they got in, Ebony turned around to face the group.

"You guys might wanna...trail behind us."

Oh, right.

Since the shadowlings there might react negatively to them, right? Or was it just so that they wouldn't see the squidbeak first and think they were intruders? It could be anything, really. Nonetheless, the squidbeak did as told. They looked around. The trees were dark, and some didn't have leaves on them. There were a bunch that just...bordered the place, the other things making boundaries being some gray rocks strewn about the place.

It reminded the group of a fall setting, maybe even Hawoomeen. The leaves that had fallen off the trees weren't autumn colors though. And to be honest? The houses (despite being made of dark materials) didn't give off that autumn/hawoomeen feel. As Ebony walked through the palace, many shadowlings began to take notice of him. He had soon attracted a large crowd of the shadowlings that lived here.

"Oh my goodness! Prince Ebony!"

"You're with the Shadow Six! Have you gotten Inkopolis ready?"

"We're packed and ready to go at your command!"

The squidbeak were kinda surprised at this. Sure, Ebony was the prince, but everyone being this nice yet so up close? Had Ebony not made a rule? Maybe he didn't need to. But that was besides the matter, this group was on a mission and had no time to chit-chat.

"W-well, you see...things haven't gone as planned, and uh...someone's been kidnapped..." he hesitated.

There were murmurs amongst the crowd. The shadow six stood in a ring around the squidbeak, covering them from sight. They weren't ready to show them yet. Would the shadowlings here hate the squidbeak? They didn't know. But nonetheless, Ebony calmed the situation down.

"I know, it seems bad, but we need to rescue them back! They're important for our mission to save our home!"

More murmuring.

"Who are they?" one shadowling asked.

"They're uh..."

God, how was Ebony supposed to explain Emperor to everyone? Other than he was yellow and somewhat full of himself, but still. Ebony thought. Maybe his weapons? No...physical description? No, they'd need more than that...

"He's a brother of a hero in a group" Ebony said, trying not to give away too many details.

"What group?"

Okay, he couldn't keep it a secret forever. The citizens had to know. He turned to the shadow six and nodded. They separated, revealing the squidbeak inside. The squidbeak were a little surprised at being revealed this early. Was this part of the plan? What was Ebony doing?

"These are the ones who helped us, they're the squidbeak splatoon" Ebony said, a nervous smile on his face.

Silence.

"C...can we get closer to them?" one shadowling asked.

Ebony looked at them for an answer.

"Uh...sure?" he replied nervously.

And so the crowd of shadowlings moved in closer around the group. The shadow six moved out of the way so that they could get to the squidbeak. The squidbeak were a little overwhelmed to say the least. They hadn't expected the shadowlings to be so...interested in them. It felt odd, not like fans of heroes, more like scientists discovering a new species.

"Oh my gosh, actual inklings and octolings!"

"They look so young...but so brave and cool!"

"They're the heroes of inkopolis, huh? I wonder what their daily life is like!"

"How do they fight off the villains?"

The squidbeak had to admit, it was odd, but nice in its own way.

"Hey uh, glad you're enjoying them, but we need a favor" Ebony said, trying to get to the point.

The crowd quieted down for him.

"Has anyone seen where my brother went?" he asked the crowd. "He might've had the brother of someone, perhaps?"

One shadowling moved to the front of the group so they could tell Ebony clearly.

"Oh yes, he went back to the mansion in a hurry. Had some kind of...yellow thing with him too."

Emperor.

It had to be.

"Okay, thanks. We must get going now" Ebony replied with a nod.

The shadowlings waved goodbye as the group walked over to the Royal Mansion, Ebony leading the way.

"Well. That was certainly um. An experience" Hachi said, a little surprised.

"You can say that again..." Flip mumbled.

"I'm sure we were all surprised by their kindness and awe" Rider said, to which everyone agreed.

They continued walking. They passed by some small houses, some large ones. Many were in bad condition. Like. HORRIBLE. Condition. They were rather surprised that the shadowlings could live like this, or, had lived like this forever.

"See, this is why we didn't have to fight. We could've just helped them rebuild their home so they wouldn't have to take over Inkopolis. But noooo, you all refused to listen to me..." Prince grumbled.

Everyone looked at him. He had a point. They all felt ashamed of themselves, now knowing what Prince was trying to convey. Just wait until Emperor got back. Then Prince could explain and then Emperor would probably feel just as bad.

"Here it is!"

The squidbeak looked up to see the largest mansion they'd ever seen. It was made of dark wood, stones, and more on the outside, but there were cracks and chips in it as well. The glass on the windows was polished at least, and you could tell that there was some effort used in an attempt to save what was left of this old building. It reminded them of Emperor's house, but waaaaay bigger. Probably because people also lived here and stuff. It also made them nervous to search because they didn't think they'd be able to cover the whole thing.

"Well, everyone..."

"It's mansion searching time."