OctoSquids (Splatoon story)

Chapter 2 - Swimming with the fishes

After a couple of Turf war games, every single one of them went as smoothly as the last time Plum played against Moray's team. Nothing went exponentially wrong, and best of all, it was the most fun he has ever had. Most of those games did result in failure, but he was not going to back down. He would get better with as much practice as he needed. And with a team like Ridley, Calder and Rainey, he would have the best pieces of advice he could ever get. He was happy that he finally got to play the game that he has fantasized about since he was very young. However, he did feel that something was missing. He wasn't sure what exactly was it, but there was something amiss. After losing another very fun round of Turf war, he decided to go back home for the day, until he glanced at the very thing he thought he had missing.

In a glass display in the Galleria, he spotted an exclusive offer for extremely rare gear on sale: It was a shirt similar to an Octo Tee in color with a magenta colored Octarian tentacle as a design for it. But what really caught his eye was what came with it, and that was a soft looking black checkered flannel jacket right over that shirt. Plum was practically drooling at the sight of the freshest clothes he had ever seen since he first heard of Turf Wars. Unfortunately, his excited expression turned into a saddened frown as Plum glanced towards the price tag. This piece of gear costed nearly 32,000! Plum checked his pockets and, much to his surprise, he could not afford it. He continued to look at the display, but looked down disappointed as he decided to go back home empty handed.

"Hey, Plum!", called out a familiar voice. Plum turned and found Moray walking up to him. "You did great back there, like usual.", she said as Plum smiled slightly.
"You really think so?", he asked her.
"Of course!", she replied. "Sure, you still need some practice, but that's never bad. I sometimes find myself practicing and I end up learning new things.", she continued, but noticed Plum's saddened and slightly distracted look. "What's wrong?", she asked, slightly concerned. Plum sighed.
"Oh, nothing much.", he said, not wanting to waste her time over something like clothes. She continued looking at Plum with a skeptical look, but decided to shrug it off.
"Whatever you say.", she said. "I'll hopefully see you tomorrow, then!", she continued as she began to walk off as Plum waved goodbye to her. Once she was gone, he looked back at the display of the gear he wanted. Was he really that desperate to get some cash for clothes?

The next day, he made his mind and decided that it wasn't worth it. He would never make that much cash in a day, anyway. He bid his parents farewell for the day and made his way to Inkopolis square, where he came across Ridley, watching Off The Hook through a glass window. They were probably recording a live podcast again.
"Hey, Ridley! What are you doing?", he asked as Ridley noticed him.
"I'm listening to Off The Hook! They're apparently talking about a new project The Squid Sisters are working on!", he pointed out as his attention shifted back to the podcast.
"Really? Is that it?", he asked, a bit skeptical.
"What else would there be?", asked Ridley as he looked at Plum, confused.
"I don't know, you told me you really love Marina.", said Plum to him, hoping he could tease him at least a bit. And to his satisfaction, he found a red blush growing on his face.
"Shut up!", Ridley tried to retort, but ended up ignoring him completely, anyway.

Plum chuckled as his attention went towards the podcast and, since he didn't have much to do, he decided to stay awhile.
"And now, a quick word from our sponsor!", announced Pearl as the screen changed to a lot of information regarding Grizzco. "Grizzco Industries is now hiring. Apply now!", she continued as Marina giggled a bit.
"Pearl, your corporate-shill game is on point today.", she said to Pearl.
"Grizzco again?", muttered Ridley, then groaned right afterwards in annoyance. "It's the only company who will pay them. It's like they can pay employees by the thousands.", he said sarcastically, but this caught Plum's attention.
"Thousands..?", he muttered, then looked over to the Galleria display to see the flannel jacket and shirt still in stock. This could be the thing he was looking for. This could net him enough cash to afford the clothes with how much he had now.
"That place is real shady, if you ask me. They must be desperate if they wanna build some reputation, am I right?", said Ridley as he laughed at his own joke, but when he turned, Plum was nowhere to be found. "Where'd he go..?".