Splatoon: Under Inkopolis

One is the Loneliest Number that you'll ever do, Three can be as Bad as One

When Tide respawned he found himself back at Inkopolis square. A group of inklings from tryouts who got splatted before him were clustered around a piece of paper tacked onto Inkopolis tower. Descending into squid form Tide slipped through the crowd to see what the poster said.

To all who attended try outs:
Thank you for coming, please check back here in a week. The teams will be revealed.

A week! Tide felt panicked as the butterflies in his stomach skyrocketed. He couldn't wait that long; he had to find out if he made it. Slowly he started the long walk back to the school dorms, but his mind was racing. What had Lime said? Definitely something about potential team leaders being observed during tryouts. Tide wasn't so delusional that he thought he'd be picked after such an embarrassing performance at tryouts. Yet he figured the team leaders would be clued in early about their teams--probably even involved in creating their own team--, and knew exactly who most likely became a leader.

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The next day Tide woke up early and headed straight back to the square. He observed the comings and goings of the crowds of inklings hoping to spot a certain special someone. Squid kids surged in and out of shops, practiced popular dances to post on their flip-flop accounts, and attempted to catch a glimpse of the celebrity pop star duo, the Squid Sisters (the name always confused Tide, weren't they cousins or something). Tide even braved entering the shops in search of the inkling he was looking for, but was promptly thrown out exactly three times. First, by a particularly nasty clown fish, next by a usually voluble crab who took one look at Tide's splattershot jr before becoming absolutely speechless, and lastly a shoe selling shrimp, who informed Tide he was "too dry to buy" and that he most somehow achieve freshness before entering the shoe store again. All in all it was a rather disheartening, confidence crushing morning; until Tide finally spotted squid he was looking for.

The orange tentacle girl was, as Tide predicted, walking towards the lobby located at the ground floor of inkopolis tower and was the point of access to all the turf war stadiums in the city. Inklings flocked to the lobby in order to compete in matchs during off season. There were no pre determined teams, and the matches ran constantly as long as at least eight squids showed up to fight. Tide pushed through the crowds of squid kids hoping to reach her before she entered the tower, but he was too late the girl had already disappeared, but Tide wasn't giving up so easily.

     "Excuse me, did a girl come through here. She has long orange tentacles and was probably scowling", Tide asked nearest squid kid once he entered the lobby.
     "Yes, an inkling matching your description went to Blackbelly Skatepark for a turf war that's happening"--the squid glanced down at his clipboard--"And theres a spot open for the turf war if you want to join".
Tide took a deep breath.
"Okay, sign me up".
     "Great", the inkling directed him to a marked off squid hole labeled 'skatepark',"Just dive in there and you'll reach the park in no time".
     "Thanks", before Tide started having second thoughts he turned into a squid and slipped through the grate.  After a disorienting swim through a sloped dark tunnel Tide noticed a light up ahead.  Suddenly he felt an increase in pressure as his ink and tentacle color changed to yellow to match his teammates.  The pressure subsided after Tide emerged from the ink tunnel.  Looking around he found himself atop a respawn pad on the edge of Blackbelly Skatepark.  Around him a couple inklings--his teammates--stood waiting for enough squids to join so the turf war to start.  Tide scrutinized each of their faces until he spotted an impatient looking girl with long tentacles.  Despite the color change it was obviously the girl from tryouts, who else could have such a stormy demeanor?
  
       Tide started his approach.
   "Hello, weren't you at tryouts yesterday?  For Inkopolis Academy?"