Chapter Text
There is an inkling with bright yellow ink who haunts Inkopolis Tower. There are often sightings of them during intense matches of turf war.
Perhaps “haunts” is a strong word; they’re actually just a normal player. They’re named fr0st, according to their turf profile. Their real name probably doesn’t have a 0 in it, and probably starts with a capital letter. But according to the legends people have heard, who knows what’s real about them? Maybe there are numbers. Maybe there aren’t uppercase letters. It could even be all lowercase numbers!
Fr0st has become somewhat of a legend in the turf scene. Not “legendary” as a compliment, rather an actual legend—people debate whether or not they actually exist. All they know is that when you see a silent inkling with a mint-condition Dynamo Roller, you better hope they’re on your team.
Fr0st sat down with their lunch, enjoying the pleasant breeze. They wanted to continue their three game win streak, but their stomach was growling loud enough to turn heads. The food was gone in barely a few minutes, and fr0st sipped on a soda as they wandered around Inkopolis. They happened to overhear a conversation from two inklings talking about turf war.
“Overrated for sure,” one inkling said. “Just cause a good player uses it doesn’t mean it’s not a bad weapon.”
“So if a bad player uses it, then…?” the other one teased
“Very funny. They use the Pro, too, and that’s a good one. It’s just the Dynamo that sucks.”
Weird, fr0st thought. They also use the Dynamo and Splattershot Pro. They kept listening to the conversation.
“The Dynamo is fine if you know how to use it. Same with chargers.”
“Sounds like you’re just copying all their weapons.”
“No, I prefer mine with the scope. Totally different.”
Even weirder. Fr0st also uses an unscoped Splat Charger. They stopped listening in after that. It became obvious to fr0st that those two inklings were talking about them. It wouldn’t be the first time that happened, either. It was both flattering and weird; they didn’t think they were popular enough to be talked about like that.
Somehow, fr0st ended up talking about weapon maintenance—one of the rare times they went out of their way to join strangers in a conversation. They heard some new players talking about their concerns, and thought they should give advice.
“Splat brand weapons are the easiest,” they explained. “You can fix it yourself if anything goes wrong. Custom is the opposite.”
“You can use custom weapons?!” one of the newbies asked
Fr0st resisted the urge to facepalm. “Um, ‘Custom’ is the name of a brand. They make the E-Liter.”
“What about the Dynamo Roller?” another asked
“Sheldon, the guy who runs Ammo Knights. It’s difficult to repair it yourself.”
“I heard that there’s someone who can swing those with one hand,” the third one said
“I… doubt that,” fr0st said. “They’re heavy.”
“No, no, this person is like, totally strong enough!”
The first inkling gasped. “I think I know who you’re talking about! The one who can swim through enemy ink, right!?”
“Whoa, I haven’t heard that before, but I’m not surprised.”
“Uh… I don’t think that’s possible,” fr0st said
“It’s gotta be! My brother said he saw it!”
Fr0st politely listened to the increasingly impossible stories they’ve heard, then snuck away as quietly as possible. When did they become an urban legend like that?
The bus had eight inklings on their way to Saltspray Rig for a round of turf war. Six of them were chatting before the game, and two were not. One of the two was fr0st, the other went by SeaSean. SeaSean came in a group with three others, and didn’t pay much attention to the random players. Before the team lists were confirmed, he didn’t remember all the details of the other players, but he thought he saw something terrifying. He didn’t see ink colors until after they switched, and didn’t remember who loaded which weapons on the bus. All he remembered is that somebody had bright yellow ink, and somebody had a Dynamo Roller. He really hoped that somebody was on his team.
“—what about you?” another player asked
Fr0st turned to her, speaking quietly and not quite making eye contact. “Sorry, I didn’t hear the question.”
“Oh, we were just talking about using new weapons.”
“I stick with the same three, mostly,” they answered
“Haha, looks like you’re the only one, then. We’re all swapping from our usual weapons today—but you better not go easy on us!”
Fr0st gave a tiny hint of a smile. “I’ll do my best.”
The bus came to its drop off point, and the players all moved their weapons to the boat that would finally take them to their destination. This time, SeaSean paid attention to who had which weapon, and confirmed his fears—the quiet one had a Dynamo, and was not on his team.
The game was quite one-sided, but not the total domination the players expected. Fr0st and their team had a strong control over the center of the stage, which meant they had full control over the back as well. The open space meant that fr0st couldn’t get too close to the front, or else they’d be an easy target. Once SeaSean caught on to that, he spent most of his time pushing fr0st back. Unfortunately for him, the game was over by the time his team gained momentum.
The bus took them all back to Inkopolis. SeaSean got over his shock at seeing fr0st, and he joined the conversation with his friends. Even the other three random players joined in. Fr0st didn’t, though. They sat quietly, looking out the window. Once the players got back to Inkopolis Tower, SeaSean and his friends stayed around to chat. Fr0st went on their way home.
“Oh, wait up a sec!” HeatTooth called out—the girl who asked fr0st about weapons on the bus
Fr0st kept walking, actually speeding up their pace a bit. They already had an idea on what the other players would say. Fr0st takes this game too seriously. Seeing fr0st makes me want to forfeit. They didn’t care if anyone said those things, but at least wanted to be spared from hearing it.
“Fr0st!” she called out again
That got them to stop. “Yes?”
“Um, I just wanted to say you did really well. It was cool playing with you.”
“Ah… Thanks.”
There was a beat of silence. Fr0st felt a bit silly for not giving them a chance, HeatTooth felt a bit silly for calling them over to give such a simple compliment. SeaSean filled the awkward silence with awkward conversation.
“So, are you like fr0st, fr0st?” he asked
“Really, Sean?!” HeatTooth chastised
Fr0st laughed quietly. “It’s fine. Yes.”
“Cool,” he said. “You’re pretty fresh.”
Fr0st felt very touched by that. They’ve heard plenty of good things about themself, but for some reason it never felt like a true compliment.
“Thanks,” they said
“We’re gonna be playing again this time tomorrow,” HeatTooth said. “You can join if you want.”
Fr0st nodded. “I’ll be here.”