Splat Force: The Gifted; Chapter 3

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W E L C O M E ! ! !

This is Nomad here! Back again with the third chapter of Splat Force: The Gifted!

Once again, I'd like to thank you all for the of the first two chapters. Two features back to back is something I thought wouldn't achieve in my time on amino! I'm beyond happy and excited to have been proven wrong, so thank you all!

This chapter is going to be more of a personal one as we spend time with the newly formed trio, Zane, Ami, and Drift as we see what goes on in their personal lives.

Now without further ado. Let the chapter commence!!!

(This Chapter has been Remastered)

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(Chapter Hub)

C H A P T E R 3 : H O M E T I M E

R I N G , R I N G , R I N G ! ! !

The final bell rang, symbolizing the end of the school day. Students walked out of the school gates to get home.

"See you later, Zane!"

Ami said, waving him goodbye before she and Drift began to walk home.

Zane gave them a wave before heading to his bus. Luckily, unlike the morning, Zane managed to get the bus home on time. He shined a school-assigned bus at the driver, who then allowed the young Inkling onto the bus. He walked down the bus aisle and took a seat near the back. After a few minutes, the journey began.

2 0 M I N U T E S L A T E R . . .

The bus had arrived at its final destination. Zane got off at a double-crossing. He walked to the other side of the road, towards the Corral's shop. Upon entering, he waved at the woman at the till, to who she waved back.

Zane wandered around the shop for nearly a minute before finally finding the lane he was looking for. He picked up a normal Seanwich and walked over to the till.

"Good afternoon, young Zane. How might I help you?"

The woman asked.

"Hey!"

He greeted with a smile.

"May I be allowed to buy this please?"

"Of course, you can!"

She said as Zane gave her the required amount of money.

"I see you've moved in well, how's it been so far?"

"It's been okay, I guess."

He answered, still needing more time before making up his mind.

"There isn't much going on here, we only moved here because Dad's job was located in Inkopolis, so we moved here, away from the city."

"Ah yes, that seems to be the main opinion people have of Bluegill Town. But once you get used to the quietness, I'm sure you'll be relaxed here!"

She assured him before giving him the Seanwich in a plastic bag

"There you go! Have a great day!"

"Thanks, you too!"

He replied as he left the shop.

Zane opened up the bag and began to eat his Seanwich. He approached a bin and threw away the bag. He quickly speed-walked to the traffic lights, just as the green Inkling symbol lit up. After walking across the road, he briefly put his Seanwich in his pocket so that he could put on his headphones to listen to music. He put on a rock song by his favorite music artist, Sparrow.

He walked down a pathway at his own pace, he wasn't in a rush. Eventually, he ed the gates. The two guards approached him.

"May I see your id?"

Barry asked, trying to sound as monotone as possible, making Oliver feel embarrassed. Zane flashed his id at him. It was then that Barry dropped his newly made tough-guy persona.

"Thank you, have a good one!"

Zane didn't bat an eye towards the guard's attempt at being serious. Instead, he continued his journey home.

"What was that, Barry?"

"Well, after that encounter earlier, I thought you wanted a more serious attitude towards this job!"

He replied with a smirk on his face, causing Oliver to roll his eyes.

"Besides, we'll be seeing this kid again soon anyway, well most likely after the weekend. It's not like it's a one-and-done deal with him."

Oliver let out a strong sigh of boredom.

"We really have nothing better to do with our lives, don't we?"

He muttered. He wasn't wrong, however, holding a splattershot all day whilst standing at the gates was only going to be fun for so long.

"Well look at it this way, at least you're spending your days with your pal!"

Barry replied as he gave his friend the v-sign. Oliver smiled at his friend before giving him the v-sign back.

Zane walked into the town of Bluegill. The silence of the town gave him goosebumps, the quietness made him feel timid. He found his way towards Morray Lane and walked forward on the pathway until he arrived at his home at the middle house.

Zane walked into the porch of his house, wiping his shoes on the doormat. He closed the door, took off his shoes, and placed them on the shoe rack. He put his right hand inside of the left black boot and grabbed the house key that was hidden inside of it. He unlocked the front door and walked inside.

"Hello?"

He called out. Nobody responded to him, just as he expected. Zane took the key out of the door and inserted it once again on the other side.

He walked through the small hallway, trying not to knock over the coats that hung up on the wall. Upon entering the kitchen, Zane saw a note that his mother left for him:

'Snack is in the front room. Love you x'

Zane exited the kitchen and entered the front room. His snack rested on a plate in the middle of the table. The snack was two chocolate chip cookies.

He grabbed the plate and sat down on the sofa, not having the energy to turn on the TV. He finished eating only a couple of minutes later. After returning the plate to the kitchen, Zane walked upstairs and turned right towards his room. He collapsed onto his bed and stared at the ceiling for a long minute. He took out his phone from his pockets and was tempted to give his mother a call, however, he held back, knowing that she would most likely hang up immediately. He let out a huge sigh, wishing that he was able to connect with her.

M E A N W H I L E W I T H A M I . . .

Ami finished walking up the stairs with Drift by her side.

"Thanks for the good day, bro!"

She told him before the two hugged one another.

"See you tomorrow, Ami!"

Drift replied as he turned around and walked down the stairs.

Ami approached the first door and opened it up, it was already unlocked for her. She took her shoes off and placed them on her nearly full shoe rack as she walked into a big open room with three sections, a small living room, a small dining room, and a kitchen. She walked into the kitchen.

"Hey sis!"

A voice called out as an Inkling with long purple hair emerged from the bedroom door to the left side of the apartment.

"Hey Samantha!"

Ami greeted back as she ran up and hugged her sister.

"How was school?"

Samantha asked her, hoping that her day was a great one.

"School was pretty good today!"

Ami answered.

"Oh really?"

Samantha replied as they both withdrew from the hug.

"Did anything happen today?"

The two sisters walked into the living room section and sat down on the cuddly couch.

" when I told you about that new Zane that ed three weeks ago?"

She asked to which Samantha nodded.

"Well he was placed next to me in the new form seating plan. We spoke for a bit and turns out, he's actually a nice guy! Most new kids are usually idiots because they were most likely kicked out of their old school but he seems to be the exception."

The older sibling smiled at Ami, feeling glad that she is happy with him.

"Did you introduce him to Drift and those other friends of yours?"

She asked.

"As a matter of fact, I did! Drift seems to like him. We even let him sit with us in history!"

The younger sister answered.

"Although I have a feeling that Zane is weary about Drift, I don't know why tho."

"Well I hope that he comes to like him soon!"

Samantha replied before shifting topics.

"Did you learn anything in history today? I heard there was a new topic from a certain younger sister this morning!"

"Well we started learning about the Gifted Wars from I think it was sixteen years ago. We learned about the Splat Force, today."

The young girl answered.

"Ah, I learning about them in my school years, I was a bit of an expert on that topic. Who were the Commanders?"

Samantha asked, testing her knowledge.

"Frederick Evans and Rex Allen."

Ami told her, making her older sister smile.

"Yeah! You go girl!"

She exclaimed, making her sister giggle.

"Anything else happened today?"

Ami took a deep breath before spitting out a very long explanation.

"Well Maths was just as bland as ever, just the same old fractions and ratios, nothing too special. In Literacy, we were learning more poetry about love, neat writing, overdone topic. Chemistry was alright, we did a practical where we heated salted water, I don't recall much from it. Lastly was music, the only other interesting topic, we were learning about the unique different genres."

"So overall, just a typical school day but it was elevated by a new friend, right?"

Samantha asked.

Ami nodded, it was gonna take a life-changing event to take away her smile.

"Yeah, hopefully, he doesn't turn out to be a jerk."

"Hopefully not! The last thing I want is for you to be made fun of because we never had parents. A lot of the new kids used to do that.."

Samantha sighed, her voice grew mildly sorrowful.

"I just wished we grew up normally and not have to deal with loneliness. The thing that kept me going through school, outside of you, was my friends. Funny enough, that's exactly what's getting you through."

"Yeah, I love my friends, but not as much as I love you, sis!"

Ami exclaimed before hugging Samantha.

Samantha wrapped her arms around her sister's warm hoodie and cuddled her for a long moment.

"Sometimes I can't believe you're sixteen! I still feeding you, changing your diapers, and putting you to sleep."

She whispered as they both shut their eyes to take in this soft moment.

"I'm glad you turned out the way you are now, it makes me feel like a great sister.

The sister giggled as they withdrew from the hug.

"You sure are one, that's for certain!"

Ami replied before playing her left hand on her belly.

"Should we go and get a snack or something? I'm hungry."

"Oh yeah! Let's make ourselves something"

Samantha replied. Both sisters stood up and walked over to the kitchen and began to make a small meal for themselves.

M E A N W H I L E W I T H D R I F T . . .

The green-haired inkling walked down the streets of Siamese Road. He grabbed a pair of keys from his pocket as he approached his bungalow home, and unlocked the front door.

"Hello?"

Drift called out upon entering the house, not getting a response to his dismay. He placed his shoes on the shoe rack on the left of the front door. Most rooms of the bungalow had matching floors and walls. The carpet was navy green and the walls were a pale white, detailed with flower patterns all over.

Drift walked down the hallway, past the bathroom door and his bedroom door, and turned left at the end, ing another bedroom door. There were three more doors, one straight forward leading to the kitchen, one on the right wall leading to the cupboard, and one on the left wall leading to the living room.

Drift walked through the living room door. Inside, the floors and walls were the same, there was a two-seat black leather couch in the middle of the room, facing the TV that was placed next to the fireplace on the right wall. On the wooden mantel above the fireplace were three photo frames, one on the left side, the middle, and the right side.

The left was of an Inkling with dark green spiky hair with another Inkling with brown wavy hair, both of which wearing the same kelvar bulletproof vest with the gold badge, the same padding on the sleeves, and the same scarf. The difference being the colors, which matched their respective hair color.

The right was of Drift when he was only a baby, being held by his mother on the leather couch. And finally, in the middle was a family photo of him when he was a young child, alongside his mother and father. On the left side of the photo, where his mother was placed, there was a candle lit up.

Drift sat down on the couch, causing the leather to creak. He reached for the remote on the small circular table to his left. Upon switching the TV on, he was greeted with what he had become used to, that being news about pop idols releasing new albums and singles, food adverts, furniture adverts, clothing, and make-up adverts. It was all samey to him.

The front door opened, alerting Drift.

"Drift, are you home, son?"

A deep voice called out from the hallway. The sound of rattling plastic bags could be heard from the living room.

Drift turned around and looked down the hallway from the living room door.

"Yeah, Dad! I'm in here!"

Drift responded before looking back to the TV.

As the footsteps of his father drew nearer to him, Drift looked back once again as the retired Splat Force Commander, Frederick Evans walked into the room.

"Was school good today?"

He asked. Now past his prime, Frederick now wore casual clothing rather than his battle-ready gear, which included a charcoal jacket with navy green stripes and dark grey jeans. However, he still wore the same navy green visor that he did back in his glory days.

"It was fine, I guess. Got to meet the new kid on the block today. He seems nice but weirdly nervous around me. I'm guessing it's something I've said."

Drift answered, making his father chuckle.

"Our family have always been good with speeches, I'm sure he just didn't understand yours probably."

Frederick assured before switching topics.

"So, do you have any homework that I can help with?"

Drift finally took his backpack off, placing it onto the floor as he dived into it, pulling out a large maths textbook. The boy handed his dad the textbook, with Frederick taking his glasses out of the case in his left pocket and putting it on for him to read.

"I'll be honest, son, maths isn't my strongest subject."

He told him, putting the paper aside.

"But I'm willing to give it a shot with you!"

"Thanks, Dad!"

Drift replied.

"Anytime, son! Anything else or is that just it?"

He asked.

"Well we were originally supposed to answer questions about the Gifted Wars through research, but the questions got asked and answered in class already, so we've got nothing in that regard."

He answered, suddenly gaining his father's interest.

"The Gifted Wars?!"

He asked to which Drift nodded. Frederick chuckled lightly.

"Didn't think I'd ever hear that being studied at schools."

"Yeah, I guess sixteen years is a good enough distance, apparently."

Drift remarked.

Frederick leaned forward, softly rubbing his hands together.

"You know, if you ever need help on this topic then I can lend all my . I'm a bit of an expert on this territory."

He told him.

Drift's eyebrows raised with interest.

"Oh yeah! Weren't you like a Commander or something?"

"That's right! I was its founder, well co-founder since both me and Rex created it together. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away, my boy!"

He answered, opening a whole list of opportunities for Drift regarding research.

"Although I would much prefer to remain anonymous in my answers."

"Oh! Thank you, Dad!"

Drift said before rushing back to his bag to grab his notebook and pen. He sat on the couch next to Frederick as the questions began.

"So, how exactly did the Gifted Wars start?"

"The war didn't start into around April of two-thousand-two, so a good six months after the meteorite had struck, and three months after the team was formed."

Frederick told him with Drift writing his words down.

"An Inkling named Terrador bulldozed an entire city block, taking down the Inkopolis Union Centre and killing thousands. It wasn't long after that gifted crime began to gradually increase. The Splat Force grew with it. It was fight after fight."

Drift wrote each word down onto the paper, keeping it nicely in line with the lined paper.

"What were they like? he gifted?"

"The gifted varied from individual to individual, some were spoilt brats who wanted power, money... or ionate love."

He answered, awkwardly pausing at the last part.

"However, there were some good ones out there, some who just wanted to help where they could. Unfortunately, they were, and still are today, overshadowed by men like Terrador."

"My teacher said something like what you said about the good gifted people."

Drift said as he finished writing down his notes.

"Really?"

He asked, intrigued.

Drift nodded.

"That's right!"

Now Frederick was the curious one.

"What's your teacher's name?"

"Mr. Watson."

He told him.

"Mr. Watson?!"

He said calmly, yet his voice sounded surprised. He then whispered to himself under his breath as he looked to the ceiling.

"Nice one, kid!"

Not knowing what he was staring at, even upon staring at the ceiling himself, Drift tilted his head and poked his Dad's shoulder, gaining his attention once more.

"You okay?"

"Oh yeah, I was talking to you."

He replied, quickly shrugging off his strange zone-out.

"Have you got any more questions?"

"Yeah, I have one that my class hasn't asked yet: how did the war end?"

He asked, wanting to get a head start in his studies.

Frederick quickly sighed, taken aback by the sudden age of time between this question and the last.

"Well, with what forces we had left, we challenged Terrador and his crooks head-on at the Inkopolis Cathedral. Terrador was taken down once and for all by Rex, who used a Rainmaker, allegedly sacrificing himself in the process. That was on I believe December the third of two-thousand-six. Had it continued into April of the following year, the war would've been on for five years. Luckily, that didn't happen. I'm glad about that."

"Yeah, me too."

He whispered before finishing his notes. Once he was finally done, he closed the book and put it back inside his backpack, alongside his pen. Afterward, he sat back down next to Frederick. There was a small pause of silence for five seconds before Drift broke it with a question.

"How did you cope in those times."

Frederick leaned back in his seat and exhaled softly.

"I'm not proud of who I was sixteen years ago, I made some bad decisions, some of which caused the deaths of many, but one day I saw the light and I led the team into victory like I should've done from the start."

He said before looking his son in the eyes.

"I'm glad to be the man I am today. And despite how horrible the war was, I wouldn't have ever been the father I am today. Your mother knew that quite well."

After his mother was brought up, Drift stood up and walked to the fireplace, looking at the photo of his mother. Her beautiful, curly hair, and her gorgeous smile, all gave Drift a very bittersweet feeling.

"I miss her, Dad..."

Frederick stood up and walked to his son's side, wrapping his right arm around him.

"I miss her too, kid..."

M E A N W H I L E E L S E W H E R E . . .

The Hiker quickly opened the door to his apartment, ran in, and shut it as fast as he opened it. He panted as he pressed both of his palms against the door. After a good minute, he finally caught his breath.

He lived in a very standard apartment. The main room had a sofa facing the TV, that hung against the back wall. There was a small kitchen at the bottom right, just right to the front door. At the back right of the room was a table, which had been used for both dining and work. There were two doors on the left wall, one to the bedroom at the bottom and one to the bathroom at the top. Against the wall were some of his most valuable possessions, one of those being a fishing rod that leaned against the wall.

The Hiker took off his shoes and left them on the shoe rack just left to the door. He sat down on the sofa and exhaled, trying to take in what had just happened. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. Upon opening it, he went straight to his gallery.

He played the video that he recorded from his pocket. He could faintly hear the Octoling's voice call to him in the footage. When he finally ran away, the camera briefly bounced in and out of his pocket, and in a still frame was the Octoling.

The Hiker paused the video and looked at the Octoling. His long, dark-red hair, his dark-grey robes, and his blade all looked strangely familiar to him. Did he know the Octoling? Why did he show such interest in both himself and the ruined castle? The answers weren't there...

T O B E C O N T I N U E D . . .

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T H X F O R R E A D I N G ! ! !

I hope you enjoyed the third chapter. I sure had fun writing it this week! The next few chapters after this one are when the plot really starts going, so stay tuned for that! Until next time, stay safe out there! ^^

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