Chapter 16: Switching Tactics

After a bit of waiting, Roenaldo teamed up with 3 other Inklings and traveled to Walleye Warehouse. Roenaldo looked around, thinking, "Hey, what are we doing fighting in a factory, anyway? Where are all the workers?" He had little time to ponder this when the same voice from the Splat Zones match came on, saying, "Listen up, newbies, here you're going to have to sit your butts on that tower over there and ride it to the goal. You better hope that you don't fall off, cause you won't like what happens next. Anyway, the match starts in 3...2...1...NOW!"

With that, an alarm went off, prompting the Inklings to run forward with their weapons. Roenaldo looked around at his teammates, asking, "So, fellas, what's the plan? How're we going to ride this tower?" The other Inklings simply looked back at Roenaldo, not appearing to have any interest in him. One of the dark-skinned, bandana-wearing boys flatly said, "Listen, buddy, I'm not one to do any of this collaboration stuff. You can just go ahead and do your own thing; we'll just figure it out as we go along." Roenaldo took a moment to process this. "Hold on," he said, "Isn't the whole point of being on a team to use teamwork and whatnot? Why're you telling me to just 'do my own thing'?" One of the boy's friends, a tan girl with a beret, groaned, "Oh, cool your jets. We're C-ranks! Why do we gotta waste our time doing all this planning and stuff when we can just wing it and call it a day?" Another one of the Inklings, a fair-skinned boy with sunglasses on, simply nodded in agreement. Roenaldo looked at all of them with slight disbelief before saying, "Okay, suit yourself. I'll just...roll around over here." He proceeded to do that, pressing his Splat Roller to the ground and beelining for a black object in the distance. Once he got closer to the object, he could see that it was square shaped with a thin stick at the top; this had to be the tower he was supposed to ride. He took a second to refill his ink tank before swinging his weapon to fling some ink on the side of the tower, allowing him to swim to the top. "Lookey here, folks," said the announcer as Roenaldo was carried forward by the object, "We have our first squid taking control of the tower! Let's see if he can stand firm against the opposing team..." Roenaldo stood at ease, using his Roller to prop himself up as he said, "Aw, this isn't so bad. All I've got to do is stand on this vehicle and I'll win! Some challenge..." Roenaldo ate his words when the entire enemy team stood in the path of the tower, unloading their entire arsenal on the poor squid. Within seconds, he was splatted by blue ink.

"Ooh," said the announcer as Roenaldo had his body reformed, "That didn't last long. Now the other team has the tower!" Hearing this news, Roenaldo swam forward in the path he had made, seeing that the tower was now moving towards his side. He emerged from his orange ink and started running and swinging towards the lone girl who was standing on top. Noticing this, the girl used her Splattershot to shoot at her assailant, prompting Roenaldo to briefly retreat behind a wooden crate. "Hoowee," said Roenaldo to himself, "I'm outranged again! And just where the heck are my teammates?" He looked back in the direction of the tower, saying, "Well, looks like I'll have to use my Suction...what the devil?!" While Roenaldo was planning, he had allowed the enemy to ride the tower dangerously close to his own base. In a panic, he slammed his weapon to the ground and ran as fast as he could towards the tower. By the time he caught a glimpse of it, there were 4 opposing Inklings on the vehicle, causing the object to move even faster. Roenaldo ran even faster towards the tower, putting as much power into his legs as physically possible. Unfortunately, this effort was all for nothing; his ink soon ran dry. His quick pace was reduced to a slow crawl as the tower continued to slide over to its goal. As Roenaldo looked on in anguish, a finishing whistle played, signaling the end of the match. "Wow," said the announcer, "That was fast. Congratulations to the blue team for getting a knockout! Now that this match is over, you all can return to the Lobby." Roenaldo shook his head in disappointment, dragging his Splat Roller behind him as he did the walk of shame back to his team's lift.

"Alright, bub," said the bandana boy, "What was that about? Where the shell were you at?" Roenaldo looked back at the Inkling, retorting, "Where was I? Where were you guys? I didn't see a soul handling the people riding the tower." The beret girl glared at Roenaldo and replied, "Hey, buddy, I don't know if you're blind or anything, but me and my peeps were doing the work out there. Maybe you were just too stuck in la-la land to realize!" The sunglasses boy added, "She is right. We were attempting to join in the fight when you handled the enemies on the tower. Since you're a Splat Roller user, we expected this to be no trouble for you, but I guess we were proved wrong." After hearing this, Roenaldo's donned an expression of sheer confusion. He looked at the bandana-wearing member, saying, "Hold on! I thought you said that you weren't into plan-making or anything. So, what's this, then? Seems like a plan to me!" The boy looked at Roenaldo condescendingly, saying, "When you have such close friends as I do, you don't need to waste time huddling and thinking up a procedure. We just...do." He then looked Roenaldo straight in the eyes, continuing, "I guess that you're too slow to understand." Roenaldo narrowed his eyes in anger. "You know what," he seethed, "I'm not going to sit here and take your insults and nonsense. If you don't want me working with you and your posse, then I'm leaving! Have fun with your silent strategizing, you darn gang members." Roenaldo snatched his small compensation prize of a few coins and stormed out of the Lobby.

As Roenaldo stomped through the plaza, he started to consider the words of his teammate. You know, he thought, maybe he's right. I may not be slow in the head, but I am slow on the field. I need to find some way to get where I want to go faster. I love this Splat Roller, but I feel like I can get something better. With this thought in mind, he made his way over to Ammo Knights, hoping to get some advice. He entered the shop to find Sheldon stacking some bombs neatly on a shelf. "Hey, Sheldon," said Roenaldo, "I need some help. It's about my Splat Roller..." Sheldon placed the last bomb in its place before responding, "Why certainly! What is it that's bothering you?" Roenaldo held his weapon in his hands, explaining, "It's about this thing. I've been having a good time with it up until this point; it's powerful enough, easy to use, and is good at painting the ground. That being said, I've recently noticed how it can struggle to get around, even if rolling with the weapon is faster than walking. Is there any way that you can help?" Sheldon held his chin in thought, replying, "Hmm, I see, so you're looking for a way to go fast with your Roller." He smiled and his fist into his open palm before continuing, "Oh, I've got it! Let me go and fetch another weapon for you." The horseshoe crab ran to and from a closet in the back of the shop, returning with another model of a Splat Roller. "Voila," he said, "This is the Carbon Roller! It's like the Splat Roller you know and love but built with low-density parts to allow for ease of travel. No longer will you be feeling weighed down as you fight on the battlefield. I guarantee you; you'll be like butter on a frying pan when you roll with this weapon. Pair all that with your quick Burst Bombs and the fast-firing Inkzooka, and you've got a weapon that has a need for speed! Do you like it? Because I'm willing to part with it for, let's say, 6,600 coins." Roenaldo was immediately intrigued by this concept. "I'm sold," he said, "Take my money! Thanks for the help, Sheldon." The shopkeeper gave a salute, saying, "Think nothing of it, soldier! My reward is knowing that you're giving these weapons of mine a chance to shine where they belong." He exchanged the Roller for Roenaldo's coins before saying, "Feel free to come back to me whenever you have to!" Roenaldo nodded, replying, "I'll be sure to." The Inkling then exited the building, enjoying the lightweight feel of his new purchase.

"Hoo, baby," said Roenaldo to himself, "I can't wait to see how this weapon does! We'll see who's calling who slow now..." As Roenaldo walked to the Lobby, he saw Cap'n Cuttlefish peeking out of his manhole and looking around. Once the elder took notice of his agent, he nodded his head to the side before going back down his pipe. Roenaldo gulped, saying, "Uh oh. I forgot to do some more missions yesterday. I hope that the captain isn't too angry with me." Hoping to lessen the consequences, Roenaldo quickly dove into the manhole into Octo Valley.