Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It’s silent in the S4 base tonight, and even though Rider is just filling in for a probability that he’ll need to fill in sooner or later, he can tell something is wrong. 

They’re sitting in the kitchen in what technically is Team Purple’s base. Skull offered up the place for the S4 and by the looks of it, it seems like the other three are moving in? What happened to the other Purple Team members?

Still, he can’t be bothered to ask, because for one, it isn’t his business, and second, he’s too focused on these incredibly detailed plans Army brought in. 

This one actually incorporates teamwork into it, requiring them to use each other’s strengths to effectively cover the map, though there’s a rushed feeling about them, like Army wrote these at 2am right before the meeting. 

“You’re planning on flanking after the baller?” Rider tosses the stack of papers onto the table between the four of them, watching as they slide too far over the edge, the individual pieces falling to the floor listlessly. “I don’t think that’ll be fast enough if they have dualie-users.”

Army’s lips flatten into a thin line. “I’m aware, but I was unable to think through each weapon possibility because my teammates—“ he cuts himself off there, a barely suppressed sigh escaping him.

Both Skull and Mask make some sort of movement, like they’re about to speak, but both instead make another action, one that Rider is pretty sure they didn’t intend to do before. 

Silence falls again, thick and heavy, and Rider resists the urge to flip the table over, to rage and shout why the shell they weren’t acting right, what legitimate serious event caused them to be unable to plan for their next match. But he stays silent, ears twitching in annoyance. The clock is unbelievably loud, the ticks driving into his brain, and he grits his teeth, looking across the table. The other four avoid his gaze and the silence stretches on. 

“Your teammates what.” It takes control to keep his voice level. They’ve been sitting here for two hours with no progress and it’s grating in his nerves. “What did your teammates do that could possibly make this plan not applicable to at least two weapon categories?”

He didn’t expect Army to account for every weapon; quite the contrary, but the military-styled Inkling never passed up on a way to counter dualies, the one weapon that Rider knew the other actually hated opposing. 

Army seems to freeze on the spot, but Rider notices that he seems to have touched a nerve with all four members. Aloha looks scared now, Skull vaguely disturbed, Mask’s expression shifting slightly, and the tension in the air increases tenfold.

Something’s up, and so is Rider’s patience. “Look, we’ve been sitting here for two hours at least. We haven’t done anything other than stare at this plan and nothing else.”

A thought comes to him. Army cut himself off at the word ‘teammates’ and to be honest, he hasn’t seen any of Orange Team around lately as a group even though they usually move as a unit. “Is there something wrong with your teammates?”

Aloha is the one to give it away by flinching slightly, and Rider immediately hones in on it. “Spit it out.”

The pink Inkling looks up, startled, expression reminding Rider of that time Team School Cardigan was exposed for their wigs. There’s fear there, but also resignation, like he knows that this conversation was going to happen eventually. “Well, I can’t speak for you guys but—“

He’s dancing around the subject, an awkward grin on his face, and Rider is becoming frustrated. His expression must show it because Aloha starts speaking again, more quickly than before. 

“Our team split up. Permanently. Scuba quit the team and both Straw and Octoglasses resigned a day later. Something to do with me not being cool enough, I have no clue.” The last sentence is said with barely any conviction and Rider can tell that Aloha personally knows the true reason, but doesn’t press the issue. 

“So your team broke up?” His gaze slides towards the other three. “Did that happen with you too?”

Aloha, he can kinda understand, as his team seemed the least put together; the resignation of his teammates was a bit surprising but out of the entire S4, they were the most likely to split early. But if Skull and Aviator had a falling out, or Army and Mask with their entire team, Rider wasn’t sure what to think. 

“We split last night,” Army says, each word sounding painful, like saying it out loud cemented the idea. “It was my fault for not paying attention to my team more. We lost three battles in a row and almost ranked down because I devoted all my time to keeping the S4 on the leaderboard.”

“Same here.” Skull didn’t sound too pleased to admit it, but adding it to an already broken teammate was a better opportunity than none. “Except that was two weeks ago and none of us are on speaking terms because the situation was complicated.”

Not on speaking terms. The words are impactful enough for Rider to understand why none of them seems up to going over plans tonight. If Skull isn’t speaking to his teammates, then it must be more serious than he thought. 

“And you?” Mask doesn’t meet the yellow-green Inkling’s gaze, eyes instead traveling down to the forgotten plans on the floor. 

“Let’s just say things aren’t going so weeell.”

Rider frowns. “Okay, but—“

He’s cut off when a loud noise sounds at the door. From the sound of it, someone’s trying to come in. Rider half-rises from his seat but the door swings open without his intervention. 

“Skull—“ The word from the intruder dies as Aviator stands in the doorway, holding the key to the base, eyebrows raised past the rim of his glasses before any trace of surprise is ridden. “Oh.”

Rider gets the silent feeling that Aviator came back here to apologize or something, the presence of the S4 evidently causing any sort of intention to vanish. 

Aviator steps over the threshold, shoes clacking loudly on the hardwood floor. His face is devoid of his usual smirk. “Didn’t know I was intruding on anything. I just need to get my weapon.”

He moves past the table to the kitchen cabinets, yanking one after another open, muttering something about “Paisley hiding everything”. The last cabinet is locked and he quite literally breaks off the chain holding the doors together and opens the door, pulls out his Nozzlenose and turns to leave. Before he exits the kitchen, he glances at Aloha. “By the way, Scuba said you forgot a bunch of stuff so Straw is going to drop it off here tomorrow.”

And then he’s gone, door slamming shut loud enough to shake the walls of the house. 

Skull’s expression is blank enough to be considered as indifference though Rider can see a spark of some kind of regret or sadness there before it’s gone. 

He notices that Aviator still had the keys to the base, and that his weapon was left in the kitchen of all places, like he moved out but forgot some things as well. It was strange, to say the least, but again, it wasn’t Rider’s business to prod any further. His only questions could pertain to the plan currently strewn across the floor, but the words died in his throat before he could speak. 

“Okay. I think that’s it.” Army speaks for him. “I’ll revise the plan and send it to you later.” The last sentence is directed at Rider and the yellow-green Inkling knows a dismissal when he sees one. He stands, chair squeaking in protest. 

“Alright. I’ll be expecting them.”

Aviator is outside when Rider leaves the base, tugging something out of the ground. He pockets whatever it is and glances at Rider, moving quickly to leave, but not before Rider can see the tear tracks on his face, reflected from the street lamps above.

Chapter Text

It’s stupid to think about and even stupider to ask, but Headphones notices that the S4 teams seemed to have drifted apart. 

So she’s at a sleepover at Yellow-Green Team base with Bamboo, Blazer, and Bobble and the topic of the S4 comes up surprisingly fast. 

“Rider said they all moved in to the Purple Team base now,” Bamboo says, eyes on the small woodcarving in her hand that she’s chipping away with a nail file. “Strange but I wonder if the rest of Purple Team is okay with three other Inklings moving in.”

Blazer blinks in surprise and looks over at her girlfriend. “Really? I heard that they left. I was talking to Paisley and she said they aren’t going back there unless they need to pick up some stuff.”

“So the living arrangements must be messed up,” Bamboo nods slowly, delicately setting the carving aside. “Things are changing pretty quickly now. It’s kinda sad.”

“I hope they can get themselves sorted out!” Bobble says, ever so cheerful, and Headphones wishes she has her optimism  that everything will work out. 

She had watched Paisley and Stitch be in the same aisle together at the clothing shop and not say a word to each other once. 

She’s pretty sure they were dating last time she checked. 

She’s seen Orange Team, sans Army, walk into the weapons shop each about five minutes apart, their clothes rumpled beyond recognition, and she briefly wondered how they let themselves get so disorganized. She’s noticed Jersey, who she really thought was on a diet, stuffing her face with shwaffles at the Shoal, and Octoglasses, who never touched the Shoal after that one party gone wrong, sitting in the back of the store on her phone. 

Something was up, and she could tell in all of the members, the telltale stiffness of their shoulders, the way their eyes darted around, and she realizes she’s never seen a member of the S4 in the same vicinity as their separate teammates. She shares the information with her friends, the other girls’ eyes widening with each word. 

“...So it’s more serious than I thought.” Bamboo’s mouth is tilting into frown. “No wonder when I asked the others to join us, they declined.”

As far as Headphones knew, Bamboo and Blazer had texted all of the female members of each team to see if they could attend the sleepover. They all got varied excuses for why they couldn’t attend, though if they were moving bases, it made more sense that they were too busy. 

“Do you think there’s any way for us to help?” Blazer is twisting the hem of her shirt nervously; Headphones can feel anxiety rolling off of her in waves. “Maybe ask them if we can assist in moving?”

Bamboo shakes her head. “I think they can figure it out—“

As if on cue, her phone rings and she picks it up, putting it on speaker. “Hello?”

“Hey, Bamboo, you there?” It’s Full Moon on the other end of the line, and she sounds vaguely panicked. Or rather, as panicked as she could sound, which was more of a normal conversation than anything. 

“I’m here.” Bamboo frowns and glances at the other girls before looking back at the phone. “What do you need?”

“Yeah, um,” her voice becomes distant before she continues, “we’re cleaning out our base and Octoglasses may or may not have spilled a bunch of vodka on the floor because of uhhh this situation going on. Is there anything we should worry about regarding the quality of the wood? We cleaned it up already but—“

“It should be fine.” Bamboo looks slightly annoyed at the question, though Headphones can’t imagine why. “Oh, and who’s even moving in with you? Don’t you three have room for only one person?”

Headphones takes that moment to appreciate the opening that the yellow-green Inkling used to her advantage. 

Full Mood doesn’t respond for a moment and Headphones thinks that she hung up, before the glasses-wearing Inkling speaks again. “....Tri and Jersey moved out. Octoglasses, Paisley, and Forge are moving in.”

“Okay, thanks. Good luck with moving.”

Bamboo hangs up, a cryptic expression on her face, and Blazer is the first to say anything, her voice an octave higher than usual. 

“Wait, so they’re not staying as a team? I’d thought she and Jersey would stay in the same house.”

“Full Moon was the one who initially paid rent there,” Headphones points out. “But there’s no connection between those four Inklings.”

There’s a knock at the door and Blazer opens it, revealing Sailor White scuffing her shoe into the pavement, wringing her hat in nervousness. “Hey... I know I said I couldn’t make it but... could I maybe stay with you guys tonight?”

“Yes of course!” Bobble is the first to speak, eyes bright. “Come on in!”

White carefully moves past Blazer into the living room, shoulders hunched. “Sorry..”

“It’s fine.” Blazer shuts the door with a sharp click. “Do you need help with something?”

The orange Inkling shrugs, flopping onto the ground, tentacles drooping over one arm. “No.. it’s just a bit hard moving around. I’m not ready to separate from Forge and Blue. We’ve been friends since forever.”

“You’re splitting up into the other three bases,” Bamboo guesses and White nods. 

“We’re all mad at the S4 because they started devoting a ton of time to that team they claimed was only supposed to be there for the Square King Cup. But now they announced they’re a permanent team and it’s ruined a lot of friendships between them and their teammates. We all quite Orange Team because Army didn’t follow the plan we made for a match and we ended up having a losing streak.”

Headphones can understand the anger. To have one of your closest friends split off to join a group they barely got along with was hurtful. “You guys are all moving around?”

“Yeah.. Purple Team got kicked out of their base so we had to accommodate. We adjusted to have the girls and guys in separate housings based on who paid initial rent, but it’s been really hard on everyone.”

There are tears in her eyes now, and with Bobble being the closest, the blue Inkling quickly wraps her arms around White. 

“We’ve had at least three panic attacks and five full blown arguments when we were moving around, which is why I’m here. I need to escape it all. It’s so hard when we have to change everything.”

She buries her face in her hands and Bobble starts to rub gentle circles in her back. 

Blazer looks stricken. “So you’re physically splitting from Forge and Blue too? Who are you rooming with?”

“Jersey, Stitch and Straw.” Her words are muffled slightly but she raises her head to speak, the tears still falling in thick globs into her lap. “We thought it would be best to create our own teams for the time being until the S4 come back to us. Three members hardly make a team after all.”

Three members hardly make a team.

White was right, after all, who would want to sub in for an S4 team? Besides, with all the whispering Inkopolis likes to do behind backs, it wouldn’t do well to have a replacement when they were the four top teams in the city. 

“Well hopefully things will clear up soon and you guys will be back to normal,” Blazer days and White nods tearfully. 

“Yeah, but it seems so far away. It seems like everything’s going to stay like this forever.”

“Well you’ll probably get used to it, right?” Bamboo scoots over to the orange Inkling and starts rubbing her back, Bobble letting go to allow the movement. 

“Yeah. I guess so.”

White’s phone starts to ring, Headphones recognizing the Calamari Inkantation drifting from the device as she brings it out. Her lips tilt slightly at the caller ID. 

“Who is it?” Bobble leans over to glance at the phone herself but doesn’t say the identity of the caller once she sees it. 

White doesn’t respond and instead answers the call, placing it on speakerphone. Headphones notices her hands are shaking. 

“Yo, this is Sailor White, right?” A vaguely familiar voice floats from the phone, and White purses her lips, her eyes brimming again with tears. 

“Yeah. What happened? Is something wrong?”

“No, no, nothin’ like that. Blue’s phone died a half hour ago and he couldn’t tell you that he found our base just fine.”

White swallows and blinks away her tears. “If— if it’s too much to ask, could you put him on the line for me? I need—“

She chokes on her words and breaks off, but they all know what she was going to say. 

“No problemo.” 

The line clacks slightly and another voice, one that Headphones knows to be Sailor Blue, comes over the speaker. “Hey, yeah, White? I’m here. It’s alright.”

White releases a shaky breath. “Thanks. Forge called you?”

“Yeah, it used up all my battery too. I would have told you sooner but, you know...”

White laughs despite herself. “I’m glad you found your way there.”

“Me too. Are you okay?” 

The orange Inkling glances to Bamboo, Blazer, Bobble, and Headphones before smiling slightly. “I am now.”

“Okay cool.” There’s a slight shuffling noise on the line and Blue speaks again, sounding like he’s trying not to laugh. “Scuba wants his phone back. Something about filming Avi shove three shwaffles into his mouth at once? Anyway I gotta go now. See you.”

“Bye.” White hangs up, pocketing her phone, and the other girls can see she looks a lot happier than she did before the phone call. 

She stands then, moving to the door. 

“You leaving now? So soon?” It’s a joke from Blazer, and White’s lips twitch upwards. 

“Yeah, I should probably head back before anyone gets too worried. Thank you so much, by the way.”

“Anytime.” It was Headphones who speaks then and White shoots her a grateful look before leaving. 

The door shuts with a deciding click. 

Chapter Text

Safari wasn’t thinking of doing anything in particular today. Really, he was just out to relax, but the crowd seemed to always find the wrong people to throw at him. 

He had just left the lobby after a randomized turf war and Straw immediately hooks herself on his left arm, squeezing it so tight he can feel the blood drain from it. 

“Uh.. hi?”

She seems distracted, constantly looking over her shoulder. “Hey, uh, Scuba’s looking for me. Can you hide me?”

“Hide you?” It’s an exaggeration at best, and Safari wants to leave the area immediately. If Scuba’s looking for Straw, then things can’t be good. Since the pink team broke up, there should be no reason why they would actively seek each other. “What for?”

Straw just yelps and Safari turns to see Scuba coming towards them. “Yo, Straw!”

His voice is loud enough to attract attention from nearby Inklings. Safari wants to shrink into his jacket. This is not good. 

“Y-yes?” Safari has never heard one of the infamous Pink Team stutter before and it brings him on edge. What’s going on?

“Were you the one who contacted Aloha with that carp?” Scuba is closer now, and he actually looks mad. Both fists are clenched and his eyebrows are drawn in behind his mask moreso that usual. 

“It was an accident!” Thankfully, Straw has loosened her grip and Safari tries to pull away but she keeps him in place. “I forgot it was him!”

“You forgot.” The deadpan is enough to show that the masked Inkling doesn’t believe a single word of that. “Really. The username ‘partyking’ didn’t give it away?”

They stand there in silence for a few seconds, both of their chests heaving like they just ran a marathon. The tension is thick enough to see, and a crowd is starting to surround them. 

“I’m sorry!” Straw bursts out so suddenly that Safari jumps. “You know what? I’m sorry okay? I’m sorry I didn’t think ‘oh, that’s Aloha but we hate him now so don’t talk to him’ like how you always do. All of this was your fault anyway. Pink Team splittin’ up? Us resignin’? All of us avoidin’ Aloha? It’s all you.”

Scuba looks startled at the accusation, expression flicking through confusion, anger, and finally settling on defensive frustration. “Look, I didn’t tell you to resign, alright? It was my decision. If you wanted to stick around Aloha and all that S4 shit, then do that. I was makin’ my own choice. You didn’t need to follow.”

“But you don’t get it!” Straw looks close to tears now. “Without you, we don’t have a team anymore! We have three Inklings who can’t rotate into the lobby without being separated!”

“So Aloha leavin’ for the S4 doesn’t count? You miscalculated, Straw. It’s two Inklings, not three. Besides, he wouldn’t have stuck around anyway; you got your hopes way too high. You waitin’ there for him to come back to lead us is like me waitin’ to be X-rank. It just won’t happen. Once he went off, we didn’t have a team. At all. So me resignin’ didn’t make a difference.” Scuba looks a mix between regret and annoyance now. “Listen, I’d rather not be givin’ the silent treatment like how Purple Team ended up. So we’re probably the best off like this.”

“Best off?” Straw looks furious now. Her shriek causes Safari to flinch, though Scuba didn’t move a muscle. “Best off?! How can we be the best off if we’re actively avoidin’ our leader?”

“Former leader,” Scuba corrects her. “Aloha didn’t do shit to try to keep us together and you know it.”

“What the shell is going on here?”

Safari glances to the left and sees Forge forcing her way through the mob, scowling fiercely, Aviator somewhat off to the side, usual smirk missing from his face. “Why are you causing so much chaos?”

Scuba growls in response; it’s an actual animalistic growl, one that makes Safari tug his way backwards, Straw no longer on his arm. “Shut up, Forge. This isn’t about you.”

“Actually it is.” The orange Inkling crosses her arms. “It’s about all of us. It concerns all the S4 teams, you know.”

“I know?” Scuba laughs, the mirth behind the noise replaced with something bordering on a complete breakdown. He sounds like he’s about to have a panic attack by the way his voice fluctuates on wheezes. Safari vaguely wonders if he needs to use his inhaler. “I know all of our leaders fuckin’ ditched us when they said they weren’t. Did Army promise he wasn’t going to leave you behind? Did he tell you that the S4 was just temporary and that everything will be back to normal?”

Forge winces. “Just the second part.”

“Exactly.” Scuba’s eyes narrow. “Aloha promised us. He literally promised us we would stay a team and that he would never join the S4 permanently if he had a say in it. But now look where we are, huh? He’s up and left us.”

Aviator comes out of the crowd then, lips pressed together so tightly, Safari didn’t even know it was his mouth until he started talking. “Scuba, we need to move on from that. Ranting about the S4 in all of this—“ he gestures to the crowd of Inklings around him, most of them recording the scene in front of them. “—isn’t the best idea. We talked about this, remember? It won’t do well to dwell on the past.”

“Says the person who’s still giving his former teammates the silent treatment,” Scuba spits, and Aviator’s eyes widen behind his sunglasses. “It’s been what, two weeks now?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Aviator’s voice is dangerously low now. 

Forge steps forward, trying to calm everyone down. “Look, can we carry this conversation later? We’re being recorded here. Not the best reputation holder, if I had a say in this.”

“You don’t get a say,” Straw says suddenly. She’s up in Forge’s face now, tears streaming down her face. “You aren’t supposed to be in this conversation. It’s between Pink Team members, not you.”

“We’re not Pink Team anymore,” Scuba says, and Straw rounds on him. 

“Because you resigned! Aloha promised he would stay with us, he swore on it. If you just waited a bit longer—“

“I’ve been waitin’ for weeks, Straw.” Scuba’s breath is coming in wheezy gasps, yet he doesn’t reach towards his inhaler. “It’s not going to happen. I know Aloha, and when he makes promises, he keeps them. This is one of those times where he’s not going to come back. He’s not going to ditch the S4 just for us, cause we’re not worth that anymore. He’s moving on.”

“Don’t say that!” Straw is practically screaming now. “Don’t go saying that! He still cares for us! He said so!”

Scuba snorts disbelievingly, but it sounds more like a sob than anything. “You’re kiddin’ yourself, Straw.”

“Everyone just chill,” Aviator says suddenly, forehead creasing in a frown. “We can’t keep going on here.”

“When was the last time you talked to Skull, Avi?” Scuba’s eyes don’t leave Straw but there’s an edge of poison in his tone. “Or Paisley? Or Stitch?”

Aviator’s fists clench. “Scuba, I swear to Cod—“

“Aloha swore too but that didn’t stop him from joining the S4.”

Straw’s pupils shrink so much that they almost vanish. The anger is gone from her voice; she just sounds sad now. “I understand now. Scuba, you couldn’t have stopped him.”

“I— what?” Scuba takes a step away from his former teammate, eyes wide. “What do you mean? He left on his own choice.”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Straw huffs, the tears still coming from the corners of her eyes. “I mean you couldn’t have kept him from the S4.”

Scuba stares at her in blank shock. The crowd hushes, bringing a tense air to the place. 

“You’re angry at him for leaving, but I think you are upset at yourself for not giving him a reason to stay, right?”

“I didn’t—“

Straw isn’t finished. “You tried to keep him in. And you did a really good job, which I have to thank you for, because without you, this team would’ve split a long time ago. You held us all together, taking on the responsibility Aloha wouldn’t exercise on us, so him leaving must’ve been hard on you.”

Scuba releases a shaky breath. “It didn’t— I didn’t—“

Straw sounds slightly desperate now. “It’s okay, Scuba. Don’t pin it on yourself. None of us could’ve kept him in.”

“I could’ve stopped him.” The masked Inkling turns away from her, shaking his head, but his movements are shaky as slow. “He left anyway. He’s my best friend but I let him walk out that door and then I just left too because, because—“

His voice cuts off. Forge and Aviator both look like they want to rush in and help but it could just make things worse. 

“It’s my fault. You’re right.” He turns around again and he isn’t crying, but the look on his face is so much worse. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have left. I shouldn’t have taken his promise for keeps. I shouldn’t have left like the fuckin’ coward I am. I should’ve stayed, should’ve tried to get him back again, get the team up and runnin’ again, even if he said he wasn’t coming back, even if the S4 is way beyond anythin’ we could accomplish. He’s happy with them, right? He won’t come back. I should’ve—“ The rest of his words are mumbled as he folds inwards on himself, sinking to the asphalt. Straw moves towards him, but Aviator gets there first, crouching in front of the pink Inkling. “Scuba, it isn’t your job to make sure everyone is satisfied with everything. There’s a lot of shit going on that added to this mess so it’s not your fault at all.”

Scuba doesn’t respond at first. And then, “‘M sorry.”

Aviator heaves a sigh. “I’m sorry too. But we’re all going to get through this, yeah? We can keep hating on the S4 all we want, but we’re going to do this together, okay?”

Scuba pushes his mask down to hang around his neck, teardrops landing in his lap as he looks back at the purple Inkling. “Then you gotta talk to your former teammates.”

Aviator gives him a thin smile. “No promises, but I’ll try. Just try not to blame yourself because of Aloha.”

Straw kneels besides Scuba, pulling him into a hug. “Sorry for saying it was your fault. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Sorry for blowing up at you,” the other replies, burying his face into her shoulder. “You didn’t— you didn’t deserve that.”

Forge has started to wave away the masses of Inklings around the scene, now that the incident has calmed down. “That’s it, move along.”

She stops where Safari is, the latter still too confused to say a word. “Oh. Safari, right? Sorry about that, this really isn’t a great time for all of us S4 teams in case you couldn’t tell.”

She ushers him away, leaving Safari to confusedly wander back into the lobby, mind completely fried. What just happened?

The more he thought about it, the more he made up his mind to not think about it anymore. S4 business was too scary to get caught up in, and he wasn’t about to tangle with them any more than he needed to. 

And so Safari went on with his day, the incident conveniently forgotten.