Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Shiiiiveeeer..."

"What is it now, Frye?"

"Well I... um... uurrrghhmhmmghhhhmmmmm...."

"Inklish, please?"

"I... may have accidently broke your Splatana while practicing with Big Man..."

"WHAT?!?"

*...Approximately one hour later...*

Back to the weapon shop... again. Shiver told her over and over: "If you break my Splatana one more time, you'll have to get your own weapons!" Despite saying this several times before, Shiver is unable to resist the cuteness that is Frye when she feels guilty and apologizes. Being the nice little cephalopod that she is, Shiver always goes back to that weapon shop to repair that worn out Splatana.

The way down to the weapon shop isn't actually that long; it's just right to the left once you walk down the stairs near the tower and Grizzco. Though not a far walk, Shiver often gets caught up in how amazing Splatsville really is when you're just a little inkling or octoling in the middle of the street. There's so many creatures just living their life out there watching the news every day and participating in Splatfests. They sometimes wave to Shiver or go to get a selfie when they see her walking by, but other times they just stay on their phones and ignore her as she passes by. That's what she loved about Splatsville; everyone treats her as if she's one of them. There's no paparazzi, excluding the occasional obsessed Deep Cut fan, and it's overall just a nice time walking down the streets.

Shiver was now at the entrance of Ammo Knights, glad to see that they were open as usual. While walking in, Shiver saw several weapons, like blasters, rollers, and sloshers. Most importantly, though, she saw Sheldon. Sheldon, the crab who ran the shop, was at the time occupied trying to display a very, very, VERY big inkbrush.

"Woah woah woah, Sheldon-" Shiver ran to help the poor crab as he almost collapsed. "What are you doing with that huge inkbrush, anyways?"

"Ah, Shiver!" Sheldon exclaimed. "Don't worry about that, but I was just trying to set this new model up. I suppose it's a bit large, but I'm sure it'll pack quite the punch in battle!"

"Yeah, sure, if you're Mr. Coco... Anyways, Sheldon, my blockheaded companions ended up breaking my Splatana again. Could you repair it if you're not too busy?"

"Gladly! How many times have I had to repair that handle? Six?"

"Close. Seven."

"Ah, seven... You know, I believe the reason the handle keeps breaking is because it's being swung too hard. Many of my clients also have had this problem with their Splatana Wipers as well, but most of the time it gets broken when they use their Ultra Stamp special. Oh, the Ultra Stamp... not only can you use it to squish your opponents in the heat of battle, but you can also throw the stamp at a far-away enemy by pressing ZR! Really, I've seen several tactical geniuses use the special in so many different ways, that..."

Somewhere in the middle of Sheldon's "little" Ultra Stamp monologue, Shiver saw a mechanical thingy sitting behind the desk in the back of the shop. Could it be a new weapon? It didn't look like any of the already-released weapons, so it intrigued her very much as to what it could be. She didn't want to interrupt Sheldon because she thought it would be rude, and she also didn't want to leave the shop for the very same reason.

"Som taking all this into fact, I really think that the best sub special for another variant of the Big Swig Roller would be Toxic Mist. I mean, really, you can't go wrong with it..." Sheldon set down all his tools and inspected the Splatana.

"Hrrrmmmm," Sheldon squinted his eyes. "It's all done! Here you go, Shiver. I'd say it's good as new!"

"Thank's Sheldon, you're the GOAT," Shiver walked torwards the exit. "Oh, but I was just wondering what that thing over there is?" Shiver pointed at the mechanical object she saw earlier.

"Ohohohoho," Sheldon laughed, "That's just a little secret that I've been working on. Believe me, I'd tell you all about it if it weren't a secret."
"Hmm, alright. I'll go, then."
"Goodbye!"

Shiver walked out the shop with her mind full. What was that thing? Why, out of all weapons, would Sheldon keep quiet about this one in particular? Usually, he's always blabbering on about his new inventions, so why stay silent now? Exactly how big of a secret is it if it keeps Sheldon of all people silent? Shiver thought for a moment. Maybe if she gets on Sheldon's good side, he might tell her about his secret project without even knowing it! In order to do that, though, she'd have to visit Ammo Knights a whole lot more... Shiver knew she was way too invested in this, but she didn't mind it too much. After all, when she gets her mind set on a mystery, she just can't let go of it. From now on, Shiver would do whatever it took to spend as much time with Sheldon as possible.

Chapter Text

Two weeks have gone by and Shiver tried to visit Ammo Knights multiple times per week. She visited it to view the weapon selection, test out some new releases, and she even broke her splatana on purpose a few times. Though it was a bit exhausting, Shiver knew that it would be worth it in the end. Plus, she even got to appreciate some weapons that she didn't before! Whenever Sheldon asked why Shiver was coming to the weapon shop, she just answered with an "I've been trying to step up my Turf War game," or "I just wanted to check if there were any new weapons out that I haven't heard of." Reguardless, Sheldon always supported her and was looking forward to watching a match of hers sometime. One day, though, that changed. One day, Sheldon wasn't there to eagerly welcome Shiver into the shop.

"Ammo Knights is... CLOSED FOR INKDEPENDANCE DAY?? Shiver exclaimed, reading the sign in front of the shop.

Shiver was flabbergasted. She couldn't believe that she, a news broadcaster, had forgotten about Inkdependance Day. Still, though, Sheldon usually doesn't close up the shop on holidays, so why was today any different? Was he sick, maybe? Did he have an important event to go to? Shiver tried to think of the positives. Sure, she may not get to bug Sheldon for a day, but at least she could hang out with Frye and Big Man for the holidays! Still though, Shiver was starting to miss those thirty minute long monologues that Sheldon went on hen he head someone have even the slightest bit of curiosity about his weapons. He truly was passionate about his job.

Shiver sadly walked back to the studio that she and the other members of Deep Cut filmed at. She knew that they didn't have any work outside of the morning announcement because of the holiday, so she decided to text her friends to see what was up with them. She knew it might take a while for her friends to reply, so she decided to take a stroll while she was outside. Even if she had nobody to hang out with, she could always rely on good ol' Mother Nature to brighten up her spirits. Plus, if she gets REALLY lonely, then she can always go visit Master Mega.

By this point, Shiver's already walked through most of Splatsville, so she decided to walk a bit on the road from Splatsville to Octo Canyon. Sure, the outer Splatlands may just have been all desert, but it wasnt as it the cephalopods chose to thrive in such a chaotic landscape. Well... maybe they did, but regardless, they adapted to the heat and the desolate desert. What once was a large, empty space of land became a large, empty space of land with a beautiful and thriving city lying in it. This was just another reason why Shiver had such a high respect for not only Splatsville, but the whole Splatlands and everyone in them.

Shiver has now been walking for about an hour. She seemed to have forgotten all about the phone while thinking about how amazing the Splatlands are, so she checked it as soon as she remembered. Before even unlocking her phone, Shiver saw only one notification from the groupchat. She unlocked her phone, clicked on it, and saw that it was just one message left by Big Man; "I'm with my family for the day, Frye's probably with her siblings." Of course. Frye's siblings, those little rascals. Of course she'd be spending the day with them. How stupid.

Shiver started to turn around and walk back to Splatsville. She forgot about her thoughts right after she saw the closed sign on Ammo Knights. Sheldon was passionate about his weapons, so what was Shiver passionate about? Winning. Shiver loved winning. It didn't matter what she won at. Turf war? Anarchy Battles? Salmon Run? Challenges? Tableturf? Shiver loved winning equally as much in all of these. Seeing the enemy's discouraged faces after a well fought battle was the very thing that Shiver lived for. However... winning is cool and all, but what's better than winning? Splatsville. Shiver was obviously very passionate about Splatsville. The whole reason Deep Cut did what they did was for the people of Splatsville. Whether they did something as little as announcing the hourly news or as big as using their spare time to find treasures for the city, they did it all to help their people.

Before she knew it, Shiver was staring down at the old sewer drain in the plaza area near the Splatfest voting stand that led to Alterna. Shiver had many memories there with Frye and Big Man about their crazy treasure hunt down these a while back. They thought that they could just take the treasure and leave, but turns out that they ended up saving the world with not only the New Squidbeak Splatoon, but the infamous Squid Sisters too! Shiver even heard from Marie that Sheldon, the shop owner, helped the agents from behind the scenes! Feeling a bit nostalgic, Shiver entered the sewer drain and went into Alterna.

It only took a few moments for Shiver to fully step foot in Alterna's snow-covered ground. Alterna was much less lively than Splatsville and it wasn't very well known to the general public, which is why the New Squidbeat Splatoon and friends used this place to hang out sometimes. Usually, though, they only hang out on the first island because that's where all the tools were. They might do some exploring if they've all decided to meet up for a day, but otherwise, they just stay near the entrance to Alterna. By the time Shiver came over, though, there was nobody there... nobody except the captain.

"Oh, heya, Captain," Shiver waved at the captain who was checking out the lump of junk that was near the entrance. The captain quickly turned around and looked at Shiver, but said nothing.

"I was just coming down here because I was bored," Shiver explained. She's never heard the captain talk before, so she was used to the silence.

The captain stared at her for a while longer but quickly returned to inspecting... whatever they were looking at before. Shiver sighed and left the scene to visit the other islands. When Deep Cut was exploring Alterna pre- Mammal Mania, each member of the trio got their own island with their own treasure they wanted to protect. Shiver decided to go to her own island so that she could see it again. Back on that island, Shiver spent most of her time with Master Mega. They played games, had lunches together, and practiced for the upcoming battles. There was never a dull moment with that shark around.

While reminiscing, Shiver could have sworn she heard something over there by the shoreline. It sounded kind of like scratching, but what kind of wildlife made scratching sounds? Surely it wasn't a bird, and the octarians were cleaned up from Alterna months ago. There could have been a person there, but Shiver doubted it. That was before she saw him, sitting by the water.

"SHELDON?!?!?" Shiver exclaimed.

"Oh!" Sheldon seemed surprised by the sudden exclaiming of his name. "Well, uh, what are YOU doing here?" He paused for a bit, realized the restating of the question seemed rude, and tried again."I'm sorry, what I meant to say was that I was simply traveling around here looking for inspiration."

"On Inkdependance Day?" Shiver asked. "I thought you always kept your shop open on holidays."

"Ah, well you see, I actually recently changed that. In fact, Shiver, it's actually partially because of you."

"B-because of me?"

"Well, I honestly found your commitment to your Turf Wars quite incredible. You spent so much time coming back to the shop trying out new weapons that I felt motivated to work even harder on my projects. I thought 'Well, if she's working hard to make use the weapons to their fullest, then I ought to work hard to make new ones that satisfy customers like her!'"

"Oh... well, um, thank you? I guess?" Shiver was a bit surprised.

"Oh, but you're only closing up on holidays, right?" She asked.

"Yup! Only on holidays!"

Shiver almost let out a sigh of relief. She didn't know what she'd do if the shop was closed down every few weeks. It's not like sh was obsessed with it or anything, but she did grow to like it a bit. That didn't matter, though. What DID matter was getting Sheldon to spill the beans on his new "secret project."

"So, Sheldon, you said you came here for inspiration?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Weeeelll, I was just wondering if you were working on any new weapons, kinda like that huge inkbrush."

"Yes, of course!" Sheldon pulled out a sketchbook. "I was drawing in this book right here just before you came."

"Oh, so that's what that odd scratching sound was..."

Sheldon showed the sketchbook to Shiver. There were six pages in the notebook all with several sketches of three different weapons. The first one was a new version of the slosher, the next one was a pufferfish themed Splat Brella, and the last one was what seemed like a shark-themed blaster that kind of reminded Shiver of Master Mega. Each weapon had its own to pages full of many different angles, designs, and close-ups on mechanical parts. What surprised Shiver was how good the sketches looked. Every sketch looked so real and three-dimensional with very detailed shading; she could perfectly imagine how each weapon looked in real life. It made perfect sense that Sheldon would have his sketches look just as perfect as the final products, but Shiver really just wasn't expecting something like that from Sheldon. He just seems like such a silly person who cares too much about things other people don't care about; he's very easy to underestimate.

"I actually really like these," Shiver said. "Especially the shark one."

"Thank you, Shiver! Seeing all this water around here reminded me of all us sea creatures that are... well, not longer in the sea, so that translated a bit into these weapon designs." Sheldon replied.

"You know," Shiver smiled, "I actually have a shark friend that I visit often."

"Oh, yes! I remember him from when you and Agent 3 were still enemies, Mega, was it?"

"Yes, I call him Master Mega. I might even visit him later today, if you'd like to join. That is... if he doesn't mistake you for food..." Shiver smiled smugly.

"Oh, really? Yes, I'd love to!"

And that was that. Shiver's just invited Sheldon over without even thinking about it. She wasn't exactly angry about it, but she wasn't too happy about it either. Yes, it was another chance to spend time with Sheldon, but what if Master Mega didn't like him? Maybe the shark wouldn't mind having Sheldon as company and Shiver was just worrying about nothing. Sheldon seemed so enthusiastic to join her, though, so she couldn't just stop him from going. All she could do was hope that nothing was going to go wrong.