//------------------------------//
// A New Way to Ink 
// Story: Spike the Squid Kid 
// by Darth Severus 
//------------------------------//

Spike was walking around Inkopolis Square. He'd been getting some attention from weapon enthusiasts ever since he helped Sheldon make the weapon ideas he had. He'd even met with Marina a couple of times, since she was really interested in the mechanical aspect of his weapon designs. As he walked through the Square, he heard people talking in huddled groups. He walked over to a group and asked, "Hey, what's everyone talking about?"

One of the other inklings told him, "It sounds like there's some sort of new battle mode, Splat Boxing."

Spike raised an eyebrow in interest and asked, "Splat Boxing, that wouldn't have anything to do with the Splat Boxers I designed, would it?"

A girl told him, "Oh! So you're the one who invented the Splat Boxers? Well, if you are, then yes. Splat Boxing is a one on one match between two people with Splat Boxers. You use your Splat Boxers to try to splat your opponent. Best 2-out-of-3 wins. It sounds simple, but that's what makes it so interesting! I heard that there's even going to be a Splat Boxing Tournament soon!"

Spike smiled lightly, "Sound like a lot of fun. I'll probably enter the tournament.

A few days later, the tournament sign-up was open. Spike quickly signed up, and then started training for the tournament. Training wasn't hard for him, since he invented the Splat Boxers, so he knew how they worked.

Soon enough, the tournament had begun. Spike sat in the lobby in Deca Tower, which was converted into a locker room. He watched the other matches on the TV screen. He smirked and said to himself, "These guys aren't half bad. Maybe I'll have some fun."

The PA system came on and announced, "The next match will be Spike VS Finn."

Finn was the same Salmoning that he'd met when Grizzco was dealing with the Salmo-Bots. Spike had seen some of his earlier matches. He relied on getting behind his opponents and splatting them quickly. He said to himself, "Finn's not going to be easy. I'm going to have to be careful if he gets behind me." He grabbed his Splat Boxers and put them on before heading out into the ring. As he saw Finn enter the ring, he told him, "It's good to see you again Finn. May the best squid win."

Finn chuckled with a reply, "I was about to say the same thing."

During the match, Spike was able to block Finn's head on approach. Finn jumped in the air and slammed his Splat Boxer's glove into the ring, sending him above and behind Spike. Spike smirked when he did this, he turned his left arm into it's squid form tentacle, and was able to use its flexibility to throw a punch behind his back.

Finn eyes widened when he saw Spike's glove coming at him, yelling, "Sh-Shit!" And with that moment, Finn found himself being splatted.

The announcer said, "Round 1 goes to Spike!"

As Finn respawned he chuckled, "Got to say Spike, never saw that move coming. You may have won Round 1, but I'm not going down easily."

Spike smirked saying, "You're going up against the inventor of Splat Boxers. When I designed these things, I though of every possible situation. There's a lot of things about the Splat Boxers most people haven't figured out yet."

Finn smiled asking Spike, "Well, let's see if your knowledge is enough to match my skill."

Spike smirked, "We'll just have to see." Before the bell rang, Spike noticed that the ring changed. Now the solid floor was a grated floor, meaning if they went into their Squid form, they would lose the round as a ring out. Although Spike already had a strategy.

Finn was just as surprised as Spike was when the floor changed from solid to grated. He was still excited and told Spike, "A little unorthodox, but this should be fun." Finn threw his fist forward, his Splat Boxer stretching out towards Spike.

Spike blocked Finn's attack with one fist and said, "Yeah, fun for me!" he put his other arm into its tentacle form and slipped it through the grating and threw a punch as Finn from underneath him, splatting him once more.

After Finn was splatted, the announcer called out, "Round 2 goes to Spike! The match goes to Spike!"

Fin met back up with Spike in the lobby after their match and said, "Good game Spike. I learned a lot facing you, and I had a lot of fun. I'll be cheering you on from here on out. Good luck."

Spike smiled, "Thanks Finn, I had fun facing you too."

As Spike faced more and more Inklings, his skill got better, and combined with the knowledge he had about the Splat Boxers, he advanced to the finals. He sat in the lobby waiting for the second Semi-Final match to end. It was Twilight VS Ember, and they were in the third round of their match. He personally wanted to go up against Twilight, but he would still be fine fighting Ember. He quietly said to himself, "This match is close, they keep getting chances, but they always counter it."

As Spike got up to get a drink, he heard the announcer say, "Inconceivable! Round 3 has ended in a draw!" He spit out his drink as the announcer continued, "According to the rules, in the case of a draw, the next match will be a tag-team match. Both Ember and Twilight Sparkle will move on as Team B while Spike, the winner of the first Semi-Final match will choose a teammate to go to the finals with him as Team A."

Spike thought long and hard about who he'd take to the finals with him. He quickly decided who he wanted to fight alongside. He called out, "Hey Finn!"

Finn walked over to Spike after he heard him calling his name, "What's up Spike?"

Spike smiled, "You know I've got to pick a teammate for the finals. I want you to be my teammate."

Finn's eyes widened and nodded, "Of course! Let's do it!"

As the two teams made their way to the ring, the announcer explained the rules, "The final match is a one round elimination match. The team that splats both members of the opposing team wins the tournament!"

As the bell rang to start the match, Ember was the first one to throw a punch, aimed at Finn. While Spike let Finn deal with Ember, he tried to break through Twilight's strong defense. He threw his punch and as his arm turned to a tentacle, he made it spin, and the extra force was able to break through Twilight's defense. Before she got a chance to get her defense back up, Spike threw a second spinning punch, splatting her on the spot.

Ember noticed Twilight had been splatted and growled to herself, "Great, now it's two on one... But I'm not going down easy!"

Spike got behind Ember while Finn got in front of her. Spike told Ember, "If it were one-on-one, you might have a chance, but you can't fight each of us from both sides.

Ember growled saying, "The hell I can't!" throwing one punch at Spike and one at Finn. Spike was able to block the punch towards him, but Finn threw a spinning punch to deflect it, and Ember's tentacle spun around her, constricting her movement. In her confusion, she struggled to get out of her bind, "Wh-What the hell just happened!?"

Spike got in front of Ember and looked over to Finn, "Together?"

Finn nodded, "Together!" at the same time, they both threw a spinning punch at Ember, splatting her.

The crowd cheered as the announcer said, "The match goes to Spike and Finn! We have a pair of new Splat Boxing Champion!"

Spike and Finn fist-bumped as they left the ring and went back to the lobby to receive congratulations from their friends and family.