Spike the Squid Kid

by Darth Severus

Forming The Purple Dragons

Spike was walking home from another day of ink battles. He sighed to himself and said, "I'm getting so tired of being teamed up with amateurs. Twilight and her friends are good, but I'd rather battle with some of my own friends. But I haven't seen any of my friends since this whole crazy thing started."

Suddenly, Spike's cell phone rang. When he answered the call, a voice said, "Hey Spike, it's Thorax! I just got back into town, and so did Ember and Starlight! Why don't we all meet by the Crust Bucket and catch up?"

Spike smiled and said, "Sure Thorax, I'll meet you guys there." and then he headed over to the Crust Bucket and sat at one of the tables nearby. Soon, he saw an inkling girl with turquoise hair coming towards him. He waved to her and said, "Hey Ember!"

The girl smiled at him and said, "Good to see you again Spike. Seems Starlight and Thorax aren't here yet. I wonder how Starlight's been doing with this Octoling equality think of hers."

Spike was surprised when Ember mentioned Starlight and Octolings. Starlight must have been turned into an Octoling. "Hopefully she's doing good. It's been a while since we've hung out."

Ember nodded and said, "Tell me about it. Starlight's been off lecturing about how Octarians and Inklings used to be the best of friends before the Great Flood, I've been back home in Cuttla taking care of family issues, and Thorax went on that weird spiritual journey. What's up with you since the last time we saw each other?"

Spike shrugged and said, "Not much really, just got my Ink Battle License a couple of months ago, found a job at Grizzco, other than that, not much."

Another voice walking over said, "I doubt you've really had nothing exciting happening." Spike and Ember looked over to see an Inkling boy with light green hair, who they recognized as Thorax. He sat with them and said, "Also, there's nothing weird about a spiritual journey, thank you very much."

Ember muttered under her breath, "Damn his Vulcan hearing!"

Thorax chuckled and said, "Well, no offense taken."

As the three friends talked, a forth voice said, "Well, looks like the gang's back together." They looked over to the voice and saw a girl with dark purple hair walking over. She said, "So, how's it going guys?"

Spike smiled and said, "It's going good Starlight. Other than the fact that every time I go into Deca Tower, I get teamed up with amateurs."

Thorax nodded and said, "Tell me about it. In the battles I've been doing since I got back, the only time we win is because I was carrying."

Ember leaned back in her chair and said, "Yeah, it's nothing like when we played on the training simulators as kids. At least back then, we were all amateurs."

Starlight sat down and said, "Well, instead of just going in with any old players, why don't we form a squad?"

Spike sipped his Tenta Cola and said, "Not a bad idea. Any ideas for a name?"

For a few minutes, the four friends pondered what they should name their squad. Ember finally spoke up and said, "We all loved dragons as kids, and our favorite color is purple, so what about The Purple Dragons?"

Starlight raised an eyebrow and said, "Wasn't that a gang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?"

Thorax rolled his eyes and said, "I still think it's a good idea."

Spike nodded and said, "I'm all for it. We've got to get ourselves registered at Deca Tower though."

The four friends got up after finishing their lunch at the Crust Bucket and headed over to Deca Tower. The woman at the desk said, "Hello there, are you here to register a squad?"

Spike nodded and said, "Yes, our squad name is Purple Dragons."

They all handed the receptionist their Ink Battle ID cards and as she put them in the computer, she said, "Thank you for forming an official squad. You can register for Ink battles as a full team from now on, and you won't have to wait for other players to arrive and be randomly matched. Please enjoy yourselves as a registered squad, and do your best to be declared the Turf War Champions."

For a little while after they registered as a squad, Spike and the Purple Dragons fought in some ink battles, and they had a winning streak. As it started to get dark, Spike said, "I think it's time we go home soon. We shouldn't be out this late unless there's a Splatfest going on."

Thorax nodded and said, "I'll see you guys in the morning then."

Ember stretched her arms yawning, "Yeah, my rents are gonna be pissed if I miss dinner, so I'm out."

Starlight on the other hand looked sad. She said silently, "Looks like I'll be spending another night in that crappy apartment."

Spike could barely hear Starlight, but he gathered enough and said, "Hey, why don't you stay at my place Starlight? Ever since Shining moved out, we've got an empty room."

Starlight smiled and said, "Thanks Spike. I appreciate that."

As Spike and Starlight walked home, Spike asked, "So how's your equality campaign going?"

Starlight looked at him and said, "It's not doing too bad, especially with Marina's support. I'm glad people are starting to see that we weren't always enemies, and that we should try to rebuild the bond between Inklings and Octarians."

Spike smiled and said, "That's great." When they walked into Spike's house, he said, "Mom! I'm home!"

Spike's mom walked in from the kitchen and said, "Oh, good! You can help set the- oh? Who's this?"

Starlight gave a polite bow and said, "My name is Starlight Glimmer, I'm a friend of Spike's. I hope you don't mind if I stay here. Spike offered me Shining Armor's old room."

Spike's mother smiled and said, "What a polite young woman. Of course you can stay here, any friend of my children is welcome here."

After dinner, Spike went to bed and said to himself, "Finally, my friends and I are back together,"