tear in my heart

one|| pantsed or debagged.

the amount of times the loner has been pantsed by that freaking idiot? rider has lost track at this point. but every time goggles and rider have even the smallest of interactions, rider's heart skips a beat.

and that's exactly what happened, yet again. rider and his yellow green team were casually walking around inkopolis square, planning on getting bamboo hat a new hat since some asshole threw her's into the water, when blue team spotted them from crusty sean's. "oh, hey rider!" bobble called happily. "mm," was all rider said, earning a debag from goggles. now, getting pantsed was a completely normal occurrence. but getting debagged meant goggles was in a particularly good mood, better than usual. "what's the occasion," rider said through gritted teeth, pulling up his underwear and his pants.

"we won another turf war against aloha!" goggles said with a cocky smile. of course, rider already knew that. rider went to every turf war the blue team battles in. "yeah, you guys are getting stronger. what's your ranks?" rider asked. headphones smiled proudly. "i went up to an a+." specs grinned while pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "a-," he said cockily. "i got an a!" bobble said with a giggle. "how an idiot like her got a better ranking than me will always be a mystery," specs said with a sigh. "and you, goggles?" rider raised an eyebrow. "i'm still at a b," he said, a hint of disappointment laced in his voice.

"don't worry goggles, you've gotten a lot better," headphones said with a reassuring smile. rider turned around, noticing his team ditched him to go to good ol' aunt flow's (they weren't related, but everyone in inkopolis just prefers calling her their crazy aunt). rider sighed as specs ordered food for the blue team. "mind if i stick around for a bit, guys?" he spoke up. goggles and headphones smiled. "of course!" bobble said with a small giggle. "do you want anything, rider?" specs offered. "i'll pay separately," rider said, as crusty sean served their food and they sat down at a table.

rider ordered a deep fried shwaffle and walked towards the blue team's table. "so, how're you and your team coming along, rider?" headphones asked as rider pulled up a chair. "oh, y'know. we're doing okay, i guess. these jerks were picking on bamboo hat yesterday so i had to beat the shit out of them," he smiled. "wow rider! you're such a sadist!" goggles laughed.

rider felt his heart drop as he heard goggles laugh. a shudder ran down his spine. rider was tempted to say something along the lines of "more like a mesochist," but he refrained himself. "oh please, goggles. he was standing up for his friends, that's some improvement," specs said, casually giving him props. "it was nothing. anything new with you guys?" rider asked. "oh, nothing in particular," goggles said, leaning on the table. "ooh! ooh! shut up, off the hook is about to come on!" headphones exclaimed excitedly.

"y'all know what time it is!"

"it's off the hook coming at you live from inkopolis square!"

"they're both so beautiful and talented," headphones said dreamily as marina and pearl announced the current stages of the battles. "arowana mall, eh? weren't we heading over there after this?" specs asked. "i mean, yeah but it's prolly closed off for the turf wars for the next two hours," rider informed. they continued to eat until the blue team noticed the yellow team, which really caught their attention, considering emperor and his group were way too high maintenance for the plaza. "hey, guys!" goggles called. emperor glanced at them and just walked away. prince groaned at his older brother and ran over to the blue team.

"well, isn't it the amazing blue team? how have you guys been?" prince asked with a sweet smile. "oh, we've been great! what are you guys doing in the plaza?" headphones asked. "we're gonna hang out with our older sis today," prince said. "you have an older sister?" specs raised an eyebrow. "well yeah. she's known as mc princess or just pearl." headphones' eyes widened. "hold on, pearl is your sister!? like, from off the hook!?" she exclaimed. prince smiled. "the one and only," he said. "can i meet her?" she asked with no hesitation. "of course! anyone else want to meet her?"

"bobble, come with me!" headphones begged. "haha! sure!" specs stood up, "i'll come along." prince led them to a building really close by, where pearl and marina were exiting. "so..." rider said awkwardly. "how was your day?" goggles asked. "it was pretty boring until i saw you guys," rider responded simply. "glad we made your day better then," goggles said, stuffing his face with his galactic seanwich. "chew with your mouth closed, you idiot!" rider yelled like he always did when goggles did something particularly idiotic (like the time goggles beat him in a turf war and freaking lost the next battle so rider ended up beating the living hell out of goggles). "sorry!" goggles said with a smile. how could he be so goddamn happy all the time?

headphones, bobble, and specs came back. headphones was ecstatic. "omigod, omigod, omigod! marina and pearl signed my headphones, see!?" she exclaimed, taking off her headphones to show goggles and rider. "super fresh, headphones!" goggles complimented with a sweet smile. rider's heart started beating, like, really fast. "what the hell?" rider whispered under his breath. "is something wrong? you don't look so good," headphones said worriedly, rushing over to rider. "oh, it's nothing," rider plastered a fake smile on his face. "well, i have to get going," he said while grabbing out his dynamo roller and flicking it, making a long trail to aunt flow's, "i'll see you guys around." he went into his ink and turned into a squid, rushing over to his team.

how the hell does a dumb squid like him make me so...

happy?

✨✨

hello, hey epic squids. it's ya boy ash. as you can see, this chapter was rlly boring, yum. we'll get into the spiciness at, like, chapter three, epic gamers. so stay tuned!

-ash 🦑