Red in the Night Sky (Splatoon fanfiction)

Chapter 1

Long ago there was a scientist called Dr. Jack Octostein. He lived not too far from Inkopolis castle and the town that surrounded it. He lived in his lab where he experimented and invented all kinds of things. Every month he traveled to town to show the townsfolk his latest discovery or inventions. 

But every time he got the same response. The townsfolk did not like his discoveries and called him mad. "Begone with your mad ideas and foul contraptions," they shouted after him every time, and sometimes they even threw rocks at him. No matter how hard he tried he always got the same response. 

One night, after a failed trip to the town, he came to his home. He lived in a big mansion that had been in his family for generations. He lived there alone ever since his sister passed away. Once his family had been rich, respected, and big. They once had been one of the most important families in the kingdom. But then it fell into ruin. Now he was alone, with the only thing left to his name, the mansion and the riches in it. He was the last Octostein. 

He opened the front door. "Mad? Mad they call me," he said to himself. "Do they wish to stay the same? Do they not wish to expand our knowledge and evolve? Fools! That's what they are, fools! Why can't they see that science is the only way we can expand and evolve?"

He took up one of his latest inventions and threw it across the room in frustration. "I have worked my entire life to show them the answer yet they treat my work like a disease. But not much longer. When I have finished my latest experiment, they will see. They will respect me and treat my discoveries like their savior from ultimate doom. I will be rewarded with the title of royal scientist and will be asked for help if trouble stirs. And long after I'm gone, they will tell tales about me, who showed them the path to evolution."

He opened the door to his basement and walked down the stairs. It was a big, dark room filled with all kinds of equipment. And in the middle of the room was a big container with a table next to it. On the table were flasks and bottles, full of toxic ink and other experiments. But the two little bottles, right in the middle of the table, were the most important of them all. 

One was filled with yellow ink, the other filled with purple ink. Using those, he would be able to complete his experiment and fulfill his life goal. To merge together the genes of an Inkling and an Octoling. A perfect species, having the intelligence of the Octoling and the fierce battle spirit of the Inkling. A perfect combination! He was so close to getting it to work, and he was sure that tonight he would be able to successfully merge them together. 

In the two bottles was ink from one Inkling girl and one Octoling girl. Mixing the sexes could end up in catastrophic failure and the creature would suffer pain beyond measure. Octostein took up the specimens and poured them both into a big bottle and put it under a big device in the far corner of the room. 

"Begin test 265," he said to himself and put on protective goggles. He put the heat under the bottle at exactly 45,56 degrees Celsius, put one drop of toxic ink into the bottle, a few drops of seawater, and then he waited for exactly 5 minutes and 46 seconds. "And now for the final touch," he said and grabbed a lever on the wall. "Now, I will make history!"

He pulled the lever down with full force. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the device over the bottle started to buzz. It got louder and louder until. "BOOM!" A bolt of lightning shot from the device and blasted into the bottle. 

Cracks formed on the glass, but it did not burst and the color changed from pink to yellow, and after the blast had ended it boiled in the bottle. He took up the bottle with tongs, moved it to the table, and put it under the microscope.

 "Everything seems to be working," he said quietly and examined the ink closer. He fell silent. The genes were reacting negatively and did not merge correctly. The test had failed. Octostein stared at the substance in the bottle, like he was hoping for something to happen, anything. But nothing happened. The ink boiled in the bottle the same way. "No! How can this be? I calculated everything, it should have worked," he whispered to himself. "WHY DOESN'T IT WORK?!"