> Chapter 8.

{Y/N}'s POV

They have won.

They actually won and then still so close.
No doubt, today was the best day of my life and it is far from over.
Team Inkfall has won and that means I can keep watching them.

I assumed that Rider-Kun's team is very disappointed and have been eliminated from the tournament.
Much claims, with his scary words but at the end nothing came out clever.

Anyway, this team doesn't interest me anymore and will necessarily talk to the light blue team.
I got up and was happy inside.

Many spectators went to the teleportstation, disappointed, with a sign with Rider on it, behind them.

But there were still satisfied viewers, like me, who are big fans of team Inkfall.
I looked to the side and my joy disappeared briefly, because the seats next to me were already empty.

"Crap, Team Emperor is already gone" I mumbled a tad sad to myself.
Well, it's not that bad, because at least I can see them in the battle against T
team Inkfall, which unfortunately will take place in a few hours, so towards the end.
After all, is the grand final.

At least that's what I believe, though I also think that Inkfall-Kun's team has to fight another team instead of just Team Emperor.
But well, one by one.

I thought for a moment and was the last Inkling, who looked speechless on the stage, which was empty. I ran to the teleportstation and teleported to the  Inkopolis Square, where the others were probably expecting me.

But what exactly should I expect?

I think, a dispute between the two teams that played earlier.
I just hope that this fight won't escalate.

As I arrived, the square was full again with Inklings.
The crowd is just unbelievable and I never thought that there would be so many Inklings.
The shops were filled and the next battle was already announced.

The blue team against the pink team. Kinda strange, I can't imagine anything like that and it was said at the same time that the battle will start in a few minutes.
When all the Inklings heard that, the visitors stormed out of the shops, direction Inkopolis tower. Seems like the excitement is about to rise again for another battle but I renounced, because my team was more important to me.

I waited a moment and then looked out for them.
At some point I became extremely impatient and couldn't see them anywhere.
I thought I was blind, but after twenty turn arounds, I realized they were gone.

The question is only, where.

I searched every shop, which unfortunately was completely empty. Not even the sellers were on their spot,  rather watching, I think.
Then I went to the corner, at Grizzco AG, where no one was.
The whole Square was empty and I couldn't believe it.
After a brief pause while I was sweating, another possibility came to my mind.

The battle, which started now.

I ran back to the Inkopolis Tower and teleported to the fight, which has already begun.
The fight itself took zero interest in me and I didn't even identify which stage I was on.
With a keen eye I looked to the spectators, who were far too many to look at every single Inkling.

I began to overfly many Inklings, who didn't dress cleanly and looked for light blue Inklings.

Negative, I saw no one and my heart stopped.

"There is something wrong ..." I whispered coldly and went back to Inkopolis Square.
I thought that I was dreaming but that was the reality because as I came back the whole Square was still empty.

I seriously couldn't believe it and was somehow helpless, alone in the middle. But all of a sudden, I saw four Inklings, talking to eachother.
They walked past the Square and I just shook my head in confusion.
That was Rider and his teammates.

"What are they doing here?" I thought confused and didn't understand anything anymore.
But then I noticed that Rider-Kun's team and Inkfall-Kun's team had teleported away at the same time and assumed that they know where Team Inkfall is.

I ran and followed them.
But after a short time running, it became clear to them who was behind them.
The Inkling with the stealth goggles turned, slapped Rider's back, which turned aswell and pointed in my direction.
Then they started running too and I realized immediately that they had something to do with it.
What did they do to them? I hope nothing too bad and ran faster.

Over time, they slowed down and they gave up, just stopping like that.

I stopped at a distance and looked at Rider.
He was the only one, who turned slowly around while the others continued to show their backs and he began to grinn.

"{Y/N}, what are you doing here?" he asked and wanted to distract me for sure, which didn't work for me.
I went to him and held him to his black Inky-Rider leather jacket.

"Enough! Where... Is... Team... Inkfall?" I asked sternly with a look I only give when I really want to hear something. He took my hand and squeezed it down to hip level.
Then he looked deep into my eyes and grinned wider.
"Inkfall-Kun cheated on us and we lost unfairly, since we were excreted, they had to pay for it" he whispered ice cold, squeezing my hand tighter.

It hurt a lot and gasped in pain.
"What have you done ..." I tried to say and finally broke away from his grip.

"Something ... mean" he just laughed and showed in front of my eyes a small vial with a white liquid in it.
"W-what's this?" I asked and decided not to attack him with near violence anymore.
"Something ... which causes someone to get sick, strong ill" he grinned, admiring the fluid, along with his team members.
"You moron, just because you lost, or what? You don't accept, if you lose? Cheez, you guys are really the meanest team I know, you can be so happy your fans don't know that, because otherwise it you guys would be already history" I explained.
"We don't care, what really matters is the profit" he said and took the vial back to himself.
His teammembers nodded and they turned around.
Then they walked silently away and in the distance I still heard them start to laugh out loud.
Whats so funny about that?
I really couldn't understand it and looked after them.

Although they take the fact that they have lost on the light side, but still wanted to do something mean as a repayment.
Then, as they were long gone, I looked around and ran towards Inkfall-Kun's house.
The only place where they could stay.

I ran and ran and as I finally reached the white house, I quickly clattered on the door and gasped because I was running pretty fast.
As soon as I knocked, someone opened the door a crack and looked between this crack.

As the Inkling realized inside that this Inlkling, who knocked was me, the door opened completely and Lyvader-Kun stood in front of me with a sad expression on his face.

"{Y/N} ... I'm so glad, that you're here" he whispered and asked me in.
I walked slowly into the living room and as Lyvader-Kun stood right behind me, he pointed into another room.

I headed to this room and as I looked inside, I remained silent and couldn't move for a while.
I stood in front of a bedroom and saw how all the members of the light blue team were there.

Arrow-chan sat on a chair and looked down, while Inkfall-kun sat on the edge of the bed looking at Hat-chan, who is  lying in bed, completely exhausted.

"Inkfall? {Y/N} is here" Lyvader-Kun said behind me, and as he heard that, he turned his head and looked at me.

"What happened?" I asked shortly before the despair and ran closer to the bed.
I sat next to the leader and hugged him to reassure him.
I petted his back and enjoyed this warm, clean hug.

"We were out in the Square and we quarreled with Rider's team for a while, but after that, they apologized and offered us drinks. We drank together and accepted their apology.Then, as we were done, we said goodbye to eachother and suddenly Hat-Chan collapsed as Rider and his team were gone. We knew right away that we had to do something about it, and of course besides cleanliness, health is the most important thing to us and the top priority. We have no idea why and stand there at a loss. Fortunately, our battle against team Emperor won't come until the end of the tournament" he explained sadly and started crying into my shoulder.

I could really feel some tears flowing down my arm and because he was so emotional, I was also about to cry.
But I was able to hold it back and was strong.
As I broke away from our hug after awhile, I slipped a little over, towards Hat-chan and looked at her.
She was half asleep, her eyes closed, and on her forehead was a cold bag, with ice cubes inside it.
A great idea to cool her head down, which seemed to be very hot.

Team Inkfall hasn't only a clue how to stay clean, rather also about the healthiness of an Inkling.

I can understand why they were pretty devastated, because they also show that every member of Inkfall-Kun is important.
His team is his life and he tries everything to stay together forever.

Just a beautiful thought, respect to him.

I dared to touch Hat-Chan's cheek for a moment and after a second I took it back to me and winced.
Her cheek was burning hot and she didn't look healthy at all.
At the same moment I thought of Rider and took the fist in my hand. I shook my head, bit my teeth and felt like banging my head against the wall. "What's going on {Y/N}?" Arrow-chan asked worried, who was getting up from her chair.

"I know why she got sick" I finally admitted after a long delay and couldn't believe Rider told me.
Really a huge puzzle for me.

As I said that and looked up from the floor, all the members except the sick Hat-Chan looked to me.
"Y-you k-know it?" Lyvader-kun stuttered and walked away from the door edge.

I nodded and looked again at Hat-Chan, who smiled at me slightly as she rolled slightly over.

I took a moment to enjoy the silence while Team Inkfall was ready to listen to me.

"I met Rider's team earlier and as they saw me, they ran away, and at the same moment, I realized that they had something to do with the disappearance of you guys and ran after them, eventually catching up with them and Rider showed me a liquid. Now, I suspect that he did this liquid in one of your drinks and unfortunately Hat-Chan has taken it. Sadly, I have no idea if that's true, but that would be the only one explanation that would make sense" I said sadly aswell and then Lyvader-Kun had to leave the room and left the house.
Arrow-chan did the same mute and as only three of us were in the room, Inkfall-kun came closer to me.

"If ... if that's really ... true what you said, then I'll have to ask you for a favor" he whispered with tears, which froze, because that shocked him hard.

He got up, picked up a gun, which looked exactly like an L-3 Nozzlenose and placed it in my hands.
He pointed to Hat-chan and then to me.

I already knew what he was going to say and I pointed himself to me.

He nodded and moved closer to me. "You always wanted to fight a team together, right?" he asked and I started to shake my head.
Then he grabbed my jaw and stopped me, with shaking my head.

He looked deep into my eyes and I saw ... that I had to help him.
Then I nodded anyway and accepted the weapon that belonged to Hat-Chan.

"Then your chance is here, fighting on our side. Please help us and if we win this tournament, we'll be friends forever, I promise you" he said, trying to smile.

"And now, can you let us two alone for a moment?" he asked and with the weapon in my hands, I left the room.

Hard to believe, but I will fight against my idol soon.
Me, with an L-3 Nozzlenose against Team Emperor.