Pearl and Marina's Mayo vs. Ketchup result dialogue comes from the official game. I do not own it.

Yuri's PoV

The day after the Splatfest, all the Rainbow Squids gathered around their usual table, anxiously looking at the giant screen plastered onto the tower, waiting for the next Off the Hook broadcast. They already returned their shirts and reverted back to their usual colors. Now, it was only a matter of time. The entirety of Inkopolis was watching, awaiting the results of the Mayo vs. Ketchup Splatfest. Soon enough, the familiar intro of the idols came on, and everyone in the square cheered.

"Y'all know what time it is!" Pearl introduced.

"It's Off the Hook, coming at you live from Inkopolis Square," Marina concluded.

The transition played, and the short inkling said, "Marina! Before you announce the stages, why don't you share the breaking news?"

"Breaking news? What did you break this time?"

"I didn't break anything! I was talking about the Splatfest results!" The crowd roared as soon as Pearl finished.

"Ooh! The Splatfest results are in!"

"Aight, first let's see which team was the most popular."

"Let's find out!" The two made some noise as numbers flashed on the screen, and then cheered once it displayed the results. It was pretty obvious that Ketchup was the more popular of the two.

"Why am I not surprised?" Roy deadpanned.

"Aw, man…" Pearl whined.

"Yes..."

"All right, all right, all right… Now for the part that matters."

"Yeah, popularity isn't everything."

"Time to see which team won the most battles!"

"Please please please…!" The two made some noise again, and cheered when the results came on screen. Mayo had won both solo and team.

"What?!" Roy cried out in dismay. Looking around, several other inklings apparently had the same reaction. "But we were on such a great winning streak!"

"So were we," Octavia argued.

"Shhh, be quiet!" Bonnie hushed. "I want to listen!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Pearl cried.

"Wow!" Marina gasped.

"OK, y'all. It's time…"

"The final results!"

"The winner of this Splatfest is…" Marina audibly gulped. They cheered as the final results came on screen, and the pale inkling cheered, "Ayo! It's Mayo!"

"Ugh…"

"It's mayo all day, yo! They know we don't play, yo! Best stay out my Headspace 'cause I'm coming with that Cray Flow!" she rapped. In the corner of his eye, Yuri noticed Perry clasp his hands together and stare up at the screen with wonder. He wasn't surprised; the singer was a huge inspiration for the purple-haired inkling's music.

"Wow. A rap song about mayonnaise. I'm sure that'll tear up the charts." Marina did not look too terribly thrilled with Team Mayo's win; it was obvious.

"Shout out to Team Mayo! We did it, y'all!"

"If you participated in the Splatfest, your prizes are waiting in the Square!"

After that, the duo went on to announce the current stages, but that was when the Rainbow Squids stopped paying attention. And by extension, it was also when everyone else in the square stopped paying attention. From this point on, everyone was talking about the results.

"I still can't believe it!" Roy continued to complain. "Ketchup was way more popular, how did Mayo win?!"

"Clearly, mayo is the superior condiment," Via bragged, a smirk coming on her face.

"No, it's ketchup!" Alexis complained, "We've been over this, Via!"

"Well, if mayo won, then it really is the superior condiment!" her sister argued.

"It's still ketchup!"

"Mayo!"

"Ketchup!"

"Mayo!"

"Hey guys, stop." Inigo stood up and threw his hands out. "Mayo won, and that's the end of it."

"Besides, maybe your team will win next time!" Yuri added.

"And," Perry started. "I need to get to the studio."

"Please don't tell me you're gonna stalk Pearl…" Roy moaned. "I knew one day it would happen."

"No! Of course not!" the purple-haired inkling objected. "My dad rented out a portion of it so I can record songs! It's for today only." Inspired by the Squid Sisters, Perry decided that his life-long goal was to become a famous musician. Admittedly, he was not real good at it, as most of his songs sounded the same, but nonetheless, Yuri still supported it. Music connoisseur or not, he was still his friend. The encouragement always seemed to cheer up Perry, and the yellow-haired inkling was glad to see him that way.

"Really?!" Alexis gasped. "That's so fresh!"

"I know, right?" he effused. "I can't believe I'm gonna be in the same building as Pearl! …And record some new music with the latest technology, of course. Anyone wanna come with me?"

"I'll come," Yuri offered. "That's what friends are for, right?"

"I don't know, I kinda want to search for jobs today," Roy vacillated. He appeared to have calmed down from the earlier outcry. "I got a work permit a while back, and my mom wants me to do something about it."

"Why not Starfish Drinks?" Bonnie suggested. "It's my favorite coffee shop."

"Isn't that a little far from the square?" Octavia asked.

"There's one near here," the beige-skinned inkling replied, pointing eastward, past the tower. "It's a little far from your house, sure, but it's still very close to the square."

"Great idea, Bon-Bon!" Roy exclaimed. "I'll go over there now!" The red-haired inkling hopped out of his chair and ran off, past the studio, deeper into the city of Inkopolis.

"I swear, one day that ego's gonna get the better of him…" Via muttered. She cleared her throat. "I was planning on doing a few ranked matches. Anyone wanna come?"

"I've never played a ranked battle before," Alexis admitted. "What is it like?"

"Well, there's a few different modes you can do," Inigo chimed in. "Tower Control, Rainmaker, and Splat Zones!"

"I've heard rumors that they're planning on adding a new mode to the mix," Yuri added.

"Well, regardless, that's all the modes," the fair-skinned inkling concluded. "You can try one with Via, if you'd like?"

"Why just Via?" the short-haired inkling asked. "Why can't you come along?"

"Eh, Grizzco's open," he replied. "I'm gonna work a shift there."

"Oh, can I come along?" Bonnie asked the ponytailed inkling. "I love doing Salmon Runs!"

"Of course." His eyes flashed between the remaining inklings. "Anyone else wanna come along?"

"No thanks," Yuri declined. He threw an arm around Perry. "I'm gonna stick with Perry."

"Aw, thanks man," the inkling wearing a king flip mesh stated. "I knew I could count on ya."

"Well, then it's settled," Octavia concluded. "Me and Alexis will go to the tower, Inigo and Bonnie will go to Grizzco's, and Yuri and Perry will go to the study."

"Right!" everyone agreed.

"Well, cheers!" The wavy-haired inkling tipped her hat and headed off towards the tower with her sister.

"Bye." Bonnie and Inigo headed towards the alleyway Grizzco's resided in.

"Bye-bye!" the pale-skinned inkling shouted, waving goodbye to the departing inklings. He started walking in the direction of the study. "Come on, Yuri! Let's go!"

The dark-skinned inkling caught up with Perry. "Hey, betcha I can get to the studio first!"

"Oh, no, I will!" He started to run, with Yuri following after him. The headphones brought the spiky-haired inkling down a little bit, but he could manage. Being a little more long-legged, he was able to run faster than his friend, and eventually surpassed him. Behind him, he heard a suppressed cry.

By the time they arrived at the studio's door, Yuri was panting from the sprint. He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, while Perry caught up with him. When he arrived, he bent over, grabbing his knees.

"Told ya." Yuri stuck his tongue out and winked.

"No fair!" he cried. "You're taller!"

"But look on the bright side. We're here now, aren't we?"

"…I guess." Perry narrowed his eyes at the other inkling. "I'm still gonna hold that against ya."

"Well, you'll catch up eventually." The purple-haired inkling let out a hmph, and without another word, the two inklings entered the studio.

The pale inkling pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "The recording room is in Room 123, according to this. There's gonna be a guy there that'll let us in after he sees the pass." The dark-skinned inkling nodded, and the two traversed the hallway. In Room 101, where Off the Hook's broadcast happened, several inklings were showing their VIP pass to go in and talk to them. Sometimes, Yuri wished his parents allowed him to buy one. He's always wanted to meet the members of Off the Hook, but the passes were limited. They were a little pricy, too.

After pushing through several people, the crowd eventually thinned, and the two inklings were able to navigate the studio pretty quickly. Using the signs, they eventually found a sign labeled '123' hanging over a door. Next to the door was an inkling in a suit and sunglasses. They walked up to him, and Perry presented his pass. The guard nodded, and they were allowed in. Once the door shut, the purple-haired inkling opened the laptop sitting on the table. He opened up a recording program, and then plugged it into the mixing console.

"So, what do I have to do?" asked Yuri. "I've never been in a recording studio before."

"Have you used this?" countered Perry, who pointed to the console.

"Once." He gave a small chuckle. "It didn't turn out so good last time I used it."

"Hmm…" The purple-haired ink fiddled around with the settings of the console, and once he was done, he gestured towards it. "Don't touch it, and it'll be fine."

"Sounds great," the spiky-haired inkling concluded. "Now, get in there and give it your all!"

"One last thing—give me the thumbs up when I'm ready to go, alright?" He leaned towards the computer for a moment to move the cursor towards the red record button. "Press this to start. And don't start until I'm in there."

"I know, I know. I've recorded your songs before, ya know."

"Hey, a refresher always helps!" Perry opened the door to the booth, and winked. "Alright, time to go." He closed the door and walked to the center of the booth, picking up the microphone and holding it with both hands. He gave a smile to his friend, though Yuri guessed he was already getting impatient. Quickly, he clicked the record button, and some beats began to play. He was not surprised; Perry used this general beat in almost every one of his songs, to the point where Yuri was surprised when the beat was different. He gave a thumbs up to the purple inkling, and he began to sing.

"Yo, Pearl, this one goes to you," he started. The dark-skinned inkling bit his tongue to suppress a laugh. A rap song about Pearl. Man, I wonder what she'll think once this is uploaded on SplatCloud.

"And sure, it'll go to me, too. / Everyone knows you're so small, / But that doesn't stop me from being so tall. / You're 4'9" and I'm 5'5", / Maybe we can flock to a hive." The part about Perry's height was probably true. For his age, he was short, only surpassing Bonnie and Alexis in height. Considering how short Pearl was, her height was probably accurate as well.

"You are like a work of art, / Only vandalism can tear you apart." Now, that was a weird line, Yuri had to admit. "But who would vandalize you? / Everybody loves you. / Except the haters, / They can go laters." Is 'laters' even a word? He did not want to find out at this moment.

"Now I know you're 21, / And I'm 16, / But I know you're the one, / Even if I watch you from a screen!" Upon the declaration that Pearl was 21 years old, Yuri pulled out his phone to search up the idol on Inkipedia for the sole purpose of finding out her age and height. Turns out, he was correct. Hmm, he really does do his research! Yuri complimented silently. The beat started to pick up a little bit. "Oh, if you only knew what I wanna do, / You can probably guess, can't you?" Now, the beat started to really pick up. The chorus, the yellow-haired inkling presumed.

"You're my fantasy, / My ecstasy, / Everything I dream is of you! / Would you believe it too? / Don't be scared, / You can be bared!" That line alone increased the awkwardness in the room. Imagine if Pearl walked into here. She'd be so weirded out, Yuri thought. He tried to suppress a laugh at the funny thought, but he couldn't help but giggle. Perry seemed to glare upon seeing him laugh, and immediately did the spiky-haired squid go back to a poker face. "You know, Pearl? / You can be my everything, girl! / It's to say how much I love you! / Even if you don't love me too. / But in the end, / I have a heart to tend."

"When I first saw you, / I knew that it was true, / It was love, wasn't it? / The love bug has bit. / Maybe you say it's an obsession, / I don't want you to be a possession." Octavia had often called Perry's love for Pearl an obsession. Maybe he took that for inspiration for this line, Yuri pondered. "You earned your name. / The waves came, / To bless Inkopolis with its pearl. / It really is a whirl! / Marina is lucky, / to have a friend who isn't yucky!"

Perry began to sing the bridge again, followed by the chorus. Yuri leaned back in his chair. He still did not really like this song, but he liked the devotion he had towards making a love song to one of the biggest idols in Inkopolis. Despite his wild dreams, he was still his friend. He would support him, no matter what he did. Unless he kills someone; that would be when their relationship would sour. Right now, the song's tune was rather generic, and the purple-haired inkling was admittedly not the best singer, but he still put heart into his lyrics. That is what Yuri thought made him stand out from all of the other SplatCloud rappers.

There was a pause in his words, leaving just the trap music to play, but soon enough, Perry started to sing again. "With your pearly-white hair, / and your willingness to dare, / I'm surprised some people compare you to Marie, / Whose only similarity is the snark she can carry." Some die-hard fans of the Squid Sisters won't like that, Yuri thought. He then thought of one boy who went to their school, who had a Squid Sisters pin on his backpack and blasted their music all the time. "But why compare? / Who gives a care? / Haters can hate on Off the Hook, / But you won't see the cook! / And either way, / I love you, K? / Nothin' can change that, / Not even Judd the cat!"

Perry finished off his song with only the chorus, and at the end, he let out a "booyah," and dropped his microphone. To Yuri, that marked the end of the song, so he hit the stop button on the computer. Excited, the inkling with bangs burst out of the booth and ran over to the computer. Grinning, he said, "Hey, hey, can I see it?"

"Yeah." Yuri pushed the laptop over to him, and he proceeded to press the play button. The song he had just sung played back to the two, and Perry closed his eyes and hummed along. Yuri leaned back in his chair, managing to muster a smile. He could not share his friend's enthusiasm for the song, unfortunately. Perry proceeded to play the song over and over again, editing it ever-so-slightly to make sure it was perfect. When he asked how it sounded, the dark-skinned inkling simply said it was fine.

During a later rep of the song, Yuri could make out some voices coming in their direction under the loud trap music. He could not make out any words, but he hoped that they did not hear the song. It would be too awkward if anyone came in during a playback of it. Yet, to his misfortune, the door suddenly swung open. The two inklings turned their heads to look at the newcomers, right during the bridge, and immediately did Perry's face turn as red as ketchup.

Standing in the doorway was Pearl herself, who had an eyebrow raised. When the chorus started, she bit her lip. Contrary to her usual peppy nature, the idol stayed silent during the whole song. Marina peeked into the room to see what was going on. She, too, did not really say anything in regards to the song. Next to them was the guard outside of Room 123.

Once the song was over, with a frantic expression, Perry began to stutter, "I-I-I…"

Pearl held up a hand. "No need to explain. I get these all the time."

While the purple-haired inkling turned away in embarrassment, Yuri spoke up for his friend. "But what do you think of it? Do you like it?"

"I dunno," she simply replied, and shrugged. "Lemme guess. You gonna upload it to SplatCloud?"

"He… probably will." The yellow-haired inkling pushed back his chair to look at Perry. "Are you?" He did not respond, hiding his face with his hands. Due to this, he refocused his yellow eyes on the idol. "Well, I'll assume he will."

"I'd hate to chime in," interrupted Marina. "But, does your friend have any other songs about Pearlie?"

Yuri paused, searching his memory for every time he has helped Perry record a song. "He wrote a song about Off the Hook," he recalled. "But no, there's no others specifically about Pearl. At least, I don't think so." The pale inkling, of course, did not weigh in on the matter.

The funny-looking inkling made a small sound of disappointment, but her fellow idol continued on the conversation. "Well… Hey, Perry, That's ya name, isn't it?" Perry lifted his head and turned around in this seat to look at Pearl. "That song wasn't that bad. Better than some other songs."

"Really?" he murmured.

"Trust me. Some kids just don't have any energy in their songs, y'know?" the short inkling encouraged. Marina made a sound of agreement.

He took off his king flip mesh, revealing the rest of his hair, and gave a small smile. "…Thanks." The blush on his face seemed to have faded ever-so-slightly. "You fine with me uploading it?"

"Well, yeah!" Pearl responded. "Y'know I don't really look at SplatCloud itself. Only the songs emailed to me."

Yuri was not exactly relieved by her statement, but at least he was assured that the idol would not come across it again. One time's enough, he thought. It was bad enough that she heard it the first time. "Alright, then," the yellow-haired inkling started, standing up. "Let's export the song to the flash drive!"

"There's a flash drive?" puzzled Perry, his attention immediately snapping back to his friend. Yuri pointed to a pink flash drive connected to the computer. It was covered in SquidForce stickers. "Oh, I didn't notice that!"

The two inklings huddled around the laptop to finish the process of making a song. Once it was saved to the flash drive, the pale-skinned inkling pulled it out of the piece of technology. He put it in his pocket and started to head towards the door. "Well, I'm leaving. Bye, everyone!" Off the Hook stepped out of the doorway to let him past, and Yuri quickly followed him out of the room.

When they exited the studio, Perry plopped down onto the bench and groaned. He put his cap back on to hide his face. Yuri put his hand on his chin, scratching it.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"That. Went. Horribly." Perry slouched. "Pearl, out of all people, came in while it was playing. Pearl. Do ya understand how bad that is for me?!"

"Look on the bright side," the other inkling tried to encourage. "She didn't think it was bad."

"That won't look good on my resume."

"Wait, you're searching for a record company?"

"Well, yeah. All musicians have to do something to make themselves famous."

Yuri paused, and eventually said, "Good point. Still, though. Pearl liked your song, and that should be all that matters, right?" He smirked. "I liked it myself, too." The last sentence was a lie, but he didn't want Perry getting any more upset than he already is. Sugar-coating things was Yuri's specialty.

"Whatever." The purple-haired inkling got up from his seat and started to head away from the square. "I'm going home. Bye."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No."

The dark-skinned inkling frowned, and plopped onto his friend's former seat. Yet, his mouth lifted into a smile again when he realized something. He's gonna upload anyways. Even if he doesn't want to tell me. He leaned back against the bench, and threw his hands behind his head. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

A/N: Another chapter, done! See, I told you it would come out on a Sunday! Now, the next chapter is when we're going to get into Hero Mode stuff. Considering it was incredibly easy to write, since I was referencing a walkthrough for most of it, it's possible that there will be two chapters next weekend instead of one! That way, people who don't want to read about it will get something else to read instead. Now, I say maybe because I will probably get a new computer for my birthday (which is Wednesday), so I will have to transfer the files on this laptop to that one if I do get one. That might eat up a little time. Either way, I'll see where I'm at with chapter 5 Saturday morning, and that will decide whenever there will be two chapters or not. With that out of the way, Branchwing, out!